Nathan Boyle writes: Glad we'd head to the east bracket. Not that the east is easy, but we know we can take Clarkson, and WMU. Vermont I think lost to Minn mid season, and we played well against Minn in the next game. I like our odds much better if we get seeded in the east. But thats me. (snip) Also, I think Brian Morris quoted CC's coach as saying that the east had teams which consisted of "one line and a good goaltender." Frankly I am tireed of the blatant lack of respect/appreciation of western fans for eastern teams. I was going to say that last year's Final was an all-east affair or that the final fours have been fairly well matched in recent years (maybe minus the 9-1 shellacking of BU to LSSU), or that maybe (Nathan) BGSU and Clarkson split this year on a SLOW Clarkson start to the 95-96 season which does not indicate to me that BGSU can 'handle' tech (who is on a 12 game unbeaten streak (maybe I shouldn't speak too soon) ). I've noticed that western teams seem to favor size and strength while eastern teams seem to be a bit smaller. It is also a fact that many of the bottom Div I dwellers are eastern teams. But getting a bid in Albany is NOT a cake walk. Any team getting a bid will fight hard to win. Rarely will a team completely collapse at the end, even if it's a "weaker" eastern team... 2 cents, Dan BTW Mr. Boyle, just because a>b and b>c does not necessarily mean that a>c on any given night in college hockey OR pro hockey. How about UMass Amhearst beating UMaine last year, or Hartford beating Pittsburgh last night... HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.