These are what I think are some realistic hopes I have for the game,
given the knowledge that certain things can't be done (like a 16-team
DivI tourney) or likely won't be done (such as a return to campus
sites for the first round or two).
This is relevant to both HOCKEY-L and hockey3, so it goes to both
lists. Many are ideas I have espoused here before, but I'm putting
them all together into one post.
IF IT WERE UP TO ME...
...there would be a DivII-III Hobey Baker Award, just like there used
to be. Nothing in the Hobey criteria states that the winner must be
from a DivI school, but it's been 5-6 years now since a non-DivI
player has even made the list of 10 finalists, and we all know there's
no chance anyone not from DivI will ever win the Award as it currently
stands. There used to be a DivII-III East and DivII-III West winner.
Why not at least give out a "University" (i.e. DivI) and "College"
(non-DivI) Hobey, like the All-Americas do?
...once the current contract with ESPN expires, the DivI final four would
be changed so that either it were held the week after basketball's
final four, or else the semifinals would be held on Friday and the
championship Sunday afternoon. I prefer the former.
...home teams would get no special consideration in DivI tournament
seeding. And if two teams from the same conference happened to meet
in the first round, that's the way it goes. You get seeded where you
belong.
...the DivI regionals would be played with one day's rest in between the
first round and the quarterfinals.
...if the DivI Tournament Selection Committee is going to follow the
rating and stated selection criteria as religiously as they did this
season, then they would release a listing of the top 15-20 or so seeds
every month or so throughout the season, with an extra list of seeds
released before the conference final 4s/5s/6s. It would start perhaps
halfway through the season (replacing the old "NC$$ DivI Poll") and
take the form of, "If the season ended today...". Everyone would know
exactly where they would stand & what they'd have to do, and there
would be no surprises. Heck, everybody knows what they have to do to
make the conference tourneys or get home ice - and what they need
other teams to do, and what the tiebreakers are. It should be as easy
for the DivI tourney. It might also spark interest among fans of each
conference in the other conferences and their tourneys. The process
doesn't need to be as secretive as it has been.
...the conferences would work to actually guarantee more interconference
matchups. For example, the CCHA & HE could agree that each team would
play at least two games a season against teams from the other conference -
whether it be playing 1-and-1 or a pair at the same team. The next
season, things would switch so that teams who traveled across the country
one year, would be hosts the next. And in DivIII, the ECAC East/SUNY/West
teams would work to play more games amongst each other. Travel costs
make it more difficult for inter-regional games in DivIII, I know.
...the DivIII final four would have to alternate regions from year to
year. I don't know when the last time was that it was held in the
Boston area, for example - and the area around Boston has the largest
concentration of DivIII teams in the nation. I also would like to see
a DivIII championship game played immediately preceding the DivI game,
possibly in a format like Hockeyfest was, to get those players the
exposure they deserve - but I don't think that's likely. And that
DivIII championship should be on tv, even on tape delay in the middle
of the night at least.
...if a top-ranked DivIII team like Fredonia State was unable to host
the final four at their own rink because of size, then they could
still host it nearby at another school's larger rink or at a nearby
neutral site.
...there would be a split of DivIII into DivIII-A and DivIII-AA, so
that teams who aren't of the caliber of Stevens Point, Plattsburgh,
RIT, etc. and who don't aspire to be of that caliber, can still have
the opportunity to play for a national title. I.e., much of the ECAC
North/Central/South and perhaps some of the MIAC teams.
...the NESCAC schools would get rid of their ludicrous rule allowing
teams to play in only one tournament (ECAC or NC$$ DivIII), so we
never again have the foolish situation of a Williams finishing first
in the ECAC East, bypassing the ECAC East tourney in hopes of
receiving an NC$$ bid, and then being left out of that tourney too.
The kids deserve better than that.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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