One of the greatest events in sports kicks off tomorrow, Thursday, April 11th,  at 1:30pm Pacific Time, when #15 Yale faces #3 UMass-Lowell in the opening semifinal game of the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  I am actually writing this on Tuesday the 9th, but it’s late enough that I am betting readers won’t actually see it until Wednesday the 10th.  #9 St. Cloud State faces #1 Quinnipiac at 5:00pm Pacific Time in the second semifinal game.  If you are near a TV at those times, they will both be on ESPN2.

This is a fantastic Frozen Four.  Yale is the only team of these four that has ever appeared in the Frozen Four, and that was in 1952.  This is as fresh as San Francisco Sourdough at 8:00am.  All four teams have been playing great in the NCAA Tournament, and have been stingy on defense.  No matter what happens, there will be a new, first-time NCAA Hockey Champion this week.

In their last 28 games, UMass-Lowell has gone 24-3-1.  Will their strong, late-season showing continue?

Will St. Cloud State continue this week with what has also been a strong, late-season showing?

Quinnipiac has been riding high all season long.  Will they ride their season-long wave through this week?

Yale has really come alive and been dominant in the NCAA Tournament.  Will that continue this week?

Well, it’s all going to play out in a blink here, and for those who can get near a TV, it should be great viewing.

And before we know it, it’s the Championship Game on Saturday at 4:00pm Pacific Time on

ESPN (this game was on ESPN2 last year, so I suppose it is possible that it will be on ESPN2 this year).

So hope you have already arranged your Saturday viewing with the gang, before you start thinking about preparing your favorite chili dish, kielbasa, or burritos, with a can or two of Olympia or PBR; or, in the case of those fancy types in Minnesota, your poached Brook Trout in a Beurre Blanc sauce, and pouring a genlty chilled, crisp and minerally Pinot Gris.

And I know in addition to seeing who will be the new, first-time NCAA hockey champion, we are all eager to see how we do in the pool this year, and to see who wins it.  What a difference a year makes!!  Last year at this point the pool leader had 10 correct picks, and four were tied with 8.

There were seven with 7 correct picks.  This year the high mark is seven, and only three people have 7.  Last year at this point the low was 4, and this year we have people with only 2 and 3.  Will the pool be won by a past shark, or, as is the case with our Frozen Four, will it be a first-time winner?  We will all know soon enough.

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and again, with BU not even in the Tournament, and with my pick Miami out, I’ll just say, go College Hockey!

— Tom