2023-24 NCAA Division I Hockey Thread

[JMCx4]

A preview of today's DI women's national championship final, courtesy of SBNation's Land-Grant Holy Land blog ... Ohio State and Wisconsin meet again in the women’s hockey NCAA Championship Game

And the view from College Hockey Inc. ... NCAA Frozen Four: Badgers, Buckeyes Back at it


The championship game will be streamed on ESPN+ starting @ 4 PM ET.

 

[Rob]

I didn’t realize it had been 12 years since BC last win the Hockey East title. Beat the number two team with relative ease. This team is absolutely stacked.

Fowler with the save of the year during the third period. It should be on every highlight reel this week.

 

[Dakota Sioux]

I didn’t realize it had been 12 years since BC last win the Hockey East title. Beat the number two team with relative ease. This team is absolutely stacked.

Fowler with the save of the year during the third period. It should be on every highlight reel this week.

It’s BC’s to lose at this point.12 wins in a row

 

[JMCx4]

... Fowler with the save of the year during the third period. It should be on every highlight reel this week.

I believe you're citing this play ...

https://x.com/JDylanBurke/status/1771715328197705934

It was immediately exciting, but I have two caveats:
(1) After watching the replay several times, I'm not sure Fowler intentionally released his stick so he could use both hands to block the shot (as the PbP guys speculated); and
(2) Even if BU had scored on that play they would've still been trailing 4-2, so the save was more internet pablum than it was an historic action in a pivotal moment in the game.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

The logic of Pairwise is understandable - make the system transparent and eliminate bias.

But when two fifth-place teams and a sixth-place team (UMass, Omaha, and Western Michigan) get in ahead of the third-place team in one of the top two leagues in the country I'm not sure the system passes the eye test.

 

[JMCx4]

Any process constructed to "eliminate bias" will present some conflict with emotional "eye test" ideals. But maybe this year's perceived unfairness will draw enough attention that the Committee will make changes to tweak their process for the future. Meanwhile, I'm pleased with the variety of 2024's "Slick 16."

ETA: For the record, the NCAA doesn't use the USCHO.com PairWise formulations to determine the top 16 teams. The PairWise is a separately developed set of formulas that has simply (or not so simply) yielded equivalent historical outcomes to the Committee's decisions. Sometimes math imitates reality.

 

[JMCx4]

2024 DI men's brackets announced, see below with a text version containing more info.

NCAA.COM | MARCH 24, 2024

2024 DI men's ice hockey championship selections announced

… The dates, sites, times and pairings of this year’s championship are as follows:

Maryland Heights Regional, March 29-31
Centene Community Ice Center, Maryland Heights, Missouri

Friday, March 29, 5:00 p.m. ET, ESPNU
No. 1 Michigan St. (24-9-3) vs. No. 4 Western Mich. (21-15-1)

Friday, March 29, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU
No. 2 North Dakota (26-11-2) vs. No. 3 Michigan (21-14-3)

Sunday, March 31, 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Maryland Heights Regional Championship


Providence Regional, March 29-31
Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, Rhode Island

Friday, March 29, 2:00 p.m., ET, ESPNU
No. 1 Boston College (31-5-1) vs. No. 4 Michigan Tech (19-14-6)

Friday, March 29, 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPNews
No. 2 Wisconsin (26-11-2) vs. No. 3 Quinnipiac (26-9-2)

Sunday, March 31, 4:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Providence Regional Championship


Sioux Falls Regional, March 28-30
Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Thursday, March 28, 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU
No. 1 Boston U. (26-9-2) vs. No. 4 Rochester Institute of Technology (27-10-2)

Thursday, March 28, 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU
No. 2 Minnesota (22-10-5) vs. No. 3 Omaha (23-12-4)

Saturday, March 30, 6:30 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNU
Sioux Falls Regional Championship


Springfield Regional, March 28-30
Mass Mutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts

Thursday, March 28, 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN2
No. 1 Denver (28-9-3) vs. No. 4 Massachusetts (20-13-3)

Thursday, March 28, 5:30 p.m. Eastern time, ESPNews
No. 2 Maine (23-11-2) vs. No. 3 Cornell (21-6-6)

Saturday, March 30, 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN2
Springfield Regional Championship


Men’s Frozen Four, April 11 and 13
Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Thursday, April 11, 5 and 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN2 (order of games TBD)
Providence Regional Champion vs. Maryland Heights Regional Champion
Springfield Regional Champion vs. Sioux Falls Regional Champion

Saturday, April 13, 6 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN2
National Championship ...

 

[Dakota Sioux]

 

[AUS Fan]

View attachment 841133

How will you fit 5K fans in a rink that holds 3K?

 

[JMCx4]

How will you fit 5K fans in a rink that holds 3K?

If you're referring to the USA Arena @ Centene Ice-Maryland Heights, make that second number 2,500. But the good news is: My pair of First Round tickets suddenly became quite valuable.

 

[Dakota Sioux]

If you're referring to the USA Arena @ Centene Ice-Maryland Heights, make that second number 2,500. But the good news is: My pair of First Round tickets suddenly became quite valuable.

Lucky you. The NCAA is a joke. UND travels the best of any school in the country and the 3 Michigan teams travel fairly well too. Dumb to have them in a barn that only holds 2500

 

[JMCx4]

Lucky you. The NCAA is a joke. UND travels the best of any school in the country and the 3 Michigan teams travel fairly well too. Dumb to have them in a barn that only holds 2500

With the Frozen Four coming to St. Louis in 2025, I've gotta think the NCAA threw this bone to the Blues & the other Centene Ice partners for some synergistic business reasons. Those reasons may become clearer to the public in the weeks & months after the Regional.

 

[Dakota Sioux]

With the Frozen Four coming to St. Lpuis in 2025, I've gotta think the NCAA threw this bone to the Blues & the other Centene Ice partners for some synergistic business reasons. Those reasons may become clearer to the public in the weeks & months after the Regional.

Firm believer in having top 8 teams play at home then have 2 regions and then the frozen four. Most of these regional sites are half empty or worse

 

[JMCx4]

Firm believer in having top 8 teams play at home then have 2 regions and then the frozen four. Most of these regional sites are half empty or worse

Well, then, that second part won't be an issue at Centene Ice. Parking, on the other hand ...

 

[JMCx4]

Re. ticketing for the 2024 DI men's Midwest Regional, the St. Louis Sports Commission event page mentions standing room only tickets. So I guess Centene Ice will be able to squeeze in more than the advertised 2500-seat capacity, up to the facility's municipal fire safety limit. Now where did I put my turnout gear-slash-hockey jersey ... ?

 

[JMCx4]

Since we're on the sub-topic, here are some early looks at the competitors in the DI men's Midwest Regional matchups ...

• MSN.com/MLive: After emotional week, Michigan State hockey’s NCAA draw also includes rival

• WMU Broncos Sports News: Hockey Makes History By Earning Berth to Third Straight NCAA Tournament

• MSN.com/MLive: Michigan draws college hockey blue blood in first round of NCAA Tournament

• KVRR-TV: NoDak Receives 2-seed; Plays Michigan in Maryland Heights NCAA Regional Friday

 

[JMCx4]

Same treatment for the DI men's Sioux Falls Regional competitors ...

• The Rink Live: No. 2 overall seed Boston makes long trip west as headlining act in Sioux Falls Regional

• RIT News: Tigers advance to NCAA tournament with goal of Frozen Four

• University of Minnesota Men's Hockey: Gophers Head to Sioux Falls for NCAA Regional

• Omaha World-Herald: Omaha hockey will face Minnesota in first round of NCAA tournament

 

[JMCx4]

Hopping Back East to the Providence Regional teams ...

• Boston Herald: No. 1 Boston College to face Michigan Tech in Providence Regional

• Michigan Tech Huskies Hockey: Tech Hockey | NCAA Bracket Reaction | 03.24.24

• Badgers Wire/USA Today: Wisconsin men’s hockey earns high seed in 2024 NCAA Tournament

• Stamford Advocate: Quinnipiac to begin NCAA title defense in Providence vs. Wisconsin

 

[JMCx4]

And anticipatory news on the Springfield Regional matchups ...

• University of Denver Pioneers News: Denver Faces UMass as a No. 1 Seed in NCAA Hockey Tournament

• UMass Athletics: Massachusetts Hockey Returns To NCAA Tournament For Fifth Time In Program History

• Portland Press Herald: Maine will face Cornell in first round of NCAA Tournament

• Cornell Big Red Men's Hockey News: #14 Men's Hockey Bound for Springfield Regional, Face #7 Maine

 

[Dakota Sioux]

 

[JMCx4]

Maybe Centene Ice could sell extra tickets to their other three rinks (two indoor, one outdoor), and set up video screens.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

So let me get this straight - the NCAA is holding a regional in Sioux Falls but one of the teams in the field of 16 can no longer use the name?

 

[JMCx4]

The Midwest Regional capacity issues are starting to stir main stream media responses ...

... The (Centene Community Ice Center) arena has 2,500 permanent seats, far below the standard requirement of 5,000 in the NCAA Site Selection Process packet.

According to the NCAA, the arena will include standing room-only tickets that will increase capacity to 3,148 seats for the weekend tournament. Each school in the regional is allotted 400 tickets for season tickets holders and VIPs.

According to data from the NCAA, average attendance at regionals has ranged from 7,000 to 13,000 since 2018.

In a statement, the NCAA said there weren’t a lot of sites in the western part of the country that bid for the regionals:

“The NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee evaluated all bids for the 2024 regional sites in the winter of 2020, however only a few venues in the western part of the country submitted bids for the four-year cycle. Given the limited number of sites in the geographical area, the committee chose the best options to enhance the experience of the student-athletes and coaches.”

NCAA​

The NCAA also says the selection of the smaller arena was an opportunity to have a regional in the same market as next year’s Frozen Four. The Blues will host the 2025 championship at the Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis. ...

 

[joestevens29]

View attachment 841429

Saw this yesterday, what a debacle.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Eh... Michigan State over Denver in the final.