Tomorrow is the big day. At every age level we have gone from twelve to eight and now to two teams. Starting at 8am, we begin the finals tomorrow. It's been a week of some great hockey. We have seen favorites win and favorite lose. It's all or nothing tomorrow for the remaining teams.

Have you ever noticed how the final games of some big tournaments are relative blowouts after a weekend of close hockey? This is where some people (myself included), think MYHockey falls short. I suspect one or two of the championship games in Amherst will be decided by four or more goals. Not that four goals really separate the teams, but that's how the game goes. Here's how I see it. A team gets down by a goal, one goal is all it takes for some, and they begin to press. After pressing, they give up another. At this point, they have nothing to lose by continuing to take risks and they continue push it. It goes from bad to worse and before you know it they are down by three to five goals. It could be either team. I hope we don't see any of these tomorow because it gives people the wrong impression of what took place. If you see one, please remember the loser of that game is still, in my mind, the second best team in the country. There is nothing embarrasing about playing in a National Championship game and losing big. Best of luck to all teams tomorrow.

Do you cheer for underdogs? While my kid loves winners, I find myself consistently hoping the underdog wins. Underdog isn't always clearly defined by the team rated lower in MYHockey, it sometimes has to do with a part of the country or program that has never seen success at the national level. At the Bantam level, I really didn't need to see either the North Jersey Avalanche or the Littleton Hawks win a title. Both teams were 2005 Peewee National Champs two years ago and both made it back to Amherst as mathematical MYHockey favorites among the teams that qualified for Nationals. I respect both programs and wish them the best, but let's spread the wealth and see a Cinderella story. While I'm not sure we'll see any real Cinderella stories tomorrow, there will be a couple of champions didn't have good odds in Las Vegas before the tourney started. I'm glad, these are good stories.

I saw a few things today that I haven't seen before. New experiences and stories are always good at making one smarter. Take, for example, the Rochester Monarchs 94 team that entered quarterfinal play with an 0-3 record playing the #1 seed from the other conference. Rochester then proceeded to execute a come-from-behind victory over the LA Hockey Club in the quarterfinals. Impressive. Then they build a 2-0 lead on the Colorado Thunderbirds. Colorado, however, sticks to their game plan and comes back to earn a pass to the finals. Still, it got me wondering if we've ever seen a team go 0-3 in round robin and then win a National Championship. Just wondering... I have a few more of those experiences that are best left in my mind as they are a little too near and dear to be written about objectively.

I was going to give you my predictions for National Champs, but I don't want to anger anyone. Actually, I don't want to upset myself. The teams I want to win are typically the underdog (as I subjectively define them) and unlikely to win many of the games. For now, I'll keep my expectations and desires to myself and simply wish everyone the best tomorrrow.