In my continuing research of the history of the Boston University
hockey program I have come upon a lot of information regarding the
formation of the ECAC.  The ECAC was formed because the
Eastern Selection Committee continually had trouble selecting of
the two eastern representatives to the National Tournament.
Therefore, the committee voted to recommend to the NCAA Ice
Hockey Rules Committee that an eight-team playoff be conducted
to determine the two eastern teams.

The playoff was approved, but it was stipulated that the second
eastern team did not have to be the tournament runner-up.  So,
instead of having to pick two teams, the Eastern Selection
Committee was required to pick and seed eight teams for the
ECAC Tournament and then the second eastern team to go along
with the tournament winner.

In the west, the WCHA was formed prior to the 1959-60 season
and from the beginning it held post season playoffs to select the
two western representative.

So, league playoffs have been used for forty years in both the east
and west to select teams to the NCAA Tournament.  They were
started in an effort to remove the human factor (something much
despised on this list) from the selection process.

On another note, phase one of my BU Hockey Research Project is
now complete (I still need to make the information available on my
website).  However, the project has expanded well beyond my
initial objective (now phase one) and continues to grow.  At this
point I would once again like to request help from everyone on this
list.  I am looking for the following information and would welcome
any help in obtaining it.

Game Summaries for all BU hockey games before 1989-90.

BU hockey guides/yearbooks/brochures before 1982-83

Hockey guides (hopefully with player lists) for the following teams:
Air Force
Bowling Green
Colorado College
Lake Superior
Michigan
Northern Michigan
Northeastern
Ohio State
Western Michigan

Information on the following teams (hopefully with player lists) for
the years indicated:
AIC, 1949-57
Bates, 1922-32
Bowdoin, 1924-62
Colby, 1936-66
Mass. Devens, 1946-49
Hamilton, 1924-25
Holy Cross, 1928-48
Middlebury, 1937-58
MIT, 1922-52
Northern Arizona, 1983-84
Norwich, 1942-61
Pennsylvania, 1972-76
St. Louis, 1970-75
Tufts, 1942-57
US International, 1986-87
Williams, 1925-30

Information on the following Canadian teams (hopefully with player
lists) for the years indicated:
Dalhousie, 1960-84
Loyola of Montreal, 1967-68
Memorial, 1967-68
New Brunswick, 1963-69
Queen's, 1961-65
RMC, 1964-65
St. Francis Xavier, 1965-68
Toronto, 1925-2001

Sean Pickett            E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Go Terriers             2000 Beanpot Champions
BU Hockey:  http://www.tiac.net/users/spickett/hockey.html