NCAA regionals in Springfield

I thought I'd start a separate thread for this. Since a lot of us will be looking to buy tickets, hopefully people will share information as it becomes available.
If I recall correctly from past years, the official tickets being sold by Cornell might be for both the Thursday and Saturday games. Hopefully, it won't be too difficult to just buy tickets for the Thursday games.

I bought a ticket to just Thursday on the official site.

It's in the upper deck, but I expect that I'll be able to sit downstairs, at least during our game.

Unfortunately for us students a lot of people may have Prelims the Thursday before spring break - I imagine some will try to come on Saturday tho if we advance

Dunc
Unfortunately for us students a lot of people may have Prelims the Thursday before spring break - I imagine some will try to come on Saturday tho if we advance

Hopefully the hockey players don’t.

Dunc
Unfortunately for us students a lot of people may have Prelims the Thursday before spring break - I imagine some will try to come on Saturday tho if we advance

That sucks.

I just bought tickets in Section 2 in the upper level. They're not great seats, but hopefully after the first game most of the UMass fans will leave, especially if their team loses, and we'll be able to move down to better seats.
The arena website says the parking garage is closed due to construction, so I'm sure parking is going to be fun.

Get in the building and then move around.

BearLover

Dunc
Unfortunately for us students a lot of people may have Prelims the Thursday before spring break - I imagine some will try to come on Saturday tho if we advance

Hopefully the hockey players don’t.

Most of them do and they have to leave 2 days ahead so they may miss several

fastforward

BearLover

Dunc
Unfortunately for us students a lot of people may have Prelims the Thursday before spring break - I imagine some will try to come on Saturday tho if we advance

Hopefully the hockey players don’t.

Most of them do and they have to leave 2 days ahead so they may miss several

So how’s that gonna work?

most sports they send someone to admin the tests if thats required

Cornell block tickets here: [vivenu.com]

BearLover

fastforward

BearLover

Dunc
Unfortunately for us students a lot of people may have Prelims the Thursday before spring break - I imagine some will try to come on Saturday tho if we advance

Hopefully the hockey players don’t.

Most of them do and they have to leave 2 days ahead so they may miss several

So how’s that gonna work?

There are “prelim conflict” forms you can fill out to take a prelim on a make up day for *most* courses - a student fan wanting to skip the exam to go to Springfield and watch would not qualify as a proper “conflict”, but I’m pretty positive actually competing in the NCAA hockey tournament would

Dunc

BearLover

fastforward

BearLover

Dunc
Unfortunately for us students a lot of people may have Prelims the Thursday before spring break - I imagine some will try to come on Saturday tho if we advance

Hopefully the hockey players don’t.

Most of them do and they have to leave 2 days ahead so they may miss several

So how’s that gonna work?

There are “prelim conflict” forms you can fill out to take a prelim on a make up day for *most* courses - a student fan wanting to skip the exam to go to Springfield and watch would not qualify as a proper “conflict”, but I’m pretty positive actually competing in the NCAA hockey tournament would

Hopefully the band will qualify as well. I got excused from a lot of Friday afternoon chem labs that way.

I missed the first two periods of the famous "Providence Game" because I had a Chem 208 prelim. A bunch of us asked the prof to move it, but he refused.

The TA's were also pissed they had to be there.

FTR, I aced the exam.

Jeff Hopkins '82
I missed the first two periods of the famous "Providence Game" because I had a Chem 208 prelim. A bunch of us asked the prof to move it, but he refused.

The TA's were also pissed they had to be there.

FTR, I aced the exam.

I was able to reschedule my Chem211 prelim when I had a chance to perform in the NYC Thanksgiving Day Parade and needed to go early for rehearsals.

Circumstances usually allow for alternate arrangements for all sorts of events.

One year, the director of the CU Wind Ensemble/Concert Bands rescheduled a spring concert for hockey playoffs and then the team didn’t make it and that never happened again.

Dunc
Unfortunately for us students a lot of people may have Prelims the Thursday before spring break - I imagine some will try to come on Saturday tho if we advance

Time to repost this 55 year-old solution. I do disown any responsibility if it doesn't work:
The Saturday night before the '69 ECAC's was the last regular season game of the year. I get to the game early as always, and I'm informed by a friend sitting two rows in front of me that the professor that day (it was a Tues.-Thurs.-Sat. class) had announced a prelim for ECAC Saturday (I hadn't gone to class that day). I go see the professor during the week and explain that I need to take a make-up because I'm going to Boston for the ECAC hockey tournament. He says that's not a good reason and I try my best to explain my passion and commitment to Cornell hockey. He explains that it's not a good enough reason and I say something like "I'm sorry you feel that way" and start to walk out. He says, "You've got to decide what's more important" and I turn and say "I have, I'm going to Boston." He says, in a tone of exasperation, "All right, I'll give you a make-up."
Sometimes, telling the truth works. Of course, I was crazy enough that I would have gone to Boston and risked flunking the course. Also, I knew that the manager of the hockey team was in my class and would somehow wind up getting a make-up (it turned out that Ned called on his behalf). When I got to the make-up, which was the Thursday after the ECACs, there were four of us (don't know the excuses of the other two-don't think they were hockey related). The make-up was very interesting, as he gave an oral exam, starting with one of us doing proofs on the blackboard, then having the second continue, back to the first who was then dismissed, then he called up the third (me), back to the second, etc. - he could really see how we could think, and when someone got stuck he could then ask a prompting question to see how quickly you picked it up.

Also, Dunc, perhaps you can offer to take the test early.
And for any of you who might have been math majors, it was Professor Michael Morley.

yea classes matter. but so does the special stuff that being a student is about.

in the bigger picture a test will never be remembered for most kids. winning this will

cornell is a small dog
rit is a big dog

mtech bigger dog
quin small dog

Whether Seger is healthy or not for Thursday will be huge as there's only one guy in the tournament who has won more faceoffs, and he's not in this regional. Maine has the very talented Nadeau brothers so the more possession Cornell has, the better. All things considered, this isn't the worst placement given what we've seen the committee do for certain other teams (e.g. BU)

Anyone have more to share about Maine's strengths/weaknesses/style? I haven't seen them play this season and know only about the Nadeau brothers, who, while not twins, have nearly identical scoring stats (cute!)

They have annoying fans and one endlessly repeated monotonous cheer.

They're Michigan.

talented and sloppy the 4-5 times i watched them.

If that analysis holds than we can take advantage.

Jeff Hopkins '82
I missed the first two periods of the famous "Providence Game" because I had a Chem 208 prelim. A bunch of us asked the prof to move it, but he refused.

The TA's were also pissed they had to be there.

FTR, I aced the exam.

When RIT went to the Frozen Four, their semifinal happened to land during a prelim I had on the calendar for an afternoon class I was teaching. I let anyone who wanted take it early. And I had someone proctor the exam for me.

Unfortunately it’s up to the individual professor and sadly not all are being cooperative

I’ve watched a decent bit of Maine this season and they seem to do really well at home and not great away from it. They play with a ton of energy and have a solid goalie, though he hasn’t been amazing as of late.

A few of the Maine posters on USCHO seem to be concerned about us being a bad stylistic matchup for them, but they're also resigned to the same tired old tropes about Cornell being a team of "big slow goons who can't skate and only clutch/grab/obstruct their way to 1-0 or 2-1 wins"(paraphrased).

I'm not even convinced we have a discernible "style" this year: we've had different strengths and weaknesses at different points in the season (other than the PP mediocrity...that's been pretty consistent.)

sah67
A few of the Maine posters on USCHO seem to be concerned about us being a bad stylistic matchup for them, but they're also resigned to the same tired old tropes about Cornell being a team of "big slow goons who can't skate and only clutch/grab/obstruct their way to 1-0 or 2-1 wins"(paraphrased).

I'm not even convinced we have a discernible "style" this year: we've had different strengths and weaknesses at different points in the season (other than the PP mediocrity...that's been pretty consistent.)

For the last few years, I think we've transitioned from the clutch and grab stereotype (which really hasn't been true for a while anyway) to a team that plays a defensively responsible style while having a lot of offensive talent. We have the defensive discipline to play well against other offense-first teams, but we struggle against the sorts of clutch and grab teams that we get accused of being.

Dafatone
but we struggle against the sorts of clutch and grab teams that we get accused of being.

Definitely this. It's been the first season in a while where I really noticed us struggling badly against aggressive forechecks, and our players (especially our D) frequently getting muscled around in our zone and coughing up pucks due to the opponents' physical play.That used to be us!

sah67

Dafatone
but we struggle against the sorts of clutch and grab teams that we get accused of being.

Definitely this. It's been the first season in a while where I really noticed us struggling badly against aggressive forechecks, and our players (especially our D) frequently getting muscled around in our zone and coughing up pucks due to the opponents' physical play.That used to be us!

I've noticed a lot of teams in general using a two man forecheck. That's when we have trouble.

the more wide-open the games they better we do on offense, we have the skills for a more open game on O. not sure how we handle it on D

Any thoughts about tickets? Goi g through the venue-the seating chart is offering g hardly anything and every time I check, the sections change. The Cornell link requires buying both games. I can’t make Saturday. Any idea what’s going on with the venue?or if the package requirement will go away?

I just recall regionals in Albany which were empty so kinda surprised.

arugula
Any thoughts about tickets? Goi g through the venue-the seating chart is offering g hardly anything and every time I check, the sections change. The Cornell link requires buying both games. I can’t make Saturday. Any idea what’s going on with the venue?or if the package requirement will go away?

I just recall regionals in Albany which were empty so kinda surprised.

The Cornell link requires buying both games but says you will be refunded for Saturday if Cornell loses on Thursday.
Considering that UMass is the host school and is so close to Springfield it's not a surprise that they are selling a decent amount of tickets. Maine has a good fan base, too.

Actually not convinced that they are selling. If you look at the venue site, all the available tickets are in two sections. The suggests that they're holding back. A refund for Saturday isn't helpful. I can't go Saturday but I want them to be playing.

IIRC Albany 2010 was a foursome of Cornell, RIT, and UNH--all local ish and national power Denver. Empty.

they sold about 4000 for that

arugula
Actually not convinced that they are selling. If you look at the venue site, all the available tickets are in two sections. The suggests that they're holding back. A refund for Saturday isn't helpful. I can't go Saturday but I want them to be playing.

IIRC Albany 2010 was a foursome of Cornell, RIT, and UNH--all local ish and national power Denver. Empty.

I was in Albany in 2010 and was stunned how empty that rink was.

There are single game tickets available through the Mass Mutual Arena website. [www.massmutualcenter.com] They seem to be coming and going as the day goes by, so I assume they have been holding a ton back and releasing them here and there. All upper bowl, but certainly will be able to move around after UMass fans clear out after the first game.

Jeff Hopkins '82

sah67

Dafatone
but we struggle against the sorts of clutch and grab teams that we get accused of being.

Definitely this. It's been the first season in a while where I really noticed us struggling badly against aggressive forechecks, and our players (especially our D) frequently getting muscled around in our zone and coughing up pucks due to the opponents' physical play.That used to be us!

I've noticed a lot of teams in general using a two man forecheck. That's when we have trouble.

Shhhhh.

Yes. That’s what I said above.

Seating chart of the Springfield Civic Center / MassMutual Center, below. Cornell will be the visiting team against Maine. Cornell attacks twice:
Behind the goal: Sections 1-5, 28-31
Out to blue line: 2-7, 26-27.
Center ice is: 8-10, 23-25
IIRC there is an upper and lower level and you can go between them. It is not an upper / lower bowl. Hockey seating capacity is 6,800.
Main Street, Springfield, is at the bottom of the image and runs north-south; State Street is on the right. The heart of downtown, also Amtrak and the bus station, is to the left. I-91, the Connecticut River and the new-ish MGM casino are a block away (cross Main Street at State).

Jeff Hopkins '82
I missed the first two periods of the famous "Providence Game" because I had a Chem 208 prelim. A bunch of us asked the prof to move it, but he refused.

In other words, you were there for the important parts anyway.

Beeeej

Jeff Hopkins '82
I missed the first two periods of the famous "Providence Game" because I had a Chem 208 prelim. A bunch of us asked the prof to move it, but he refused.

In other words, you were there for the important parts anyway.

Exactly.

My Cornell tickets in section 26.

Al DeFlorio
My Cornell tickets in section 26.

Same. Row J.

29

A few of 'em like us, even though they think we're playing in Sioux Falls: [www.collegehockeynews.com]

4 out of 9 have us winning the region. That’s remarkable.

arugula
4 out of 9 have us winning the region. That’s remarkable.

Interesting to me that Adam has Cornell losing to Maine in the first game. My recollection is when many here were expecting a difficult rebuilding year Adam was one of the more optimistic posters. Maybe he’s trying a reverse jinx

dbilmes
The arena website says the parking garage is closed due to construction, so I'm sure parking is going to be fun.

Everything I'm reading online says you can park for free at the MGM Springfield, which is an 8 minute walk from the arena.

I make no promises, but this is the approach I plan on taking.

Greenberg '97

dbilmes
The arena website says the parking garage is closed due to construction, so I'm sure parking is going to be fun.

Everything I'm reading online says you can park for free at the MGM Springfield, which is an 8 minute walk from the arena.

I make no promises, but this is the approach I plan on taking.

some pages say parking is free for guests. Others says it's free for everyone. Not sure which is right.

Jeff Hopkins '82

Greenberg '97

dbilmes
The arena website says the parking garage is closed due to construction, so I'm sure parking is going to be fun.

Everything I'm reading online says you can park for free at the MGM Springfield, which is an 8 minute walk from the arena.

I make no promises, but this is the approach I plan on taking.

some pages say parking is free for guests. Others says it's free for everyone. Not sure which is right.

Coming from NYC, any parking less than $40 will feel like it's free.

But there are a few reddit posts of people saying they parked there for free while seeing other Springfield attractions. I'll post my findings early if I get there for the UMass game.

my opinion is that cornell got 4/9 votes because Denver is playing a road game in the first round but the voters don't respect UMass enough to send them to the Final Four. I like it though!

Jeff Hopkins '82

Greenberg '97

dbilmes
The arena website says the parking garage is closed due to construction, so I'm sure parking is going to be fun.

Everything I'm reading online says you can park for free at the MGM Springfield, which is an 8 minute walk from the arena.

I make no promises, but this is the approach I plan on taking.

some pages say parking is free for guests. Others says it's free for everyone. Not sure which is right.

I was told that it's free parking for anyone who uses it, but that it will fill up quickly on a game day, and that it will be a bit of a traffic jam getting out afterwards.

JasonN95

arugula
4 out of 9 have us winning the region. That’s remarkable.

Interesting to me that Adam has Cornell losing to Maine in the first game. My recollection is when many here were expecting a difficult rebuilding year Adam was one of the more optimistic posters. Maybe he’s trying a reverse jinx

These are not two separate ideas. When people were expecting 25-30 in Pairwise - I said top 15. Check. Now they have to defeat No. 5. Different story.

That said ........ no comment.

The Woofing Gods can see into your heart, and they will not be mocked.

Greenberg '97

Jeff Hopkins '82

Greenberg '97

dbilmes
The arena website says the parking garage is closed due to construction, so I'm sure parking is going to be fun.

Everything I'm reading online says you can park for free at the MGM Springfield, which is an 8 minute walk from the arena.

I make no promises, but this is the approach I plan on taking.

some pages say parking is free for guests. Others says it's free for everyone. Not sure which is right.

Coming from NYC, any parking less than $40 will feel like it's free.

But there are a few reddit posts of people saying they parked there for free while seeing other Springfield attractions. I'll post my findings early if I get there for the UMass game.

Parking garage was filling up but was by no means full. Free. Good luck if you're still heading here.

I've brought out the heavy artillery.

Parked on the street.

Cornell is on the "home" bench, so Maine will shoot twice towards our section.

The better to appreciate Ian Shane, I guess.

Greenberg '97
Cornell is on the "home" bench, so Maine will shoot twice towards our section.

The better to appreciate Ian Shane, I guess.

And it looks like this will be the case tomorrow as well. The arena flipped our seats to the opposite corner (Section 11), and Denver took the "home" bench in the early game, so we'll likely be sitting in the defensive zone for 1 and 3.

Greenberg '97
And it looks like this will be the case tomorrow as well. The arena flipped our seats to the opposite corner (Section 11)...

Section 11. We were in Section 11 in Lake Placid. Just saying...

Anyone interested in two for tomorrow at face-45. . Section 13, L 7 and 8.

Watching the recording of the game. Ten minutes in, they’re still identifying the Maine goalie as the other guy who was sick. Amazing.

Anyone know whether there are any clips of Jason’s call floating around?

yeah that was strange to not know a different goalie was out there.

Dont they have pregame announcements for lineups at these things?

They certainly announced him as the goalie at the rink. Whether the Maine line-up sheet for the media was accurate is another question.

Jeff Hopkins '82
They certainly announced him as the goalie at the rink. Whether the Maine line-up sheet for the media was accurate is another question.

The broadcasters later specifically said the sheet had not been accurate.

Beeeej

Jeff Hopkins '82
They certainly announced him as the goalie at the rink. Whether the Maine line-up sheet for the media was accurate is another question.

The broadcasters later specifically said the sheet had not been accurate.

Well there you go. Thanks for the info.

The sheet may have been wrong, but they could've actually paid attention to the ice.

The first thing you are supposed to do on a hockey broadcast is confirm which goalie leads the team out for warmups and then to start the game. To go into it twelve minutes and not know is a pretty rough look.

arugula
The sheet may have been wrong, but they could've actually paid attention to the ice.

how often do they show a goalie's back? i doubt either of those guys called a Maine game this year

Beeeej

Jeff Hopkins '82
They certainly announced him as the goalie at the rink. Whether the Maine line-up sheet for the media was accurate is another question.

The broadcasters later specifically said the sheet had not been accurate.

The general public does not normally have access to the team lineup charts, but if you do, do not make the mistake of reading anything more into them than the list of players dressing for the game, and even that can be changed up to 15 minutes before the opening faceoff. Don't read anything into the combinations, or the sequence. Do not assume that the top line, or the top defense pair, or the top goalie, are the ones who will be starting.

As Yogi Berra once said, "You can observe a lot just by watching."

When you go live to a game the first thing you do is look for the players you expect to see out there dressed and warming up

Now did he warm up and then not play or did he not warm up ?

upprdeck
When you go live to a game the first thing you do is look for the players you expect to see out there dressed and warming up

Now did he warm up and then not play or did he not warm up ?

he was on the bench in uniform?

ugarte

upprdeck
When you go live to a game the first thing you do is look for the players you expect to see out there dressed and warming up

Now did he warm up and then not play or did he not warm up ?

he was on the bench in uniform?

That what someone said.

He was on the bench in uniform. They showed him on TV.

I had to wait until late today for confirmation on whether some friends could go. When I ordered tickets, there were only fairly small sections of seats in the upper bowl available. Will it really be that full with Denver playing us?

cth95
I had to wait until late today for confirmation on whether some friends could go. When I ordered tickets, there were only fairly small sections of seats in the upper bowl available. Will it really be that full with Denver playing us?

Probably not. Someone at the rink said they withhold tickets to spur people to impulse-buy.

There were quite a few empty seats, even during the UMass game yesterday.

Their job is simple. Accurately describe who the players are. Don’t say smith if it’s Jones. That’s not that hard and you don’t need to have seen Maine play. Bob Sheppard who was the Yankee Stadium public address announcer until age 99 was remarkably unobtrusive and had three simple rules: (in stentorian tones) “be clear, concise, correct”.

When a new player joined the team he personally went to him and asked how to pronounce his name. It’s not that hard. It just requires respect for your audience. Maybe that’s the hard part.

Related to something I noticed in tonight's broadcast. They had a couple key facts that they just kept repeating and repeating and repeating. The Wisconsin goalie was a Richter nominee. Quinny are the "reigning champions." XXY led the ECAC in scoring. Other than those few facts, they barely even mentioned the player's names.

Put in a minimum effort, because the NCAA insists you broadcast the games.

i've learned one thing apiece about O'Leary and Psenicka.

ugarte
i've learned one thing apiece about O'Leary and Psenicka.

I'm guessing something banal like he's from Czechia? Because God forbid they'd mention he's from Prague, since most Americans are too stupid to know Prague is in Europe, never mind in Czechia.

It’s his height

BMac
It’s his height

That was my second guess.

Listening to different announcers try to pronounce Psenicka is quality entertainment.

Did you guys know that Jack O’Leary is a fan favorite at Lynah? So much so that they even refer to him as fan favorite Jack O’Leary?

Phenomenal shutdown game last night. I went to the last 4 games at Lynah and have watched these last 3 and really since the third period against Dartmouth they are playing as well as I’ve seen them. Let’s see how long it continues but that’s the most important thing.

Pghas
Did you guys know that Jack O’Leary is a fan favorite at Lynah? So much so that they even refer to him as fan favorite Jack O’Leary?

Phenomenal shutdown game last night. I went to the last 4 games at Lynah and have watched these last 3 and really since the third period against Dartmouth they are playing as well as I’ve seen them. Let’s see how long it continues but that’s the most important thing.

I'm glad I'm in the rink and not listening to their jibber-jabber.

I wish the radio stream wasn’t delayed as I’d like to watch live and hear Jason.

arugula
I wish the radio stream wasn’t delayed as I’d like to watch live and hear Jason.

If you have a DVR you can delay the video to sync Jason.

marty

arugula
I wish the radio stream wasn’t delayed as I’d like to watch live and hear Jason.

If you have a DVR you can delay the video to sync Jason.

I tried that during the 2nd period of the Maine game, but after a few minutes it cut into several minutes of commercials (I gave up after 3 or 4 minutes and went back to ESPN audio). Anybody else have that problem?

Chris H82

marty

arugula
I wish the radio stream wasn’t delayed as I’d like to watch live and hear Jason.

If you have a DVR you can delay the video to sync Jason.

I tried that during the 2nd period of the Maine game, but after a few minutes it cut into several minutes of commercials (I gave up after 3 or 4 minutes and went back to ESPN audio). Anybody else have that problem?

I didn't because I was fortunate to be at the rink.

Can this please just happen one time. That’s all I ask. I don’t care what it takes.

I’ve had this happen several times during the season. I’d get it synched and the hcu link would go nuts. I’d love to just hear some clips of Jason’s goal calls.

BearLover
Can this please just happen one time. That’s all I ask. I don’t care what it takes.

Nooooo..you only get one "one time" request per tournament! Can't waste it here!

(Bearlover obv Not a poker player)

For the Albany haters:

Times Union
Latest News
The women's basketball NCAA Tournament in Albany wrapped up Monday night when Caitlin Clark's Iowa beat Angel Reese's LSU to reach the Final Four. But the host city took a blow when an ESPN announcer said, to a national audience, "Good luck finding something to do in Albany."

Ouch. Hopefully "Ted Lasso" actor Jason Sudeikis found something to do. He was on hand to watch Clark's game. Side note, Olivia Rodrigo, or at least her bus, was spotted yesterday near Crossgates. Take that, ESPN.

always the casino