Providence gained the third home ice slot for the Hockey East quarterfinals
as a result of its 6-1 win over Mass Lowell.
PC cannot finish any lower than fifth in the standings because it wins the
tiebreaker with UML. Only Merrimack, which trails PC by three points,
could catch the Friars in the standings, and then only if PC loses its last
two games while Merrimack gains at least four points in its last three
games.
If there is a four-way tie in the final standings with 23 points, which is
possible and is what PC has right now, PC would win the tiebreaker on
head-to-head record against the other three teams. (Merrimack would gain
the other home ice spot after the remaining tiebreakers are applied, and
pairings would be BC @ PC and UML @ Merrimack.)
There could also be a three-way tie with 23 points among PC-MC-UML or
PC-UML-BC. In either case, PC would win the tiebreaker. In a PC-MC-UML
tie, PC has the best record against the other two. In a PC-UML-BC tie, PC
& UML would both be 3-2-1 against the other two while BC would be 2-3-1,
knocking out BC and leaving the head-to-head tiebreaker between PC & UML,
won by PC.
Thus we can say for certain that PC has gained home ice.
The fourth slot is still up for grabs. Merrimack has the inside track,
leading UML by one point and BC by three points in the standings.
Merrimack can gain home ice Saturday night if one of the following
combinations of things happens:
1) Merrimack beats Northeastern, UML does not beat PC, & BC does not beat
UMass.
2) Merrimack ties Northeastern, UML loses to PC, & BC loses to UMass.
If neither happens, then the fourth home ice slot cannot be decided until
the final weekend of the season. And things get even more complicated, so
let's wait to see what happens. :-)
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] *HMM* 11/13/93
***** (Part-Time) Color Voice of Merrimack Hockey WCAP 980 AM *****
***** Unofficial Merrimack Hockey home page located at: *****
***** http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/MChockey.html *****
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