The NCAA hockey tournament starts Friday afternoon, so hurry and download the NCAA hockey Frozen Four brackets (available here). Fill them out and confuse your friends when you complain about Quinnipiac busting your bracket.
I’ll take all comers in the fourth (semi)-annual Daneeka’s Ghost Hockey Madness Sweepstakes. Winner gets … I don’t know … my undying admiration.
Defending Champ: Rhubarb Runner (2011, the last time I ran this thing)
Three years of admiration is enough for Mr. Runner. Take your best shot!
Those who emailed me picks, I have entered them into the grand official spreadsheet.
I like the confidence in using the "Actual Spoiler" tag. Added to the spreadsheet.
haha. to be honest, i was going to put something snarky there, but then lost my train of thought.
I am going to fill out a first round too, I just kind of copied your format and made it my own.
First round = 1 pt
Second round = 2 pts
Third round = 4 pts
Champion = 8 pts
In the event of a tie, I will develop a byzantine tiebreaker system which is specifically designed to favor my own entry over anyone else.
Spreadsheet here
Union-Vermont is underway.
The big game today for this competition is Wisconsin-N. Dakota, lots of people picking both those teams going deep.
Back in the day (early 80's), that Wis/UND rivalry was big. Fights breaking out during warmups, even
Ha-ha! Now I've even made the spreadsheet public so that other people can see it!
/so benevolent
No other love for Boston College kind of surprises me.
Let me guess -- you picked the Yankees, too?
No. I didnt pick the Gophers.
Uncle Walt and I are virtually identifical except for a couple of games in the Midwest. That could be interesting. Rowsdower and DG practically identifical too, although they are already a point behind after one game.
Me and DW have nearly identical first rounds, but diverge pretty wildly after that. Me and Rhu_ru have the same Frozen Four.
Great minds and all that, free.
Go Providence!
Congrats on the last perfect bracket, sir.
Ugh, I was off to such a good*start too. Dang "Quinnipac" for being so fun to say.
*1-1 is still 100%
Bwahahaha. I'm terrible at this.
Serves ya right, backing Bucky.
I only did it to ensure their early exit, I swear!
Got it. Your strategy is too sophisticated for me.
Standings after Day 1:
Beau - 4 points
AMR - 3 points
UncleWalt - 3 points
Rhu_Ru - 3 points (one Frozen Four out)
Freealonzo - 2 points
Mags - 2 points (runner-up out)
Wattsy - 1 point (one Frozen Four out)
Rowsdower - 1 point (champion and runner-up out)
DG - 1 point (champion and runner-up out)
I obviously know what I'm doing.
I was not impressed with neither NoDak nor Bucky (they looked like they were skating on molasses). I feel confident in my Ferris St. pick tomorrow.
1-4 in todays game. AWESOME
with a batting average like that, I can come north with the Twins.
BC up 5-0 on Denver. I feel that Beau's perfect bracket is in trouble.
Yeah having BC and Minnesota losing in first round was always a weakness of that bracket. Nice Friday however.
NoDak v. Ferris still tied at 1 in the third. Big result for the brackets here, AMR, free, or UncleWalt could take the lead depending on tonight's results.
forget taking the lead, it's life breath for some of us
Assuming Mankato State doesn't score, the Ferris v Sue game could determine the whole bracket contest between me and Walt (almost)
Beau has Union and Wattsy has BC, but the field is narrowing.
You or UncleWalt will be eliminated from winning this thing based on the ND/Ferris result.
UncleWalt is looking like a juggernaut here.
He and Beau will be 1,2 after 2 days.
I'm going to need MN and UM-Lowell...
Standings after Day 2:
UncleWalt - 11 points -- 31 points possible (perfect day 2!)
Beau - 10 points -- 30 points possible
Freealonzo - 8 points -- 28 points possible
AMR - 8 points -- 14 points possible
Rhu_Ru - 7 points -- 21 points possible
Mags - 6 points -- 20 points possible
DWatts - 5 points -- 19 points possible
Rowsdower - 4 points -- 6 points possible
DG - 3 points -- 5 points possible
Myself, Rowsdower, AMR, Mags, Free are all out as far as winning the whole thing.
Out after day 2...dang, that's not good
Funny. My picks are more aspirational than predictive. I want the Gophers to go through St. Cloud, ND and BC for the title.
Hope I don't jinx anything.
Gophers operating on all cylinders. Too bad frozen four 10 days away.
d@mmit, looks like UncleWalt is using my strategy from the last time we did this, ie: picking the winners.
Standings after Day 3:
UncleWalt - 15 points (perfect day 3!)
Freealonzo - 12 points (perfect day 3!)
Beau - 10 points
Rhu_Ru - 9 points
Mags - 8 points
AMR - 8 points
DWatts - 7 points
Rowsdower - 6 points
DG - 5 points
Everyone got at least one Frozen Four team correct. UncleWalt got all 4.
If Minnesota wins against UND --- Beau wins if Union takes the tourney. Otherwise UncleWalt wins.
If UND wins against Minnesota --- Winner is determined by the tourney champion. Beau (Union), Rhu_Ru (UND), DWatts (BC) would still have a shot.
This one might go down to the final game.
Crazy. Gophers looked good last night though.
53 out of 11,622 have perfect brackets in the USCHO pickem contest. That seems like a lot to me, but we do have three number one seeds.
The Frozen Four kicks off this afternoon (4 Central) with Union/BC.
The result of that game will eliminate either Beau or DWatts.
Then Minnesota/North Dakota starts at 7:30 Central (approx.)
Will UncleWalt's streak of perfection continue? Will this come down to the championship game to decide the winner? Well, the championship will probably determine the winner, but you know what I mean.
What sort of sorcery is UncleWalt using?
*shuffles through stuff* Hey, my juju doll is missing!!
Busted. Man oh man oh man. I hope I'm right. I've been watching the Gophs since Frank and Wally were on TV.
Frank Maccocco has a photography studio in the Northrup King building. Never would have guessed that.
Union-BC 2-2 after 2.
The tension builds!
Union!
0-0 Gophers-Whioux after 1 period. Nodak took it to Gophers early but Minny controlled mid-period. Willcox has been great in goal. Crisper passes by Gophers would help. Also Gophers giving up space in neutral zone. I'm guessing by design. Also Gophers trying a lot of deflections in front of net.
0-0 after 2!! Gophers showing some serious juice mid way through and I was wondering if The Sue were getting gassed but then they had a nice little run at the end. Great college hockey and if you can the 3rd period should be a barn burner, I'm bringing out my secret weapon as listening music: GBV's Mag Earwhig.
Holy crikey, what an ending
Gophers score a shorthanded goal with 0.6 seconds left in the game to win 2-1. All three goals scored after I put Mag Earwhig on, two goals within 2 minutes of pressing play. Oh and the guy who scored it was his first goal of the season. Hockey.
Wow! Just wow.
I'm impressed how fast 17 got his hands in the air. By the time the clock hit 0.0, he's already in the air with arms outstretched.
Standings with one game to play:
UncleWalt - 19 points
Freealonzo - 16 points
Beau - 14 points
Mags - 12 points
Rhu_Ru - 9 points
AMR - 8 points
DWatts - 7 points
Rowsdower - 6 points
DG - 5 points
If Union wins on Saturday, Beau (as the winner) will have to reveal his secret pick strategy.
If Minnesota wins, UncleWalt will do the same.
Beau wins my undying admiration! Well done, sir.