Keith writes:
>>* The Committee voted to recommend to the NC$$ Executive Committee that Joe
>>Louis Arena in Detroit and the Centrum in Worcester, Mass., be selected as
>>sites for the 1993 West and East regionals, respectively. The regionals will
>>be March 26-27, 1993. The committee did, however, leave open the possibility
>>that it may decide to conduct the regionals at on-campus sites after 1993,
>>noting that the *financial health* of the championship must be maintained.
>
>Notice the dates! The games will be played on subsequent days. Good. I bet
>the executive committee thought the staggered days were the reason for the
>poor attendance, not the regional sites. We shall see...
 
We shall see is right.  Does this mean both regionals will be held on
March 26-27?  I guess if they're not going to be on tv it won't matter, but
I've been holding out hope of being able to see the other regional's games
too.  As for the staggered days, I'm not sure that had anything to do
with the attendance.  The only thing I can think of is that they are hoping
this will entice fans to make the trip for the first day; it seemed many fans
were waiting to see if their team won the first day and then traveling on the
off day to see them play in the quarterfinals.  Now if they wait to see
what happens the first night, then they might not be able to make in time
for the next day's game (especially in the West).
 
But another important factor may be the upsets we saw this year.  For example,
now MSU would be forced to play back-to-back without a day's rest while
Maine would be rested.  We can argue the issue of whether the extra day
benefits the underdog or the team with a bye, but it's still possible this
played a role.
 
>>*Voted to recommend to the NC$$ Executive Committee that the championship
>>bracket be expanded to 16 teams, citing clear support for expansion by the
>>American Hockey Coaches Association.
>
>Huh? This is old stuff. The coaches have ALWAYS been in favor of 16 teams,
>haven't they?
 
I think most have...I read this as a sort of reiteration of their opinion,
not a new statement, although it is possible that they never actually came
out in favor of it publicly before.
 
>>* Voted to continue to use the Ratings Percentage Index as a guideline in the
>>selection process and expressed the view that the selection-criteria system is
>>working satisfactory.
>
>Good.
 
Agreed, great strides have been made in recent years and it's nice to see
they intend to continue in this direction.  The plan now has to be to improve
the process further.  Also, I hope everyone notices that it says the RPI
will be used "as a guideline" - not the main criteria.
 
>>* Voted to provide automatic qualification to the Eastern College Athletic
>>Conference, Hockey East, and the Central Collegiate Hockey and Western
>>Collegiate Hockey Associations.
>
>Huh? Does this mean "automatic qualification" of *2 teams*?
 
I figured it meant extending the previous policy, but then I recalled how
there was no policy of 2 teams qualifying; I would also be interested to
know if this decision establishes such a 2-team policy.
 
>>* Noted that a recent Executive Commitee decision regarding polls would
>>preclude the NC$$ from conducting a Division I poll in the future.
>
>Huh? No more poll from the selection committee?? Anybody know what
>"recent decision" they are talking about?
 
Is that the one requiring distribution of porcelain hounds with all polls?
 
 
- mike