I haven't seen this discussed here yet.  Seems like everything else
has, however. :-)
 
During the Eastern Hockey Summit last week in which a number of us
attended ECAC and HE playoff games and discussed various topics, I
raised the issue of the unfairness involved in keeping host teams at
home, which reared its ugly head last season for the first time.
 
My contention is that the main reason this is unfair is that with the
change to regional sites, at least in the East, a majority of the
teams will never be able to host a regional and thus would never be
able to gain from the policy.
 
It seems clear that the East Regional will tend to rotate among about
three sites: Albany, hosted by RPI; Worcester, hosted by BU; and
Providence, hosted by PC.  There are not many other realistic sites
available for the East Regional to be held at, if any.
 
So, all that the team hosting the regional in any given year needs to
do is to get in the tourney, and they'll get to play at home infront
of their home fans.  If they would normally get sent West, then a team
that earned the right to play near home will go West instead and
probably not have many of their fans able to attend the games.
 
Unlike the West, the Eastern teams are all close enough that it would
not be more than a several hour drive for any team's fans to travel to
the site in question.
 
Hypothetical situation: some year in the near future, PC is hosting
the East Regional in Providence.  PC sneaks in as the last seed.
Maine has an off year (for Maine) and rates as #4E.  By the policy
established last season, Maine would be sent West while PC stays home.
 
Does this make sense?  Maine will bring several thousand fans to a
regional played anyplace in the East, very likely more than PC would
draw for a game played in Providence.
 
Last year it seemed easy to justify keeping RPI in the East and
sending Lowell West because RPI would draw more fans to the Knick than
Lowell.  What about PC vs Maine?  I could easily see this situation
arising sometime soon.
 
The simple fact is that the teams that earn the right to play closer
to home SHOULD play closer to home.  RPI earned a bid, but it belonged
in the West last year.  It should have been sent West.
 
Another point raised by some at the Summit in response to my concern
was that Lowell would have benefitted greatly from playing in Albany.
There was reason to believe that with the surge in attendance and
interest that Lowell has enjoyed recently, and particularly with their
superb season last year, a large number of Lowell fans would have made
the short 3 hour drive to Albany for the regional.  I suspect it would
not have had a significant negative impact upon attendance in Albany
if Lowell had appeared there instead of RPI.
 
And this does not even begin to touch upon the benefits Lowell would
have gained from having an NC$$ tourney game played within driving
distance of their fans.  It probably would have resulted in even more
fan interest and support heading into this season - and Lowell already
did end up drawing extremely well this year with a team that hovered
around .500.  Being ten miles across the Valley from Lowell, this is a
benefit I would have of course preferred to see Merrimack enjoy, but I
know that Lowell earned it and deserved to reap the successes.
 
If the local fans do not wish to support a regional played at a site
without their team (what happens if their team does not receive a
bid at all?), then perhaps the site is a bad choice for the event.
 
In contrast, reports are that the regional this year in Worcester has
been selling tickets briskly and may be close to a sellout - and this
was the case long ago.  At least in the East, and at least in
Worcester, the event has generated enough interest that it can be
expected to draw well regardless of whether the host team appears in
it or not.  BU is the host this year, but I suspect the regional would
draw well even if BU somehow did not make it.  And I got the
impression that even the BU supporters I spoke with would not have
agreed with keeping BU at home if they did not earn it.
 
The answer I support is to stop favoring the host team.  And if that
isn't to be done, then different teams should be allowed to host the
regional.  I.e., Albany - Union, or another NY team; Worcester - UMass,
or one of the other Boston schools; Providence - Brown.  It is simply
unfair to allow the same three or so teams to have this shot at
playing at home even if they have not earned it.
 
BTW, in the West, I was under the impression that Madison was also
close to a sellout even though it is not guaranteed that Wisconsin
would even make it.  That is what I mean about local fans supporting
the event.  I suspect the same would be true in St Paul, for example.
The event should be held where it is supported, such that it is not
necessary to be concerned with the hometown team's effect upon
attendance.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93