Deron wrote, in part..
... Five teams are not going to go to the NCAAs from Hockey East.  ...
 
Not too serious ramblings ...
 
It is improbable, but 5 teams not going to the NCAAs should not be a
worry of Maine.  As Deron knows, the NCAA tournament selection
committee selects teams based entirely on performance with a
computed model.
 
To get in, Maine would have to do well from here on (at least a split in
all series and at least a pair of quarterfinal wins, IMHO (and trial runs
of RPI, the method used for part of the selection).
 
Maine's (selection) fate is still in their own hands.  To win out ...
through the HEA quarterfinals (maybe semi-finals), would get Maine a
top-4 in the nation and a 1st round bye, IMHO.  A split in all upcoming
series and 2 out of 3 losses in the HEA quarterfinals would put Maine
in about 10th position and a bubble team (that is, tournament selection
would depend on the number of upsets in league tournaments).
Anything worse will mean no NCAA tournament selection, IMHO.
 
Of course, we're still a long time from NCAA tournament selection with
about 300 games yet to be played!
 
What's the matter? (Not much ... Maine is ranked about where many
of us had predicted). It seems like injuries, a few bounces and a few
mistakes have taken some of the confidence that our early season
Bears showed. Maybe the goaltending and defense, good now, will
improve to release the forwards a little more?  Maybe the seniors will
return to provide some much needed scoring and consistency?
Maybe a new strong defender will emerge? Maybe an offensive
defender will emerge? Maybe a scoring line or two will emerge?
 
Maybe this team hasn't the appearance of improving through this
season, because the coach has (apparently, in the media) removed
some (more) of the "next game" focus in favor 1 and only 1 goal?
 
Bull.
 
Maybe our team is overachieving, as we have seen so many Walsh-
led Maine teams do.  Count draft choices; count NHL prospects; count
$s spent on the program.   We're doing quite well with wins and losses
(and not these counts), thank you!
 
P.S. If anyone knowing anything about college hockey wants to
speak, I'll shutup!  :-)
 
cheers, wayne
 
 
Wayne Smith -- [log in to unmask] -- Old Town Landing, ME