Exciting DI Nationals

[mustachemarty5]

I don't know about everyone else, but I thought DI Nationals were pretty exciting. The finals were a little boring, but the tournament as a whole was a great experience. There were a lot of teams that showed their worth on the National stage and it was a lot of fun seeing teams from all over the country playing one another. I'm curious to hear what other people think as far as what teams impressed them or what teams disappointed them. We all know about Lindenwood and UMSL, but what other teams caught everyone's eye this week?

[Patn Lawton]

I am wondering what happened in the game Buffalo got blown out in?

[Jkahn09]

they looked tired and their goalie was getting lit up on night letting in some weak ones.

[sid21]

Arizona State really, really impressed me. I got a chance to watch many of their games and they blew me away. I didn't expect that at all.

Their game against Buffalo was particularly impressive with the way they shut down the big guns like Walser and Durinka. Both teams had 7 skaters that game so I thought it'd be closer but ASU controlled every aspect of the game. I was blown away.

Was a bit surprised about the championship game but Lindenwood looked absolutely determined to avenge last year's loss. Not sure if ASU ran out of gas or what but they looked overwhelmed early on. Props to them though for settling down and playing Lindenwood solid in the 2nd and 3rd periods.

[CSteamer]

Buffalo just looked extremely tired in their game against ASU. They let up a couple of early quick ones and it was pretty much all she wrote from there. ASU's goalie played well and they put together a solid defensive effort as well, but Buffalo didn't look like the team they did when they crushed Lindenwood and UMSL.

[FAUplayer]

Buffalo goalie did not play well at all, and probably due to injury, as UCF ran him over three times in their quarter final game!! The UCF Buffalo game just flat out tired Buffalo.

[dan sangiorgio]

The coverage of games through the league, ncrha.com, the Internet radio, and inline central were all top notch good to see the league stepped up after dropping the ball last year seemed like a real exciting tournment with a whole lot of parity between the teams

[mustachemarty5]

After going to Nationals this year, I have nothing but good reviews.

First of all, the rink was phenomenal and league coverage was great. The rink itself was great from the fans perspective, the locker rooms, how nicely the rink was decorated, to the food area...it was a terrific venue for the biggest event of the year. The league also did a good job keeping fans posted at home with live updates, video and radio coverage. The league did a great job with the event overall this year.

Secondly, the pool play was much better this year, especially in DI. Just about every game was really competitive and fun to watch. I think there were only 2 mercy rule games. It was also interesting to see teams of similar caliber play to get a better idea of where each of them stand. The bracket was for the most part unaffected by the change the best teams still got the best seeds. I hope the league keeps doing this every year.

Third, I was impressed with equal strength of the top teams in each region. There were 2 teams from the East, Great Plains and the West, and there was 1 team from the Midwest and Southeast represented in the Elite 8. In think this shows the balance of power among conferences. The only ones not represented were the Rocky Mountains (only team Colorado St. didn't come) and the Southwest (and I think North Texas can still be considered top 8 despite the upset loss).

The other thing I began to get a sense of was that the aura around Lindenwood is starting to shrink. Obviously they are still the best team still as proved by their 8th National Championship, but the gap is starting to shrink. I think teams are starting to catch up. Maybe not next year or the year after, but I'm starting to get a sense that teams are catching up to Lindenwood in terms of skill, but I also think it will take a while for teams to catch up in terms of depth as well. Teams like Arizona St. and Buffalo have closed the gap in skill, but it is obvious they just don't have the depth quite yet.

Also, there was no team in the tournament that looked completely over-matched and like they didn't deserve to be there. There was also no team that looked overly dominant and that they were unbeatable. I think parity is starting to grow in the NCRHA.

There were also a few teams that really impressed me:

Buffalo- Despite their disappointing Final 4 game loss to Arizona St., they proved they are an elite team with wins over Lindenwood and UMSL in the round robin. Even though these games technically don't count, I have a hard time believing the other teams just didn't try.

Arizona St.- I think this is an obvious one. Coming in, there was a lot of talk about their play after finishing the season with only 2 losses all year in a competitive division out West. They proved that they should be considered an elite team after going to the finals. Against Lindenwood, it seemed like they played scared. Maybe they were tired, I don't know, but if they come out flying like they did against Buffalo, they can beat anyone.

Central Florida- This team has been good for years, but they always seem to be over looked. They had a really good showing this year and were very close to upsetting Buffalo earlier and getting bid to the Final 4.

Long Beach St.- This teams run started with an upset over Arizona St. in their regional Finals. At nationals, they played good through the round robin, had an impressive win over North Texas in the First Round, and then played a tight game against UMSL in the Elite 8. This is a team on the uprise and I would look for them to have an even better season next year.

UConn- After going undefeated in pool play and beating Cal Poly in the First Round, they were almost able to upset Michigan St. In the end, Michigan St. was too deep, but look out for UConn next year if they can get a few talented recruits.

Stony Brook/Hofstra- After a lot of talk about weak teams going to Nationals, too many teams from the ECRHA going to Nationals, and these two teams in particular not deserving a Nationals bid, they came out flying. Even though they were both out matched in the Sweet 16, I think they both proved they deserved a bid by posting a combined 8-3-1 record beating good teams from other regions such as Cal Poly SLO, UC Santa Barbara and Eastern Michigan. I think that these two teams were prime examples of why the East got 8 teams out of 9 accepted to Nationals. And just a note, 7 of the 8 got into the Sweet 16.



Overall, I think Nationals was a great experience for all parties involved, win or lose. And I think that to those who want to shrink the tournament need to go and experience it. If you were there and watched all these great games, you definitely wouldn't want to keep more teams out. The experience of getting teams from all over the country together to play one another is unbelievable. This is something that doesn't happen all year. There are inter-regional events, but to have 24 DI teams in one spot all watching and playing one another is something special. To get rid of teams would be a crime to the players and the league.

Also, the experience to see and learn from (and if your lucky play against) a team like Lindenwood is an experience you will never forget. Most teams won't get this opportunity outside of Nationals. I don't like teams that don't want to come to DI because they feel Lindenwood is the automatic winner. Teams should strive to be the best and to beat a team like Lindenwood. I realize their track record and how good they are, but nobody is perfect. Even the Soviets lost once during their amazing run. UMSL proved that last year anyone can lose any given game. Teams need to remember that. And know that you can never beat the best if you never play the best.

In conclusion, I really feel Nationals 2010 was a great success.

[thereal54]

Totally agree. This was the best nationals and best facility that I've been to by far. Congratulations to all the Champion teams and "underdogs" that mixed things up.

CRHA staff -- Amazing event; you don't hear it enough and dealing with College kids they don't know how to say it enough

[CSteamer]

Great analysis of nationals. This was my first NCRHA nationals that I had ever attended and I think everything went great for the most part. The rink was a great facility with good locker rooms and great food. I really like the way the pools were broken down in D1 and I think it made for exciting games throughout the entire tournament.

[NCSU17]

Central Florida- This team has been good for years, but they always seem to be over looked. They had a really good showing this year and were very close to upsetting Buffalo earlier and getting bid to the Final 4.

I was glad to see the SECRHL was well represented. Great job UCF! It's unfortunate that FAU were missing some guys, because they could definitely have upset a top team and been very competitive.