NCAA Men's Frozen Four 2006 Bracket Contest  

Sunday, May 21, 2006   

1st Place Winners Claim Prize

The 1st Place finishers in our 2006 Frozen 4 Contest claimed their prize at Valley Ranch today.  Jacob Loomis, 6-year old brother of 2005-2006 Alliance Bantam AA Forward Josh Loomis, teamed up with his brother to win the $300 Gift Certificate from The Hockey Shop, beating out all of the more than 120 other contestants.

Jacob and Josh picked 11 of the 15 games accurately, including the correct National Champion - Wisconsin.   In addition to picking both Semi-Final games correctly, and 3 of the 4 Quarter-Final games right, Jacob & Josh also came within 1 goal of picking the exact total number of all goals scored by all teams in the tournament (89, tie-breaker #2).

Jacob is an up and coming roller hockey player, and Josh was recently selected to play for the 2006-2007 Alliance Bantam AAA team.   Congratulations to Jacob and Josh!

Saturday, May 6, 2006   

2nd Place Winner Claims Prize

The 2nd Place finisher in our 2006 Frozen 4 Contest claimed his prize at Valley Ranch today.   Stuart Smith, a Sophomore at Bishop Lynch High School, collected his $150 Gift Certificate from The Hockey Shop for beating out all but one of the more than 120 other contestants.

Stuart picked 11 of the 15 games correctly, including the correct National Champion - Wisconsin.   In addition to keeping up with NCAA Hockey, Stuart is a Center in the Bishop Lynch High School Hockey program, and will most likely use his winnings for a new hockey stick from the Hockey Shop.   Congratulations Stuart!

Saturday, April 8, 2006   

Wisconsin Holds off BC for Championship

The National #1 Seeded Badgers of Wisconsin held off a last minute flurry by the #11 Seed Eagles of Boston College and claimed their 6th NCAA Ice Hockey Title in school history with a 2-1 victory last night at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  A final shot by Boston College clanged off the left post with less than 2 seconds remaining to give the Badgers a scare before their celebration.

In our Frozen Four Contest, we had nineteen (19) people select Wisconsin to win it all, second most to the favorite Minnesota, who lost in a first round upset to Holy Cross.  Our 1st Place finisher chose the winner in 11 of the 15 games, including the Championship, both Semi-Finals, and 3 of the 4 Quarterfinal games. 

The winner separated himself from 2nd Place by a fairly wide margin of 8 points, but the difference from 2nd to 3rd was just 2 points.  Third Place was decided by a tie-breaker again this year, with three people coming up with the same number of points for 3rd.  The person that used 18 as their Tie-Breaker #1 was closest to the final number of goals scored by the Champion Wisconsin (12), so they will take home the prize for 3rd Place.

Five people correctly chose the number 12 for Tie-Breaker #1, and one person correctly chose 89 as the total number of goals scored in the tournament by all teams.  Eight other people came within 1 goal of picking Tie-Breaker #2 accurately as well.  Once the winners have been contacted and confirmed, their names will be announced here on our web site.

Friday, April 7, 2006   

Frozen 4 Championship Game Set

A long season and plenty of tough battles over the last few months have led us to the final two teams left standing to play for the NCAA Division I Championship on Saturday night.    In yesterday's afternoon Semi-Final, the #11 Seed Eagles of Boston College jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st period and held off a spirited 3-goal rally in the final frame by the #7 Seeded Fighting Sioux of North Dakota to win 6-5 and advance to the Championship Game.

The National #1 Seeded Badgers of Wisconsin responded to a threat late in their Thursday night game from the #12 Seeded Black Bears of Maine, to secure to other spot in the Final with a 5-2 victory that was closer than the score indicated.  Even with the field down to only 2 teams, there are still eight (8) people in the running for prizes, depending on the winner and the tie-breakers.

Monday, March 27, 2006   

Final/Frozen 4 Determined

The sixteen team field has been reduced to the Final 4, but not until three #1 Regional Seeds and the top favorite to win it all (Minnesota) have been eliminated.   National #1 Seed Wisconsin is the only #1 Regional Seed to survive, and will be joined in the Final 4 with National Seeds #12 Maine, #11 Boston College, and #7 North Dakota. 

There are currently 33 people within 6 points of each other for the lead, but that picture will become much clearer after the Semi-Final games on April 6th.   We will not know the winners until the final horn sounds in the Championship Game on Sunday April 8th, and even then, it will probably take some tie-breaker math to separate the top 3.

A Few Hints at the Leaders…

There are 2 people currently tied for 2nd Place, but the current 1st Place guy has no shot, as he picked Minnesota to win it all.  One of the 2 people tied for 2nd Place currently (Person #1) is in the best place, as he/she will win 1st if either Maine or Boston College wins the championship.

Person #2, currently tied with Person #1, also picked Boston College, so they would end up tied if Wisconsin loses to BC in the final.  But of course, Person #1 would win if Maine beats Wisconsin in the semis, and then loses to BC in the championship game.  Person #1 has the better tie-breakers with the guy he is tied with (Person #2), so he would win even if Wisconsin beats Maine, and loses to BC in the final. 

Got the tired head yet???

By the way, the guy that is tied with Person #1 (Person #2), is a University of North Dakota Student from Madison, South Dakota.  You got it, he did not pick UND - that's grounds for disqualification right there!

If North Dakota beats Wisconsin in the final, it will go to a guy from New Hampshire, a UNH fan that also did not pick his own team!  If North Dakota beats Maine in the championship, a local defenseman left un-named (and not Person #1) will win on the second tie-breaker.

If Wisconsin wins it all, it could go to Person #3 currently tied with the UNH guy for 3rd right now, or to anyone as far down the list as one of the 13 people currently tied for 6th Place....

Now we get to spend the next 2 weeks figuring out 2^nd and 3^rd Place scenarios!

Friday, March 24, 2006   

Entries CLOSED, Game ON!

Well, we hope you thought about those tie-breaker numbers again, because it will probably come down to that to determine a winner, just like last year.   Among the 16 teams in the tournament, you picked ten (10) different winners for the National Championship.   Among the favorite teams to go all the way were Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and North Dakota.    In addition to areas all over Texas, we had entries from Wyoming, California, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and South Dakota.  Among the favorites, here are the numbers choosing them to win it all:

Games start this afternoon, so keep checking back here for results, and after Round 1, for the early leaders....

Sunday, March 19, 2006   

Bracket is Set, Prizes Announced, and the Contest is ON!!!

Well here we go, the final 16 teams have been selected and placed in the bracket, and all that is left now is choosing the winners and watching to see who brings home the prize, and the prizes.   The prize is the NCAA National Championship, but The Hockey Shop Frozen 4 Contest prizes are the ones you care about, so let's get to those. 

This year, The Hockey Shop will be contributing the following prizes for this year's winners: 1st Place - $300.00 Gift Certificate to The Hockey Shop, 2nd Place - $150.00 Gift Certificate, and 3rd Place - Replica Team USA or Team Canada hockey jersey.  Are you one of our loyal out-of-town Alliance fans?  If you win, we will arrange for you to choose something from the The Hockey Shop by proxy and then ship it to you, so don't let distance distract you from picking the winners!

Looking for some new skates?  A couple of new sticks?  Maybe a new set of gloves, or finally some new shin pads you've been needing for 2 years?  Or maybe some apparel of your favorite hockey team?  Just pick the teams you think will win in the tournament, and maybe you'll get those hockey needs taken care of courtesy of The Hockey Shop!  

Click on the "Go to the Bracket" button above and get started picking the winners...

Tuesday, March 14, 2006   

2nd Annual Alliance Frozen 4 Contest is Coming Soon with a New Sponsor...

Once again, the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament is nearly upon us, and back by popular demand for the 2nd straight year, Alliance is again offering you the chance to learn more about College Hockey and have some fun doing it.   This year, Alliance is pleased to announce that The Hockey Shop is our corporate sponsor for the contest, and will be contributing prizes for this year's winners.

The Hockey Shop in Lewisville and Addison Texas are two of the best kept secrets in the North Texas Hockey scene.  The Hockey Shop has been family owned since 1993 and is a great alternative to the Colorado or Michigan owned hockey chain stores that think they know what Texas hockey players want.  The Hockey Shop has the most experienced and most knowledgeable staff in Texas.  Check out The Hockey Shop for all your hockey needs.

Just like many of you already do for the NCAA Basketball Tournament, and did for the NCAA Hockey Frozen 4 last year, we are having another NCAA Hockey Frozen Four Bracket Contest.  There is no money involved, and it is just for fun.   However, there will be prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place winners - nothing spectacular, just hockey related!

Last Year's Contest Winner Collects Prize...

Last year, we presented the 1st Place Prize of the inaugural Alliance Frozen Four Brackett Contest to Winner Sean Heidrick, who made his choice of our 3 prizes to choose from, selecting the professionally framed 30" x28" authenticated autographed picture of Boston Bruin Bobby Orr scoring the Stanley Cup winning goal in overtime on May 10, 1970.

Sean lives in Plano, and last year played defense for the Alliance Bantam AAA team.  Congratulations to Sean, and good luck during this year's contest! 

For results and information from last year's contest, click HERE...

About the Contest...

Once the final 16 Regional teams have been selected by the NCAA, those teams will be placed by Alliance here on this web page in their appropriate spot in the bracket below.   That date will be as early as Sunday March 19th, but no later than Monday March 20th, as playoffs are still in progress to determine the final 16 teams.

Once the teams are placed here on the web site, you will simply choose the teams you think will win each game, picking all games to the National Championship, fill out your information, and press the SUBMIT button.  Games chosen correctly earn you points in the contest, with Round 1 games getting you 1 point for each correct winner chosen, and Round 2 games 3 points for each winner. 

A correct Semi-Finalist will get you 7 points each, and you will earn 10 points for selecting the correct National Champion.  Picking each game correctly will earn you a maximum of 44 total points.  The top 3 points winners will receive prizes.  The Tie-Breaker is the total goals scored by the National Champion in their 4 Games, with the closest guess being the winner.

Do your homework!  Once the teams are placed in the bracket, there will be a link to their official web site.  Check out each team's home page, find out how they did against the competition this season, see which players are the top ones for each team.  A great web site with lots of college hockey information, including games determining the final 16 teams, results, rankings, and a projected bracket, go to USCHO - U.S. College Hockey On-Line...

Who did well in the tournament last year?  Who has the goaltending?  Who plays best against the tough teams?  Who can upset the top teams?  Where are the players from and what was their path to college?  You may be a player on a Frozen Four team in the future!

If you change your mind after you submit, or if it is not the way you want it, come back to the Frozen 4 page and re-submit.  We will register the most recent information you submit up until the Entry Deadline.

Entry Deadline is Midnight, Thursday, March 23rd

Nat'l Seed - Team Name (Regional Seed)