Thanks Carol for waking us all up. :) It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. The single elimination Hockey East tournament resulted in some upsets in the first round and quarterfinals, but the top two seeds ultimately still made the final. I still prefer best of three up until the semifinals, mainly because those are some of the more memorable series historically IMO. But I got to call three straight overtime games for Merrimack, two in double OT, with each having the potential that a loss meant the end of their run. I found myself quoting Killer Carlson on the air as the tension mounted. “One with the universe…one with the universe…nothing matters.” Wound up not trailing for any of the HEA tournament until running out of gas and giving up the GWG in the final in OT, then having to wait to see if they’d get into the NCAA tourney which they did for just the second time in the last 35 years.
And that’s one of the great things about this game, that schools that are smaller or don’t have the name recognition nationally as some others can often compete on the same footing.
HOCKEY-L has come up in other contexts lately. Jeff Weiss reminded us of the great work Keith Instone did here and which was chronicled by Adam Wodon in this story a couple years ago.
There’s no way to overestimate or overstate the impact Keith and all of that made. We’re so fortunate to have a system that has been in place now for so long and that people understand and can follow.
Take a look at how basketball still selects its teams, I ran across this recently. See “I. Selecting At-Large Teams”.
I didn’t know this before. They still take a (subjective) vote on who the committee members think should get in! Imagine if hockey did this.
The future of the tournament will be interesting to follow in the coming years.
"The Transformation Committee did suggest that committees consider that in some sports, at least 50% of teams get seeded in a championship bracket.”
It’s not clear which sports these would be, but I won’t be surprised if it leads soon to an expansion of the D1 hockey tournament. Maybe not to 32 teams, but possibly to 20 or 24 at least at first. There’s a lot of pressure on the NCAA from various fronts, and participation rate in the national tournaments is one of the issues.
You could also see the addition of one or more new leagues, such as what Bob DeGregorio (former Merrimack AD/HEA commissioner/AHA and CHA commissioner) has been working on. Or the splitting off of the Power Five schools into a “D-1A” or even an entity completely apart from the NCAA - what would that mean for hockey?
I saw some discussion of combining the divisional tournaments and/or men’s/women’s — understandable, but I think there’s a lot to be said for each of those events being the focus of attention at their locations and among their fan bases. I would worry that combining one or more of these would take away from what makes each event great. Along the same lines, I worry that there’s not as much of a “big picture” awareness these days as there used to be — the kind that led for example to the CCHA (1.0) and WCHA (RIP) working together to ensure the survival of UAA & UAF 30 years ago. Many of the coaches we saw as leading that big picture approach have retired or passed away. It’ll be up to the next generation to find a way to carry that on, it’s one of the things that has made our sport great over the years.
Back on the game itself, the evolution of the way it is played has made it faster and more exciting than ever. This is clear in the NHL, but also in college hockey. Look at Lane Hutson from BU — but while he’s one of the best examples, overall the evolution of the game has meant that traditional player roles today are so different than they used to be. Defensemen routinely will go anywhere they need to on the ice. Think about how nervous you used to get when you’d see one of your Ds get caught up ice or venture too deep into the attacking zone. It used to be notable when you’d see a D “step up into the play” — now it happens on nearly every shift. And defenses have to account for that and expect it. I think it’s a lot of fun to watch.
All right — good luck to the 16 teams in the bracket this year, hope it is a great tournament, it usually is. :)
—
Mike Machnik
College Hockey News
Merrimack Broadcasting Network
Helloooo out there in cyberspace!!!
No emails since the end of 2022? Blasphemy!! Don't let Hockey-L die!
I know we are older than we'd like to admit, but there are some dang good Hockey Teams out there competing for that GOLD TROPHY!!!
Minnesota, Michigan, Colorado College, St Cloud, Northern Michigan, Canisius, Colgate, Harvard, MERRIMACK, Boston Univ, Minnesota State, Denver, Quinnipiac, Penn State, Ohio State, Cornell, Alaska, Northeastern, North Dakota, RIT, Minnesota Duluth, Mass-Lowell, and a few others!!!
Please get talking!!! More Contests!!!
Your faithful Cruise Leader for the 2024 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP in St.Paul
Carol
