Mike has already better covered the seeding of UML in 1994 than I could have.
I agree that the road in the East through BU would have been tougher than
through Minnesota, especially since BU would have been as rested as Minnesota
turned out to be.  However, keep in mind that UML had beaten BU 4-2 in one of
their three regular season matchups and had only lost 3-2 in the Hockey East
finals.  BU would have been favored and would have been tougher than Minnesota,
but a BU win would not have been a foregone conclusion.
 
All of which was besides the point in the minds of UML fans.  I know of a LOT
of UML fans who were planning on making the trip to Albany and who felt robbed
when their team was sent out west.  I believe UML was the first top four
seed ever sent out of its region.  I can still recall pulling over to the side
of the road, leaning close to my lousy AM radio to try to hear the NC$$
selections and then going positively ballistic when I heard UML was the third
*Western* seed.  I was alone in the car and there were a lot of George Carlin's
favorite words said at high volume after I heard that.  Minutes later, I
convinced myself that there had certainly been an error in the report.  After
all, the major Boston media in recent memory hadn't been particularly adept at
covering college hockey, with the possible exception of Beanpot hockey and the
absolute exception of Dale Arnold.  I convinced myself that WEEI
Get-A-Life-Radio had simply screwed up factually on a sport they knew little
about.  Not even the NC$$ could be so unfair as to send a top four seed out of
its region.  Sadly, the evening sports proved that the NC$$ had done just that,
justly earning the last two characters in HOCKEY-L's version of its acronym.
They had "rewarded" a top four seed with a crossover berth that stripped them
of their fans and given them a first round opponent, Michigan State, which may
have been the sixth seed in the West, but was playing in its own rink before a
packed crowd of their own fans.  A certain phrase comes to mind that describes
a King and Queen in their marital bed.  :-(
 
I still wonder if the eastern berth that they deserved would have been the
start of a tradition of significant travelling fan support for Lowell.  In the
few years that I've been around, there certainly haven't been many Lowell fans
that have gone to away games.  This isn't surprising since Lowell has an
emerging fan base that is heavily tilted towards the "family" audience which
typically isn't going to march off to away games.  But there were a lot of UML
fans that were planning on going to Albany and that could have been the start
of something.
 
As it turned out, my son Ryan and I had a great time at Albany despite the
absense of our team.  Ryan came back culturally enriched by the RPI "You s*ck!"
cheers during the introductions :-) and I came back with one nomination for
HOCKEY-L Dad of the Year for letting Ryan miss a day of school.  :-)   And UML
had a great run that they all could be proud of.  But that still didn't take
away the sting of unfairness.
 
Here's hoping that UML shocks the experts and me too (no overlap there) and
is there at Albany this year for Ryan and I to watch.
 
*****************************************************        ,-******-,
* Dave Hendrickson    "Robo"     [log in to unmask] *     *'     ##     '*
*        A Hockey Polygamist and Get-A-Lifer        *   *##   ___##___   ##*
* GO BROONS!!!      Go Red Wings!!      Go Canucks! *  *   ##|   ___  \##   *
* GO UMASS-LOWELL!!!      Go BU!!         Go Maine! * *      |  |___)  |     *
* --------------------------------------------------* *######|   ___  <######*
* Although I can't remember ever having an original * *      |  |___)  |     *
* thought, and am certainly parroting someone who   *  *   ##|________/##   *
* actually has a brain, these opinions are mine,    *   *##      ##      ##*
* not Hewlett-Packard's.                            *     *,     ##     ,*
*****************************************************        '-*******-'
 
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