Disclaimer: I write the following as am embittered RPI fan who spent most of the
first two games muttering to himself about how RPI could easily have beaten any
of the teams in the tournament. :)

My first thought on reading Mark's post was that this tournament demonstrates
how *uncompetitive* the ECAC is.  Whichever team wins tonight (and does anyone
but their own fans really think it matters?) will, I assume, get clobbered in
the NCAAs.  (That's their cue to make a liar of me.)  The ECAC will be in the
same position this year as the CHA and AHA - only one team advancing, and that
at the expense of a more deserving team and based on the autobid.

On the other hand, I guess Mark meant the ECAC was competitive in the sense of
having great parity.  If you're not a fan of any particular team, the ECAC must
be exciting because you never know who's going to win.  I certainly wouldn't
have predicted the combined seeding in the championship game would be 15
(Harvard was actually #6) and even now I have no idea who will win.

Still, I doubt the HE fans will be dropping the EZAC moniker anytime soon...

> -----Original Message-----
> From: - Hockey-L - The College Hockey Discussion List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Lewin
> Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 11:34 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: ECAC semifinals
>
> Say what you will about the "decline" of ECAC hockey, but
> once again, the ECAC has shown itself to be the most
> competetitve league. All 12 teams make the playoffs. By the
> quarterfinals, both the number 2 and number 3 team were
> eliminated. Today, after the semis, the number 4 and number 1
> teams are gone. In this league, year after year, it continues
> to be true that on any given night, anybody can beat anybody.
>
> Tomorrow night, the championship will be contested between #7
> Harvard and #9 Clarkson.