While I'm not surprised that the ECAC has decided to move its tournament, I
admit to being as puzzled as anyone else by their selection of Lake Placid
as the Phinal Phour's new home.  It's kind of interesting that a few months
ago, the ECAC decided to move the Phinal Phour of its East-West Division III
tournament from top-seeded Plattsburgh because it wasn't "centrally located"
and was too difficult for the other teams to get to -- and now they've
elected to put their Division I Phinal Phour, which is more or less their
showcase event, just down the road a piece in Lake Placid.
 
Jon writes:
>Can anyone explain to me why you would move the tournament from its'
>traditional home, ostensibly because it wasn't centrally located, to a
>location in the isolated hinterlands?
 
Well, I can tell you why they moved the tournament -- because tradition and
five cents gets you a nickel.  Boston was the home of the ECAC Phinal Phour
for 31 years, including the last 26 at the Gahden, but tradition or no, the
ECAC started to play second fiddle to Hockey East in the Boston area over
the past few years.  Which shouldn't be too surprising, what with five or
six Hockey East schools within a stone's throw of Boston, compared with only
one ECAC school.  Before the formation of Hockey East in 1984, back when the
ECAC was one large more-or-less happy family, there was plenty of interest
in the ECAC tournament, especially since there was a good bet that one or
more of the Boston-area teams (like Harvard, BC, BU, Northeastern, Provi-
dence, or New Hampshire) would be playing a big role in the Phinal Phour.
After Hockey East came along, however, only Harvard and tradition remained
to generate local interest in the ECAC's Phinal Phour.  And over the past
few years, there hasn't been much of a reason for Bostonians to be terribly
interested in following the ECAC playoffs at the Gahden.  In the last three
ECAC Phinal Phours, eleven of the twelve participating teams were from New
York State.  The New Yorkers certainly supported their teams and came to the
Gahden in droves -- but if all the interest in an event keeps coming from
outside Massachusetts, it's going to be a tough event to sell at the Gahden.
 
The Hockeyfest "experiment" probably served as a bit of a wake-up call for
the ECAC, in that the Hockey East portion of the tournament was somewhat
better attended.  And, with their lease running out on the Gahden after the
1992 tournament, this was as good a time as any for the ECAC to move the
tourney to some place a little closer to the "geographic center" of the
league.
 
As for why Lake Placid was chosen over the Knick -- well, I would have to
guess there was more involved than just the location.  Obviously, Albany is
a lot more central for the ECAC than Lake Placid is, and it's also easier to
get to, especially in mid-March.  However, the fact that the ECAC waited an
extra three months before making a decision, as well as the athletic direc-
tors' vote being tied, makes me think there were some other things going on
here.  The ECAC may not have been happy with the lease terms offered by the
Knick, or perhaps there were scheduling difficulties.
 
Despite its somewhat out-of-the-way location, Lake Placid apparently has the
facilities to handle a college tournament -- the NCAA Phinal Phour has been
there three times.  Assuming the fans (and the teams) can get there in one
piece, this move may work out reasonably well for the ECAC.  The league
higher-ups had better hope so, since regardless of what happens, they may
have to stay with Lake Placid for a while.  I don't think the Knick will be
too eager to make the ECAC an offer in the future after that three-month
delay cost them a shot at the '93 regionals.
 
ECAC commissioner Clayton Chapman made the official announcement of the Lake
Placid selection on Friday, and he also made a couple other major announce-
ments regarding the 1992-93 ECAC season.  He confirmed that the league would
be switching to a best-of-three quarterfinal format, with the games to take
place on March 12th, 13th, and 14th if necessary.  Also, he stated that the
ECAC would be adopting the two-referee, one-linesman officiating crew for all
league games starting next season.  It had appeared previously that the ECAC
would stick with the one-ref, two-linesmen system.
--
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and probably '94
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