OK, this was reasonably successful last year, so I thought I'd try it again...
Announcing this year's Pick the Post-season Tournaments contest! Try out your
prognosticating skills by predicting the game results and champions of each of
the six Division I conference tournaments!
There were a couple of criticisms (suggestions?) about the scoring system I
used last year; some objected to the heavier weighting of the semifinal and
final games. This year, I'll run two contests in one. The first will use the
same scoring system as last year, and the second will give the same weight to
all results (see under Scoring below). There will be contest #1 and #2 winners
for each of the six tournaments, plus #1 and #2 overall Prognosticating Gods.
Just to preserve their immortality, last year's winners were:
ECAC: Troy Vassen
Hockey East: David Morgenstern
CCHA: William Sangrey
WCHA: Nathan Eric Hampton
MAAC: Nathan Eric Hampton
Overall: Nathan Eric Hampton
The first playoff games are on Thursday, March 9 at 7:00 PM EST, so the
deadline for this contest will be Thursday, March 9 6:00 PM EST.
To the best of my knowledge, the tournament formats are as follows:
ECAC:
Ten teams meet in the first round, with the top five seeds hosting a best-of-
three series. This is a change effective this season; the "first-to-three-
points" series is history. All games are now played "to conclusion."
The five winners advance and are reseeded.
The lowest and second-lowest seeds meet in a Finals Qualifier (5 vs 4 play-in
game).
The winner of that game advances to the semifinals and plays the highest
remaining seed. The other two seeds meet in the other semifinal.
The semifinal losers meet in the consolation game.
The semifinal winners meet in the championship game.
Hockey East:
Eight teams meet in the quarterfinals, with the top four seeds hosting a best-
of-three series. All games are played "to conclusion".
The four winners advance and are reseeded.
The highest and lowest seed meet in one semifinal, while the other two seeds
meet in the other semifinal.
The semifinal winners meet in the championship game. There is no consolation
game.
CCHA:
Ten teams meet in the first round, with the top five seeds hosting a best-of-
three series. All games are played "to conclusion."
The five winners advance and are reseeded.
The lowest seed travels to the second-lowest seed for a mid-week (Tuesday
night) Finals Qualifier (5 vs 4 play-in game).
The winner of that game advances to the semifinals and plays the highest
remaining seed. The other two seeds meet in the other semifinal.
The semifinal winners meet in the championship game. There is no consolation
game.
WCHA:
Ten teams meet in the first round, with the top five seeds hosting a best-of-
three series. All games are played "to conclusion".
The five winners advance and are reseeded.
The lowest and second-lowest seeds meet in a Finals Qualifier (5 vs 4 play-in
game).
The winner of that game advances to the semifinals and plays the highest
remaining seed. The other two seeds meet in the other semifinal.
The semifinal losers meet in the consolation game.
The semifinal winners meet in the championship game.
MAAC:
Eight teams meet in the quarterfinals, with the top four seeds hosting a single
game.
The four winners advance and are reseeded. This is a change from last year,
when there was no reseeding.
The highest and lowest seed meet in one semifinal, while the other two seeds
meet in the other semifinal.
The semifinal winners meet in the championship game. There is no consolation
game.
College Hockey America:
Five teams make the playoffs. The lowest and second-lowest seeds meet in a
Finals Qualifier (5 vs 4 play-in game).
The winner of that game advances to the semifinals and plays the highest
remaining seed. The other two seeds meet in the other semifinal.
The semifinal losers meet in the consolation game.
The semifinal winners meet in the championship game.
Scoring:
Contest #1:
Each correct quarterfinal/first-round winner is worth 3 points. Giving the
correct number of games in the series is worth an additional point. Sorry, but
if you get the winner wrong, you get zippo, even if you get the number of games
right. Since the MAAC quarterfinals are all single games, there's no bonus
points there. College Hockey America, obviously, doesn't have a quarterfinal/
first round; they start with the play-in game.
Correct play-in game winners are worth 4 points. (All leagues but Hockey East)
Correct semifinal game winners are worth 8 points.
Correct consolation game winners are worth 4 points. (ECAC, WCHA, and College
Hockey America only)
Correct championship game winners are worth 16 points.
So the maximum total points for each league would be:
ECAC 60
Hockey East 48
CCHA 56
WCHA 60
MAAC 44
College Hockey America 40
There will also be two tiebreakers for each conference. The first will be the
predicted final score of the championship game, with the closest score winning.
For example, if you predict 5-2 and the actual score is 4-2, you're one off;
if the actual score is 4-3, you're two off.
The second tiebreaker will be the total number of goals scored in the
tournament.
If there is a tie for the overall winner, the tiebreaker will be who performed
best in the greater number of individual tournaments.
Contest #2:
Each correct result from each round is worth one point. So you get one point
for each quarterfinal/first round winner you pick (regardless of whether or not
you forecast the correct number of games), one point for each semifinal winner
you pick, and so on. The maximum total points for each league would be:
ECAC 10
Hockey East 7
CCHA 9
WCHA 10
MAAC 7
College Hockey America 5
Tiebreakers will be the same as for Contest #1.
An official entry form will follow as soon as I post this. Questions,
comments, and entries can be sent to [log in to unmask] .
Thanks and good luck!
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
strictly those of:
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and '95 DJF 5/27/94
LET'S GO RED!! JCF 12/2/97
"Anyway, after I've made my James Joyce faux pas, he invariably gives me an
indulgent chuckle: 'Heh-heh-heh-heh, ohhh my -- James Joyce didn't write
_Trees_. _Trees_ was written by Joyce Kilmer.' Of course, then I ask 'who
is SHE?' and I destroy myself completely."
-- Shelley Berman
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to
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