March Madness is here.

Despite the insanely popular NCAA men’s basketball tournament not being for a few more weeks, the ACHA National Tournament kicks off this weekend with Bensenville, Ill. hosting the 20 best club hockey teams in the country. No. 7 Illinois drew defending national champion Delaware in the first round, which starts Saturday. The Blue Hens won their first ACHA national title in 2012, defeating Oakland in the championship game.

Although Delaware had extreme success in last year’s tournament, 2013 has been a bit rougher, particularly without star goaltender, SJ Broadt, who was the 2012 ACHA Tournament MVP. He is dealing with foot injuries that he sustained during the Blue Hens’ magical run to the title last season.

Broadt played just three games during first semester and played in back-to-back contests only once this year to stretch the goaltender’s durability. The netminder played in 14 games total this season but has been impressive when healthy.

Broadt is 13-1 this season when starting and boasts a stingy 1.36 goals against average and a .952 save percentage, highest among ACHA goalies who have played at least 14 games. The lone blemish on his record was Feb. 17 against Stony Brook, a 3-2 loss in the ESCHL Tournament championship game.

“The main reason they won nationals last year is going to be playing in net against us,” head coach Nick Fabbrini said. “We need to get as many pucks and bodies to the net as possible.”

Having the defending champions in the first round might actually be an advantage for the Illini, defenseman JT Turner said.

“I think the fact they won last year gave them a bit of a higher ranking than they deserved,” he said. “Everyone ranks the defending national champions a little higher.”

One concrete advantage for Illinois will be the location of the tournament. Only a short drive from O’Hare International Airport, Bensenville lies right in the heart of Chicagoland. With 23 of 28 players on the Illinois roster hailing from the Chicago area, the tournament has the feeling of a home game not to mention the Edge Ice Arena should be filled with a large contingent of orange and blue.

“I personally hate sleeping in hotels,” Fabbrini said. “I absolutely think it’s an advantage.”

The team will sleep at their own houses, with out-of-state players bunking with teammates in the area. The last time the tournament was hosted by Robert Morris was in 2005, a year that saw the Illini hoist the championship trophy. Unlike Delaware, last year’s tournament was a disaster for Illinois; a first-round exit against conference rival Ohio ended the season. After winning the CSCHL regular season championship this year, expectations are at an all-time high.

“Since the beginning of the season, that’s been one of our goals,” Fabbrini said. “With the season we’ve had this year, with some of the teams we’ve beaten and how we’ve beaten them. Yeah, I’d think it would absolutely be a disappointment if we weren’t there at the end of the tournament.”

It won’t be an easy road, however. The Illini must get past Delaware and then presumably No. 2 Arizona State, a team that Fabbrini said many think is the best in the nation, in the second round to make the Final Four. 

“This is what we’ve worked for all year,” Turner said. “It was a disappointment to lose to Iowa State in the league tournament, but everyone still knows we can beat anyone in the country.”

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and @steve_bourbon.