Our friends from the
Coming Down the Pipe blog had an interesting topic on their blog this morning. Ironically, I have put some thought into this subject and had this discussion with others in the past. Personally, I think that the NCAA Frozen Four could be a big success if the event was held in Western Canada. First, location of site for a Canadian Frozen Four is going to be key. Second, the arena would also be important when selecting a possible Frozen Four site. Of course I think Winnipeg would seem to be a no brainier; however, the arena, the
MTS Centre only seats 15,015 spectators for hockey and the NCAA might want a bigger arena.
The marquee NCAA event has criss-crossed the United States, it's been held in hockey mad markets, football stadiums, cities without Division 1 college programs and in places where the only ice you find is in your drink. Most of the time the Frozen Four has been successful but other times it has not and in some of those cases, it's a bit surprising.
But considering all of the creative ways the NCAA has come up with the celebrate the championship weekend of the sport, it's never left the country. Is it plausible to think that one day, the Frozen Four might be held in Canada?
To me, the answer is YES.
Apparently according to the
Coming Down the Pipe blog, there has already been a discussion about the Frozen Four going to Canada.
Would the event draw fans in Canada where the NCAA game goes laregly unrecognized by the media? I don't know so I asked someone who would in Jeff Jackson, former coach of the OHL's Guelph Storm who leads the Notre Dame Fighting Irish into action on Thursday.
"We’ve actually had talks about that," Jackson said, "I think having it in Toronto would be very successful. We have had a lot of players from that area on our team before, or from other parts of Ontario, so I think it would work extremely well there or in other cities like Calgary, Edmonton... Winnipeg, there are lots of possibilities right across Canada."
Jackson's statement that there have been discussions already of a potential Canadian Frozen Four is consistent with what Paul Kelly of College Hockey Inc.
