>...  However, as I recall, the rule book says that in that situation,
>"20-minute
>overtimes MAY be used," rather than "20-minute overtimes WILL be used."
>Which I
>guess leaves it up to the discretion of the tournament organizers.
 
Just to clarify the rules regarding overtime, I quote from the 1997 NCAA
Ice Hockey Rulebook, rule 6, section 44a:
 
"Where advancement in a bracket or the determination of a tournament
champion is necessary, any series in a format (e.g., total-goals series,
single game, minigame series) that results in a tie will be broken by
20-minute, sudden-death overtime periods.  The ice shall be resurfaced upon
completion of regulation play.  The teams shall not change ends (except as
indicated in Rule 6-41-b).  Third place games may follow the overtime
procedures as described in Rule 6-43."
 
Rule 6-41-b concerns changing ends in the middle of periods when one end of
the ice is judged to provide a significant advantage to one team.  Rule
6-43 describes the regular 5-minute overtime procedure.
 
>I just wish some hockey czar would standardize the way overtimes are used in
>regular-season tournaments, so everybody would know what to expect.  The
>conversation between the Cornell announcers during the first OT was very much
>like the press box comments that Jayson Moy relayed from the RPI Invitational.
>Perhaps the five-minute OT followed by as many 20-minute ones as necessary
>isn't such a bad format to use.
 
There doesn't seem to be any ambiguity in the rulebook (we don't get to say
*that* very often :-), so it seems that in this case the officials or
tournament organizers chose to do things differently.  As to the question
of whether the 5-minute OT followed by 20-minute OTs format is a good one,
I would be curious to know how many games are resolved during a 5-minute
OT.  If the percentage is high, then I can see a strong case for changing
the rule.  However, if my suspicions are accurate and most games tied at
the end of regulation are still tied at the end of the 5-minute OT, then
using 20-minute OTs exclusively makes a lot more sense.
 
Howie
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Howard Stein                               Go Big Red!
Cornell '91                                Kill, Schafer, Kill!
"Hooligans with horns" alumni
 
"The income tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf." - Will
Rogers
 
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