A letter I opened when I got home tonight really pumped up my spirits. It started: “We are pleased to inform you that your application was selected for tickets to the 2008 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four at the Pepsi Center in Denver.”
While I won’t know the specific seats until March, I at least have two tickets for the two semifinal games on April 10 and the championship game on April 12. As I noted in passing 11 months ago, I wasn’t aware the NCAA had gone to an online only format for Frozen Four applications and hadn’t applied for tickets for a couple years. Thus, I made sure I got my application in this past April. It’s great to hit paydirt the first time through the new system, especially since your odds increase the more times you’ve been selected in the lottery and I’ve only gotten tickets once before, when the Frozen Four was held at Xcel Energy Center in 2002 and the Minnesota Gophers won it.
While the Frozen Four will coincide with the beginning of the USHL playoffs, that’s an acceptable trade off. Thus, I made hotel reservations tonight and will nail down one of the non-stop flights between here and Denver as the time gets closer. I just have to remember to get my application for the 2009 Frozen Four in before I leave in April.
I’ve always felt hockey was like a disease. You can’t really shake it.
Former NHL goalie Ken Wregget
