Dustin

Buzzing PP for a goal.

Me too.

Mixed feelings about Penn State. They are the program that upset the apple cart in college hockey. We had such a nice thing going. But to have another big school excited about and committed to hockey is also good.

Thanks. I am a Herald subscriber, so I will check that out.

Ok thanks. Are you on an email list for that?

Is this in a Herald article, or a tweet, or just a verbal comment?

You know, this jab doesn’t bother me one bit. College hockey is better when rivalries are in tact. They could be saying “Michigan is our real rival now.” (Sound familiar?) The fact that they still jab us, just like we would jab them in the reverse position, is great. It’s still been 20 years since they raised a trophy. We’ve never had a drought that long. Also, The smaller Minnesota schools have had more success recently, so to get some of that back to the flagship is good. Honestly, I wish Wisconsin weren’t such a doormat. It seems they’ve forgotten that they were once a proud hockey school. UND, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have the biggest fanbases in college hockey. The sport is at its best when all three are relevant.

Not that I recall. That happened during a Gophers NCAA game sometime in that time frame, if that’s what you’re thinking of.

I also love that Midco can broadcast the entire tournament, save for the championship games.

I think the Summit has a good thing going in Sioux Falls. I’d like to check it out sometime, particularly in a year when UND has a chance to dance.

2006. That was not hosted by a #1 seed (which was Minnesota). That regional was bid well in advance. I’d be ok with a return to this format, but it’s not what is being suggested earlier in the thread.

When?

Love the idea (it's not a new one), but I know there are some logistics problems in this case. The biggest problem is that the venues and host institutions would not know they are supposed to hold a regional until just a few days before it is supposed to start. Maybe there could be a week delay between the conf. championships and NCAA starting? Not sure how much that would help. Or announce the #1 seeds at the conclusion of the regular season? I don't think any potential #1 seed would find its way out the NCAA tournament at that point.

With the sole exception of Denver, nobody else has held an NCAA trophy in over a decade. This has got to be one of the hungriest NCAA fields ever. After Denver, the championship droughts are as follows: Boston Univ. (14 years) Minnesota (20 years) Michigan (25 years) Harvard (34 years) Michigan Tech (48 years) Cornell (53 years) The remaining 9 teams (over half the field) have never won a title. Once UND is out, my rooting interest usually becomes the team that has never won or has a long title drought. So, lots of teams to cheer for this year. Hope it's an interesting tournament.

Joining the conversation late, but yes, I agree that watching the Big Ten championship with a full house was more interesting than watching the NCHC championship game. I would now be in favor of moving to campus sites. I never attended the Final Five in person, but I would watch every game (even the Thursday play-in) with anticipation and the energy of the crowd was palpable. Without the passionate (and large) Gophers and Badgers fanbases (plus decades of cultivated rivalries), the Frozen Faceoff just can't be the Final Five. As for joining the Big Ten, consider me intrigued on certain levels, but having UND's showcase sport in a conference that would only treat that sport as high as #3 would mean we would get some raw deals, IMO. A neutral site Big Ten conference tournament with UND in it would probably work, actually. Not to say that it should go that way. The NCHC would no doubt flounder without UND, so staying an alpha probably wins out. I wouldn't mind seeing more across the board NCHC / Big Ten out-of-conference matchups, though (like the ACC / Big Ten basketball challenges they do before conference seasons start). The geographical footprint is the pretty much the same, so I think there would be mutual interest. Miami can tell a recruit, "yeah, we go west for conference games, but we also play Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame in the next 3 seasons." Likewise, UND can tell recruits that Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan are on their schedule. I'll probably have more thoughts to come on this.

A better goalie would be better, but do we have that? Who’s next in line?

Is his eligibility over? Finally got in the zone. Would be comfortable having him back.

Analogous to the 2006 west regional. Let’s Blow the doors off Mich….um, St. Cloud!

Now time for und to take advantage.

I wonder if Dosch was ever considered for DC. Almost seems like he will be his boss's mentor.

What places in Grand Forks have CBS Sports Network? It's on a specialty package with Midco, which I have at home (and would normally watch there), but I'm feeling festive with St. Patrick's Day, so I'd like to pick a place that you know would have the game on.

I would assume that, in both cases, they are fitting their design into existing constraints. The Kohl Center is not just a hockey facility. For Mariucci, it is purely a hockey facility, but they're modifying from an existing footprint. Have to take into consideration seating, sightlines, etc. I'm guessing the NCAA has a standard that a hockey ice sheet must conform to with certain dimensions being flexible within a range (like width) and others fixed (like goal crease, etc).

May as well update save % and GAA for the last 10 games as well. Certainly not 57th nationally.

Looks like we need to exploit this big time.

Yeah, but Sandy…