MafiaMan

I had thought of that as well...you see it in college basketball all the time in the smaller conferences.

I realize some Sioux fans may be snarky about the WCHA that North Dakota is leaving behind, but I'm not one of them. In fact, I want the WCHA to succeed. The question is, what is the best option for the conference tournament? I guess we'll find out soon enough what Grand Rapids holds in store...followed by the X in 2015. What school are you affiliated with?

St Paul NOT an option after this season? HUH? The Xcel Energy Center is hosting the 2015 and 2017 WCHA tournaments. Grand Rapids will host the 2014 and 2016 tournaments. EDIT: Official agreements have not been finalized yet between the two sites but a deal is close.

On that point we agree. It was like the WCHA Final Five...minus one.

I understand revenue for the X will be way down, but, like I said, this was a 'years-of-service' award to the WCHA. I give it 2-3 appearances and then the X will tell the WCHA to move elsewhere.

Seeing 3,500 Gopher fans walk out of the OSU Arena crying wasn't exciting for you?

Honestly, and this is just my own personal opinion and not based on anything other than that...I think the X inked the deal to keep the WCHA every-other-year as a big THANK YOU to Bruce McLeod. The tournament has been a gold mine for the X and for the city of St Paul.

"Well played Mauer."

I think the WCHA will be better off attendance-wise in Grand Rapids as opposed to the X.

I have relatives in the Boston area...I swear, anything on a map to the left of Worcester is considered 'west coast.' Back in the early 1990's, I had them convinced that US mail was still delivered in the Dakotas by Pony Express. Unbelievable.

I guarantee you that even with FOUR teams selected, you will see two WCHA teams placed in the same region. Goon is right...the NCAA absolutely wants its east vs west match-up at any and all costs.

I agree with sagard on this one. I don't need to replay the sad effort against Yale a few years ago as a reminder. I still remember BC hanging 8 or 9 on the Bulldogs day later. Groan... QU might surprise some people...

It was done for the first Winter Classic between Buffalo and Pittsburgh. BTW...these outdoor 'classics' have totally jumped the shark.

Michigan has had those for YEARS though. Mark Osiecki changed OSU's before the start of his second season in Columbus. It's all about name recognition and branding. http://www.examiner.com/article/newness-to-buckeyes-men-s-hockey

Notre Dame followed Michigan's lead in hockey a few years back...why all the fuss over OSU? EDIT: I just looked up Penn State...they have the football hockey helmet too.

The OSU helmets are designed to mimic the football helmets...from the side, they actually look pretty cool.

A suspension? He should be given a medal.

That was indeed my point. If BU is a 'bad loss' for Merrimack, it's also a 'bad loss' for North Dakota.

UND lost at home to BU...a 'bad loss'?

Merrimack takes over first place in Hockey East.

Plenty of good seats still available for the Gopher/Sioux game last year...the SCSU vs WIsconsin regional a couple of years earlier brought in less than half of that!

EDIT: BC 1-0, CC scored 4 in a row to make it 4-1, then when BC scored a goal to make it 4-2, CC reeled off another 3 to go ahead 7-2. Their biggest lead of the game was 5 goals.

If memory serves me right, CC was up 6-0 at one point in that game.

Actually, I didn't. Minnesota had 31 league points and AA had 26. The records were similar - I didn't say Alaska was the better team, I simply stated that record-wise, they were close. How many first-round series' has UND played over the years against Mankato, Michigan Tech, and others that wound up going three games because the Sioux managed to lose one at home? I also pointed out that several folks here in the local media in 2011 were actually PREDICTING a Seawolves upset over the Gophers. There was just something missing in Minnesota's mo-jo that year.