yzerman19

Also in 108, row 8

I thought i was buying beer at the Frozen Four last year...am I mistaken? What is hockey without beer? I'd almost rather watch from home...

They have a veteran NHL coach behind the bench, so they will be prepared to play. I doubt that they will have ever played in front of 15,000 fans, which is a bonus our boys have with the size of the Ralph (11,000) any given weekend, and the fact we just played our best hockey of the year at the X in front of a packed bi-partisan crowd. Expect more of the same with WMU getting the Gopher faithful behind them. I don't know much about them, except for their goalie has been on a nice run and has pretty good numbers. Our D is significantly bigger than theirs, and we are certain to have more skill on our top-line. Special teams are always big in the tourney, and we saw how big a hole a team can dig if they parade to the box (us on Friday, DU on Saturday). Despite stereotypes, UND is one of the least penalized times in the NCAA this year. WMU will be hungry, we need to be hungrier. We need to win 5 on 5 and we need to have quick feet...win loose puck battles = win the game.

Garth Snow has never been a "fan" of NCAA development. That is the only thing that scares me. I agree that Nelson is NHL talent and I agree that he definitely needs to spend another summer working out and putting on some muscle before he's able to go into the corners and prime scoring real estate against men like Chara and Phaneuf. Isles, despite the anti-NCAA bias have to be pleased with his development i.e. a 20 goal improvement. Only reason Frattin has been up in the NHL for most of the year is because of his physical strength...hopefully Brock is aware of that...although, Brock is a first rounder... Kristo also could use another year of strength training, although given his potential free agent status if not signed by the Habs, I have a feeling that he will cash in. I'd love to have them both back...

Awesome! Looks like 108 will be green and white!

The West and Northeast brackets are both basically up for grabs. I think any of the 8 teams in those brackets have had stretches this year where they can beat anyone on any given night...even Air Force...

WIth the uber talented teams of the past decade, they had tons of pressure and high expectations...this team without expectations can play loose and that might make all the difference.

we're in 7 and 8...hopefully we'll be doing a lot of high fiving!

Awesome! Go Sioux! See you in St Paul!

Missed the Five this year with my wife out of town. Missed seeing the "gang" and seeing you. I just bought my regional tix though- Section 108, row 8. Hope to see you there!

Just bought my tix- section 108 row 8! Go Sioux!

I agree that the bandings are often very, very tight, however I believe you have to maintain the integrity of 1 seed, 2 seed, 3 seed, 4 seed due, if to nothing else, the final line change impact. The regular season has to have some consequence.

The question marks are only there because of Minnesota being a host. They should be the be in Worcester playing BU, but instead they get moved to St Paul. The committee could swap the whole bracket and move Minnesota and BU to St. Paul as some have suggested, but I don't know why they would move BU from Worcester...this is the NC$$ and Beanpot lite is very appealing. Or, as a conspiracy theorist, you might intentionally move BU west to set up the potential for two Boston schools in the Frozen Four. So, I think they will slide the 2 seeds rather than moving an entire bracket.

True- and I agreed with his brackets every one of the prior years. This years was harder though and you really have to think through it. #1 seeds are supposed to go to the REgional closest to home. That puts the Sioux in St Paul again. I don't know why people think that UND will go to Green Bay...Michigan is closer to Green Bay than GF is.

11am on ESPNU

I don't agree with this bracket...they will preserve the top seeds route in before they preserve the true 2 and 3 seed matchups...why would they ever pull BU out of Worcester...a potential BU vs BC matchup in Worcester to go to the Frozen Four is gold. Same thing in St Paul...you love a UND vs Minn matchup to go to the Frozen Four.

Natural Seeding placing #1 seeds closest to home: Worcester 1 BC vs 16 Air Force 8 Minn vs 9 BU Green Bay 2 Mich vs 15 MSU 7 UMD vs 10 Maine Bridgeport 3 Union vs 14 WMU 6 Ferris vs 11 DU St Paul 4 UND vs 13 Cornell 5 Miami vs 12 Lowell Minnesota, as a host institution must be placed in St Paul, so: Worcester 1 BC vs 16 AF open vs 9 BU Green Bay 2 MI vs 15 MSU open vs 10 Maine Bridgeport 3 Union vs 14 WMU open vs 11 DU St Paul 4 UND vs 13 Cornell 8 MN vs 12 Lowell 7 UMD, 6 FSU and 5 Miami remain as the 2 seeds that need to be placed. Attempting to preserve bracket integrity, 7 should replace 8, 6 should replace 7, and 5 should replace 6...so: Worcester 1 BC vs 16 AF 7 UMD vs 9 BU Green Bay 2 MI vs 15 MSU 6 FSU vs 10 Maine Bridgeport 3 Union vs 14 WMU 5 Miami vs 11 DU St Paul 4 UND vs 13 Cornell 8 Minn vs 12 Lowell Now adjust to avoid first round intra-conference Michigan can not play MSU or WMU in the first round Union can not play Cornell in the first round So you swap 13 Cornell with 15 MSU You arrive at: Worcester 1 BC vs 16 AF 7 UMD vs 9 BU Green Bay 2 MI vs 13 Cornell 6 FSU vs 10 Maine Bridgeport 3 Union vs 14 WMU 5 Miami vs 11 DU St Paul 4 UND vs 15 MSU 8 Minn vs 12 Lowell The Worcester and St Paul brackets will have AWESOME attendance. The other two are ok...so, they might stick with this or, they might swap DU and Maine in order to reduce the travel burden for fans resulting in: Worcester 1 BC vs 16 AF 7 UMD vs 9 BU Green Bay 2 MI vs 13 Cornell 6 FSU vs 11 DU Bridgeport 3 Union vs 14 WMU 5 Miami vs 10 Maine St Paul 4 UND vs 15 MSU 8 Minn vs 12 Lowell That's my bracketology

Hak has certainly put his name on the short list of potential "coach of the year" winners this year! Unbelievable performance.

That charge of Dell was the most bush league thing that I have seen in a hockey game in a long time. If it was a regular season game and not a tournament, I would've cleared the bench. Hak's discipline held out though.

I appreciate your diplomacy in this debate. You are absolutely correct in asserting that both have pluses and minuses. I do neec to call out a little flaw in the logic on your player stats...the player is a year older, and it is possible that the player has a different role on the CHL team than he did for the landcows (special teams, etc). If I assume that the player was an 11 goal scoring freshman in the WCHA, that is a VERY good freshman.

Don't get me wrong, I support college hockey. Additionally, I loved college and completely understand the affinity the Sioux family continue to feel for the school...it is life before responsibility...I would guess that a lot of guys who play in the CHL feel the same way about those one horse towns across the Trans-Canadian highway 1. This is a business decision for these kids. Now, I do believe that defensemen need more time to develop than forwards, and NCAA will allow for more time spent on the weights and one on one skill training while the CHL will give you more game experience. CHL will generally have more skilled players, but college will have more physically developed players (men). It is probably a more difficult decision to make for a dman. I still say that if I were touted as the potential #1 overall and I had been playing in Ann Arbor, I would go CHL

I never said that. Nothing even close, so don't roll your eyes. JT would've had the same success had he played in the W or for UND. JT was also 17 as a freshman at UND; he needed to develop physically. If you recall, his hockey skills were beyond reproach, but his physical performance at the combine was less than ideal. UND is probably the best NHL development center in NCAA. The CHL still produces more NHLers.

Missing my first Final Five in five years... wife is out in the big apple visiting friends, so I am daddy daycare. I will miss all my Sioux friends!

A man makes his own money. Popeye Jones' financial situation probably isn't driving Seth either way. CHL is still the road most often taken to the NHL for first rounders. It is tried and true, and unless you really need time to develop physically (in which case NCAA is best) you go to the CHL.

I respect that. I would not. Just as I would not let my son make other decisions that are not in their long term best interest...17 year olds lack perspective.