David, thanks for your response to my inquiry:
 
> > looks bad, in a couple of respects, to others, I think.(It does to me
> > and you know who I root for!).  Would you please tell us your source
> > for such detailed and intimate information?  Thanks.
>
> It was in both Madison newspapers and reported on the radio by
> both radio stations that cover Wisconsin hockey. There was one
> point that was vauge or conflicting in the reports, however, and
> I guess I could have elaborated:
>
>         It isn't clear to me WHO told Sauer that Wisconsin had
>         to beat CC on Saturday. The radio said Rick Comely told
>         him. The paper said something to the effect of "rumors began
>         circulating of an Eastern lobby pushing for Providence"
>
> As for the lobbying by Rick Comley to get the 6W seed, Andy Baggot,
> college hockey beat reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal reported
> that he lobbied for it Saturday night, and said something about his
> comments during the press conference the next day. Since I didn't see
> the press conference, nor do I have the paper here right now, I can't
> say any more about it.
>
> I realize that my comments sounded bad. I honestly didn't mean to be
> critcizing Comley. His job is coaching the Wildcats, and he did a good
> job of it. I don't think anyone took him seriously, but his lobbying
> was not reported as a joke.
>
Actually, what *I* thought looked bad was not so much the alleged
lobbying for a 6th seed, although I still have to wonder how a reporter,
                                             would have been privy to
such conversations.   Presumably the "lobbying" was more along the line
of talking with outsiders, if it happened.  We've all agreed (that we
at least believe)    that a tournament selection committee member like
Comley leaves the room when his team is under discussion. So the only
effective lobbying (i.e. that directed toward those making the decision)
would have to be an indirect "I really think Wisconsin and Michigan
State should be seeded 4th and 5th" type of thing.  Maybe that's what's
alleged to have happened.
 
But what I thought DID look very bad was the implication that Comley
might be suspected of having taken advantage of his position on the
committee and knowledge of/ability to influence the seeding process
to trick Sauer into using what he believed to be his less-than-best
team (i.e. one without Derksen in goal) when he played NMU in the
WCHA semifinal. (Actually, I find it hard to believe that Sauer "let
up" believing that he was already in the NC$$ tournament--winning the
playoffs (league) certainly has to be a powerful incentive.) As I
understand it Derksen honestly believed the team had a better chance
to win the semifinal if his alternate played.  The fact that Wisconsin
beat CC the next night isn't much of an argument, IMHO, for the idea
that had Sauer insisted Derksen play in the semi the Badgers would
have beaten the Wildcats.
 
Ryan Stone said:
 
> I would like to address the last topic, namely the breakdown provided of the
> score differential for NMU-UM when at full, even and short strengths.  I have
> seen alot of complaining here by both regions about the other's officials.
> Having been at Providence, I did not feel the officiating was any better or
> worse than I have seen in the EAST all year.  Yes, there weree emphases on
> different calls and some and less on others which we have grown accustommed to
> here in the East.  I don't think I have heard much at all on officials which
> were biased to one team or another, and since both teams have to play with the
> same officials, all is fair right???
>         Penalties are part of the game, sometimes 5 will be called sometimes
> 19 (numbers are clearly irrelevant), but both teams have to deal with it.
> It would be nice if the NCAA had all the officials calling similar games, but
> with the regionality and travel costs to cross officials over to other regions
> duriong the season, that won't happen. In sum, the officiating I saw this past
> weekend (by WEST officials) was interesting, but not the difference, and it
> is my belief thatmuch the same was true out West (with Easterners.)
>
I agree with you, Ryan.  However, it was stated on the radio broadcast
(admittedly this is coming from the NMU announcers) that BOTH  teams
quickly realized that far more penalties were going to be called (i.e.
things which weren't normally penalized were going to be) by the
eastern referee than was usually the case in the west, and that as a
result they both started taking a lot of dives.  In fact, at one point
the announcers said "they're playing to the officials."  I can def-
initely state that the total number of power plays the Wildcats had
to try to kill in the game were way, way more than they usually
face.  I'm sure the same was probably true for Michigan.  Unfortuntately
for NMU and its fans, the Wolverines were far better on their power
play than the Wildcats were on theirs--or to be more accurate, if you
look at the season special teams statistics--the NMU penalty killing
was far below par for the team.  (NMU scored on just about the percent-
age of power plays it has all year, while Michigan scored on about
twice as great a percentage, which was also about twice as much as
the percentage NMU had averaged giving up.)
 
And from Mike Machnik:
 
> Not that I expect the hockey-l gathering to get out of hand and turn into
> a Bob Croce witch hunt :-), but I just wanted to let everyone know, as I've
> told Keith, that he isn't that bad of a guy.  I can't explain the two articles
> he wrote, but if you get a chance to just talk to him, you'll find that he
> is okay.  I talked to him a few times both at Hockeyfest and in Providence
> and I honestly didn't think to ask about the TCHCR deal, we were talking
> hockey instead.  I'd still like to ask him sometime - "Listen, Bob, just what
> WAS that all about?" but he's not someone whose life's aim is to destroy
> TCHCR or hockey-l and you'll enjoy talking hockey with him.  But I promise I
> will ask sometime to get THE answer.
 
Yes, Mike, PLEASE do so!  Keith Instone and his system look more and
more golden as the championship winds down!  He needs to get credit
for it!