Deron,

I ran several scenarios this morning and not a single one of them had a 
problem with the 5 hockey east teams avoiding one another in the first 
round.  Of course everything is speculation right now.  It is still 
possible for BC to get a one if they beat BU and then UMASS and for UNH 
to drop to a 2 seed.  Still much to be determined, and Maine is by no 
means a shoe in.

Hockey Committee did throw a surprise in last year if I am not mistaken 
and Maine's play down the stretch was abysmal.  I am sure they would 
love to take Denver to seed them in their own region for ticket sales 
purposes, but if they do that the hockey community should go into an 
uproar!  Down the stretch Denver went 2-8-2, Colorado College went 
3-7-2, Miami went 5-5-2, and Maine went 5-7.  If you consider that 
Maine also played those games without their starting netminder, well 9 
of them, they have a stronger case.

Having said all that most of us believe this team does not deserve to 
be in the tourney, however given the criteria, barring more than one 
conference upset, it would be a major snub if Maine does not make it 
and one of the other teams I just listed does.  No question a very sad 
state of affairs to drop 4 in a row at UMASS!

Bob
On Mar 12, 2007, at 10:22 AM, Deron Treadwell wrote:

>> And they have an advantage that the first team that they meet is
>> going
>> to be pretty nervous about having to play Maine in the first round!
>
>
> Our potential opponent will be positively terrified I am sure. I mean
> if you can't beat UMass in four tries....
>
> *IF* Maine makes it, there will likely be 5 Hockey East teams in the
> tournament meaning that Maine could very well match up against, say,
> UNH in Manchester.  It will be next to impossible for committee to
> avoid a conference matchup in the first round.
>
> Minnesota will be overall #1 seed most likely and will get Alabama
> Huntsville.
>
> It looks like UNH and Clarkson will battle for the last #1 seed, or the
> #4 overall seed which if the committee holds true to form would get the
> top #4 seed, which could very well be Maine.  This is especially true
> because Maine and UNH have not recently played each other.
>
> Further to that, the committee could very well determine that Maine's
> play down the stretch is "deserving" of having to play UNH in front of
> its home fans.
>
> I guess my point is that while a UNH, Notre Dame, St. Cloud would
> rather play Alabama Huntsville than Maine, I don't think we should be
> so self-assured that we are going to make any afraid especially when
> confronted with realistic possibility of playing UNH.
>
> Best Regards,
> Deron
>
Bob Fitta
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Harvard Magazine
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