Chillin at the Frozen Four

Day one out of the way. Two great games. It's nice not having the old anxiety from BC or Miami being in the games (not that I wouldn't have minded the Eagles being there for another run).

Game one turned on special teams. Duluth was great on the power play and Notre Dame was terrible short-handed (despite the shorty goal). Too many penalties and they paid for it.

Game two was all about Shawn Hunwick. If Michigan wins Saturday, his name should be gilded at the University of Michigan for bringing home #10. He looked like Tim Thomas at his Vezina best. Not perfect from a stylistic perspective but positionally getting himself where he needed to be to make the big saves when they mattered. His poke check on Danny Kristo in the third was particularly crafty. Still rooting for Duluth on Saturday but Hunwick stole the whole show tonight.

Seen and heard around the stadium:

- Convinced Mrs. Pike to wear her Miami jersey to the tourney and she ran into another Miami fan who gave her a homemade Miami bracelet and earrings. Needless to say, she is happy she took my advice.

- Had more that one fan throw a jab at me for having my BC jersey on. Seemed to want to get me to rise to the fact that they didn't make it this year. It's OK - 3 titles in 10 years. I'm alright with how they've done and can hold my head high wearing my jersey no matter how they do in a particular year.

- North Dakota had far and away the most quantity and quality of fans. You would have thought we were in Grand Forks with all the green in that building. They were loud and ruined the national anthem as usual (what happens when they aren't the Sioux anymore? Does it become "home of the Warriors" or whatever their new name is? - don't think it will have quite the same ring). Makes we wonder how empty the building will be on Saturday now that they've lost.

- Saw 26 different jerseys worn by fans tonight. Outside of the 4 teams playing (and BC and Miami) we had Minnesota (expected), UNH, Maine, Wisconsin, Cornell, Northern Michigan, St. Cloud State, RPI, Union, BU (ugh), Ohio State, Lake Superior State, Colorado College, Bemidji State, Clarkson, Nebraska-Omaha, Robert Morris, RIT, Denver, and even Alaska-Anchorage (thought of you Pobble).

Off to the Twins home opener tomorrow. I'll try to give some thoughts on the finals later this weekend.