NCAA Mens hockey bracket

[raganblink 82]

16 teams is a great proportion of the college hockey landscapes to enter the tourney. They're are only 54? D1 teams, why would they let 60% in? It makes regular season and conference playoffs pretty much worthless

[gerbe3:16 19]

58 D1 teams. 16 is already plenty for the tournament. The old tournament with 12 teams, and only 2 regional sites along with 2 byes in each site was awesome. Expansion was nice and got some nice stories (Bemidji, Holy Cross over MN, RIT) but has it worked? Meh. Teams can get in without the autobid and have before.

They need to figure out some things with this tournament. This hosting thing is garbage and kind of screws teams here and there (a few this year). The crowds are still pathetic even with hosting, UNH had mediocre crowds in Manchester, mainly because tickets are too expensive (another HUGE issue I have) and they put the east coast game on 8 pm on a Sunday night while the Green Bay regional played earlier despite being behind the eastern time zone? WTF!?

How St. Louis even was awarded a regional I have no idea. They got no one for the Ice Breaker and no one for this event. So.... I don't get that at all.

Paul Kelly can work on the NCAA tournament for a good number of points before even worrying about expansion out west and getting into Canada to access Canadian kids that need to be educated about college hockey. Throw in the fact that they tear up the ice so they can get rid of the ads and put in their own logos, which makes for terrible ice in every single NCAA game every year and you have another point I want to kill someone over. The NCAA just has no idea how to handle hockey and they show it in every way.

At minimum, lower ticket prices, make the conferences host the tournaments and the higher seeded teams from that conference get preference over other conference teams in the field, and stop ripping up the ice so you can have your ghey logos on it so we don't have to watch the puck bounce around all game!

[frankie56 0]

Here's a good write up on the goal... with what I consider conclusive evidence (pictures/video).

http://mgoblog.com/content/zapruder-goal

Maybe you can get the CIA to sharpen up that photo a bit?

[Chadd 916]

My biggest beef with the tourney is the contrasting officiating styles. Some call it way too tight IMO.. This is hockey, not ice dancing or basketball.

Most college games I've seen end up being more about trying to hurt people than trying to score, I'm all for actually calling the stuff that's in the book. It's sad to see guys whose sticks never touch the ice for an entire shift. They're either horizontal hacking away at someone or vertical as they hit them.

[gerbe3:16 19]

Most college games I've seen end up being more about trying to hurt people than trying to score, I'm all for actually calling the stuff that's in the book. It's sad to see guys whose sticks never touch the ice for an entire shift. They're either horizontal hacking away at someone or vertical as they hit them.

Oh, so you've seen a few Maine, BU and Merrimack games, huh?

[Chadd 916]

Oh, so you've seen a few Maine, BU and Merrimack games, huh?

Actually, I think the last one was Ohio State but I could be wrong. I'm not even sure there was a puck on the ice at times.

[hampshirepuck 2]

Personally I hated how beurocratic the NCAA's were conducted, they had 7 guys n the scorers booth, and every goal they had to review by guy wearing ref pants(with a girdle) with a shirt and tie, I thought the northeast regional was called maybe a little to light, don't get me wrong I am all about "letting them play" but when you see a merrimack guy get carried off the ice by the trainers from an obvious boarding infraction and no penalty was called, apparently these guys were from the ecac and the ccha, really not familiar with the officiating styles out there, all I know is how bad most Hockey East refs are.

Hey Bud from BC...your team is just as dirty as every other big time team in the league so don't think your off the hook! ... York has to recruit a bunch of Prep School P.G. Goons to protect pretty boys like Cam Atkinson and Jimmy Hayes

[mnpucker 33]

Bridgeport, CT

1. Yale vs. 16. Air Force

8. Union vs. 9. Minnesota-Duluth

YALE VS UMD

Manchester, NH

4. Miami vs. 13. New Hampshire

6. Merrimack vs. 11. Notre Dame

MIAMI vs NOTRE DAME

Green Bay, WI

2. North Dakota vs. 15. Rensselaer

7. Denver vs. 10. Western Michigan

NORTH DAKOTA Vs DENVER

St. Louis, MO

3. Boston College vs. 14. Colorado College

5. Michigan vs. 12. Nebraska-Omaha

BC Vs UNO

Frozen Four: St. Paul, MN

Denver vs. St. BC

Yale vs. Miami

DENVER CHAMPS

I just looked back at my picks.........I could NOT suck more.

[gerbe3:16 19]

Hey Bud from BC...your team is just as dirty as every other big time team in the league so don't think your off the hook! ... York has to recruit a bunch of Prep School P.G. Goons to protect pretty boys like Cam Atkinson and Jimmy Hayes

No offense, but were you drunk when you posted this?

Post grad prep school goons? Like who?

Atkinson was on a line with Gibbons and Whitney, two diminutive 100-pt career scorers (Gibbons broke 150), not exactly goons. And Jimmy Hayes needs a goon to protect him? He's 6'5". He can protect himself.

I just looked back at my picks.........I could NOT suck more.

Join the club. Three 1-seeds bit the dust. Pretty crazy tournament.

[goblue9280 33]

I just looked back at my picks.........I could NOT suck more.

I correctly picked only one of the Frozen Four teams... which puts me one ahead of my Final Four bracket.

[gerbe3:16 19]

And the Hobey hattrick is:

Cam Atkinson, F, BC

Andy Miele, F, Miami

Matt Frattin, F, North Dakota

[ndlancer95 0]

I say Atkinson gets it

[adam14 182]

it's got to be Miele

[goblue9280 33]

Well then, I guess I'll call Frattin... put up big numbers over the last 2 months of the season while ND was the hottest team in the country.

[tjl_48 0]

Playing against tougher competition. Frattin should get it.

[gerbe3:16 19]

Not so fast on Frattin. Granted this info comes from early March but still is interesting. I know Frattin had the GWG in the WCHA final and Atkinson had 2 goals (including the GWG) in the Hockey East final and a goal in the debacle vs. CC as well. You can view other players from the top 10 (prior to the hat trick being announced) and see how they were analyzed in similar fashion in the link below. Throw in 2 arrests for Frattin, and 1 arrest for Atkinson, and I have to think Miele wins this thing with the most points and the fewest arrests out of the 3. But we'll see.

http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/2011/03/10/trackler_podcast/

MATT FRATTIN — North Dakota

vs. the first-to-seventh place teams in the WCHA

(Denver, Nebraska-Omaha, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota, Colorado College, Wisconsin)

15 games played, 10 points, 0.66 points per game

vs. the eighth-to-12th place teams in the WCHA

(Alaska Anchorage, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, Minnesota State, Michigan Tech)

15 games played, 31 points, 2.07 points per game

vs. non-league teams

(Alaska, Maine, Notre Dame, Robert Morris)

7 games played, 8 points, 1.14 points per game

The Skinny: Some have cited Frattin’s most convincing Hobey selling point as being the strongest player against the strongest competition, as the Sioux’s overall strength of schedule has ranked at or near the top of the nation all year. These numbers show he made his hay against the bottom-standing teams in the WCHA.

[goblue9280 33]

Weren't Frattin's arrests from two years ago? Not saying they won't come into play, but I could see them overlooking the arrests since he has kept his nose clean the past two seasons.

[tjl_48 0]

True, but the bottom standing teams in the WCHA are still good teams. That is why there strength of schedule is still so high. Add to that he had both GWG for the Sioux in the WCHA tounament, a strong showing in regional, and the Sioux are still in it. BC and Miami are not. This is from the beginning of march but still a good stat.

In case you don't follow Tim on Twitter (@timothyboger), here is what you missed: Tim looked at the top five goal-scorers in the country, and researched how many of their goals have been scored against teams under consideration (or "TUC" teams) for the NCAA tournament. In other words, who, among the nation's top goal scorers, has scored the most goals when playing the nation's strongest teams? The results are pretty staggering:

1. Matt Frattin (UND), 27

2. Paul Thomspon (UNH), 12

3. Paul Zanette (Niagara), 11

4. Cam Atkinson (BC), 10

5. Bryan Haczyk (Niagara), 7

The following players lead the country in goals vs. TUC teams:

1. Matt Frattin (UND), 27

2. Jason Zucker (DU), 20

3. Mike Connolly (UMD), 18

4. Jason Gregoire (UND), 17

5. Tyler Johnson (CC), 16

Every one of Frattin's WCHA-leading 27 goals this season have come against a TUC team, which makes sense considering UND's strength of schedule was ranked the toughest in the country the entire season until the past two weeks (it is now No. 2).

[gerbe3:16 19]

That's great and all but what are his goals per game average against the TUCs? Almost ND's entire schedule was full of TUCs. BC's wasn't. Miami's wasn't. So while he had the most goals, he also had the most games against TUCs.

Not to mention the TUC criteria changed this year (actually 2 years ago but no one noticed) to include more TUC teams past the prior 25th team cutoff, some of which simply weren't very good (Bemidji). There's a reason why the top 5 guys in the country in goals scored vs. TUCs were in the WCHA... because they all played in the WCHA and all had the most games vs. TUCs. The TUC was based on the cutoff line of greater than .500 in the RPI ratings, and in this case, it's somewhat "skewed" if you will towards the WCHA. The math just isn't totally indicative of what is out there. Like Yale being the #1 overall seed. That was also a total joke but the way the math worked out.

I do like that you posted that though because I am not a twitter guy and found it interesting. I just have a problem using that as a metric to measure why Frattin and the ZOMGWCHA rules supreme. Great league, admittedly the best in D1, but just because a guy plays in it doesn't make him the best player in the country and of course, character comes into play as was mentioned above as well.

My money is still on Miele.

[tjl_48 0]

I didn't post that to show that the other guys didn't score against tuc teams. Just that Frattin still put these numbers up playing a very tough schedule. I am born and raised in Sioux country so I am a little biased. Ha.

[epstud74 24]

Minnesota is one of those "bottom" teams in the WCHA right now and they've got more NHL draft picks than any team in the country.

Putting up points vs Minnesota State, Bemidji State, UAA, Wisconsin, St Cloud State etc is not easy even though they're mediocre right now.

[gerbe3:16 19]

Anyone else here going to the X for the games? I'm flying out on Wednesday night.

[psh 25]

I live in the Twin Cities, so I'll be there.

Predictions:

Hobey: I think Miele will win it, based on offensive numbers and both Atkinson and Frattin losing a few votes on character issues.

UMD over Notre Dame in a very tight game.

UND over Michigan relatively easily.

Then, my heart says UMD with the top lines cancelling each other out but Reiter coming up huge and Oleksuk and Seidel making themselves known. My head, though, says only UND can beat UND this year. And I'd be happy with that, if for no better reason than that it would be a very prominent thumb in the eye of the NCAA and its insane crusade to eliminate the Fighting Sioux name and logo.

My biggest hope is that the best team of the weekend wins and that the horrible game calling of the regionals is behind us. Call the obvious and dangerous stuff, but other than that, be stingy with the whistles, let some flow develop, and let the players decide who will prevail.

[gerbe3:16 19]

Then, my heart says UMD with the top lines cancelling each other out but Reiter coming up huge and Oleksuk and Seidel making themselves known. My head, though, says only UND can beat UND this year. And I'd be happy with that, if for no better reason than that it would be a very prominent thumb in the eye of the NCAA and its insane crusade to eliminate the Fighting Sioux name and logo.

My biggest hope is that the best team of the weekend wins and that the horrible game calling of the regionals is behind us. Call the obvious and dangerous stuff, but other than that, be stingy with the whistles, let some flow develop, and let the players decide who will prevail.

Excellent points. I really think you're right about UND. They look unstoppable at this point. And I do think the NCAA stinks and hope ND fights for their logo until I'm long gone. But it looks like the board of education there is giving in after this season in spite of the state's legislative plans.

And given that no Hockey East teams are in the FF this year, you have a decent chance at getting some of their clownshoe officiating crews working the games this weekend. Wouldn't be shocked to see them screw up a semifinal or final game and have it end in contraversial fashion. It's going to be either them or ECAC crews in all likelihood. And I hear ECAC crews aren't that much better (but I disagree from what I've seen firsthand).

[goblue9280 33]

Go Blue! Nice of the North Dakota fan to count up how many goals we had scored...