[LordStanley1893]

FINAL UPDATE: 3/18/07


Well hockey's selection sunday is on March 18th (2:30 pm on ESPN 2) is almost here so I figure I'd get the bracketology going. I'm mainly using uscho.com as a reference (they also have a writer who updates his version of the bracket every wednesday). I'm following the bracket that a uscho board member (pro1disp) created on their bracketology thread on their forums (can be viewed here LINK). He is pretty knowledgeable and does all the calculations and from what I've seen it is pretty accurate so without further ado here is field if the season were to end today. Here is Jayson Moy's final field. This will most likely be the field but where teams are going is what has to be decided.

1. Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA-Autobid)

2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (CCHA-Autobid)

3. Clarkson Golden Knights (ECACHL-Autobid)

4. New Hampshire Wildcats (Hockey East)

5. Boston College Eagles (Hockey East-Autobid)

6. St. Cloud State Huskies (WCHA)

7. Boston University Terriers (Hockey East)

8. Michigan Wolverines (CCHA)

9. Michigan State Spartans (CCHA)

10. North Dakota Fighting Sioux (WCHA)

11. Massachusetts Minutemen (Hockey East)

12. St. Lawrence Saints (ECACHL)

13. Maine Black Bears (Hockey East)

14. Miami Redhawks (CCHA)

15. Air Force Falcons (Atlantic Hockey Autobid)

16. Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (CHA Autobid)

*Teams in BOLD have qualified for the NCAA Tournament



~I will be posting a contest for the hockey brackets (like basketball) on Sunday after the field is officially announced. Everything thing will be covered then including the rules, scoring system, and prizes (Yes prizes)

[SabreFaninNYC]

LordStanley1893, on Mar 12 2007, 07:23 PM, said:

Well hockey's selection sunday is on March 18th (2:30 pm on ESPN 2) is almost here so I figure I'd get the bracketology going. I'm mainly using uscho.com as a reference (they also have a writer who updates his version of the bracket every wednesday). I'm following the bracket that a uscho board member (pro1disp) created on their bracketology thread on their forums (can be viewed here LINK). He is pretty knowledgeable and does all the calculations and from what I've seen it is pretty accurate so without further ado here is field if the season were to end today.

1. Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA)

2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (CCHA)

3. St. Cloud State Huskies (WCHA)

4. New Hampshire Wildcats (Hockey East)

5. Clarkson Golden Knights (ECACHL)

6. Boston College Eagles (Hockey East)

7. Boston University Terriers (Hockey East)

8. North Dakota Fighting Sioux (WCHA)

9. Michigan Wolverines (CCHA)

10. Michigan State Spartans (CCHA)

11. Massachusetts Minutemen (Hockey East)

12. St. Lawrence Saints (ECACHL)

13. Maine Black Bears (Hockey East)

14. Miami Redhawks (CCHA)

15. Sacred Heart Pioneers (Atlantic Hockey)

16. Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (CHA Autobid)

*Teams in BOLD have qualified for the NCAA Tournament

*Last in: Miami, Maine, St. Lawrence

*Last Out: Dartmouth, Michigan Tech, Denver
~I will be posting a contest for the hockey brackets (like basketball) on Sunday after the field is officially announced. Everything thing will be covered then including the rules, scoring system, and prizes (Yes prizes).

Jason Moy rocks! A great fan of RPI hockey he has done a great job with the USCHO website. He seems to think that MSU is really on the bubble and can go either way. Its great that Lake State is in the final four in the CCHA tourney. That program used to be a power and its good to see them get back to some level of prominence.

Contest and prizes?!? Can't wait to see what this is all about.

[LordStanley1893]

It will be fun I hope I can get a decent number to participate.

[SabreFaninNYC]

LordStanley1893, on Mar 16 2007, 12:42 AM, said:

It will be fun I hope I can get a decent number to participate.

Well count me in!

[LordStanley1893]

I started to update the first post more will follow.

Atlantic Hockey:

Sacred Heart is now out because they lost to Air Force 5-4 OT. So Army slides in there. Army defeated Connecticut 3-1 and will play Air Force in the Atlantic Hockey Championship (7:00 pm EST). The winner will get an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. Neither team has a shot at an at large bid.

CCHA:

Notre Dame defeated Lake Superior State 3-0 and will play Michigan who beat Michigan State 5-2 in the championship game. LSS & MSU will play in third place game. Michigan State's tournament status got much more shaky after this loss. Lake Superior is eliminated from post season contention. Michigan & Notre Dame are locks for the tournament.

ECACHL:

Quinnipiac upset St. Lawrence 4-0 and will play Clarkson who defeated Dartmouth 5-4 on a late goal with 41 secs left in the championship game. SLU & DU will play in third place game. St. Lawrence & Dartmouth still have at large possibilities. Clarkson is a lock. Quinnipiac must win tomorrow to get in the tournament. This game (QU vs. CU) will be televised at 8pm on CSTV.

Hockey East:

New Hamsphire pulled out a tight one against Massachusetts 3-2 2OT. Boston College routed Boston University 6-2 and will play UNH for the championship. New Hampshire, BC, and BU are locks. UMass is a near lock.

WCHA:

On Thursday Wisconsin defeated Michigan Tech 4-0 to advance into the WCHA Semifinal. North Dakota upset St. Cloud State 6-2 to advance to the finals against Minnesota who defeated Wisconsin in a close game 4-2. SCSU & UW will play in the third place game. Minnesota, North Dakota, and St. Cloud State are locks. Michigan Tech is all but eliminated. Wisconsin is eliminated from post season play.

*Fun Fact: It will be the 2nd year in a row that the defending champ will miss the tournament. Denver won in 2005 missed in 2006. Wisconsin won in 2006 missed in 2007.

[LordStanley1893]

Ok I finished the updates as you can see in my first post. The teams don't change but the seedings do.

[LordStanley1893]

Jason Moy's final bracketology before selection sunday is as follows:

West Regional (Denver):

16- Air Force vs. 1-Minnesota
9-North Dakota vs. 8-Michigan

Midwest Regional (Grand Rapids):

15-Alabama-Hunstville vs. 2-Notre Dame
10-Michigan State vs. 7-Boston University

East Regional (Rochester):

14-Maine vs. 3-Clarkson
11-Massachusetts vs. 6-St. Cloud State

Northeast Regional (Manchester):

13-Miami vs. 4-New Hampshire
12-St. Lawrence vs. 5-Boston College

*The Selection Show will be televised on Sunday at 2:30pm EST on ESPN 2.

[SabreFaninNYC]

LordStanley1893, on Mar 18 2007, 02:10 AM, said:

Jason Moy's final bracketology before selection sunday is as follows:

West Regional (Denver):

16- Air Force vs. 1-Minnesota
9-North Dakota vs. 8-Michigan

Midwest Regional (Grand Rapids):

15-Alabama-Hunstville vs. 2-Notre Dame
10-Michigan State vs. 7-Boston University

East Regional (Rochester):

14-Maine vs. 3-Clarkson
11-Massachusetts vs. 6-St. Cloud State

Northeast Regional (Manchester):

13-Miami vs. 4-New Hampshire
12-St. Lawrence vs. 5-Boston College

*The Selection Show will be televised on Sunday at 2:30pm EST on ESPN 2.

His picks were right on. Let's fire up this sucka! Who is ready for some college hockey?

[SabreFaninNYC]

SabreFaninNYC, on Mar 19 2007, 09:51 AM, said:

His picks were right on. Let's fire up this sucka! Who is ready for some college hockey?

Well, I am.

Here are my picks:

Regional Final: ND, MSU, St. Cloud, Mass, Minn, North Dakota, SLU, UNH

Frozen Four: ND, Mass, Minn, UNH

Final: ND, Minn

Winner: Minn

[SabreFaninNYC]

SabreFaninNYC, on Mar 22 2007, 10:11 AM, said:

Well, I am.

Here are my picks:

Regional Final: ND, MSU, St. Cloud, Mass, Minn, North Dakota, SLU, UNH

Frozen Four: ND, Mass, Minn, UNH

Final: ND, Minn

Winner: Minn

Yeesh- good thing I didn't put any money on those picks- what was I thinking?

[LordStanley1893]

Sorry I couldn't get the contest going. I got the flu last Sunday and was sick for most of the week and was busy this weekend.

[LordStanley1893]

SabreFaninNYC, on Mar 26 2007, 09:39 AM, said:

Yeesh- good thing I didn't put any money on those picks- what was I thinking?

lol Maine is looking real good I went to the Friday games in Rochester and they look back to form since their goaltender is back. UND and BC should be an excellent game of two red hot teams. This tournament is one of the closer in recent memory. No #1 seeds in the Frozen Four and two near major upsets and no real blowouts (A couple 4 goal wins but thats it).

[SabreFaninNYC]

LordStanley1893, on Mar 26 2007, 03:18 PM, said:

lol Maine is looking real good I went to the Friday games in Rochester and they look back to form since their goaltender is back. UND and BC should be an excellent game of two red hot teams. This tournament is one of the closer in recent memory. No #1 seeds in the Frozen Four and two near major upsets and no real blowouts (A couple 4 goal wins but thats it).

Ok- so who are your picks for the Frozen Four? As much a Mich State fan as I am, I have to go with Maine b/c they always find a way to win and North Dakota with ND winning it all. They are on a roll and it would be bizzaro world if a WCHA team didn't win the FF this year (sarcasm).

[LordStanley1893]

That's who I have Maine and UND in the finals. UND wins in OT. (May change depending on how these teams win if they do. If UND gives BC a good beating I'd pick them. If the two games are close wins I'd go with Maine).

[SabreFaninNYC]

LordStanley1893, on Mar 28 2007, 11:41 PM, said:

That's who I have Maine and UND in the finals. UND wins in OT. (May change depending on how these teams win if they do. If UND gives BC a good beating I'd pick them. If the two games are close wins I'd go with Maine).

Can I also point out how stupid it is to go 2 weeks between playoffs and the finals? I realize the basketball FF is this weekend but I was all geared up after watching most of the games last week for this week and now this long layover- yeesh!

[Brilliant!]

Well maybe they're trying to be like the NFL...2 weeks before the Super Bowl!

[LordStanley1893]

SabreFaninNYC, on Mar 29 2007, 09:34 AM, said:

Can I also point out how stupid it is to go 2 weeks between playoffs and the finals? I realize the basketball FF is this weekend but I was all geared up after watching most of the games last week for this week and now this long layover- yeesh!

Yeah I know what you mean I went to semi finals in rochester (UMass v. Clarkson and Maine v. St. Cloud State) and it is going to seem like forever by the time thursday rolls around. But I'm all set I'm not working and I'm getting some pizza and wings to watch 5+ hrs of college hockey.

[SabreFaninNYC]

LordStanley1893, on Mar 29 2007, 08:58 PM, said:

Yeah I know what you mean I went to semi finals in rochester (UMass v. Clarkson and Maine v. St. Cloud State) and it is going to seem like forever by the time thursday rolls around. But I'm all set I'm not working and I'm getting some pizza and wings to watch 5+ hrs of college hockey.

Oh yea- I am definitely checking out of work early on Thursday to catch me some Mich St taking it to those Bruins (although I was at the game last year when the 2 met and I think there will be a similar result this year).

Question- how was the attendence there at the Blue Cross Arena? I was thinking about going but couldn't due to a variety of reasons. There seemed to be plenty of good seats available on stubhub.....

[LordStanley1893]

SabreFaninNYC, on Mar 30 2007, 08:51 AM, said:

Oh yea- I am definitely checking out of work early on Thursday to catch me some Mich St taking it to those Bruins (although I was at the game last year when the 2 met and I think there will be a similar result this year).

Question- how was the attendence there at the Blue Cross Arena? I was thinking about going but couldn't due to a variety of reasons. There seemed to be plenty of good seats available on stubhub.....

Less than I thought it would be (I only went Friday). There was 3,887 on Friday and 3,522 on Saturday. It didn't have too much of an empty feeling because most of the fans ere together in the center sections.From what I heard on the uscho.com boards it could have been marketed better and many youth hockey families who wanted to go thought it was pricey. I believe it was $71 for the weekend. I know Friday was $38 I'm sure it was the same on Saturday. It should be expected though considering Rochester doesn't really have a D-1 college fan base yet (D-3 teams like Geneseo are usually competitive), considering RIT is only in there 2nd year. Having a RIT/Cornell game at the BCA should help and from what was said in this article. They are going to bid for a regional again. NCAA hopeful hockey will heat up here In terms of team fan support I'd rank them in this order 1. Clarkson 2. Maine 3-Tie between UMass and St. Cloud State. UMass fans were easier to spot though because they were wearing jerseys and their mascot was there. With St. Cloud State most had team apparel but with small logos and their mascot wasn't there. All in all it was a great experience that I recommend every hockey fan to do once. I liked it so much my friend and I are thinking of making the trek to Albany for the East regional next year.

[SabreFaninNYC]

LordStanley1893, on Mar 30 2007, 02:45 PM, said:

Less than I thought it would be (I only went Friday). There was 3,887 on Friday and 3,522 on Saturday. It didn't have too much of an empty feeling because most of the fans ere together in the center sections.From what I heard on the uscho.com boards it could have been marketed better and many youth hockey families who wanted to go thought it was pricey. I believe it was $71 for the weekend. I know Friday was $38 I'm sure it was the same on Saturday. It should be expected though considering Rochester doesn't really have a D-1 college fan base yet (D-3 teams like Geneseo are usually competitive), considering RIT is only in there 2nd year. Having a RIT/Cornell game at the BCA should help and from what was said in this article. They are going to bid for a regional again. NCAA hopeful hockey will heat up here In terms of team fan support I'd rank them in this order 1. Clarkson 2. Maine 3-Tie between UMass and St. Cloud State. UMass fans were easier to spot though because they were wearing jerseys and their mascot was there. With St. Cloud State most had team apparel but with small logos and their mascot wasn't there. All in all it was a great experience that I recommend every hockey fan to do once. I liked it so much my friend and I are thinking of making the trek to Albany for the East regional next year.

Maine fans travel hard. I have been to several regionals and frozen fours and if Maine has anything to do with it, you can count on tons of Black Bear fans.

Can it be Thursday yet? I am pumped up!