John U. Bacon wrote a very nice tribute to Fred Fragner, who passed away after a long battle with cancer this past Monday. Fragner was the father of former Michigan walk-on Chris Fragner, and at one time, for one season, a coach for one of the teams I played on. Though I didn't know him as well, I'll definitely echo Bacon's sentiments.
Ferris State beat Ohio State in a shootout last night, which clears up the CCHA pictures a little bit heading into tonight and tomorrow. Michigan State is now locked into 10th place. The highest the Buckeyes can get in the CCHA now is 7th place.
Mankato is still trying to keep up with the rest of the WCHA, or at least keep up with the defunct Minnesota-Crookston program by hoping they can get some state funding for arena upgrades. There's a bit of a civics lesson in looking at the Division I arenas in the state of Minnesota, with four state-of-the-art arenas that were funded by state taxpayers, and one adequate arena funded solely by local taxpayers. It's perhaps not the best investment to throw state funding at an arena upgrade, but it was apparently worthwhile enough for all the other programs. I know two wrongs don't make a right, but how about four of them?
Saturday was shaping up to be a pretty big day in Minnesota with some huge semifinal match-ups in the Twin Cities two toughest sections. It's still going to be fantastic hockey, but the scouting community weeps as Holy Angels, led by potential NHL draft pick Joseph LaBate, was upset by Prior Lake last night. Prior Lake did have an upset over Bloomington Jefferson this year, so they're not a bad team by any stretch, but it's still a bit of a surprise.
Wisconsin lost a recruit in forward Cody Strang, who won't qualify to play for the Badgers next year.