On Mar 22, 21:52, Greenie wrote:
>Which made me think of a question -- with only MSU being both
>regular-season and playoff champion, when was the last time (has there ever
>been?) when NONE of the regular-season champions won their league playoffs?
 
Now, you just *knew* I was gonna look this up...
 
In recent memory, there have been three seasons in which none of the league
playoff winners was a #1 seed:  1996, 1995, and 1988.  The caveat here is that
some of the playoff winners *tied* for their respective regular-season
championships and lost the #1 playoff seed on tiebreakers.  In 1996, CCHA
playoff winner Michigan tied Lake Superior for the CCHA regular-season
championship.  In 1995, it was playoff winner BU tying Maine for the Hockey
East crown, and in 1988, playoff winner St. Lawrence tied Harvard in the ECAC
standings.
 
You'd have to go back to 1983 to find a year in which no tournament winner
could lay claim to the regular-season championship as well... and back then,
there were only three leagues, as Hockey East did not form until after the
following season.
 
>Parker said an interesting thing on the selection show today (live from T's
>Pub, no less) -- the last time BU won the regular season and lost the first
>round of the HEA tournament was in 1978. In other words, he's not too worried.
 
If this is really what he said, then Parker was wrong on two counts.  As I
mentioned above, Hockey East was not formed until 1984 -- in 1978, BU was still
playing in the ECAC.  And that year, they advanced to the semifinals (the only
home-ice team to win the quarters) before falling.
 
Fun bit of news for BU and UNH:  As far as I can tell, only one team in NCAA
history has fallen in the first round of its league championship tournament and
gone on to win (or even play in) the NCAA championship game.  That was
Wisconsin back in 1981, when the Badgers fell to Colorado College in the WCHA
quarterfinals but benefitted from the newly expanded (to eight teams) NCAA
tournament, eventually beating Minnesota for the title.  Generally speaking,
teams with the unexpected additional time off don't do very well in the NCAA's.
 
--
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
"I'm going to watch the football game here on the telly."
"Oh, but I just heard the end of that game on the radio and--"
"That's fine, love, but don't tell me about it, just let me watch it, please."
"But I know the score of the game."
"That's fine, but just don't tell me."
"But I know who won!"
"Look, JUST DON'T TELL ME!"
"Oh, all right, watch your old game.  But you won't see any goals!"
-- Benny Hill
 
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