2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament
Update – teams who qualified for 2012 Frozen Four – Ferris State Bulldogs, Union Dutchmen, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Boston College Eagles.
NORTHEAST – at Worcester, MA. Host, College of the Holy Cross.
#1: Boston College vs.
#4: Air Force
#3: Maine vs.
#2: Minnesota–Duluth
March 25, 2012 at Worcester, MA – Boston College 4, Minnesota-Duluth 0.
The Boston College Eagles advance to the 2012 Frozen Four (their 23rd Frozen Four appearance, and their first since 2010, when they won their 4th NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament title).
Photo credit above – Melissa Wade/uscho.com.
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WEST – at St. Paul, MN. Host, University of Minnesota.
#1: North Dakota vs.
#4: Western Michigan
#3: Boston University vs.
#2: Minnesota
March 25, 2012 at St. Paul, MN – Minnesota 5, North Dakota 2.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers advance to the 2012 Frozen Four (their 20th Frozen Four appearance, and their first since 2005).
Photo credit above – Tim Baum/photo.uscho.com/[photo gallery North Dakota vs. Minnesota 3-25-2012].
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EAST- at Bridgeport, CT. Hosts, Yale University and Fairfield University.
#1: Union College vs.
#4: Michigan State
#3: Massachusetts–Lowell vs.
#2: Miami (of Ohio)
March 24, 2012 at Bridgeport, CT – Union College 4, Massachusetts-Lowell 2.
The Union Dutchmen advance to the 2012 Frozen Four (their first-ever Frozen Four appearance).
Photo credit above – Union Dutchmen celebrate after clinching their first-ever trip to the Division I Frozen Four, photo by Trent Hermann/Union Athletics at unionathletics.com.
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MIDWEST – at Green Bay, WI. Host, Michigan Technological University.
#1: Michigan vs.
#4: Cornell
#3: Denver vs.
#2: Ferris State
March 24, 2012 at Green Bay, WI – Ferris State 2, Cornell 1.
The Ferris State Bulldogs advance to the 2012 Frozen Four (their first-ever Division I Frozen Four appearance).
Photo credit above – ferrisstatebulldogs.com via photo.uscho.com/[photo gallery Ferris State vs. Cornell 3-24-2012].
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FROZEN FOUR
National Semifinals & Final – at Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida.
Hosts, Univesity of Alabama-Huntsvile and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission.
NORTHEAST winner vs. WEST winner
EAST winner vs. MIDWEST winner.
FINAL (2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey National Championship Game):
APRIL 7, 2012 AT 7:00 EDT.
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Division I Tournament – live blog, scores, schedule, articles (USCHO.com).
‘2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
A video from espn.go.com, a three-minute ESPN Sportscenter preview of the tournament, ‘Division I men’s ice hockey tourney‘.
From ncaa.com, 2012 Bracket.
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Breakdown of the 16 qualifying teams in the 2012 tournament, by the 5 Division I conferences (with links) -
Reigning champion – Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, of the WCHA (the Bulldogs’ first NCAA Division I hockey title was won in 2011).
CCHA, ‘Central Collegiate Hockey Association‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
http://www.ccha.com/
5 teams in the 2012 tournament from the CCHA – Ferris State Bulldogs, Miami (of Ohio) RedHawks, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, Western Michigan Broncos.
WCHA, ‘Western Collegiate Hockey Association‘ (en.wikipedia.org)
http://www.wcha.com/
4 teams in the 2012 tournament from the WCHA – Denver Pioneers, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, North Dakota Fighting Sioux.
Hockey East, ‘Hockey East‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
http://www.hockeyeastonline.com/
4 teams in the 2012 tournament from Hockey East – Boston College Eagles, Boston University Terriers, Maine Black Bears, UMass-Lowell Riverhawks.
ECAC Hockey, ‘ECAC Hockey’ (en.wikipedia.org).
http://www.ecachockey.com/
2 teams in the 2012 tournament from ECAC Hockey – Cornell Big Red, Union College Dutchmen.
Atlantic Hockey, ‘Atlantic Hockey‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
http://www.atlantichockeyonline.com/
1 team in the 2012 tournament from Atlantic Hockey – Air Force Academy Falcons.
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The map on the map page shows the locations of the 16 teams that have qualified for the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament. Accompanying each team’s dot on the map is either their primary logo or their script logo from one of their current sweaters. At the upper left-hand corner of the map page is a brief description of the selection process, with the four #1 seeded teams listed.
To the right of that, at the top-center of the map page, are the 16 teams in the tournament, listed by 2011-12 average home attendance.
Here is where I got the attendance data from: ‘Men’s Division I Hockey Attendance: 2011-2012‘ (USCHO.com).
Accompanying columns list the following – the schools’ locations, and the teams’ conferences; plus 4 aspects of each team’s attendance data… 2011-12 average attendance and rank (from home, regular season games), percentage-change from 2010-11, stadium capacity, and 2011-12 percent-capacity [Percent-capacity equals average attendance divided by stadium capacity].
Finally, at the far right-hand side of the map page are 2 lists. The top list shows NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament titles (with the year of last title). The list below that shows All-time NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament Frozen Four appearances (with the year of their last Frozen Four appearance).
One thing you should be aware of is that, as opposed to the logos on the map itself, for the 3 charts I used different logos (tiny icon-sized logos) for some of the teams. I did did because of easier visibility (when the logos are shrunk so much) – not very consistent of me, I know, but I figured it wouldn’t cause confusion on a map that features only 16 teams.
One note…both these lists on the far right-hand side of the map page are for ALL teams in the 58-team Division I men’s Ice Hockey set-up, not just the 16 teams who have qualified for the tournament this season. I make this note because on some of my NCAA Basketball Tournament maps, I have listed only the participating teams’ all-time tournament appearances and touirnament titles, but here, with the ice hockey tournament, I am listing NCAA Division I Titles and Frozen Four appearances of all the teams in Division I. I did it this way for two reasons. The far smaller size of Division I men’s ice hockey made it both feasible to include a comprehensive list – there are 58 teams in NCAA Division I men’s hockey, versus 345 teams in NCAA Division I men’s basketball – and sort of pointless to list the more run-of-the-mill accomplishment of simply qualifying. 68 divided by 345 equals 19.7 %, which means that 19.7% of Division I men’s basketball teams make March Madness each year / while 16 divided by 58 equals 27.5%, which means that 27.5% of Division I men’s ice hockey teams make the NCAA Tournament each year.
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The Hobey Baker Award is given each season to the top NCAA college hockey player [ Hobey Baker was a military veteran and Princeton graduate who played varsity hockey. Baker died in 1918 in France during World War I as a test pilot. ] The first Hobey Baker Award was given in 1981, and was won by Minnesota-born Minnesota Golden Gophers and 1980 US Olympic hockey team Gold Medalist Center Neal Broten. Other notable Hobey Baker Award winners are Ducks/Avalanche/Predators/Blues Canadian-born Left Winger Paul Kariya (in 1993, as a player on the Maine Black Bears), and East Lansing, Michigan-born Buffalo Sabres Goaltender Ryan Miller (in 2001, as a player on the Michigan State Spartans). ‘Hobey Baker Award‘ (en.wikipedia.org).
Below are the Hobey Baker Award finalists for 2012 (10 players), plus the top statistical leaders for 2011-12 …(photos and stats of 17 players).
Note: 4 of the Hobey Baker Award finalists are listed immediately below but shown in the stats leaders’ section further down.
From NHL.com, from March 15 2012, ‘10 finalists announced for Hobey Baker Award‘.
Photo credits above – Shaun Hurtwick, AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt via espn.go.com. Tim Kirby, postbulletin.com. Torey Krug, msuspartans.com. Brian Dumoulin, Boston College via pressherald.com. Justin Schultz: collegehockeynews.com. Reilly Smith, stars.nhl.com.
Below: the 8 Points leaders (as measured by Goals + Assists), and the 3 top goaltenders (as measured by Goals Against Average), in the 2011-12 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey season (note: stats include regular season and conference playoffs) -
Photo credits above – Spencer Abbott, mainehockeyjournal.com/abbott-enjoying-a-memorable-season-with-black-bears. Jack Connolly, Melissa Wade/uscho.com. Ausrin Smith, alliance.pucksystems.com. Drew Shore, Melissa Wade/uscho.com. Travis Oleksuk, wcha.com. Chris Wagner, collegehockeynews.com. Brett Gensler, bentleyfalcons.com wcha.com. Mark Zengerle, Erica Treais/uscho.com. Connor Knapp, buffalonews.com. Chris Noonan, buffalonews.com. Troy Grosineck, John Carl D’Annibale/timesunion.com.
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Thanks to Jayson Moy at the Bracketology blog at USCHO.com site.
Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org, ‘NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship‘ ; ‘List of NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four appearances by school‘.
Thanks to blindschalet.com for the Michigan Wolverines logo.
Thanks to New Hampshire Wildcats store, for the UNH hockey sweater script logo.
Thanks to Gamewornauctions.net, for the Clarkson hockey sweater script logo.
Thanks to shop.uscho.com/College_Hockey_Jerseys for the Miami (of Ohio) hockey sweater logo, and the Vermont hockey sweater logo.
Thanks to the article from bleacherreport.com, by Nicholas Goss, from Sept. 6 2011, ‘The 50 Best Non-NHL Hockey Jerseys of All Time‘ (Minnesota hockey sweater script logo).
Thanks to sketchup.google.com, for the Providence College Friars Hockey Team Logo.
Thanks to Northeastern Univ. store, for Northeastern Huskies hockey sweater logo.
Thanks to Two Hearted River at en.wikipedia.org, for the college hockey teams’ sweater logo illustrations used on the map (at each team’s Wikipedia page, such as UMass-Lowell’s, here).
Thanks to USCHO.com, for stats and coverage.