> >Clarkson or Brown will win the ECAC regular season. If the same team
> >then wins the ECAC tourney, I hear that they get one of the NCAA byes.
> >Then either Maine or B.U. has to play the first game in Worcester. (?)
>
> Unless the rules changed no team, I repeat, *NO TEAM* is guaranteed one of
> the NCAA byes.
>
> Sean Pickett
> Go BU Terriers, 1994 Hockey East Champions!
> BU Hockey Page:  http://www.tiac.net/users/spickett/hockey.html
> [log in to unmask]
 
 I would strongly agree with Sean on this one and go one step further - I
doubt that Clarkson or Brown will be seeded above 4th in the east. Neither
team has performed strongly in the national picture and this will hurt them
come tourney time. Which is not to say that if Clarkson and/or Brown win their
last two games 10-0 , 10-0 and blow through the ECAC tourney, that may change,
but I still only see one of them 'hosting' a game in the first round in
Worcester (seeded 4th).
 
Clearly Maine and BU will most likely finish 1-2 somehow, and a strong case
for UNH 3rd will probably hold. Obviously IMO, but...
 
As a point of reference, in 93 Harvard was seeded 3rd behind Maine/BU and in
91 Clarkson was ripped (IMO) by being seeded 4th after finishing 24-7 and
winning the ECAC tourney. They trailed Maine (30-8-2), BU (25-10-2) and BC
(27-10-0). Clarkson went on to beat Wisconsin and then out to Lake St. and won
a hard 3 game series out there. There is NO rule - written or unwritten that
says the ECAC must receive a bye. And this year above all, I agree that a bye
is NOT forthcoming.
 
steve czuba
RPI 86