Dustin

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…

Yup. I like our draw of St. Cloud. Better than UMD. And, what are the chances that Denver beats us five times in a row?

Personally, I am flushed with excitement to see UND come out guns a-blazin' on Friday night. Get a goal in the first five minutes of the game, and that place will explode.

One year we won the third place game, which gave us an at-large berth, IIRC.

Ok, maybe you've convinced me. Maybe not. If being really dominant for a couple of eras with a huge gap between eras is what you like, I definitely see your point. I am not going to argue that Michigan isn't one of college hockey's top-tier programs. My approach is to the argument is similar to yours, but slightly more inclusive of other successes. I also weigh time between titles, championship game appearances, conference titles (both regular and tournament) as marks of consistent success. The most puzzling part of your argument, to me, was: "Michigan may not have won an NCAA title but they have been pretty damn consistent since winning theirs." Let's see. Since 1998: National Championships: UND 2, Michigan 0 National Championship game appearances: UND 4, Michigan 1 Frozen Fours: UND 10, Michigan 7 NCAA appearances: UND 20, Michigan 18 Conference Regular Season titles: UND 10, Michigan 6 Conference Tournament titles: Michigan 8, UND 6 Both teams have been very consistent, no doubt. I still like UND's resume better. But that's just me.

In case anyone is interpreting my comments as to the success (or not) of this particular season, thankfully, that jury is still out. It's been less than spectacular at times (most times, actually), but certain perpetual program goals have not been eliminated yet. That says something, too.

Sure, but still interesting to me you'd advocate for Michigan. Maybe if it were 1956 when Michigan had 6 titles and UND had none (nor even played for one.)

I'm saying both HISTORICALLY and RECENTLY, UND is better than Michigan. RECENTLY, Denver is better than UND. HISTORICALLY, you could argue either way between UND and Denver. I'm arguing that HISTORICALLY UND is better because of more consistency throughout time.

Considering they were not on the list he tweeted, that's a hard "NO" in my opinion. Losing season as recently as 2018-19.