Kevin Cummings writes:
>Mike Machnik writes:
>> Pete Kester writes:
>> >Bowdoin's regular season record was 19-3-1 (17-2-1 ECAC III) while
>> >Merrimack was undefeated within the division.  Bowdoin came in to
>> >avenge a 6-3 loss at home to Merrimack in the regular season.
>>
>>     Merrimack wasn't undefeated; they were 15-2 in the ECAC East, having
>>     lost at Union, 6-3, on 1/28/89 and at AIC, 5-2, on 2/13/89.  The
>>     Bowdoin win gave them a 16-2 record in their final year in the ECAC East,
>>     outscoring the opponents 135-34, and going 27-7 overall.
>
>Mike, if you read what Pete wrote, he said that Merrimack was undefeated
>"within the division".  That means that Merrimack did not lose any games to
>any other ECAC East teams.
 
    But they did.  They lost to AIC.
 
>                           He was conceeding that Merrimack may have lost
>some games to other teams with the conference (ECAC West), or even the league
>(ECAC North or South, but that would have been unlikely since ECAC East and
>West are/were ECAC Div 2, while North and South are/were ECAC Div. 3), or even
>any Div I teams they may have played.  I know that when the NCAA eliminated
>Div 2 Hockey (at the NCAA level) that things got a little (more) confusing
>here in the East (read: ECAC).
 
    Well, since games that count in the league record are games against either
    ECAC East or ECAC West teams, it would be correct to say Merrimack wasn't
    undefeated within the division since they had lost to AIC & Union, teams
    that were DivII when it existed.  If you consider "division" to be the old
    Division II, then they had lost two games, to AIC & Union.  If "division"
    is the ECAC East, then they had lost one, to AIC.  Either way they weren't
    undefeated, and that's what I was trying to get across.
 
    BTW, since the key record in the ECAC E/W/N/S is league record, which is
    record against your "group" and the other group, I'd consider it almost
    meaningless to say that a team was undefeated in the East but had lost some
    games in the West.  The important thing is, what is your league record, and
    until that is redefined to be only the ECAC East for teams like Bowdoin,
    all E/W games are the same in the league standings.
 
 
    - mike