Gophers come back to spoil Falcons upset bid

Air Force came out in full force in their first ever NCAA Tournament appearence and almost got away with a win against the Minnesota Gophers at the Pepsi Center Saturday. It looked like it may happen when AF took a 3-1 lead 5 minutes into the 3rd period until the Gophers woke up and scored three goals to finish off the Falcons and avoid a 2nd straight 1st round loss in the NCAA Tournament, nonetheless to another AHA team. This was an interesting game for a fan of CO hockey simply because it pitted a home town team against the WCHA powerhouse from the north. Personally, I would have liked to see AF win since it was their first time ever in the tourney, but I really like to see the WCHA do well, even if Minnesota has dominated almost everyone this year. At least it's not DU right?!

In other conference news, St. Cloud State was eliminated in the first round, falling 4-1 to the Maine Black Bears on Friday night, leaving the WCHA with 2 surviving teams. When I wrote this entry, North Dakota was up on evil Michigan 7-5 early in the 3rd period.

NCAA Tournament Selection

With the NCAA Tournament ready to start in full force, it's always fun to look at the selection process and drama that some teams had to endure. There are a few things that I have found to be a little off about this tourney. Granted, I'm not a selection process expert and will never try to be, but I have to wonder why the WCHA was only give 3 spots since it is widely considered to be THE top conference in the country and had 5 teams finish the season strong. Based on late season play, Wisconsin should have gotten a bid and even Denver could have been given serious consideration. I know I've seen numerous articles talking about this topic. Hockey East has 5 teams from a conference that is almost universally considered a weaker conference than the WCHA. It just proves the point I have been mentioning since I started this thing; the media are fixated on the teams out east and pass over the stronger WCHA, just because it's not on the E-coast. Another thing that urked me was that two of the best teams in the tourney (North Dakota and Minnesota) are in the same bracket. Yes Denver's Pepsi Center is "WCHA Home Turf", but this bracket also ensures that at least 1 WCHA team will not make the Frozen Four. I can't help but think that is has something to do with the all WCHA Frozen Four a few years back. Seems to me we are getting the short end on this one!