On Fri, 7 Apr 1995, David Parter wrote:
> Mike writes:
>> I believe he mentioned that the WCHA seemed to be having problems
>> booking the WCHA Final Five next season and that if they cannot find a
>> rink in which to play it on the weekend immediately preceding the NC$$
>> regionals, they will have to back it up a week and thus WCHA teams
>> would have 2 weeks off (possibly 3!) before the NC$$ tourney.
[....]
> The Final Five will be moved back one week next year due to scheduling
> conflicts at the Bradley Center. Sara said the coaches had a choice of
> the Bradley Center or the St. Paul Civic Center one week later, and
> voted for the Bradley Center.
Let me be the first to go on record and say that the WCHA coaches may
have shot themselves in the foot with this misguided (IMHO) decision.
For the seven (Eastern) teams (go ahead - be smug if you want to, but
I'll wager the trend will soon know no geographic boundaries) who've had
to endure as much as a two-week wait in-between the conclusion of their
Conference Tournament and the start of the NC$$s, their combined record
is a stellar 0-7 :-( Some games have been close, some (ouch ;-( blow-
outs, but the net result has always been the same - the two week lay-off
induces more "rust" than "rest," and puts the stay-at-home teams at a
severe disadvantage to their less-rested, but more recently game-tested
opponent. You can have all the intra-squad practices you want, but the
fact remains that it can't replace "game" action, and all the short-
shifting, hitting, last-minute strategizing, etc. that it entails. Per-
haps there'll be a WCHA team who'll break the curse next year, but if I
was a Gopher, Badger, Tiger, Pioneer, etc. fan, I'd be very, VERY worried
as to the consequences of this decision re: my team's chances in the NC$$
Tournament .... (on the other hand, it'll certainly be easier to handicap
the HOCKEY-L Tournament Pool :-)
Cheers from the Chesapeake - Jim
Go Blue !!!
Will "New Snively" be ready for the home opener in October ?? Stay tuned ...
|
