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COLLEGE HOCKEY : FORUM TOURNAMENT : National Powers to Meet Tonight

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Top-ranked Minnesota and fourth-ranked Boston College, which played in the 1990 NCAA quarterfinals, meet today at 4:30 p.m. in the Great Western Freeze-Out Intercollegiate Hockey Tournament at the Forum.

Defending tournament champion Michigan State plays Toronto in the second game at 7:30 p.m.

SportsChannel will broadcast both first-round games and the title game Friday at 7:30 p.m. A crowd of about 6,500 is expected.

Unlike most NCAA hockey teams, the rosters of the Golden Gophers and the Eagles are composed entirely of Americans. This season, the Gophers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Assn. have an all-Minnesota lineup.

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Under sixth-year Coach Doug Woog, Minnesota (14-1-3) has made four Final Four appearances in the past five years.

Boston College (10-4) has 18 lettermen from a team that was eliminated in the NCAA semifinals by eventual champion Wisconsin. Coach Len Ceglarski is college hockey’s winningest coach at 642-313-35.

Michigan State (8-8-4) is off to its worst start since 1980-81.

“I think our team is a little better than our record,” Coach Ron Mason said. “The biggest thing for us--we have a lot of outstanding players--is determining roles.”

Three Michigan State players are National Hockey League first-round draft picks: goaltender Jason Muzzatti (Calgary), Michael Stewart (New York Rangers) and Bryan Smolinski (Boston).

Toronto (10-9), in its 100th season of hockey, hasn’t played since Dec. 2 because of exams. Coach Paul Titanic played for Mason at Bowling Green in the late 1970s.

Last year, the Spartans beat Alberta, 7-4, in the title game and British Columbia defeated Denver, 6-3, in the consolation game.

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