NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

[MavRick]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

Rick, what in the world do I have to be bitter over? Let's put it this way... if Michigan fans are toolz then UNO fans are the Home Depot. Thanks for playin', though. A bit of pot>kettle> black. Funny how all the cute, old bit acronyms about Michigan get tossed about by neutered cow fans when these two teams get ready to play. Michigan fans: *crickets* and rightly so. Give us a reason to hate you. Better yet, give us a more than a reason to respect you other than tDean and some random wins.

You've officially reached defcon 2 on the "we're the WCHA" bs meter.

Dude...I'm on your side. I think the UNO poster who joined in February and thinks he invented vulcanizing the puck is misrepresenting the fan base and you're rightly calling him out for it. At some point we need to start acting like we've been here before and let results, rather than misty-eyed reverie about 2000, do the talking.

Sure we hate Michigan. But I like you.

It'll be a great game.

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

Fun facts:

- BC's usually reliable PK unit has struggled lately under the stress of giving up too many PPs. In the playoffs so far, opponents have scored 18% of the time on the BC PK unit (82% PK success rate). In the Garden it was even worse, where they surrendered 2 PPGs in each game for a 73% PK success rate. They do however, lead the country in SHGs as well and remain a top penalty killing team in the nation, ranking 4th overall in D1.

- From INCH's CC capsule: "Most of the team's scoring comes on the power play, as the Tigers have tallied 52 times with a man-advantage among their season total of 134 goals. That's nearly 40 percent of the team's lamp-lighters." CC's power play is ranked 10th in the country

Should be interesting. BC needs to take some smart pills and stop taking stupid penalties or it will be their ticket home as I've been saying for months now. BC takes the 13th most penalty minutes per game in D1.

edit - some more on the flip side of the special teams matchup:

- BC is 6th in the country for the PP and they will match up against a 24th ranked PK unit. CC has only scored 3 SHGs. CC is a lot smarter than BC is and is ranked 33rd in the country in penalty minutes per game.

[SJHovey]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

lets only look since 2003 when the "regional sites" got split 4 ways, and the placing of teams really stopped being regional.

There have been years where a regional out east would have 2 wcha and 1 ccha teams; its not truly geographically regional anymore

It only stopped being "regional" (by regional I mean in your own rink or backyard) for Michigan. For the rest of us, we've always had to travel.

From 1992-2003 Michigan played in all 12 regionals. 3 were in their home rink, 2 were in their home-away-from-home, Joe Louis (maybe 25 miles?), 2 were in E. Lansing (50 miles?) and 2 were in Grand Rapids (130 miles?). On a whopping 3 occasions you guys actually had to get in your cars, or on a plane, and go somewhere to see a regional.

By the way, during that same time frame Minnesota and North Dakota played 15 regionals between the two teams. 3 in Worcester, 3 in Minneapolis, 2 in Ann Arbor, 2 in East Lansing, 2 in Madison, 2 in Grand Rapids and 1 in Detroit.

Since 2003, both MN and UND have also had to travel to far flung regionals, frequently with Michigan, as have all other teams.

Candidly, we're really not feeling your pain.

[J.D.]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

exactly. We are tired of the regionals not being in our neck of the woods of South-east Michigan/North-central Ohio. For once we would like to see the regional hosted in Detroit or Toledo. As a student I cannot afford to travel to regionals that require an all day road trip. I still feel like we are being punished for our student section when we hosted at Yost.

Who's to blame for regionals not consistently being in Michigan? I don't know how the bid process works, but it appears your "anger" is being misdirected.

Should be interesting. BC needs to take some smart pills and stop taking stupid penalties or it will be their ticket home as I've been saying for months now. BC takes the 13th most penalty minutes per game in D1.

At least we won't be seeing Hockey East refs

It only stopped being "regional" (by regional I mean in your own rink or backyard) for Michigan. For the rest of us, we've always had to travel.

From 1992-2003 Michigan played in all 12 regionals. 3 were in their home rink, 2 were in their home-away-from-home, Joe Louis (maybe 25 miles?), 2 were in E. Lansing (50 miles?) and 2 were in Grand Rapids (130 miles?). On a whopping 3 occasions you guys actually had to get in your cars, or on a plane, and go somewhere to see a regional.

By the way, during that same time frame Minnesota and North Dakota played 15 regionals between the two teams. 3 in Worcester, 3 in Minneapolis, 2 in Ann Arbor, 2 in East Lansing, 2 in Madison, 2 in Grand Rapids and 1 in Detroit.

Since 2003, both MN and UND have also had to travel to far flung regionals, frequently with Michigan, as have all other teams.

Candidly, we're really not feeling your pain.

Agreed. As a BC fan, I certainly can't complain with Worcester and Manchester consistently getting regionals...and even Bridgeport (even though BC hasn't played there). Just imagine if Alaska was a consistent NCAA tourney participant. Can't please everyone.

[Rich]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

exactly. We are tired of the regionals not being in our neck of the woods of South-east Michigan/North-central Ohio. For once we would like to see the regional hosted in Detroit or Toledo. As a student I cannot afford to travel to regionals that require an all day road trip. I still feel like we are being punished for our student section when we hosted at Yost.

waaah waaah waaaaaa!

Sorry, but this sounds a bit like a kid I knew in High School who was angry at his parents for buying him a new Honda Civic. He had already wrecked a Land Cruiser and a Camaro Z28 that his parents had bought for him previously.

First, if you want a Regional in your area, bid on it and win. Not having a local regional is the fault of the people who didn't bid. No one is punishing you for your student section. Learn about the bid and award process for the regionals before making absurd complaints.

Second, no other school has had as many local regionals as Michigan. Sorry, but those are the facts. Almost every other team's fans need to travel for the regionals every year. For Michigan to need to travel occasionally is just a small taste of what the rest of the college hockey community deals with every year - IF they're fortunate enough to make the tournament.

[wooderson]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

Sheesh, Michigan fan's response to being sent to St Louis? Don't go?:

http://mgoblog.com/content/other-bracket

If that's the way they feel (and I have a hard time believing this is so), then maybe it explains this synopsis:

http://www.westerncollegehockeyblog....nament-bracket

Michigan's apathetic?

No, Brian is trying to encourage Michigan fans to be apathetic. As opposed to half the teams in this tournament whose fans need no such encouragement.

There's a reason the NCAA went against their stated bracket principles to move Michigan to Ft. Wayne last year. There's a reason I started planning my trip to the St. Louis regional before the season even started. There was absolutely no way Michigan was going anywhere other than St. Louis, regardless of seed, and the reason for that sure isn't apathy.

There's plenty of fan bases out there that you can level this charge at, but not the one that is regularly brought in save hopeless regionals like this one.

IMO regionals should be hosted by the #1 seed. I'd rather see full, crazy buildings then half-empty NHL arenas, and it takes away some of the randomness of the tournament.

[J.D.]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

There's a reason the NCAA went against their stated bracket principles to move Michigan to Ft. Wayne last year. There's a reason I started planning my trip to the St. Louis regional before the season even started. There was absolutely no way Michigan was going anywhere other than St. Louis, regardless of seed, and the reason for that sure isn't apathy.

There's plenty of fan bases out there that you can level this charge at, but not the one that is regularly brought in save hopeless regionals like this one.

IMO regionals should be hosted by the #1 seed. I'd rather see full, crazy buildings then half-empty NHL arenas, and it takes away some of the randomness of the tournament.

A couple things here...given how the PWR ended up last year, I think plenty of people expected Miami and Michigan to be in Ft. Wayne. The committee didn't violate any of the rules we've come to learn with the current system.

Disagree that Michigan was destined for St. Louis. At one point, it looked like St. Louis could have had Miami, UND and UNO. There's no need for Michigan if that happened.

[CCtig]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

CC is a very young, hard working team that is gelling at the right time. That's not to say they don't have any talent - but when you compare their skill level and more importantly their experience to BC and other top teams they're definitely less dynamic. They do play a similar up tempo, attacking game to BC, but with only 3 seniors and 4 juniors who play regularly, they're still developing as a team. They will roll four lines no matter what - the 4th line was on the ice with about 2 minutes to go in their deciding first-round WCHA playoff series with a one goal lead. However, they will ride their top 4 defensemen - the top pair often logs 30+ minutes a game. Joe Howe has been good in net, but recently has seemed to give up a very soft early goal before stealing a few late in the game.
Basically, at even strength CC will attack, pressure the opponents everywhere, and finish their checks. They're just as aggressive on the PK. Their downfall has been on the PP, where they have given up a ton of shorthanded goals (11, if I remember correctly). They have 4 F and 1 very offensive defenseman on the top PP unit, and they get burned often. I think the best thing they could do in practice this week is to put a reliable defenseman on the point of their top PP unit.
If they have a weakness other than on the PP, it's at defense. They're solid but not great, and have a few guys who think offense first.

That sounds like a pretty lukewarm description, but part of it has been the opposition they've faced this year. I'd bet that they've faced either the toughest schedule in the country during the second half of the year or nearly the toughest. The average KRACH rating of their opponents since January 22 is HIGHER than the average KRACH of the 16 team NCAA field. That means they've been facing NCAA-tournament caliber teams every week for 8 weeks, and they've won just over half of those games. It also means that they haven't been dominating at all during that stretch, so it's easy to overlook how well they've been playing. When they have won during that stretch it's been due to outworking their opponents, and using that effort to make up for an experience deficit. CC has had some teams in the past that had the dominating kind of skill that BC has this year, but this isn't one of those CC teams.

Blues fans will want to watch Jaden Schwartz. The things that set him apart are his hockey IQ and his vision. He sees and then makes plays that noone at this level should see. But, they're often pretty subtle - a pass that you didn't see coming, or something like that. I don't think he's a spectacular skater, or has a particularly hard or accurate shot, or anything else that would stand out in a skills competition. You can not really notice him on the ice as a great player and check the box score and see that he set up all 3 goals CC scored that game. He does all the little things right as well - he times his cross in front of the net just so he arrives when the puck is passed there, and he is responsible defensively. Jaden led the WCHA (not just freshmen - the entire league) in points per game with 1.47. He missed part of the year with a broken ankle, so his totals were modest.

Thank you Rich, I was hoping you would post about the team.

[CCtig]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

exactly. We are tired of the regionals not being in our neck of the woods of South-east Michigan/North-central Ohio. For once we would like to see the regional hosted in Detroit or Toledo. As a student I cannot afford to travel to regionals that require an all day road trip. I still feel like we are being punished for our student section when we hosted at Yost.

No complaints here, I"ll be hitting the road early Thursday morning driving 800 miles from Colorado Springs to St. Louis to support Colorado College. Which means I'll be driving through the entire state of Kansas!! If you have done that before you know what I mean. If you have not, no words can describe!

Go CC Tigers!!

[kdilks]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

2011: West Regional (St. Louis, MO)
2010: Midwest Regional (Ft. Wayne, IN)
2009: Midwest Regional (Grand Rapids, MI)
2007: Midwest Regional (Grand Rapids, MI)
2005: Midwest Regional (Grand Rapids, MI)
2004: Midwest Regional (Grand Rapids, MI)
2003: Midwest Regional (Ann Arbor, MI)
2002: West Regional (Ann Arbor, MI)*
2001: West Regional (Grand Rapids, MI)*
1998: West Regional (Ann Arbor, MI)*
1997: West Regional (Grand Rapids, MI)*
1996: West Regional (East Lansing, MI)*
1994: West Regional (East Lansing, MI)*
1993: West Regional (Detroit, MI)*
1992: West Regional (Detroit, MI)*

Since the switch to Regional Sites, there have been 20 NCAA Tournaments. There has been at least one in Michigan in 13 years, and in "CCHA" territory 15 years. That leaves 5 years where there were no Regionals in CCHA territory (1995*, 1999*, 2000*, 2006, 2008). In that same time span, there have been 8 years in which there were no Regionals in WCHA territory. Saying that the WCHA gets both the Midwest and West regionals "on a fairly regular basis" is completely untrue. In fact, the CCHA has received far more regionals since they came into being than the WCHA.

* = only 1 regional for the "West"

The tournament format changes, the committee changes, so things that happened 10+ years ago have little bearing on what's going to happen in the immediate future. Additionally, there's only been four regionals since 2003, so over half your data set is irrelevant.

2 out of the last 6 have had two regionals go to the WCHA. IMO, 1 would have been too many.

[kdilks]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

Ft. Wayne is a decent geographical site for the CCHA (last year) I think the Toledo building would be perfect in geography and for capacity as well (8K i believe) nhl buildings are way too big for regional sites. and Van andel in Grand Rapids decided not to bid again due to bad attendance/ draws in 2007 and especially 2009

They ruined the Fort Wayne regional because (for reasons that I don't think ever got explained), they moved the championship game from Sunday afternoon to Sunday evening. Even with the two ideal teams in the championship game, attendance was abysmal because nobody wanted to be out that late when they had to go to work the next day. I wouldn't be surprised if they just looked at the teams playing and the attendance figures, and assume that it's impossible to draw people to Fort Wayne.

[kdilks]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

First, if you want a Regional in your area, bid on it and win. Not having a local regional is the fault of the people who didn't bid. No one is punishing you for your student section. Learn about the bid and award process for the regionals before making absurd complaints.

Yes, let's learn some, shall we?

"A media spokesman for Tom Jacobs, the NCAA Director of Championships, said that the reason the Regionals have not been at Yost has less to do with the offensive language than the fact that having the game at Yost gives Michigan an unfair competitive advantage."

http://www.michigandaily.com/content...-hockey-chants

Keeping in mind, other schools like Minnesota and Colorado College have been allowed to host regionals on their home ice since then.

[acs64]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

I'm gonna go out on a very short limb here and say that Merrymack is our next NC....oh, whoops they're not in this regional.....sorry

[Rich]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

Yes, let's learn some, shall we?

"A media spokesman for Tom Jacobs, the NCAA Director of Championships, said that the reason the Regionals have not been at Yost has less to do with the offensive language than the fact that having the game at Yost gives Michigan an unfair competitive advantage."

http://www.michigandaily.com/content...-hockey-chants

Keeping in mind, other schools like Minnesota and Colorado College have been allowed to host regionals on their home ice since then.

Sorry, but if you think that being prevented from stacking the deck in your favor is punishment, I don't think there's much of a way to have a constructive dialog on the issue. The fact of the matter is that almost every other team has to travel every year they make the NCAAs. Whining about it is silly. For years Michigan had an unfair advantage that was taken away, but that does not mean that they're being punished. There are other hockey arenas in Michigan that could host a Regional, and all you have to do is put together a bid. If you don't like Regionals going to WCHA teams, then put together a winning bid.

Heck - the BC fans are complaining a lot less and they would have a better argument.

[kdilks]

Re: NCAA West Regional - 3/25, 3/26 - BC, Michigan, UNO, CC

Sorry, but if you think that being prevented from stacking the deck in your favor is punishment, I don't think there's much of a way to have a constructive dialog on the issue. The fact of the matter is that almost every other team has to travel every year they make the NCAAs. Whining about it is silly. For years Michigan had an unfair advantage that was taken away, but that does not mean that they're being punished. There are other hockey arenas in Michigan that could host a Regional, and all you have to do is put together a bid. If you don't like Regionals going to WCHA teams, then put together a winning bid.

Heck - the BC fans are complaining a lot less and they would have a better argument.

If other schools are still allowed to host regionals at their home rink...then yes, we are being punished.

Also, I seem to recall making road trips to Bridgeport and Albany in recent history... .