Boston College is Your National Champion

I got to write the fun notebook about Boston College's win. I'll admit to not being overly familiar with Boston College coming into the weekend, but they really impressed me both on and off the ice.

If he hadn't already, Jerry York continued to cement his place as one of the greatest college hockey coaches of all time. But what I really like about him is he never puts himself out in front of the success he's had. A couple times over the past two weeks he's reiterated the fact that he's been blessed with some amazing recruits that have really made the difference.

Speaking of that, I feel like part of the reason for Boston College's amazingly successful run, is they're really one of the only big fish in their recruiting pond out East, outside of Boston University, and maybe New Hampshire. Out west, I'd consider Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Michigan as regular potential destinations for Grade A-type prospects, with Denver perhaps possibly counting as well. The very best guys get a little more spread out.(Sidenote on why recruiting matters: Four years ago, Wisconsin beat out Michigan for Blake Geoffrion. Michigan beat out Wisconsin for Brian Lebler. Anybody think this season would have been a little different if those two guys went the opposite way?)

For all the talk and worrying about how the conditions of Ford Field would affect the Frozen Four, the one thing I don't think anybody ever took into account was the quality of the hockey games, and sadly, all three games ended up being duds. Yes, the atmosphere was sparse inside Ford Field, but you could have played those games in any tiny bandbox arena in the country and the atmosphere still would have sucked. It was very loud when Wisconsin took the ice for the championship, but there were zero occasions to cheer for the Badgers after that.

As for Ford Field as a host itself, I liked it, and I still think it was a success. Mike Eaves said the ice was slow and soft tonight, but I'm betting a good deal of that frustration had more to do with his team being slow and soft. It wasn't a perfect event, but there was a lot more good than bad, and getting 37,000 people at a hockey game really says something. Detroit did an excellent job as a host, and that went a long ways towards making it an enjoyable trip for people.

Should something like this be replicated again? I don't know. The only two venues I would even consider would be Ford Field and the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Ford Field worked, but I don't know if you can go back to that well too soon. Personally, I was pretty pleased at the notion that last time I walked out of the Metrodome, I would never have to go there again, but it might be at least worth looking into.

Finally, I can't end the Frozen Four stuff without pointing out the irony of the NCAA not allowing ads on the rink, but having "Corporate Champions" How come Coca-Cola can buy their own NCAA championship and yet John Calipari gets his season vacated every time he tries to do it?