On Mar 10,  9:10, Dan Olsen wrote:
>What does anyone think about the week vacation that Vermont will have before
>the NCAAs.  Is this usually viewed as a help or hindrance?  It must be
>disheartening for Cats players, coaches, and fans to be sitting at home rather
>than in Lake Placid.  However, the rest might help to get the team fresh.
 
It could go either way, though the more recent NCAA tournament history seems to
indicate that the extra week off is a hindrance.  Last year, Western Michigan
lost in the CCHA quarterfinals, sat idle for two weeks, then got pummelled by
Clarkson 6-1 in the NCAA regional.  Two years ago, New Hampshire was off for the
extra week after getting knocked off in the HE quarters, then faced Denver in
the NCAA regional and went down in flames, 9-2.  Interestingly enough, both
Clarkson and Denver had lost their semifinal and consolation games in their
respective conference tournaments, so they weren't building on a lot of momentum
going into the NCAAs.  Just playing those two extra games seems to have made a
difference.
 
The most dramatic example of how much the extra time off can hurt is the 1992
NCAA tournament.  That year, both the ECAC and Hockey East ended their
conference tournaments a week ahead of the CCHA and WCHA.  Thus, all of the
Eastern seeds had at least an extra week off prior to the NCAAs... and every
single Eastern team lost the first NCAA game it played that year.
 
On the other hand, when the NCAA first-round and quarterfinals were best-of-
threes at campus sites (1988-1991), the bye teams in each region all had the
extra week off while the other seeds fought it out in the first-round games.
 During that time, all but two of the bye teams advanced to the semis, so the
extra week seems to have done them some good.
 
Vermont, by the way, apparently will have the dubious distinction of being the
first-ever ECAC team to make the NCAA tournament despite not making it out of
the ECAC quarterfinal round.
 
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
              strictly those of:
 
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and '95
LET'S GO RED!!                                                  DJF  5/27/94
"I believe Marcel Marceau said it best."
-- Madeline Kahn, "Cosby"
 
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