Have to get this out of the way first: Tom Bardis, if you're looking for your sweater, it's hanging from the ceiling just outside the media room at the Pepsi Center. They have jerseys from all of the NCAA hockey teams hanging around the lower level here, which is a nice touch to make a pro building a little more welcoming to the college folks.

During the third period of Thursday night's Michigan-Notre Dame game, I stood at the top of the Notre Dame cheering section, gathering observations for a story I was writing for USCHO.com about Fighting Irish fans watching their team's first Frozen Four game. I spend a lot of time in the press box during the Frozen Four, but it's a completely different experience being in the middle of the cheering action. And I was surprised by the Notre Dame fans. Many of the ones I talked to were more Notre Dame fans than Notre Dame hockey fans, but they seemed to know what they were talking about with the hockey team. One of the big stories at the Frozen Four this year is the emergence of the Irish as a program, and if they can keep their national fanbase growing, it'll be a big part of the picture.

I've seen a bunch of Wisconsin jerseys and hats around Denver this week, including a few enjoying some Wisconsin weather at the Rockies game Wednesday night. I did see an odd sight at Thursday night's game: a man wearing a North Dakota jersey and a Wisconsin knit hat. Strange bedfellows, indeed.