As the afterglow of Minnesota's first national title in 23 years wore off over the summer, the questions began to surface.

Those questions weren't about a repeat, they were about how the Golden Gophers would replace two staples in their lineup: goalie Adam Hauser and last year's Hobey Baker-winning defenseman Jordan Leopold.

ON THE ZAMBONI

COUNTDOWN TO BUFFALO   THE TOURNAMENT BEGINS A look at the regions: Now that all of the cheers and jeers over the new bracket are out of the way, the games are upon us. Here's a look at the regions: EAST (Providence) Poor, poor Cornell. The nation's top-ranked team has the most difficult opener in the bracket as the Big Red face MSU-Mankato. You have to give Mankato their props -- the Mavericks have come out of nowhere to earn their first national ranking and Troy Jutting won WCHA coach of the year honors. Grant Stevenson, Mankato's scoring power, received no Hobey love and he'll be primed to send a few shots toward Dave LeNeveu. The Cornell goalie will be tested, and he is the key. In the other matchup, Ohio State's touted defense won't be enough against Boston College, which has to be seething from its double-overtime loss to BU in the Hockey East semifinals. NORTHEAST (Worcester) First, Boston University vs. Harvard, then St. Cloud State vs. New Hampshire. Since we want to see a BU-BC Frozen Four matchup (with all due respect to St. Cloud and Harvard), the Terriers and Wildcats will duke it out in the regional final, a rematch of the Hockey East final. BU goalie Sean Fields has been on a roll, and it took overtime and an "own goal" for UNH to win in its last meeting. Fields stopped 40 shots, and this might be one case where extra rest will benefit teams. BU will have to be strong in the third period to advance in Worcester. WEST (Minneapolis) While we've covered the Minnesota-Mercyhurst in bigger type, North Dakota and Ferris State face off in the other semifinal. North Dakota has been reeling since Feb. 1, going 5-8-2 in that span and failing to make it past the WCHA play-in game. All the more reason Ferris State, the surprising leaders of the CCHA, will advance. Behind Chris Kunitz and his 74 points, the Bulldogs will have the tough task of next playing the defending champs. MIDWEST (Ann Arbor) Michigan faces Maine, and Colorado College faces Wayne State, the type of pairing Cornell was wishing for. Like Minnesota in the West, Michigan will play in the comforts of home at Yost Ice Arena. The Wolverines are 7-1 at the Yost in NCAA tourney games and the Black Bears don't seem on track for what would be considered a first-round upset despite being the higher seed. This is coach Red Berenson's time of year, and Michigan has gone 13-3-2 in its last 18 games. CC, meanwhile, has been a favorite to dethrone Minnesota for most of the season. They have too many strengths, one being the nation's leading scorer Peter Sejna, to be denied this early.

"It hasn't been an easy year," Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. "There were big holes to fill. We didn't know how long it was going to take."

And that path was rocky from the start of this season. Forward Grant Potulny, the Most Outstanding Player in last year's NCAA Tournament, suffered a broken ankle in Minnesota's season opener against Ohio State on Oct. 12 and had to have surgery to repair ligament damage. He was out three months.

While the Golden Gophers battled through that time (12-6-5) behind a strong defensive unit, Potulny's return Jan. 24 against Minnesota State-Mankato provided the last piece of the puzzle in bringing Lucia's squad together.

And what perfect timing.

Since that game against MSU-Mankato, Minnesota has gone 12-2-4, including a huge WCHA championship win last weekend over Colorado College, the league's top team for most of the season.

Now, the Golden Gophers are back in the NCAA Tournament and will begin the next phase of their title defense with a West Regional semifinal matchup against Mercyhurst on the comforts of home ice at Mariucci Arena. Minnesota, the No. 3 overall seed, has won 20 straight postseason games at home.

It gives Minnesota, riding an eight-game unbeaten streak, quite an edge and makes it a legitimate contender. But there are still some of those questions. Can two sophomore goaltenders and a roster that boasts 17 underclassmen handle the pressure of the tournament? Only nine players that were in the lineup for the WCHA Final Five had played in last year's playoffs.

One factor that helps the Golden Gophers is that 22 of their games this season have come against teams that are in the 16-team tournament field. Another plus is that Mercyhurst (22-12-2) has not done well this season in non-conference games, losing games to Lake Superior State, Maine, RPI, Denver and Colorado College.

But Mercyhurst gave one team, Michigan, quite a scare in its last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2001. The Lakers led heading into the third period before a 4-3 loss in the West Regional opener.

"That was the first thing I told the team," Lucia said. "All you have to do is look at the NCAA basketball tournament. It's that time of year, and it's one game and you're gone."

Along with Potulny's presence, Lucia will be relying on his one constant this season -- defense. The back four of junior Paul Martin, sophomore Keith Ballard, senior Matt DeMarchi and freshman Chris Harrington have played excellent in their own end as the team has allowed an average of 2.8 goals per game. The Golden Gophers also have a .812 penalty-killing average.

Lucia has choices in net as well. Although he has not decided on a starter for Friday's game, Travis Weber and Justin Johnson have been strong so far, particularly in the WCHA playoffs.

"It's been the key," Lucia said. "We have had to work a lot harder to produce offense, to score goals."

And in comes freshman Thomas Vanek, who leads the team with 26 goals and 28 assists in 41 games. Recently named the WCHA's rookie of the year, the Austrian forward is a natural goal scorer who provides a big presence at 6-foot-2, 207 pounds.

Then, in comes Potulny, whose leadership on and off the ice continues to boost the younger starters. Along with helping Minnesota climb from fourth place in the WCHA to a postseason title, Potulny is finding his touch and has 12 goals, including eight on the man-advantage, and seven assists in 18 games. In that time, six goals and two assists came in four playoff games.

All the pieces are there, and the team is striding at the right time. What can stop them? The bracket won't get any easier. A win Friday will send Minnesota to face the winner between North Dakota and Ferris State.

"We have to be physically and mentally ready," Lucia said. "In the heat of the battle, they will revert back to what they've done all season long. Nothing is going to change now."

Except maybe some more answers to those questions.

Joy Russo is a staff editor at ESPN.com. She can be reached at joy.e.russo@espn3.com.