Article in this morning's Miami Herald says that the Office Depot Center is bidding to host the Frozen 4 in either 2009, 2010, or 2011. That would be great news for us, and what fans would not want to travel to Miami/Ft Lauderdale at this time of year to watch their favorite college hockey teams perform?

Are there schools down there with hockey programs? I would think that if a school is "hosting" the NCAA championship in a sport they ought to at least have a team in that sport.

If I'm not mistaken, Anaheim Pond hosted a few years back....Don't think USC has a team....

Joe, they've been trying the past few years to expand the college hockey market to some "non-traditional sites" now that the NCAA tourney has expanded to 16 teams and four regionals. Anaheim, Buffalo, Cincinatti, & St. Louis all had, or will have, the Frozen Four. And Philly did submit a bid for a Frozen Four back in 2003, but lost out to St. Louis. Pro hockey does have exposure in all these markets but no so much the college teams. So a south Florida Frozen Four is not out of the realm of possibility.

They're also looking at some of the smaller cities for the regional sites to keep neutral ice for the tournement games. Green Bay and Rochester will have a regionals next year for that purpose. Problem is, some of the best places are far away from the college participants, so they may not sell the place out. A catch-22 for the NCAA. Hopefully Bridgeport will get one of the 2008 regional sites so I don't have to travel!

The Anaheim Pond did indeed host the Froze Four and USC doesn't have a hockey program, BUT Orange County does have a rather active junior hockey scene, with an organization comprising eight teams of teenagers competing. That's a side of Orange County you don't see on "O.C."

~Adam

Obviously not the same thing but USC does have a hockey Club team who participates in the Pac-8. They are members of the ACHA as well. I think it is good to see other places getting the Frozen Four, helps the sport.

Miami didn't make the cut but Philadelphia did. The Wachovia Center, according to this article in today's Phila. Daily News, is one of the finalists for the Frozen Four for 2009 through 2011. The "hosts" would be Canisius, Niagara, Rider and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The other finalists:

Boston's FleetCenter (hosted by Boston University and Hockey East)
Detroit's Ford Field (hosted by Central Collegiate Hockey Association)
Tampa's St. Pete Times Forum (hosted by the University of Alabama, Huntsville)
the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. (hosted by the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities)
Washington's MCI Center (hosted by the Naval Academy)

The committee for venues went down this past weekend and checked out The Forum. Now the Tampa Bay bid group and UAH will give their presentation to the NCAA in Indianapolis on June 9th.

And yes the host school does have a hockey program and experience as well. Two DII National Championships, two regular season championships in DI College Hockey America, and multiple club championships in the 80s.

6 bids and 3 years...my guesses are Detroit, Tampa, and Boston.