and that is different from any other year? every trip i've made to the final five, there has been tickets available from scalpers for under face value. just because the gophers aren't there, doesn't mean there will only be 5 fans in the arena. it's not the ccha.
get over yourself and realize that while the gophers do have a lot of fans, so do the teams making it to the final five. the big difference between MN fans and other teams is that most teams will still have a solid contingent even if their team isn't there. The fact that you think it's going to be empty based solely on the fact that minnesota isn't there, shows that MN fans are fair-weather and could care less about some great college hockey unless the gophers are playing.
no, it won't be a sellout, but it's not going to be empty. if gopher fans weren't such crappy college hockey fans, this wouldn't be an issue. then again, if the gophers weren't such a crappy college hockey team, it wouldn't be an issue either.