Chris Lerch writes:
>True, but if you lose, it can have a devistating effect. I remember
>Kent coming to the RIT Tournament a few years back - they
>thought they'd start off the season with a couple of easy wins and
>ease back into D-I play (this was the year they came back
>from suspension). They finished last, losing to RIT and then
>Brock (ONT). Ouch. Not a good way to start off the season.
No, but Kent was really a team that was just starting to break into
DivI, not easing back into it. In fact, I am pretty sure that at the
time of that RIT tourney in 1989, Kent had played only two games
against any DivI conference team in its history - and those were
losses to Lowell the week before the RIT tourney. In years prior to
1988-89 (when the program was suspended) that they were classified as
NC$$ DivI, they would play several games against DivI games a season
and back through 1986-87 (all I have on hand), none were against DivI
conference teams; they were all Independents.
I did not think Kent did too badly that season (89-90) - 14-16-3,
6-11-1 vs DivI teams (1-9-0 vs conference teams, the win came at
Merrimack late in the season). They were very young, although not as
young as Mass Amherst was last year, but they were certainly rusty.
>It's interesting to see that lately the D-I teams that are still
>playing D-III opponents rarely play the really *good* D-III teams
>like Elmira or Point. Instead you see Air Force playing St. Olaf and
>St. John's from the MIAC, one of the weaker D-III
>conferences, and Army playing Scranton, who went 0-23
>in D-III last season.
I agree that often this seems to be the case. But I see Air Force has
scheduled two teams that made the 1994 DivIII tourney for games next
season. USAFA hosts defending DivIII champ Wisconsin-River Falls
11/4-5 and two weeks later, they host MIAC champ St Thomas. Also in
94-95, Union will play Elmira, and Merrimack will play Salem State.
Army will play Williams and Elmira, and Mass Amherst has another
meeting with Bowdoin. (2 games and maybe more for Elmira vs DivI - do
they really have designs on moving up?) 94-95 may be one of the
better seasons for DivI-III matchups.
And Army will play Scranton again this year. :-)
It does seem like Point has not played many DivI teams. It has been
a while (1990-91) since they played a DivI team (independent Notre
Dame, a split) and going back through 1986-87, UWSP has never played a
DivI conference team. I wonder whether it is Point that does not want
to play those games or that other teams don't want to schedule them.
>UMass-Amherst lost their final game of the season last year to a
>D-III team. That certainly isn't the jumping off point they'd like to
>have into their first season in Hockey East.
No...but RIT was one of the better teams they played last year as it
was, and I think they knew that. Plus, I know it is said that you
always remember the last game you played, but by the time October
rolls around, that game will seem like it was ages ago.
Last year was really a weird season for the Minutemen. They would go
from hammering Trinity 7-0 one night to getting demolished in a
two-game set at UAF 20-4. I wonder how difficult it was to put
together a schedule, though, when they did not even hire Joe Mallen
until a few months before the season. They only played 29 games as it
was and had to pick up Penn State as an EX before the season started.
It certainly didn't seem like the most ideal way to prepare for a
24-game HE schedule.
But on the other hand, with a team as young as the Minutemen were, it
really made more sense to consider their development first - to
schedule a variety of opponents to gauge the players' development at
various points during the season. Also, even though some of the
opponents were teams UMass handled easily, the motivation factor comes
into play again - even if they have a long way to go, a young team is
bound to feel better about itself if they finish 20-9-0 in a schedule
made up primarily of non-DivI opponents, as opposed to jumping in with
both feet and going 0-34.
This is the year that UMass really starts to get going. From other
schedules I have gathered 6 of their NC games, and only one is
non-DivI - and Bowdoin and UMass played a one-goal game last season.
I'm very curious to see what happens. They had some good talent last
year albeit inexperienced, and they have added some veteran transfers
from elsewhere (Sal Manganaro and Jon Jacques from BC and BU
respectively) who were not stars but will provide depth and
leadership. Add to that what appears to be a very good recruiting
class, and the Minutemen could surprise some folks next season. I
still pick them to finish 9th, but I don't think it will be long
before they're fighting for home ice.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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