NCAA Tourney sites for 2008 and 2009.

[NCAA watcher]

http://www.ncaasports.com/icehockey/womens/story/9092513

UMD gets 2008
BU gets 2009.

[ARM]

Congrats to Duluth and Boston. I wonder if Madison has ever bid? They'd be the only out-of-state site that I could realistically reach by car, now that UND has wound up on the wrong side of the mascot ban.

[Hux]

Cool, Boston is only three years off. Hopefully BU and the NCAA will put together a good marketing plan that targets the youth hockey market and will attract the thousands of area girls. And hopefully Mass Hockey will not have their State Championships that weekend.

Last year at UNH the games had decent attendence, but it could have been close to banged out had most of the area youth teams not been playing. I know all of the girl's teams in our league were playing on Sunday afternoon last spring, preventing those girls from attending.

At the US vs HE All-Stars game yesterday there were many of the girls from our league in attendence because the league didn't schedule any games in the afternoon so they would have the opportunity to attend. Obviously a little planning can go a long way to increasing attendence, especially at a centrally located venue like Agganis. Given the growth of the sport, it would be a shame if this event isn't sold out three years from now.

And as for Duluth, who knows, maybe this will be the event that secures a new arena. It would certainly be a great way to open a new building. I wonder if they could get it done in time if they started building next summer?

[dakotadan]

D@mn NC$$! Engelstad Arena hosted the DII men's basketball championship last year. They are hosting the men's hockey west regional this year. They were in the middle of putting together a bid to host a DII women's basketball championship. And I would assume that bids to host future Women's hockey championships were being planned. Obviously we don't have to worry about that now.

I hate the NC$$!

[dave1381]

I don't understand your anger... there was a bid process, UND either didn't submit a bid for this round or didn't win. There will be more Frozen Four sites decided in another couple years. What's the big deal?

[ARM]

Dave, UND was named as part of the NCAA mascot crackdown, so as things now stand, they would not be considered as a host for future NCAA tourneys.