fargosioux

Duluth is a #3 seed and RPI is a #4 seed, so you can't swap them. Swapping is only done within each band of seeds.

College Hockey News

Here's my crack at this week's bracketology: East (Bridgeport): Yale vs. RIT (or Atlantic Hockey Winner) Merrimack vs. Notre Dame West (St. Louis): North Dakota vs. Boston University Nebraska-Omaha vs. Miami Midwest (Green Bay): Michigan vs. Colorado College Union vs. Duluth Northeast (Manchester): Boston College vs. RPI Denver vs. New Hampshire

If we win on Friday, I'd actually be very surprised if we don't see Eidsness in net on Saturday. Brad even mentioned in his chat last week that he thinks Eidsness might get a start at Tech.

I have it on channel 617 and everything is airing fine.

Tickets are sold.

I have 2 tickets available for Saturday vs. Bemidji. Section 107 Row H. Price is $40 per ticket. PM me or email fargosioux@cableone.net if interested.

St. Cloud Times

I believe we would gain another comparison this weekend by flipping Merrimack if they lose once this weekend to Maine (assuming we swept our series). I'm not seeing much of a possibility of Yale losing any comparisons, so I assume the best we can do is to remain at #2 in the PWR after this weekend. Jim or somebody else with more PWR knowledge than me can maybe confirm this.

I posted this in the College Hockey thread too: Directv users with the sports pack have several options for college hockey tonight: 613 - Niagara @ RIT (6:30 pm central) 628 - Vermont @ Boston University (6:00) 664 - Bowling Green @ Michigan State (6:00) 668 - Michigan Tech @ Minnesota (7:00) 682 - Denver @ Nebraska-Omaha (7:30)

That won't be known until the brackets are completed by the committee. They structure it so if every #1 seed made it to the Frozen Four, the #1 seed would play #4, and #2 would play #3.

USCHO has this week's Bracketology up, and Moy makes one minor adjustment to these brackets by switching Wisconsin and RPI for attendance purposes: USCHO Bracketology - February 23rd Also, Wisconsin blogger Chuck Schwartz put his brackets out earlier this week: Schwartz Bracketology He has a bit of a Badger spin in his brackets by rearranging everything to get Wisconsin in Green Bay. I find it hard to believe everything would get shaken up just to get Wisconsin close to home if they are a #4 seed. At the end of the day, I have a feeling Wisconsin will be on the outside looking in, and the committee won't have to deal with a Wisconsin decision.

MacWilliam.

Based on the current PWR, the brackets would be very clear cut in my opinion. Straight bracket integrity with no need to move anybody to avoid intra-conference matchups: East (Bridgeport): Yale vs. RIT (or Atlantic Hockey Winner) Union vs. UNO Midwest (Green Bay): North Dakota vs. Western Michigan Duluth vs. Notre Dame Northeast (Manchester): Boston College vs. Wisconsin Michigan vs. New Hampshire West (St. Louis): Merrimack vs. RPI Denver vs. Miami Attendance would be OK everywhere except St. Louis. I do agree with the opinion that the committee will try to place North Dakota in St. Louis if at all possible, but in this scenario, I'm not sure how they could make it work. What about this crazy thought -- Hakstol vs. Blais for the national title?

So how much does our competition the next two weekends hurt our RPI and PWR? I don't have a good handle on how RPI is calculated. Do wins against these teams drop our RPI enough to make us drop?

Buffalo Wild Wings in Moorhead will have it on.

Matt Greene with his first goal of the season at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers. Nice slap shot from the point.

Madison isn't a horrible distance from St. Louis. According to Google maps, it's 363 miles. What is the current NCAA mileage threshold. It used to be 400 miles, didn't it? I agree, from an attendance standpoint, it makes the most sense to send Wisconsin to Green Bay, but if the seedings make it difficult, I think St. Louis would be an option for Wisconsin to keep them fairly close.

Good point, but hasn't Blais had at least 2 or 3 players decommit from other programs to come and play at UNO? I think he'll be in Omaha for the long haul, but it's not out of the question that he could head to Minnesota and take some of these players with him if he wanted.

Can't see the committee sending BC out West if they finish #2 overall.

Now that they helped us out last night, let's hope they start dropping games again. Last thing I want to see is Minnesota sneak into the tournament.

Great article. I've been to five of those rinks, and suprisingly Mariucci isn't one of them. Still need to make that trip sometime. I was in Northeastern's rink during the famous "fog game" weekend in Boston. It feels like you're walking into a small-town gym, but it's not a bad place for hockey once you get inside. Pretty cool history. I agree about Alftond arena having the best atmosphere. Very impressed with their student section. I was there the weekend where Stafford scored on a penalty shot in OT on Friday night. Great weekend!

Looks like he's a restricted free agent next year. If he finishes strong, you've got to figure he might get a nice bump in pay.

There is no "lower bowl package". All tickets are the same price, and seat assignments are based on a priority system. Every year you are selected in the lottery and buy tickets, you receive a higher priority level. I've gotten tickets in 5 previous years, and I've never made it to the lower bowl yet. I'm hoping one of these years I will, but the majority of high-priority people don't give up their tickets, so it could be a few years.