Greg Berge writes: >Prior to the formation of Hockey East, the 17-team ECAC was divided >into 3 groups. Was it EVER true that the best team from each group >(or perhaps from the Ivy group alone) was guaranteed a top-4 seed? >I seem to recall that in the early 80's Harvard had about a .500 >conference record and yet was seeded #4 in the ECACs, ahead of squads >with much better records. >(I was just thinking of how useful this would have been this year, >with Cornell having a very good chance to finish with the best ECAC >record among the Ivies but having a real dogfight for finishing even >in the top 5, let alone top-4.) Greg's memory didn't fail him - the 81-82 Crimson were 11-8-2 (.571), first in the Ivy Region but 8th overall. Harvard was the fourth seed in the ECAC tournament and hosted Boston College (13-8, .619). The Crimson went on to the ECAC finals, losing to Northeastern. Harvard was the fourth seed in 1983-84 as well, when its record was 10-9-2 in the conference. The Crimson fell to 5th seed Clarkson in that year. The ECAC had a three division format (East Region, West Region and Ivy Region) from 1979-80 to 1983-84. The Ivy winner always received a no. 4 seed (or better, if it was earned). The formation of Hockey East left the ECAC with 12 schools that reformed into one division. Geoff Howell Drop the Puck Magazine HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.