Montreal Canadiens: Blake Biondi Taking Part in First NCAA Playoffs

Montreal Canadiens prospect Cole Caufield will get most of the headlines this weekend, but he is not the only Habs draft pick playing in the college hockey playoffs.

Blake Biondi was a fourth round pick of the Canadiens in last year’s NHL Draft and he is suiting up in a huge game later today as well.

Biondi was expected to be a long term project of a pick when the Habs selected him. He played High School hockey last season and was heading to a great college program, but was not expected  to play a big role right away.

Biondi played 24 games for Minnesota-Duluth this season and had just two goals and five points. He played a depth role on the fourth line, often moved to left wing as a freshman on a deep team. Biondi showed plenty of offensive potential at the high school level, scoring 76 points in 25 games in the 2019-20 season to catch the eye of Habs scouts.

The 6’0″ and 181 pound forward will serve as the team’s fourth line left winger at 4:00 PM EST today as his team faces Michigan in the regional semifinals at Fargo. The winner of this game will likely face the national #1 seed North Dakota tomorrow in the regional final.

There are four regional tournaments going on this weekend, with four teams taking part in each. The four winners of these regional events will move on to the Frozen Four, or national semifinals on April 8. The winners of those games will face off for a national title on April 10 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

While Minnesota-Duluth is a long shot to make it to Pittsburgh for the national semifinals, they have had a solid season. They finished third in a very tough NCHC conference with a 14-10-2 record. The two teams ahead of them, North Dakota and St. Cloud State, are two of the best teams in the country.

While Biondi will play a depth role for Minnesota-Duluth, it will be interesting to see how he plays on a big stage for the first time against a deep and talented Michigan team.

This game will be on ESPNU in the United States and streamed online in Canada on TSN.ca at 4:00 PM EST.