Indulge me for a moment some sad ruminations from the CHDA ....
 
   I have now come to understand - as have generations of Red Sox and Cub
fans before me - that rooting for the UNH Icemen is akin to rooting for
Sisyphus; just when you think you've turned the corner and are on the road
to success after a grueling period of determination and hard work - WHAM,
that damn boulder comes crashing down to crush you yet again :-(  In 1974,
nationally top-ranked UNH hosts 8th seed UNH in the ECAC quarterfinal, and
loses a heartbreaker to RPI in OT; their season is done.  In 1990, UNH loses
the first game of a best-of-three HE quarterfinal series at Providence,
rallies to win the next two games, then loses a heartbreaker to BC at Conte
Forum in OT after leading by two goals in regulation with less than 2 mins.
to play; their season is over.  Now it's 1995, and we enter the post-season
ranked higher than at any time since 1974.  And we're back at Conte Forum
*by choice*, having elected to play our "home" quarterfinal game there rather
than risk a poor performance on the tiny ice surface at JFK in Manchester.
As Yogi Berra put it, it's deja vu all over again, 1974 and 1990 rolled into
one, a cosmic karma collision that bodes nothing but bad tidings for the
fatalistic UNH faithful.  Once the 'Cats had clinched 3rd place, we prayed
that BC wouldn't finish 6th and get to play a "road" play-off game at "home"
in cursed (from the UNH perspective) Conte Forum.  Sigh .... be careful what
you wish for :-(  The draw shakes out that we face PC, who no doubt remember
1990 in quite a different light.  We lose, in OT - naturally - and our season
is ..... hanging by a thread, only because the NC$$ has elected to expand the
National Tournament field to more than the miserly 4 teams it "invited" in
the past.  Only a week ago we beat #1 Maine in Portland, and now ....
 
Deron Treadwell <[log in to unmask]> writes:
>There is no doubt that this is my favorite time of the year!!
 
  Ahh, the impetuousness of youth .... and the promise of limitless good
fortune stretching out as far as our dreams can imagine.  Were he born (or
raised) a UNH fan, I doubt he'd look on March with quite the same rose (or
is it blue :-) colored glasses ....
 
Chris Craig <[log in to unmask]> writes:
>The prospect of two weeks off does not bode well, however.  The last time
>this happened, in 1992, all six Eastern teams (including UNH) lost their
>opening game after having two weeks off between the conference tournament
>and the NCAA regionals.
 
.... and
 
Mike Machnik writes:
>With UNH being knocked out by PC last night, some have raised the
>question of whether that would affect UNH's seeding for the NC$$s.
 ....
>[Even under the most favorable circumstances of Clarkson winning the ECAC
>tournament] .... the tiebreaker is the RPI.  And as I said, I'm fairly
>certain (without doing a more extensive investigation) that there's no
>way Clarkson will finish ahead of UNH in the RPI.  So no, it appears that
>Clarkson can do nothing to catch UNH for what would be the third seed in
>the East.
 
  .... and speaking as a die-hard UNH fan I think this result is .... con-
sistent with the way the NC$$ has adjudicated the seeds in the past, yet at
the same time patently unfair to Clarkson (regular season and presumed ECAC
Tournament Champion under the most rosy scenario), and not necessarily in
the best interests of ECAC/HE coexistence and cooperation in general.  Some
would argue (myself among them) that there's not a big difference between
the 3rd and 4th seeded positions, especially this year when apart from the
Top 4 teams there's not a big spread (RPICH ratings-wise) between teams 5-
12.  The likely match-ups whether UNH is seeded 3rd or 4th won't, IMHO, be
all that more "difficult" or "easy" however they pan out, meaning Clarkson's
placement is more symbol than substance.  As most of you know, I'm a firm
believer in the notion that sustained success over the 4-month grind of the
regular season warrants perhaps greater consideration than the "streaking"
team at the wire.  But in this instance the ECAC Regular Season and Tourna-
ment Champion (*only* if it's Clarkson) deserves a higher seed than swooning
UNH, ousted in the HE quarterfinals and apt to be rusty from an unfortunate
15-day layoff.  Make no mistake, I'll be loudly rooting for Sisyphean UNH as
I always do come March, but peaking Clarkson should have the higher seed if
only to acknowledge their accomplishment(s) and spread good will, not acri-
mony, between followers/fans of both the ECAC and HE ...
 
Just my $0.02 (sadly) from here in Maryland .... Jim