In response to Steve's question (which some others seem to also be wondering
about):
 
As in the past, teams will be seeded 1-6 West and East.  It is very possible
that one region will receive more bids than the other.  The East basically
includes the ECAC, HE and Army, the West includes the CCHA, WCHA and other
independents.  In the past we have seen one region receive 7 bids and the other
5, usually because the independent selected forced it to be that way (the
East got 7 bids with indep. Merrimack in 1988).  Politics will likely dictate
that even if one region has 10 of the top 12 ranked teams, you will not see
all of those 10 teams go.  This year, 7 from the West and 5 from the East
would not surprise me, but 8 and 4 will probably upset the two East committee
members to the point that they will block any attempt to make this happen.
Again, this is only my opinion.  I happen to believe that the 12 best teams
should go regardless of conference or region, but the factors surrounding
scheduling this season which were pointed out by Shawn Walsh are likely to
be an argument that the East will use among others.
 
The top four seeds in each region will go to Detroit (West) and Providence
(East).  The 5th & 6th seeds will cross over and play in the other regional.
The first night in the East regional, for example, 6W plays 3E and 5W plays
4E.  Winners play 2E and 1E respectively.  Swap W & E for the matchups in
the West.  If, say, the West gets 7 bids, and UAA is the indep. selected,
UAA would most likely be seeded 6E and thus play in Detroit against 3W.  This
is how it has been done in the past and is why Merrimack played 3E Northeastern
in 1988 - they were moved over to the 6W seed.
 
The tourney is single elimination this year.  In each of the regionals, a team
will go home after each game while the winner moves on.  This should make for
some exciting hockey, though it does favor an underdog that can get up better
for one game - but everyone knows the format coming in, so there are no
excuses.
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Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   mikem@{beanpot,bubba}.ma30.bull.com