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And the HEA Commissioner recently called his conference the most difficult top-to-bottom. Objective reality has little to no effect on people whose jobs require them to promote their own interests; hence the delusional perspectives. Like George Carlin once said, the world runs on bulls*it & lies, without which nothing could get accomplished.

Will be interesting to see if Jackson keeps this exact line-up for the semifinal or if he inserts Josephson. Suppose Klee would have to come out but he's been very solid.

DiMarsico, Cerrato & Fink were all in a world of hurt at various points last night after UMD was finished with them. Would imagine they'll be physical against Michigan's forwards also. Cornell won in 1970.

Even in the second scenario with campuses bidding, attendance will still be an issue if the campus team gets beat in the first round; provided they even make the tournament. (similar attendance problem to the other scenario where the host school gets eliminated in the first round). But both of these scenarios would be an improvement attendance-wise compared to neutral sites. Instead of having an arena mostly empty for both days at a neutral site like it is now, at least one of those days would see good attendance.

Which scenario is David Carle advocating for?

UND has the region it wanted, with the teams it wanted, with a mostly healthy roster; plus had a flu bug that came & passed at exactly the right time & a transfer in Young who is intimately aware of Merrimack's strengths & weaknesses. It's as though the Universe is laying everything out on a silver platter for the team to have great success. Time to write a new script & turn the corner for #9.

2, 7, 11, 15.

Look at it this way: There will be a growing number of very solid to elite CHL, USHL & international players who will want to refine their game at the NCAA level in the coming years. It's simply not possible for 7 or 8 NCAA schools with deep pockets to snag them all. And besides, shelling out big bucks for 1 player probably isn't the best for locker room dynamics; in addition, there's a good possibility that such a player is more invested in personal rather than team success.

Verhoeff choosing UND at 1/3 the rate of what Michigan offered is a "massive discount" as you put it; especially when that dollar difference is in the tens to low hundred thousands of dollars. He may be an outlier, but if UND continues to get bargain rates on CHL studs like Carels on down, it'll prove that not all elite players at this level require grossly-inflated NIL amounts. McKenna has had a pretty good year & appears to be trying (at times) to be a more complete player, but $700k is an obscene amount for someone at the collegiate level who isn't dominant shift-in/shift-out.

Didn't look like it. The last segment of this TTD at the 6:40 mark said 'Tuesday, March 17th' with the team going over video & then showing a few minutes of practice immediately afterward, which showed #8 skating around. The UMD game was March 14th.

On tonight's TTD, #8 was zipping through some drills at a fast pace this week & didn't seem like he was visibly injured. Contrasted with what Jackson said yesterday that it didn't sound like he would be ready for regionals. He didn't appear injured in the least & wasn't wearing a non-contact jersey.

Good point. That being the case & because there's a day off in between, will be interesting to see if Jackson shortens his bench sometimes 5×5; as opposed to rolling 4 lines which he did most of the year.

Time will tell.

Still contend that putting a raw 17 yo on the big stage with top minutes is a liability, but will gladly eat crow if he doesn't make any silly mistakes that lead to a playoff loss. Time will tell. Fingers crossed in the meantime.

Would be interesting to know if the coaching staff sees this situation like we do, or if it's a giant blind spot in their perception & they'll continue to roll KV with big minutes in the regionals. {when I say 'blind spot', am referring to a situation or problem that a coach may not even be aware of because of personal biases or a lack of insight that don't allow him to see something that is obvious to others; making him figuratively blind. That's why it's important for HCes to have assistants who will challenge them; not 'yes' men}. Sometimes coaches can become tunnel-visioned with certain players & better options don't even cross their mind (ie, like Croal being healthy-scratched last year for no sane reason). Great coaches are great because they see the big picture & they're willing to make unpopular decisions. Let KV grow with top-4 during the regular season, but the playoffs are a different animal.