DIII Championships Back to Placid in 2010; Minneapolis in '11

It's official: The 2010 Men's DIII Championships are headed back to Lake Placid and Herb Brooks Arena. It will mark the third consecutive year that Lake Placid will host the event. Not that this was much of a secret anymore, but Lake Placid was confirmed as the 2010 host site in a June 30 NCAA release that included the following:

Approved moving the 2010 Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship from Minneapolis to Lake Placid, New York, where it will be hosted by the Olympic Regional Development Authority and Plattsburgh State. Because the 2010 Division I Women’s Frozen Four will be conducted in the campus facility that was to host the 2010 Division III championship, the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association now will host the 2011 championship in Minnesota’s Ridder Arena.

The rumored move back to Lake Placid had been a source of consternation in the DIII community, as section 15.d of the meeting minutes from a February 9-10 meeting of the DIII Championships Committee stated the following:

Men’s Ice Hockey. The committee approved the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association to host the 2010 NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship at Ridder Arena (on the campus of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

So why the confusion? Easy. The Women's DI Frozen Four was already slated to be played at Ridder the same weekend the NCAA awarded said venue hosting rights to the Men's DIII Championships.

Understandably, the Women's DI Committee and the arena itself took issue with the logistical conflicts that such a situation presented and options were reconsidered.

The result: Essentially a East/West trade. 2010 for 2011, and that's that. Back to Lake Placid this season and westward to Minneapolis next year.

SUNY-Plattsburgh and the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) will once again co-host the event, though one important note is that this year's Championships will be held Saturday and Sunday, March 20 and 21, which is a one day shift from the Friday/Saturday setup of last season.

Lake Placid puts on a hell of a show so be sure to make the trip if you can - regardless of who ends up playing. After all, Zig Zag's is warm, the bartenders are top notch, the beer flows like water down a drain, and we're all coming back -- not like any of that offers much to complain about.