I thrust:
 
>>If, on the other hand, the Knights prevail, they will
>>be four points back with five games remaining.  That still may not be
>>good enough, with the only tough game left on Yale's schedule the
>>contest at RPI to close the season.  (The other four are against the
>>bottom four teams in the league.)
 
Bill Fenwick parries:
 
>True, but one of those bottom four is Dartmouth, who handed the Elis one of
>their two ECAC losses when the teams met a month ago (the other loss was to
>Brown).
 
I riposte:
 
        Yes, but the Dartmouth-Yale rematch is at Ingalls, where the
Elis are undefeated this season.  (If Cornell can sweep this weekend,
the Dartmouth game will also determine whether Yale wins or shares the
Ivy League title, although I don't imagine that motivation will make
the difference.)
 
> Yale does look to be a shoo-in for the regular-season title regardless
>of how they do against Clarkson and RPI, but at this time of year, you never
>know.  An upset win would pretty much make any of the bottom four teams'
>season.
 
        That's an interesting scenario: Clarkson runs the table, Yale
gets upset in one of their middle four games, and RPI--quite possibly
battling for third or fifth place at that point--beats the Bulldogs in
the finale.  In that case Yale and Clarkson finish with 34 points a
piece, with a head-to-head split.  Yale would probably still pull out
the top four tiebreaker, though, with better records than Clarkson
against Colgate, Cornell and Princeton, and the same against RPI and
Harvard.  Brown would probably need to finish in the top four.
 
        My pick for the most likely spoiler is SLU rather than
Dartmouth (despite the Big Green's recent resurgence).  Saturday's
game is at Appleton, and if Heffler stands on his head, with the help
of a little North Country Voodoo...  After all, the Saints barely lost
to Michigan at the Joe in December.  Still not too likely.
 
                                         John Whelan, Cornell '91
                                     Official Scorer/PA Announcer
                                        U of Utah Ice Hockey Club
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