Today's update doesn't include a lot of hockey. Because USA Hockey did such a good job of locating the tournament in a great location, I spent the better part of the day at Niagara Falls. No Maid of the Mist today, there was still plenty of ice in the gorge below the falls, but I thought it made it all the more impressive. With all the down time at Nationals, it was nice to have a world class attraction at our disposal in order to kill time in a quality way.

Of course, the hockey was once again, top notch. A few more upsets today. That's good, but upsets in round-robin don't do much damage when 8 of the top 12 teams make the quarterfinals. I personally like the format. Three days of round-robin to warm everyone up. If you are a top team in the country you can surely make the top eight, even if you show up with car legs. Make the field of eight and then you play for real come Saturday when each tournament goes from eight to two teams and sets up the Championship games on Sunday. It works well for me, but I would like to see them run some finals in parallel on Sunday. Finals start at 8am, 11am, 2pm and 5pm. If you are a Bantam Tier I team, you might have to wait until Monday to fly out. Given that you probably flew in on Monday or Tuesday of this week, that's quite a commitment. They should have staggered the finals by 1.5 hours on the two main rinks. Start at 9am, 10:30, 12, and 1:30pm. You could probably have everyone out of the rink by 4pm. just a thought.

I heard an interesting story today that I thought I'd pass along. A very strong team in the tournament was upset today by a middle of the road team. Not a huge upset, but an upset. I heard a parent talking and he, of course, had an excuse. At first I thought it was sour grapes, but then I realized he was supporting one of my arguments from yesterday. Yesterday, this team played a team that doesn't belong at Nationals. They won 11-0 after playing in what could be the most difficult district to make it to Nationals from. They play extremely good competition week in and week out and then come to Nationals to play the weakest team they've played all season. They crushed them, but lost their edge. Now they are trying to get it back. One loss doesn't mean anything in round robin, but the team is concerned that the bad habits picked up in their blow-out win might not disappear as fast as they showed up. There is no reason that you should come to Nationals and play someone who is weaker than the weakest team in your league. This is unfair to everyone and degrades the tradition of Nationals.

I have been trying to figure out who is hosting Nationals next year and finally found the answer. Amherst got the bid for Midgets. While I am tempted to argue that it's not right for them to host Nationals back-to-back, they've done a pretty good job and it works fairly well. Peewees and Bantams will be in Hackensack, NJ, presumably by the North Jersey (Icehouse) Avalanche. The Avalanche are an excellent organization and I hope they can live up to what Amherst has done this year. I heard an interesting story. Not sure about all the details, but it concerned a desire to host all of the divisions in one location, boys and girls, Peewees to Midgets. The discussed location, Minnesota. Those who read my rantings probably know I grew up in Minnesota. I love the state and love its hockey. However, any state that doesn't adhere to basic USA Hockey guidelines for birth year cut-offs and is essentially saying we don't need USA Hockey, should never be awarded a National Championship tournament and any age, either gender. The Schwan Super Rink in Blaine MN is an eight pad facility. It's also about 15 minutes from where I grew up for a period of my youth. That's all great and I'm sure it's a great facility, but don't award the anyone within the State of Minnesota another National tournament until they buy-in to the program. And by the way, I kinda hope Minnesota doesn't buy into the program. They have a good thing going, but they can't have their cake and eat it too.

The skills competition was done as well as could be expected. Good job to everyone involved in making it a reality. I think it helped set the week apart for most. I know other tournaments do it, but it was still fun.

Tomorrow brings the end of round-robin play. I'll give you my run-down as we prepare for Saturday's quarter and semi-finals.