[main gist of the thing was the conference playoffs--why?--and automatic
bearths coming from them--c.f. RPI]
 
I like 'em.  First of all, tournaments, while not a substitute for the
regular season conference schedule, add a lot of excitement and some great
hockey to the end of a season.  Most of all, they provide us with the
automatic bid.  Basically, this means that almost any division I college
hockey team can make it to the NCAA tournament and have a shot at the
national championship by virtue of being hot in March.  I love that.  This
is amatuer competition, and amatuer competition should have the underdog,
the cinderella story.  Why not?
 
I think that the current policy of awarding invitations to both the regular
season champion (to reward a season of hard work and constistency) and the
tournament champion (to allow any team to be tough enough and lucky enough
to make it) is the best one.  When it comes down to it, has RPI no less
earned their trip to Madison?  They did have to beat good teams
face-to-face to do it.  And whoever wins the national championship will
have to do it by beating 3 or 4 of the best teams in the nation.  When it
comes down to it, everything gets decided on the ice.
 
Andrew Golla
 
Andrew W. Golla       <<[log in to unmask]>>  or
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