On Sun, 24 Feb 91 20:30:10 EST Sid Whitaker said:
>I really don't understand how the ECAC determined that Harvard should
>get home ice over RPI. I've heard something to the effect that Harvard won
>the 'tie-breaker' for the regular season and thus is awarded home ice,
>but I don't quite see how this whole thing works. I know that they split
>this season (RPI won in Cambridge some time ago and Harvard won in Troy
>last weekend) but what is it that allowed Harvard to win home ice? It seems
>like every year Harvard gets some kind of lucky break during playoff time.
>If anybody can clarify the situation for me, I'd really appreciate it.
>                     Thank you,    - Sid Whitaker
 
If two teams finish with the same number of points in the regular-season
ECAC standings, the tie is broken as follows:
1. The team with the better record in head-to-head competition gets the
higher seed. In the case of RPI vs. Harvard, they remain tied because
the teams split during the regular season.
2. The team with the better record against the top four finishers gets
the higher seed. This is where Harvard edges out RPI, as it had a
better record against Clarkson, Cornell and St. Lawrence than the
Engineers did.
3. The remaining tie-breaking criteria, in order, are
   a. record against the top eight
   b. goal differential in head-to-head competition
   c. goal differential against top four
   d. goal differential against top eight.
None of the ties in the standings in the ECAC this year had to go
to any of these criteria before they were broken.