A number of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux’ top players made a pact after the 2006-07 season to remain on campus and pursue a national title in 2007-08. They did, and the Sioux advanced to this April’s Frozen Four in Denver, where eventual national champion Boston College smashed them in the semis.
Caps’ 2005 first-round draft pick Joe Finley, a junior this season, was a part of that impact core for North Dakota. Such a commitment by the team’s upper classmen will be a lot more difficult for next season, as on Tuesday the St. Louis Blues announced the signing of T.J. Oshie, North Dakota’s leading scorer last season. The Sioux also lose senior starting goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux.
Is this the impetus for Joe Finley to begin his pro career in the Capitals’ organization? If you’re a Hershey Bears’ fan, you sure hope so.
While the puck hasn’t been dropped on the 2008 edition of the NCAA Frozen Four in Denver, the NCAA is now accepting applications for tickets for the 2009 Frozen Four in Washington, DC.
ARLINGTON, Va. – The NCAA is accepting ticket applications for the 2009 Frozen Four, which will be held at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., April 9 and 11, 2009. Tickets for the event – which will be sold out for the ninth straight year when it faces off next week in Denver – are awarded through a lottery system, and applications are being accepted online at the NCAA website (https://ebill.securebills.com/FrozenFour/) from today through June 1, 2008.
The NCAA ticket application process includes a priority system rewarding those who have purchased tickets for previous Frozen Fours, but a number of tickets are set aside for first-time attendees as well. The ticket application process is the only method of purchasing tickets for the general public.
The U.S. Naval Academy, the Greater Washington Sports Alliance and the Washington Capitals will host the 2009 NCAA Frozen Four, which brings the country’s best college hockey players to the nation’s capital for the first time. The Frozen Four is the culmination of the 16-team NCAA tournament.
Here’s the rub, tickets are $177 per seat (2 semifinal games plus the final) and pre-payment is required at the time of the application submission. Refunds will be issued in mid-August of this year if your application is not selected for tickets.
The 2008 Frozen Four is set.
The semifinals take place on April 10th with North Dakota defenseman and Washington Capitals’ draft pick Joe Finley skating against Boston College at 6pm EDT. The second game is at 9pm EDT with Michigan against Notre Dame, the only four seed ever to make it to the Frozen Four. Both semifinal games will be televised on ESPN2. The National Championship game is on the 12th at 9pm EDT on ESPN.
After this year in Denver, the Frozen Four moves East to the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., for the 2009 edition of the Frozen Four.
By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
College hockey is about to begin its annual best-of-the-best tournament; two Virginia-born hockey players are gearing up for their respective schools during this weekend’s first round on the way to the NCAA 2008 Men’s Frozen Four.
Sophomore Matt Fairchild, of Ashburn, Va., is a forward for the Air Force Falcons. After 36 games he was fourth on the team in scoring (9-17-26). The Falcons face No. 1 seed Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, March 29, at 4:05 p.m. ET; the game will be televised on ESPN U. According to Fairchild’s bio, his favorite team is the Washington Capitals and favorite player is Alex Ovechkin—choices with which I think we can heartily agree.
Garrett Roe, a forward at St. Cloud State, is a native of Vienna, Va. Roe, a freshman, is already ranked fifth all-time in points-per-game at St. Cloud State, averaging 1.16 points each outing (18-26-44). He was also an invited attendee at the Capitals’ summer camp in 2004 at the age of 16. The Huskies take on Clarkson University on Friday, March 28, at 4:00 p.m. ET, also scheduled for broadcast on ESPN U.
It is heartening to see local-born hockey players playing in college hockey’s ultimate competition—we wish the best of luck to both Fairchild and Roe in the tournament.
[Tap of the stick to OFB reader Big Sexy for the tip]
Here are the matchups for the 2008 NCAA Hockey Championship.
Albany (East)
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Niagara
No. 2 St. Cloud State vs. No. 3 Clarkson
Colorado Springs (West)
No. 1 New Hampshire vs. No. 4 Notre Dame
No. 2 Colorado College vs. No. 3 Michigan State
Madison (Midwest)
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 4 Princeton
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 3 Wisconsin
Worcester (Northeast)
No. 1 Miami vs. No. 4 Air Force
No. 2 Boston College vs. No. 3 Minnesota
This year’s Frozen Four will take place in Denver, Colorado on April 10th and 12th with the First Round on March 28th & 29th and the Quarterfinals on March 29th & 30th.
And Nate Ewell, you’re not allowed to play.
Michigan State University - 2007 Ice Hockey Champions - photo by Tom Gannam / APThe whole Frozen Four weekend was one of surprises. North Dakota’s Ryan Duncan took home the Hobey Baker on Friday.
The 2007 Frozen Four is now set. Here is the updated bracket:
2007 Frozen Four BracketAfter a break next weekend, St. Louis, Missouri, will host North Dakota vs. Boston College and Maine vs. Michigan State in semifinal games on April 5th. Both games will be aired on ESPN2. The championship game will be on the 7th of April on ESPN.
Some clarity in an entire season’s worth of college hockey parity arrived with the NCAA’s highest-stakes postseason weekend. Who would have wanted to wager against no. 1-ranked Notre Dame on St. Patrick’s weekend?
- Wisconsin doesn’t deserve a tourney bid with a 19-18-4 record, but you’ve got to admire their moxy in defeating no. 4 St. Cloud State in OT Saturday in the WCHA consolation game. The Badgers scored the winning goal with just 9 seconds left. But three hours earlier, Head Coach Mike Eaves made one of the most shocking bench decisions of the season in yanking four-year stud, 2006 NCAA title-winning netminder Brian Elliot from the game 29 seconds in, after he’d surrendered the game’s opening goal. This was almost certainly Elliot’s last collegiate game, too. Unbelievable.
- St. Cloud — lodged solidly in the top 5 of the country most of 2007 — is chock full of doubts after suffering two defeats this weekend. Conventional wisdom had the Huskies as a lock no. 1 seed for next week, but how can they claim that now? And netminder Bobby Goepfert looks beat up, overworked, and most mortal.
- There is nothing fluky about Jeff Jackson and his no. 1-ranked Fighting Irish. They’ve taken on all comers, and beaten almost all of them. A 31-6-3 record in, at worst, college hockey’s second-best conference tells it all. Check out Jackson’s career record in post-season CCHA play: 28-4. Lordy.
- The drama — assuming it still existed — surrounding the Hobey Baker Trophy this season ended at Joe Louis Arena this weekend with Notre Dame goalie David Brown not only winning CCHA Goalie of the Year and Tournament MVP, but besting his prime rival, Michigan’s T.J. Hensick, in the tourney final. Brown surrendered a grand total of one goal in Detroit this weekend.
- One reason you’re not hearing much about teams from the East: their “Beast” is 11-loss Boston College, who bettered New Hampshire in the Hockey East Finals 5-2.
- An ND-ND final in St. Louis? If Notre Dame is the most confident team heading into next weekend, North Dakota may be the most dangerous. Jonathon Toews is playing the best hockey of his two-year collegiate career; Ryan Duncan is one of college hockey’s most prolific scoring forward (52 pts.); T.J. Oshie is a threat on every rush; there is finesse (Brian Lee) and ferocity (Joe Finley) on the blueline; and Philippe Lamoureux is emerging as a legit, go-to no. 1 netminder.
The sixteen teams selected for the single-elimination postseason beginning next weekend will be announced today at 2:30 on ESPN2.
