I propose, as part of an ECAC playoff restructuring which came to me
in a dream:
 
>> quarterfinal series).  In the event of a preliminary game tie, the
>> higher seed would advance.
 
Greg cries:
 
>No, no, no!!!  To advance you should have to *win*.  Always.  Bad enough we
>have to endure shoot-out idiocy in the Olympics.
 
        Of course, the ECAC already lets teams advance with a tie, by
using three-point series.  I assume you also have a problem with that.
It works for me; ties are a fundamental part of hockey.  (Shoot-outs,
mini-games and total-goals series are not.)
 
>The best way to do away with the Prelim game and also lose the ridiculous
>play-in game is to restrict the ECAC tourny to the top 8.
 
        That's the sanest way to go, but it makes the regular season
count for less, since the standings basically split into three
equivalence classes.  I liked the old system just fine.  Now if the
NCAA were adding an extra week before instead of after the regionals,
the Tuesday night preliminary games could be converted to two- or
three-game preliminary series.
 
[major junior tournament from Hell deleted]
 
>Finally, the Memorila Cup is a hideously awkward round robin tournament,
>despite having a nice number (4) of teams.
 
        Round robin seems to be an obsession of USA Hockey, and it has
unfortunately rubbed off on the ACHA as well.  Making a team play five
games in four days to win the nationals is totally unreasonable, IMHO.
 
        BTW, if you think the first-round bye in the 12-team NCAA
tournament is unfair, consider the 6-team double-elimination regionals
in the 48-team baseball tournament.  The 3/4 loser gets to play the
1/6 winner in their second game, making an easy exit strategy for the
4-seed.  No wonder they want to increase it to 64.
 
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