Steve Czuba <[log in to unmask]> writes...
 
[...]
 
>Brown - Probably only consensus pick to make it. Good conference record as well
>   national ranking.
 
>RPI - My alma mater and one who would have a serious problem making the tourney
>based on inconsistancy, but who would have beaten any other ECAC teams that
>would go in their place (clarkson 7-1, @brown, @ Harvard) Sour grapes if they do
>or don't.
 
>Clarkson ?? Strong national perseption, blown out by RPI and recent loss to
>Harvard. Probably would get in.
 
>Harvard - A win recently over a strong Clarkson team but then again a loss to
>St. Lawrence. SHouldn't get in, but you never know ...
 
     This is a selective picture of the story.  RPI blew out Clarkson 7-1.
Then Clarkson blew out Princeton 11-1.  Then Princeton blew out RPI 9-1.
Go figure.  Who's best?  There are many other (though probably less
extreme) examples of A beat B but lost to C who lost to B out there.
That's why we have the RPICH.  Until something better comes along, I
think we should stick with RPICH.  Furthermore, we need to keep in mind
that all these teams will be playing each other again before the regular
season ends.  Those games ought to clear things up at least somewhat.
 
>Vermont - Well thought of nationally but 3-2-1 ECAC. On the bubble . Hockey-l
>ers think very highly of this team, but could you give them a bid given their
>standing right now ?
 
     Well, Hockey-l'ers (perhaps unfortunately :-))won't be giving out
any bids.  These will be based on RPICH and the tiebreakers (head-to-head,
etc.).
 
     My gut feeling about the ECAC is that Clarkson and RPI (not necessarily
in that order, BTW) probably have the best teams overall, with Harvard
and Brown close behind.  What Clarkson needs is to get healthy.  They
lost in OT to Harvard with a severely depleted lineup, particularly on
defense where several players were missing.  With more solid defense and
goaltending Clarkson should be able to make the NCAAs.  RPI has to scare
me based on what they did to Clarkson in Troy; I have no idea what happened
to them against Princeton.  It's instructive to remember that no team is
as good as their biggest win nor as bad as their worst loss.  Vermont I can't
really comment on very much since I haven't seen them yet; they seem to
be an enigma and could wind up anywhere from first to fifth.  When they've
had good teams in the past they've seemed to lose too many games to teams
they should beat while giving fits to top-shelf teams like Harvard.  Maybe
that will change this year.  Princeton I'm not too concerned about,
though one never knows.
 
     Any other assessments?  One thing we should all be able to agree
on is that the remainder of the season will be very interesting!
 
Thanks,
-Glenn