>I think someone the other day asked for the RATIONALE behind this 3 pt
>thing.  Is there some logic to it?  Does it add excitement? Am I missing
>something (probably :-)?  Why not just best two out of three with each
>game a play til you drop overtime? (no shootouts, please!).
>
>Maybe I missed the response, if so, I apologize.  But basically I'dlike to
>know why the ECAC uses this somewhat unorthodox method.
>
>Tony Buffa
>RPI '64 hoping for another run like '95!
>
>=========
>On Fri, 7 Mar 1997, Thomas Chestna wrote:
>
>>
>> The ECAC playoff format is such that it is the first team to 3 points. The
>> first two games can end in ties (after the 5 min sudden-death period) and the
>> 3rd will have an infinite number of overtime periods until their is a winner.
 
 
        I have never understood why the ECAC persists in this three-point
playoff format.  IMO,
when the season advances to playoff time, all games should be played until
a winner is determined.
 
        It makes very little sense for a first night tie to result in a
winner-take-all second game when the series is advertised as a
best-of-three.
 
        In addition, when there is a first night winner, it seems ludicrous
for that victor to only have to play for a tie the second night (with all
of the strategic machinations from the coach's standpoint which are
inherent in the situation); besides giving the first night winner an
"unfair" advantage when each game should stand by itself and not be
"tainted" by the failure to decide a winner in the previous contest, the
format places an inordinate amount of importance on taking the first game
of what purports to be a best-of-three as the loser will have more than a
justified amount of pressure to win while the first night winner can close
out their opponent with a tie rather than a victory.
 
         Just doesn't seem like the second game of the series (following a
first night victory)  has equal value to both teams, as I believe it should
in a championship format.
 
 
 
Bill Corrigan
 
LET'S GO BRUNO!
 
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