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We started off today's Daily Links with an example of Nutmegger Derangement Syndrome, in Peter King not acknowledging the role football plays in the conference affiliation of a certain public university that dominates the world of shootyhoops, rioting, and shootyhoops-related rioting. Now we turn to hockey, where Nutmegger Derangement extends beyond deeming Connecticut the "center of the college hockey universe" last year and the irrational belief that Hartford would be a viable market for an NHL team.
if you enjoyed the articles about how Minnesota's North Star Cup Thing was the new Beanpot, you're going to love this.
Webster Bank Arena will host college hockey tourney; Connecticut's "Beanpot" (Connecticut Post)
Look, I can't even. I have no words. I'm going to try to present this without comment:
It was always just out of reach, a "Connecticut Beanpot" to pit the state's four Division I men's hockey teams once a year. They believe they've got it in Bridgeport in 2015, with a pretty good tournament set for 2014 in the meantime.
Webster Bank Arena will host the Frozen Hockey Classic on Dec. 27-28, pitting Sacred Heart, Quinnipiac, UConn and national champion Union. Yale is expected to replace Union in 2015.
The Beanpot pits Boston's four schools -- Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern and Harvard -- in a similar tournament, with first-round winners meeting for the title, and a consolation game.
"I'm a Massachusetts kid. Growing up, the two hottest tickets in January were the Beanpot," Sacred Heart captain Will Rayner said. "To have something like that here, to involve the youth, it'll be great."
Alright, I lied. I'm going to make a couple of comments, actually:
1. Absolute best part: "The Beanpot is a similar tournament..." Next year during our Beanpot articles, I'm going to inform you all that the tournament works "a lot like the Frozen Hockey Classic."
2. I wonder what tournament Will Rayner was attending on the first two Mondays in January.
3. lol "Frozen Hockey Classic"
4. Will there be a shootout to decide the winner?
I will say this, to the Connecticut Post's credit -- the stuff about a "Connecticut Beanpot" is definitely not the funniest sentence I've read from a hockey fan in Connecticut this week. Take it away, Boston Sunday Globe:
In Hartford, Whalers are gone but fan support lives on (The Boston Globe)
"I ardently believe [the Whalers are] coming back, and it could be as early as next year,'' Victor recently told a reporter who visited his home in New Britain, some 10 miles southwest of the Civic Center. "My bet's the Islanders. If you look at everything, it really makes the most sense."
"They're leaving Long Island, and I know the deal is that they're going to Brooklyn. But someone could get in there now, just pay whatever it takes to break that Brooklyn deal, and bring that team to Hartford.''
I assume that his quote continued with "and think about it. Once UConn gets invited to the Big Ten - which only makes sense, for the Big Ten to capitalize on the lucrative New Britain/Middletown media market, and to add an emerging hockey power to the Big Ten Hockey Conference - the upgrades to the XL Center will make it an irresistible landing spot for the NHL."
Seriously though, this should be a good tournament ... if they ditch the Connecticut Beanpot and keep Union in it. I'd definitely take time to watch a Quinnipiac-Yale or a Quinnipiac-Union matchup, in what should be a riveting Connecticut version of the Three Rivers Classic.