I was glad to see the attention the ECAC race garnered in the
recent additions to US College Hockey Online, but dissapointed that
they contained several inaccurate statements about the outcome of the
Cornell/Clarkson race for first.
 
        First, in Frank Mazzocco, in his game of the week article
<http://www.uscollegehockey.com/gotw/gotw.html>, states:
 
   But, if the
   Knights lose or tie Friday, the title won't be decided until Saturday,
   when they travel to Colgate and Cornell remains home against St.
   Lawrence.
 
Not so; if Clarkson ties Cornell, they will remain two points ahead of
the Red at 31 to 29.  Even if Cornell wins and Clarkson loses
Saturday, the two will be tied at 31, but Clarkson will claim first
place on head-to-head record (1-0-1).  Or did Frank mean that Cornell
and Clarkson could end up co-champions by finishing in a tie?
 
        Moving to Jayson Moy's ECAC preview
<http://www.uscollegehockey.com/news/ecac/preview.html>, we find the
following.
 
   In order for Cornell to win the ECAC title, two scenarios are
   available. In both, Cornell must defeat Clarkson. The next evening,
   Clarkson has to lose or tie for Cornell to be the ECAC regular-season
   champion. Then Cornell, with a win, or with Vermont and Princeton in
   the top four and Harvard in the top eight, will win the ECAC regular
   season.
 
Cornell can still win the title even if Clarkson beats Colgate.  A
Cornell win over Clarkson would put the two teams tied for first at
30.  I'd then say that Cornell's two opportunities to win the ECAC are
to do better than Clarkson on Saturday (they win and Clarkson loses or
ties, or they tie and Clarkson loses) and win the title outright, or
to end up tied (if they both win, both tie or both lose) and beat them
in the tiebreakers (either in the scenario Jayson mentioned [UVM and
Princeton top 4, Harvard top 8], or if Colgate manages to finish in
the top four, which is still a slim possibility).  The latter
opportunity is possible even if Clarkson defeats Colgate.
 
        I've certainly made my share of inaccurate ECAC playoff
predictions this week, but I have higher expectations for an
"official" outlet like USCHO.
                                        John Whelan, Cornell '91
                                        <[log in to unmask]>
        <http://www.cc.utah.edu/~jtw16960/jshock.html>
 
Cornell Men's Ice Hockey: 1996-7 Ivy League Champions
WE WANT MORE!  WE WANT THE ECAC!
 
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