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**JohnsonsJerseys** · 03-21-2010, 12:17 PM

Re: Format for 2011 WCHA final Five

I thought this type of format was a no-brainer. You win a first round playoff series, you go to the conference tourney. I'm glad common sense won out in the end over some of the crazy ideas that were tossed around.

The third place game had little value, other than to get another gate grab ($$$) from the fans of the teams that lost on Friday. Whether it stayed or went didn't really matter to me. Maybe you could make the argument that a borderline team might need one more good win to make the NCAA field, but you have a whole regular season to position yourself so you don't have to worry about trying to get one more win the last weekend of the season.

Ryan J

**Gophers #1** · 03-21-2010, 12:43 PM

Re: Format for 2011 WCHA final Five

This is a good one. i like it.

**GopherBigGuy911** · 03-21-2010, 12:54 PM

Re: Format for 2011 WCHA final Five

Great Format, I would love to see a Wild vs Detroit or Wild vs. Colorado game as the warm up

or of course good ole Vancouver

**scullyer** · 03-21-2010, 01:00 PM

Re: Format for 2011 WCHA final Five

This was an attendance nightmare for the CCHA Super 6 on Thursday. Format was scrapped petty quickly.

However, if there is one conference that can pull it off, it's the WCHA. They have enough fan base to get people there for the entire weekend. CCHA relies heavily on 2 teams. I will definitely watch on FSN or whoever carries it.

**Beer Pong Horn** · 03-21-2010, 01:09 PM

Re: Format for 2011 WCHA final Five

I'm okay with this format for the next few years at least. It's pretty equitable to all the WCHA teams, allows for a full set of 6 x (2 or 3) playoff games the weekend before, and will bring in the maximum revenue for the conference. UMD and UND have proven that a team can play three games and win the Broadmoor, in consecutive years no less, so that's not as big an issue as it once was.

However, I expect the WCHA front office to pay attention to how often the 3-6 seeds advance beyond one game in the NCAAs. Having four of twelve teams beat each other up in the Final Five could impact how often WCHA teams get into the Frozen Four. I'm not sure this is worth the tradeoff in increased revenue, but we'll have to see whether there really is an impact.

**goalie heckler** · 03-21-2010, 02:07 PM

Re: Format for 2011 WCHA final Five

IMHO, the lack of a third place game is a big drawback to traveling fans.

In the current format, if your team is ranked 1-3, you know they are going to play two games. If you're ranked 4-5, you know that if you win one game, you're guaranteed three games. As a traveling fan, getting the reward of seeing your team two or three times makes up for the travel and expense in St. Paul. This weekend, the risk/reward to me for North Dakota was worth the trip.

Next year, the guaranteed games for each team is only one. So, a fan has to be a fan of the league or college hockey in general... I just don' t know about the committment of most fans on this one. I think most folks come to see their team, not the WCHA. ...would be interesting to see what a Denver, CC, Michigan Tech, Alaska-Anchorage, Omaha, and Bemidji Final Five would do to attendance TWO YEARS IN A ROW.

Again, having a two-game guarantee (when you earn it) seems like a very valuable thing to the traveling fan. Next year, two teams would earn a three-game guarantee on Thursday, if there was a Third Place game.

(Finally, I will admit that the chance at a National Championship is the ultimate prize and that playing so many games in the last few weeks is rough. However, the Final Five has consistently been a much better event than the Regionals/Frozen Four for fans.)

**JF_Gophers** · 03-21-2010, 02:48 PM