The Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee met in Kansas City, Missouri from
June 15-18 and made several decisions affecting college hockey. Because I
haven't seen much discussion of these actions of the list, I am posting a
synopsis of these actions from the June 24, 1992 issue of _The NC$$ News_.
 
* The Committee voted to continue the present regional format for the Division
I Championship for at least one more year. The Committee will evaluate the
present format and then decide if it will be used in future championships.
Currently, the tournament format features regional play at two predetermined
sites, with six teams assigned to each site. Single-elimination play is used,
with the top two seeds in each region receiving a bye in the first round.
 
* 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.
 
*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.
 
* Voted to recommend that the two-referee/one-linesman officiating system be
used for the championship regionals and finals and noted that expenses for
officials will not increase in 1993.
 
* Voted to recommend that coaches not be required to attend the
officiating-improvement clinics and that the clinics include more on-ice
demonstrations and intensive discussions about officiating mechanics.
 
* 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.
 
* Voted to assign the best officials for the regionals and championship
semifinals and finals, regardless of whether an offical subsequently works bot
the semifinal and championship game.
 
* Voted to provide automatic qualification to the Eastern College Athletic
Conference, Hockey East, and the Central Collegiate Hockey and Western
Collegiate Hockey Associations.
 
* Noted that a recent Executive Commitee decision regarding polls would
preclude the NC$$ from conducting a Division I poll in the future.
 
* Noted that the selection announcement for the 1993 championship will be made
from Minneapolis, at 8:00 p.m. Central time Sunday, March 21, 1993.
 
There is some interesting stuff here, I think, but unfortunately I have to get
back to work for now. I will post my thoughts later today or tomorrow.
 
My best,
 
 
Craig Cheslog