Substack seemed to be having some posting issues yesterday. This was supposed to publish yesterday, and it didn’t. Sorry about that!
Anyway, here is Thursday’s newsletter (one day late). My weekend preview, with Friday picks, a Friday viewing guide, and more, will be out later this morning.
In today’s newsletter:
We should hear about future Frozen Four sites soon. I have my wishlist for some return markets, as well as some potential new markets.
NCAA president Charlie Baker still has hopes that the Protect College Sports Act will pass in the lame-duck session.
Mike Cavanaugh talked about UConn falling to five defensemen, and how they addressed it mid-game.
We should hear about future Frozen Four sites soon. Here’s my wish list
We should hear soon about Frozen Four and regional sites beyond 2028. At the latest, I think there will be news by spring. Honestly, I’m a little surprised there hasn’t been an announcement yet. The NCAA announced the 2027 and 2028 sites in October 2024, so on the same timeline, we were due for an announcement last month.
Once the sites are announced, they’ll spark the inevitable “Well, what about this city?” conversations that come with every new cycle. But remember, the NCAA isn’t just randomly picking host cities. It’s choosing from a group of cities that bid to host.
As a refresher, here’s where the tournament will be in 2027 and 2028:
2027 Frozen Four: Washington, D.C.
2027 regionals: Hartford, Connecticut; Loveland, Colorado; Springfield, Massachusetts; Fargo, North Dakota
2028 Frozen Four: Chicago
2028 regionals: Allentown, Pennsylvania; Rochester, New York; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Fargo, North Dakota
Interestingly, Navy is co-hosting the 2027 Frozen Four with Events DC. The Naval Academy doesn’t have a Division I team, though many in college hockey circles have long wished it would add one.
I want to preface this by saying I have no inside information on who bid for the next cycle, but here’s my wish list.
Boston/St. Paul
I don’t think the sport should go more than five or six years without each of these cities hosting a Frozen Four. They’re such hotbeds for college hockey that it just makes sense to bring the sport’s marquee event back to them fairly often.
Both markets have plenty of potential host schools, the buildings do a fine job and the cities are well equipped. I’m all for exploring new markets (see below), but the sport shouldn’t ignore its traditional strongholds.
