Good afternoon -
 
On Wed, 6 Mar 1996, Bill Fenwick wrote:
> The closest the ECAC ever came to having all four top teams upset in
> the quarterfinals was "Black Tuesday" in 1978, when three of them
> bought it.  The pairings were:
>
>      [8] New Hampshire at [1] Boston University
>      [7] Providence at [2] Cornell
>      [6] Brown at [3] Clarkson
>      [5] Boston College at [4] RPI
 
  Ahh, 'tis sad to get old - an occupational hazard of CHDA members like
myself :-(  My fuzzy memory got at least the gist of this correct, even
though a few of the particulars got jumbled in the re-telling; mea culpa
for posting without first double-checking with my media guides ....
 
> The only top seed to advance was BU, and they had to go into overtime to
> get by New Hampshire, 6-5.
 
  Yet another in a long line of heart-breaking UNH losses to the hated
Terriers; it was a long drive home from Walter Brown Arena that night ....
 
>Providence won 8-5, Brown won 6-2, and BC beat RPI 7-6 in OT.  Providence
>then defeated BU (for the second time that season -- those were BU's only
>two losses all year, and the Terriers would go on to take the NC$$ Champ-
>ionship).
 
  Of course Bill is too polite to mention BU's "special dispensation" that
allowed them even to get into the NC$$s that year.  In those days only 4
teams (an Instant Phinal Phour - no fuss, no muss :-) were invited to the
NCAA Tournament (2 East from the 17-team ECAC, and 2 West from the WCHA
that at that time included several teams now in the CCHA; no CCHA teams
were considered), and the 2 East teams were usually assured to be the ECAC
Tournament Champion and runner-up.  After BU's tough OT victory over #8
UNH in the 1/4-finals, and then a loss to PC in the semi-finals, it seemed
that BU would be sittin' home come NC$$ Tournament time in favor of ECAC
Champion BC and BU vanquisher PC.  But n-o-o-o-o-o-o .... For the first
(and only) time in NC$$ history, a special pre-NC$$ play-in game was ordered
played at Schneider Arena in Providence, the winner to advance with BC to
the NC$$ Tournament.  Never mind that PC had already beaten BU twice that
year; BU was perceived as the "best" East representative, and the rules
were bent to allow BU yet another chance to advance.  Give them their due;
they certainly made the most of their "gift" opportunity, running the
table in their next three games and claiming the NC$$ Championship.
 
   But is it any wonder that NC$$ selection was viewed as "rigged" and
slanted towards favorite sons ??  And the exclusion of the CCHA from even
being considered was equally as shameful/detrimental to the growth of the
sport from its traditional roots in the N'east and Minnesota-Wisconsin
axis.  It took a while, but eventually the subjective nature of the NC$$
selection process was overhauled and replaced with the more objective
PWR/RPI process we're familiar with today.  Teams on the bubble for NC$$
can complain all they want, but the process is infinitely more "fair"
as it stands now than in the bad old days of the CHDA ....
 
  Cheers from the Chesapeake - Jim
  Go Blue - beat them Bears !!!
 
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