You want a cinderella story? How about a team that didn't exist last season. A college hockey team that has roughly 700 people attend each home game. The bus rides to road games can take up to 18 hours. Welcome to the Division III Adrian Bulldogs. They consist of 22 Freshman, 1 Sophomore, and 1 Junior, of whom they call 'Dad'. They didn't have an arena last year and in order to play this year, each player took his turn filling the ice rink. That's right, the players, water a hockey rink down just so they could play.
Now here's the best part, their record. You might think they would have an atrocious record. I mean, come on, 22 freshman? What could they do? Well all these 24 players managed to do was put together a 26-3 record...again, in the first year of existence. Want to know another thing, none of them are playing on any athletic scholarship. Just a bunch of kids that showed up and wanted to play hockey. Kids that have also won 20 games in a row.
For Division III, the NCAA selects 10 teams. The top six recieve byes while the the bottom four teams play it out in the first round for a shot at the quarterfinals. Since Adrian did not win their division, they will need an at large bid...one that Mitch Albom from the Detroit Free Press is pushing for. Adrian currently holds the #10 spot in the USCHO.com Mens DIII poll, but may be looking in once the tournament starts. The slesctions are tonight, and you know Mitch will be watching. As for me, I'll have to check and see if they made the field tomorrow morning.
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