The Draw of the NCAA Hockey Tournament

Although I’m a little late to draw in anyone new to watch this year, the NCAA frozen four tournament is one of my favorite times of the year for sports. For each of the last 3 years, and while I was in college before that, I've taken a Friday off just to sit and watch college hockey games which I have no particular rooting interest in. I decided to take a look at why I find these games so interesting and why you should watch them if you don’t already.

Being from Utica, I have quite the variety of hockey experiences. The Utica Devils, before I can really remember. Followed by CHL/UHL teams in the Bulldogs, Blizzard, and eventually the Prowlers. Eventually, after all of the semi pro teams left, Utica College brought hockey back to the area. Ten years later, they are still thriving, even with the arrival of Utica’s latest pro team, the Comets of the AHL. Given the timeline, most of the experiences I remember are of the Pioneers. Watching years of college hockey here before attending SUNY Brockport and becoming part of one of the best fan bases in D3 (at least while we were there) has certainly influenced the style of hockey that I like to watch.

While I can watch NHL hockey any day of the week, the college game has more draw to me, especially in a loser goes home format. College hockey has a different intensity to it than a typical NHL game does. While it’s trying to compare regular season to playoffs, it is fair at times to do so. As is the case with most college athletics, many of the players on the roster will not make it to play at the top level in their sport. This being said, once the tournament starts, the athletes face the potential that this may be their last game. No one wants to go out a loser, thus the extreme emotion seen in college hockey games.  

There are more intense rivalries in college hockey than in the NHL. Normally rivals in the NHL will play each other about 4 time over the course of an 82 game season. In college, they might play a rival the same number of times, but with only 40 games in a season each game means much more. Especially when only the “top 16” teams get into the tournament. Less when you consider the conferences with automatic bids for their tournament winners. There is also the school spirit part of the intensity. Players dislike each other based on what logo is on their jersey, never mind if they are competing for a single playoff spot. The crowds can get into it as well, even on TV you can hear chants from students and the pep band that travel with the teams. The more energy in the building, the more energy the game seems to absorb. When crossover play starts in the tournament, you see older rivalries that may not get renewed as often, for example the second round game between North Dakota and Minnesota this year. Just because they haven’t played lately, doesn't mean they like each other. 

While fighting isn't part of the college game, it certainly doesn't mean games don’t get heated and physical. Scrums can still happen, instead of throwing punches players have to look to make a big hit to get even later on. Some of that is lost with the hitter being responsible for the player getting hit, but that’s an issue I have for another day.

College hockey is one of the few sports where simply being the better team won’t get you very far. Upsets are common in the tournament. Just take a look at Bemidji State a few years ago. The equivalent of the last team in college basketball made a run all the way to the final four. If your goalie gets hot for the tournament, you can go from an “easy out” to a title contender.

My favorite part of the tournament might be the frequency of games in the first weekend. There are constantly games on from noon until about midnight on the first two days of the tournament. Usually, multiple devices are needed as well, since overlapping games occur with multiple locations being used. Hockey overload is certainly never a bad experience as long as you are prepared.

College hockey is just fun to watch. Whether you cheer for a team year round, pick a team at the start of the tournament, or just watch to see who the next stars might be (i.e. Johnny Gaudreau playing in the championship game and then scoring his first NHL goal a night later). There are plenty of reasons to watch college hockey during the tournament and during the regular season when you can find it.