NCAA Hockey Tickets

We are local hockey fans from Grand Rapids, and went because the tournament came to us. All three games were tight and fun to watch. The quality of play was a little below the level of AHL games, but still pretty high, and got more intense as each game went on. We were rooting for Yale mostly because they were the underdogs, and they successfully outlasted a presumably more talented Minnesota team, and outplayed North Dakota in the final. The venue itself (Van Andel Arena) is a great place to watch a hockey game. One odd thing about the event was that there were relatively few people there, no doubt because none of the teams were local, and with the exception of Minnesota do not have that large a fan base to begin with. There were some fans of each team there, but not enough to generate anything like the usual noise level, so you could often hear the voices of the players and officials on the ice, even from the upper level. Of course, the fact that they do not serve beer at NCAA events also made for a quieter bunch. Beer would have helped, especially since the food at the arena is not very good, even by stadium standards.

Awesome time. Verizon Arena ran a great tournament. Hope they host it again.

Good teams, good venue, excellent tournament. There is nothing more exciting than watching college hockey. If you don't like the game, just go to see and hear the fans. Overall great weekend

Very well done, and very well attended. I'd like to see the ability to enter, leave then enter again. AND/OR have beer sales in the arena.

3rd row behind the goalie - great seats right? Unless someone with a 8 foot high 3 foot wide hat sits in front of you. Or the arena builds a ridiculous booth for the goal judge made of plexiglas thick enough to stop a bullet. I had thinner glass on my bulletproof HumVee doors. The tickets were obstructed view but it was not stated when I bought them. When I asked for relocation, the only available tickets where in the back corner row. The games were great but the tickets should have been marked as obstructed view. What a disappointment.

No traffic control coming into town. Almost an hour to go the last mile. Missed the entire first period of the first game, that we drove 325 miles to see. Then they kicked us out after the second game when we wanted to watch a replay of the first game's first period that we had missed and that was being shown on the TV's around the stadium.

Too expensive for an NCAA event. I would like to see the accounting for the event and how much of the ticket price was pocketed by the NCAA.

All 3 games were fantastic!! Also my team Yale won the tournament, next up Frozen 4 in Pittsburg!!!!

The positive was our seats were excellent and it was great college hockey. Negatives were we had some college kids near us that were using foul language, trying to instigate a fight with opposite fans and they through things on the ice after the game. No one said anything to them and they were back the next day. My other issue was the announcing. I never knew when power plays were over, or anything else going on. I had to look at the score board to see time left in power plays etc.

Three great games all close, fun to watch. Yale upsetting two WCHA teams, Minnesota in overtime and North Dakota. Yale scored four goals in the last 8:00 minutes of the game. An unexpected Frozen Four participant.

Unfortunately, I missed this weekend of NCAA Ice hockey. Was under the weather both days and homebound. I did watch some of the semi-finals online via ESPN3. Was glad to see Yale win in OT and for Niagara to give UND a battle. Bummer I couldn't get to the final--nice win by Yale! Will be exciting to watch them play UMass-Lowell. I think I'm for Lowell, though if Yale wins that's OK. Was sad to see that the attendance was so low on both days in Grand Rapids. For hockey fans who haven't seen much if any college hockey, college hockey is a highly skilled, fast pace game with many talented players throughout all 59 teams. Well worth checking out here in Michigan during the regular season in Houghton, Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie, Big Rapids, Kazoo, E. Lansing and A2.

Great hockey experience. Nice to see 3 Hobie Baker finalists play in the same event!

Great time. Not much of a crowd. If a school from Michigan was represented it would have drawn more fans.

Once again, we thoroughly enjoyed the college level hockey played during the holidays. Our grandchildren look forward to seeing the teams play, providing lots of thrills.

Day 2 of the Florida College Hockey Classic had 4 great teams playing. The second game, especially, was nearly as exciting as any NHL games we've seen, such as the LA Kings Games that we enjoyed attending, back in the days when Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille and Company were playing! Now THOSE were GREAT GAMES!

The event was fun. I'll most likely return for future college hockey events

This is as pure as it gets. Would like to see more publicity to get more folks out. A lot of residents are from the Northand are quite familiar with game. Incentive tickets for the first day could be considered. This was our fifth year in attendance during our holiday break from the North.

I had wanted to see the Minnesota Gophers play North Dakota before, but it is a high-demand ticket in the regular season at Mariucci Arena. But it finally worked out, by seeing them in a tournament. I had wanted to see the hockey tournament before, but it is at the same time as the basketball tournament. What made it easier this time to see hockey was that it was in the Twin Cities. Good seats, at first I was impressed with this but then noticed how nobody was sitting above club level to make the arena look more full. The proverbial 'two birds with one stone'- by seeing this event for the first time. Hard to understand why the North Dakota fans kept chanting 'Let's Go Sioux!' when they weren't allowed to use this mascot anymore. I guess some have a hard time accepting change. Nice to see a Gopher win.

I have attended the WCHA Final Five for the past twelve years and it is AWESOME! The NCAA should seriously consult all college hockey tournament officials, coaches,players, and fans before they RUIN next years regionals and Frozen Four.

The Xcel Energy Center is one of the best hockey venues in the country. The WCHA Final Five tournament is always a 1st class event. However, when the NCAA decided to award the X the 2012 West Regional, they completely handcuffed the X from putting on its usual stellar performance. Examples: ticket prices for single games were OUTRAGEOUS. $60 per seat is out of control. I bought the three-game package for $100 per seat which was fair I thought, but I planned to go to all three games anyway. For those that only wanted to watch a specific game got ripped off. Second, for those that bought 3-game packages, you were not allowed to leave the arena after the 1st game. if you did, you forfeited your seat for the 2nd game! My wife and I attended the first game with our 6-month old son intending to leave and drop him off at my sister-in-law's place so we could go back for the 2nd game. Arena officials told us by NCAA rule, we would not be let back in if we left. We were never told of this rule when we bought our tickets and thought the rule was very unfair and inconsiderate for families with small children attending. At the very least they could have posted signs at entrances notifying fans of this fact. Last, no beer sales were allowed as it is a NCAA event. I've never been to a BCS Bowl Game, but I'm sure they sell beer at those! This rule is hypocritical. The NCAA could take a page from the WCHA's playbook on how to run a first class event.