Mike writes:
>                                                [This is just a way of
>saying that the league decided to allow Lowell, which is on probation and
>cannot
> compete in the 1992 NCAA tourney even if it wins Hockey East, to
>play in the 1992 HE tourney.  If Lowell wins the tourney, HE loses its
>automatic bid to the NCAAs for the 1992 tourney.  - mike]
 
Hmm... I wonder, if Lowell does win next year's tournament, if the NCAA
might extend the automatic bid to the runner-up, rather than eliminating it
entirely.  A somewhat similar situation occurred in Division III this year,
when Middlebury defeated Babson to win the ECAC East tournament but could
not accept the automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs; they are in the New
England Small College Athletic Conference, which forbids its members from
playing in postseason games.  The NCAA simply gave the bid to Babson, rather
using it as an at-large bid to select another team (Salem State or Geneseo
might have gotten the bid in that case).
 
>Two awards were established, one to go to the student-athlete deemed to
>display the highest level of sportsmanship during the season with the
>second award designed to recognize the team which receives the fewest
>penalty minutes during the league schedule.  The team will receive a
>large banner which will be hung in its home facility.
 
Minor point:  I like these awards, but I have to wonder how awe-inspiring it
will be for fans to look up in the rafters and see a banner which says
"1991-92 Hockey East Least Penalized Team" or some such.  It certainly
wouldn't invoke the same sort of reaction that, say, "1991-92 Hockey East
Champions" would.  The team with the fewest penalty minutes does deserve
some recognition, but I'm not convinced that a banner is the way to do it.
That might cause the award to be looked on as a cheap excuse to hoist up
something flashy -- similar to the much-maligned (with some justification)
Ivy League hockey championship banners.
 
>I also wouldn't be surprised if we see a change in the WCHA schedule.  That
>could leave HE with the longest league schedule, whereas now they have the
>shortest.  Definitely not an action to be hailed by fans of college hockey.
 
Maybe not, but a fair number of Hockey East fans probably are happy to see
the teams in the league play each other more often.  The extra game might
add fuel to some already hot league rivalries.  Still, it's too bad that
there will be so few non-league games.  When the league was formed back in
1984, one of the things the people involved were happiest about was that the
teams were going to be able to schedule many more games against Western
competition (for example, the interlocking schedule with the WCHA) than they
were able to under ECAC restrictions.  It's a shame that Hockey East and the
other leagues will not be able to play each other as often in the future as
they have in the past.
--
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86
LET'S GO RED!!
 
"When they ship styrofoam, what do they pack it in?"
-- Michael Davis