Air Force draws top seed Miami (Ohio) in Northeast Regional

One week after securing its second straight NCAA Tournament berth, Air Force's possible path to the Frozen Four was revealed. The status of its top player, however, remains unclear.

The Falcons were assigned the No. 4 seed in the Northeast Regional on Sunday during the tournament selection show. They will face top seed Miami (Ohio) at 2 p.m. Saturday in Worcester, Mass. If Air Force wins that game, it will play the winner of Saturday's other semifinal - No. 2 Boston College and No. 3 Minnesota - at 2:30 p.m. Sunday with a ticket to the Frozen Four at Pepsi Center on the line.

The RedHawks (32-7-1) received the No. 1 seed as an at-large bid out of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

By winning the Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament title March 16, the Falcons (21-11-6) earned an automatic NCAA bid and capped an impressive late-season push that saw them go unbeaten in their final nine games.

And they did it without star center Eric Ehn, who was a finalist last season for the Hobey Baker Award - given to college hockey's top player.

On Jan. 19, Ehn fractured his left fibula and suffered ligament damage to his right ankle during a game against Colorado College. But he has been upgraded to day-to-day and will practice today in contact drills, making his return to the lineup this weekend a possibility.

"I'm not sure if I'll be 100 percent and there's no way to tell until game time," Ehn said. "I think it's something that's going to happen, but I don't want it to take away from what the team has going right now.

"I feel like I have a lot to offer by getting into the lineup and providing sturdy defense and emotional plays. If coach thinks that I can help the team, then he'll put me in."

The coaching staff will keep a close eye on Ehn this week to determine if he can play and then, potentially, how much he can play and on which line he's best suited.

"We want to put the best lineup we can on the ice and obviously he is one of our best players," assistant Mike Corbett said. "We don't need him to be Eric Ehn, the Hobey Baker finalist. We need him to be a good, responsible player and possibly get some power-play time and be one of the cogs in our lineup."

Even if the senior doesn't play, the coaches see his presence as an added benefit for a team that already is playing its best hockey of the season and that is eager to claim its first NCAA Tournament win.

"This team is not the Eric Ehn show," Ehn said. "This is a talented team from top to bottom and I have faith this team can go out and win an NCAA Tournament game with or without me."