69 replies to this topic

[bigbean24]

Well I thought I would get this topic started since we now know who is going to play where and when.


Regional Breakdown

East Regional (Bridgeport, Conn.)
1. Union (24-7-7) -- ECAC champion (No. 3 overall seed)
2. Miami (24-14-2) -- at-large selection
3. UMass-Lowell (23-12-1) -- at-large selection
4. Michigan State (19-15-4) -- at-large selection

Northeast Regional (Worcester, Mass.)
1. Boston College (29-10-1) -- Hockey East champion (No. 1 overall seed)
2. Minnesota-Duluth (24-9-6) -- at-large selection
3. Maine (23-13-3) -- at-large selection
4. Air Force (21-10-7) -- Atlantic Hockey champion

West Regional (St. Paul, Minn.)
1. North Dakota (25-12-3) -- WCHA champion (No. 4 overall seed)
2. Minnesota (26-13-1) -- at-large selection
3. Boston University (23-14-1) -- at-large selection
4. Western Michigan (21-13-6) -- CCHA champion

Midwest Regional (Green Bay, Wis.)
1. Michigan (24-12-4) -- at-large selection (No. 2 overall seed)
2. Ferris State (23-11-5) -- at-large selection
3. Denver (25-13-4) -- at-large selection
4. Cornell (18-8-7) -- at-large selection

First round
Friday, March 23

Michigan State vs. No. 3 Union
Denver vs. Ferris State
UMass Lowell vs. Miami (Ohio)
Cornell vs. No. 2 Michigan

Saturday, March 24

Western Michigan vs. No. 4 North Dakota
Air Force vs. No. 1 Boston College
Boston University vs. Minnesota
Maine vs. Minnesota-Duluth

Second round
Saturday, March 24

Union/Michigan State winner vs. Miami/UMass Lowell winner
Ferris State/Denver winner vs. Cornell/Michigan winner

Sunday, March 25

Minnesota/Boston U. winner vs. Western Michigan/North Dakota winner
Boston College/Air Force winner vs. Minnesota-Duluth/Maine winner

Semifinals (Tampa, Fla.)
Thursday, April 5

Final (Tampa, Fla.)
Friday, April 7

Go Minnesota!

[Mr. Aware Eagle]

It's in Tampa and being hosted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville.  Pretty strange.
I'll try to catch a few games nonetheless.  NCAA hockey is something I wish I watched more (though living in Alabama there aren't a lot of chances to do so).

[Funky Bunky]

Mr. Aware Eagle, on March 18, 2012 - 13:30, said:

It's in Tampa and being hosted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville.  Pretty strange.
I'll try to catch a few games nonetheless.  NCAA hockey is something I wish I watched more (though living in Alabama there aren't a lot of chances to do so).

U of Alabama, Huntsville is hosting the frozen four at Tampa? Or are they just hosting a Region? You weren't very clear.

It's pretty cool that it's in Tampa, though. Maybe one of these days, the frozen four can find it's way to either the Honda Center or Staples Center. That would be pretty cool. All we have here is division 2 college hockey (I believe it's D-2). USC, UCLA and a bunch of area colleges have teams, but they're club teams...

[chickenfish13]

I feel like I should know this, but what does at-large selection mean?

[Norva]

NCAA sanctioned hockey only has DI and DIII, no II. Maybe you're thinking of D2 Club Hockey or something.
And yes the Frozen Four is in Tampa.

An At-Large means they didn't win their conference but were still good enough to earn a tourney bid. Keep in mind their is only 5 conferences in DI so lots of at-larges.

My beloved Purple Eagles lost a heartbreaker to RIT in the AHA semis sadly, so no NCAA Tournament hockey for me before I graduate. I guess I'll be pulling for Air Force since they are the only AHA representative but I don't really care show wins or not. Should still be fun to watch.

[RedSox44]

Mr. Aware Eagle, on March 18, 2012 - 13:30, said:

It's in Tampa and being hosted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville.  Pretty strange.

Not really. It was Huntsville turn to choose where the Frozen Four was hosted, and they picked Tampa. Last year, Minnesota chose St. Paul. Before that, the CCHA chose Detroit. In 2006, Wisconsin-Madison chose Milwaukee to host the Frozen Four.

[Magnus]

I'm just pleased to see that the host team doesn't automatically get a spot in the tournament due to hosting. I think international competitions like the World Cup should do the same in their qualifying rounds.

[McCarthy]

Funky Bunky, on March 18, 2012 - 13:59, said:

Mr. Aware Eagle, on March 18, 2012 - 13:30, said:

It's in Tampa and being hosted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville.  Pretty strange.
I'll try to catch a few games nonetheless.  NCAA hockey is something I wish I watched more (though living in Alabama there aren't a lot of chances to do so).

U of Alabama, Huntsville is hosting the frozen four at Tampa? Or are they just hosting a Region? You weren't very clear.

It's pretty cool that it's in Tampa, though. Maybe one of these days, the frozen four can find it's way to either the Honda Center or Staples Center. That would be pretty cool. All we have here is division 2 college hockey (I believe it's D-2). USC, UCLA and a bunch of area colleges have teams, but they're club teams...

Anaheim hosted the Frozen Four in 1999.

[JQK]

Funky Bunky, on March 18, 2012 - 13:59, said:

It's pretty cool that it's in Tampa, though. Maybe one of these days, the frozen four can find it's way to either the Honda Center or Staples Center.

The 1999 Frozen Four was held at the Pond and was hosted by the University of Alaska-Anchorage...

[rams80]

RedSox44, on March 18, 2012 - 14:07, said:

Mr. Aware Eagle, on March 18, 2012 - 13:30, said:

It's in Tampa and being hosted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville.  Pretty strange.

Not really. It was Huntsville turn to choose where the Frozen Four was hosted, and they picked Tampa. Last year, Minnesota chose St. Paul. Before that, the CCHA chose Detroit. In 2006, Wisconsin-Madison chose Milwaukee to host the Frozen Four.

Ummm...no, there is a bidding process like every other NCAA tournament and arenas/cities applied for them.  Alabama-Huntsville is hosting because they are the closest (indeed, only) team in the "vicinity" of Tampa/St. Pete.

Magnus, on March 18, 2012 - 14:38, said:

I'm just pleased to see that the host team doesn't automatically get a spot in the tournament due to hosting. I think international competitions like the World Cup should do the same in their qualifying rounds.

It is found that having the host team get in allows the locals to retain some interest in the proceedings during such things.  That is desirable.

[pmoehrin]

I went to a school that college hockey and can say that for whatever reason Tampa has wanted college hockey and almost without fail has hosted some type of major tournament every year at least since I started following college hockey.

I don't understand it for the life of me because there is no team down there, no chance of a team ever being down there unless South Florida decides to start a Division 1 hockey program and even if they did they would have no chance of selling out the Forum even if they were ranked #1 for three years in a row.

The only explanation I can come up with is somebody who's high ranking in the Tampa Forum's booking office or operations office loves college hockey and always makes it a point to get at least two major programs to come down there once a year.

[Norva]

rams80, on March 18, 2012 - 15:00, said:

It is found that having the host team get in allows the locals to retain some interest in the proceedings during such things.  That is desirable.

But in this case no one in Tampa would care about UA-Huntsville so it doesn't matter much. Plus they finished 2-28-1, no way should they even sniff the tournament with that kind of performance.

[NJTank]

I would love to see it come to Newark one day.

[rams80]

Norva, on March 18, 2012 - 15:13, said:

rams80, on March 18, 2012 - 15:00, said:

It is found that having the host team get in allows the locals to retain some interest in the proceedings during such things.  That is desirable.

But in this case no one in Tampa would care about UA-Huntsville so it doesn't matter much. Plus they finished 2-28-1, no way should they even sniff the tournament with that kind of performance.

Well, yes, but the NCAA apparently isn't all that keen on making money in their tournaments, as evinced by their regional and finals locations in hockey.

I was also speaking in a more general sense; host team autobids tend to depend on the competition being staged.

[Mockba]

Magnus, on March 18, 2012 - 14:38, said:

I'm just pleased to see that the host team doesn't automatically get a spot in the tournament due to hosting. I think international competitions like the World Cup should do the same in their qualifying rounds.

This was, of course, a question... because the hosts of college championships regularly get automatic bids.......

(um.)

[bigbean24]

I think its in Tampa cause the snow birds who can say "Oh I went there for college! What the hell lets go to a game! Another factor might be the nice weather so its more of a national draw then say a colder place like Saint Paul.

[bucknut40]

Was anyone else at the CCHA semi-finals friday for the BG and Michigan game? That was one of the best hockey games I have ever seen a double ot thriller, to bad BG lost

[illwauk]

bigbean24, on March 18, 2012 - 18:31, said:

I think its in Tampa cause the snow birds who can say "Oh I went there for college! What the hell lets go to a game! Another factor might be the nice weather so its more of a national draw then say a colder place like Saint Paul.

That might be logical if it had a national following, but does anyone outside of the Midwest and New England even care about college hockey?

[the admiral]

I don't think people outside of college care about college hockey. It's kind of not good.

[Geoff]

Funky Bunky, on March 18, 2012 - 13:59, said:

U of Alabama, Huntsville is hosting the frozen four at Tampa? Or are they just hosting a Region? You weren't very clear.

It's pretty cool that it's in Tampa, though. Maybe one of these days, the frozen four can find it's way to either the Honda Center or Staples Center. That would be pretty cool. All we have here is division 2 college hockey (I believe it's D-2). USC, UCLA and a bunch of area colleges have teams, but they're club teams...

"All we have here is division 2 college hockey (I believe it's D-2)." "but they're club teams" You know they're club but you think they're NCAA D2? I think why you might be confused is that the ACHA has 3 divisions.

Norva, on March 18, 2012 - 14:04, said:

NCAA sanctioned hockey only has DI and DIII, no II.

Except they do; they just don't have a Division II championship. When the NCAA did away with the Division II national championship (due to a diminishing number of participating schools), D2 schools were given 3 options: move up to D I (ala UAH, Bemidji, etc.), drop to D3, or stay at D2 and just not compete for a national championship.

There actually is one D2 conference left and it the Northeast 10 with Assumption, Franklin Pierce, Saint Anselm, St. Michael's, Southern New Hampshire, and Stonehill as members. The teams play a 12-game conference slate, have a conference tournament, and flesh out the rest of their schedule with D3 schools.