It was RPI and Union that beat Yale this weekend. The Engineers have now won eight in a row in conference (by a combined tally of 30-10) to move into sole possession of 2nd place in the ECAC.
College Hockey Thread
- Thread starter sachmoney
- Start date
mabrowndog said:
Thanks for the heads-up. I was planning to watch Miami-Notre Dame on Fox College Sports Atlantic, but that's not an HD channel on my cable. NESN, of course, is. Awesome.
The guide says NESN has the game, but it's not showing the game. Knew it was too good to be true. To Fox College Sports I go.
Edit: nevermind, now they've switched to the game.
Edit: nevermind, now they've switched to the game.
At least you're not an NU Huskies fan... swept by Vermont at home this weekend, pretty much finishing them off for this year. They've won 4 games at home this season - Merrimack and BC the first week of the season and two against Alabama Huntsville about halfway through November. And they played like dogshit this weekend. Watching this team, you would never be able to tell that they're fighting for their playoff lives. Kevin Roy in particular last night was bad. Vermont's physicality frustrated him to the point where he completely checked out of the game mentally, even stopping in the middle of play a couple of times to complain to the refs. Embarrassing weekend.mabrowndog said:
Huge opportunity for Miami here with the 5-minute boarding major and game misconduct against the Irish late in the 1st. Still scoreless.
EDIT - And a horrible call a minute later on the Red Hawks. He was clearly, blatantly and obviously pushed into the goalie by an Irish defenseman. What the fuck are the refs looking at?
EDIT - And a horrible call a minute later on the Red Hawks. He was clearly, blatantly and obviously pushed into the goalie by an Irish defenseman. What the fuck are the refs looking at?
mabrowndog said:
The sun was in their eyes? Terrible call.
But seriously, the sun is an interesting factor in this game because of the way the stadium is set up in more or less a north-south alignment. It puts the sun directly in the eyes of the goalie on the north end (the Irish end in the first). Supposedly, at the 10 minute mark in the third, the teams are going to switch ends so Summerhays and McKay end up with equal time facing the sun. I would have thought Miami should have that sun advantage since presumably, as the "home" team, they got to pick which end to defend twice.
This crappy ice surface is absolutely killing Miami's speed, which is their calling card. They just can't get anything moving through the neutral zone because the puck isn't moving well. This ice is much more suited to a bigger, more physical team, which Notre Dame is. Hopefully they can take advantage of the sun angle while they have it and maybe sneak one by Summerhays. Salvaging at least a point out of this is paramount.
Tough loss for Miami, but you were right about the ice surface. Notre Dame was able to keep things horizontal rather than lateral.
Summerhays defended the north net facing the low sun throughout the 3rd. No mid-period switch.
I doubt this knocks the Red Hawks out of a Top 4 PWR, as one of BC & UNH will likely lose later today, and perhaps Minnesota as well. The Irish will emerge from the pack that's tied for 16th, probably vaulting over Union & UM-L, and possibly over BU & Yale as well.
Summerhays defended the north net facing the low sun throughout the 3rd. No mid-period switch.
I doubt this knocks the Red Hawks out of a Top 4 PWR, as one of BC & UNH will likely lose later today, and perhaps Minnesota as well. The Irish will emerge from the pack that's tied for 16th, probably vaulting over Union & UM-L, and possibly over BU & Yale as well.
Fortunately, no more outdoor play for the RedHawks...it's just not suited for their strengths. I was hoping for a win, and with QU losing, maybe seeing the 'Hawks jump up to #1. Oh well. They finish out the regular season strong, get to Detroit and have a good showing in the CCHA tournament, and they should be locked in as the #1 seed, probably in the Toledo bracket.
Badgers goal waved off for a high stick. Still no score midway through the 1st.
BC just tied up UNH 2-2, and Merrimack just got a PP goal to tie PC 1-1. Both games have about 13:00 left in the 2nd period.
BC just tied up UNH 2-2, and Merrimack just got a PP goal to tie PC 1-1. Both games have about 13:00 left in the 2nd period.
Scoreless in Chicago after 1. Minnesota's outshot UW 15-6.
PC-MER and BC-UNH both at intermission after 2.
PC-MER and BC-UNH both at intermission after 2.
Both HE games end as ties following scoreless OT periods. BC-UNH 4-4, and Merrimack-PC 2-2.
Wisconsin shutting out the Gophers 3-0 after 2. All thre goals (Kevin Schulze, John Ramage, Sean Little) come within a 3:19 span.
Wisconsin shutting out the Gophers 3-0 after 2. All thre goals (Kevin Schulze, John Ramage, Sean Little) come within a 3:19 span.
Seth Ambroz gets MIN on the board at 2:36 of the 3rd. Badgers have a 2-goal margin with 10:00 to play.
Gophers pull Rumpel with 2:19 left. Then after a UW icing and a face-off in their zone, the puck comes to MIN's Nick Bjugstad at the top and he rifles home a slapper through a screen that deflects off Zach Budish's stick and into the net with 1:42 to play.
Badgers hold off some fierce pressure in the final minute and hang on for the 3-2 win. Quinnipiac will likely remain #1 next week.
Badgers hold off some fierce pressure in the final minute and hang on for the 3-2 win. Quinnipiac will likely remain #1 next week.
Latest PWR has BC & UNH now tied for a #1 seed. Head to head, they've each won one on the road and tied today. UNH would get the edge based on RPI (.5473 vs . 5455).
1 Quinnipiac 30
2 Minnesota 29
3 Miami 28
4t New Hampshire 26
4t Boston College 26
6 North Dakota 25
7t Minnesota State 23
7t Western Michigan 23
9 St. Cloud State 22
10 Niagara 20
11 Denver 19
12t Yale 16
12t Boston University 16
14t Massachusetts-Lowell 15
14t Notre Dame 15
14t Union 15
17t Rensselaer 13
17t Merrimack 13
19 Dartmouth 12
20t Nebraska-Omaha 11
20t Alaska 11
The brackets would probably look something like this:
Manchester - UNH, BC, Denver, Union
Providence - Quin, N. Dakota, Yale, BU
Toledo OH - Miami, Minn St, Niagara, UM-Lowell
Grand Rapids - Minnesota, W. Mich, St. Cloud, N. Dame
1 Quinnipiac 30
2 Minnesota 29
3 Miami 28
4t New Hampshire 26
4t Boston College 26
6 North Dakota 25
7t Minnesota State 23
7t Western Michigan 23
9 St. Cloud State 22
10 Niagara 20
11 Denver 19
12t Yale 16
12t Boston University 16
14t Massachusetts-Lowell 15
14t Notre Dame 15
14t Union 15
17t Rensselaer 13
17t Merrimack 13
19 Dartmouth 12
20t Nebraska-Omaha 11
20t Alaska 11
The brackets would probably look something like this:
Manchester - UNH, BC, Denver, Union
Providence - Quin, N. Dakota, Yale, BU
Toledo OH - Miami, Minn St, Niagara, UM-Lowell
Grand Rapids - Minnesota, W. Mich, St. Cloud, N. Dame
BU is in the frustrating "low-seed-wins-a-conf-tourney-and-they-get-booted" area. Even as bad as they've played though, they're 3 points out with 1 game in hand for 1st in HE. Going 5-2-0 or better over their last 7, and getting a #1 or #2 seed will help greatly. Also, getting to the finals of the HE tourney would help as well. Both I think elevate them past "might be in" to "should be in"
Sacred Heart's hockey team must be inspired by the hiring of Bobby V. Entering tonight's game they were 1-26-2, by far the worst team in all of NCAA Division I.
Still plenty of time left (16:23 in the 3rd), but the Pioneers have a 5-2 lead over Bentley.
EDIT - Or, maybe not. Three Bentley goals in the next 5 minutes. And just like that, it's a tie game. Wow.
Still plenty of time left (16:23 in the 3rd), but the Pioneers have a 5-2 lead over Bentley.
EDIT - Or, maybe not. Three Bentley goals in the next 5 minutes. And just like that, it's a tie game. Wow.
Quinnipiac up 3-0 on Yale after 2.
The ECAC as a whole is having a lousy night in terms of NCAA positioning. Dartmouth just lost 4-0 to Clarkson, Colgate knocked off Union 4-1, and Cornell beat RPI 4-1. That leaves Q and St. Lawrence (4-2 winners over Harvard) as the only ones of the 6 contenders stepping forward. There's a strong chance this will be just a 2-team conference.
The ECAC as a whole is having a lousy night in terms of NCAA positioning. Dartmouth just lost 4-0 to Clarkson, Colgate knocked off Union 4-1, and Cornell beat RPI 4-1. That leaves Q and St. Lawrence (4-2 winners over Harvard) as the only ones of the 6 contenders stepping forward. There's a strong chance this will be just a 2-team conference.
Lake Superior just scored to tie Miami 3-3 with 16:00 left in the 3rd.
EDIT - Redhawks back in front 5-4 with 4:29 left.
EDIT - Redhawks back in front 5-4 with 4:29 left.
mabrowndog said:
They go to OT tied 6-6, and that's how it ends. Still just a lone victory for SHU. Hence, Bobby V still sucks.
mabrowndog said:
Miami holds on for the 5-4 win. Shouldn't have been that tight having outshot the Lakers 51-29, but SSM can be a madhouse for visiting teams.
4-1 Quinnipiac win on national tv over #13 Yale tonight. Played great in the first period and halfway thru the 2nd but looked sluggish a bit in the late 2nd period and into the 3rd period. A win is a win.
#6 North Dakota & #11 Denver just got started on NBCSN. Sioux with an early power play.
EDIT - And Grimaldi lights the lamp for UND right after the Pioneer penalty kill. 1-0 Sioux.
EDIT - And Grimaldi lights the lamp for UND right after the Pioneer penalty kill. 1-0 Sioux.
Minnesota & UM-Duluth tied 3-3 midway through the 3rd. A Gopher loss would be a blow to their #1 seed hopes.
Zach Larraza takes a carom from behind the net off the left boards, turns, and fires it through 3 UND defenders in the crease. Looks like it was deflected by one of them, but it's goal for Denver to tie it.
#8 Western Michigan takes the shootout over #13 Notre Dame 2-1, and gets the 4-3 OT win and the extra point. That keeps them in a first-place tie with Miami in the CCHA, with the Irish 2 points back.
mabrowndog said:
Miami gained a point on Western, actually, extending their lead to three points. A CCHA win is 3 points, a shootout win is 2 (1 for the tie, 1 for the shootout). Best they can do now is end the weekend in a tie if Western wins today and the RedHawks lose.
Red(s)HawksFan said:
Thanks for the correction. For some reason, when I checked the standings page at USCHO it hadn't yet added Miami's points for their win, despite their game ending 30 minutes before WMU-ND did.
I also didn't know about the points breakdown in the CCHA, so I appreciate the heads-up.
Based on the current Pairwise (pending today's BC-Merrimack game), this is the only way the brackets could be set up if the season ended today:
Manchester - 4 New Hamp, 5 BC, 12 Denver, 13 Dartmouth
Providence - 1 Quinnipiac, 8 Niagara, 9 St. Cloud, 14 N. Dame
Toledo OH - 3 Miami OH, 6 N. Dakota, 11 UM-Lowell, 15 Yale
Grand Rapids - 2 Minnesota, 7 Minn St, 10 W. Mich, 16 RPI
Three of the bottom 4 are ECAC teams, so Notre Dame's the only one that can play Quinnipiac. Denver & St. Cloud have to be sent east with the Irish since they can't face WCHA rivals UND & Minn St in the first round. That means Lowell has to go west along with Yale & RPI.
Five teams from east of the Mississippi + 6 teams moved out of their home regions = attendance nightmare. Manchester would do really well, but even with Miami & WMU playing close to home they can't rescue their regionals. Quinnipiac & Niagara have minuscule fan bases, so I suspect Providence would suffer as well. The absence of both Michigan & Michigan St. from this year's field is a crusher for Toledo & Grand Rapids.
Manchester - 4 New Hamp, 5 BC, 12 Denver, 13 Dartmouth
Providence - 1 Quinnipiac, 8 Niagara, 9 St. Cloud, 14 N. Dame
Toledo OH - 3 Miami OH, 6 N. Dakota, 11 UM-Lowell, 15 Yale
Grand Rapids - 2 Minnesota, 7 Minn St, 10 W. Mich, 16 RPI
Three of the bottom 4 are ECAC teams, so Notre Dame's the only one that can play Quinnipiac. Denver & St. Cloud have to be sent east with the Irish since they can't face WCHA rivals UND & Minn St in the first round. That means Lowell has to go west along with Yale & RPI.
Five teams from east of the Mississippi + 6 teams moved out of their home regions = attendance nightmare. Manchester would do really well, but even with Miami & WMU playing close to home they can't rescue their regionals. Quinnipiac & Niagara have minuscule fan bases, so I suspect Providence would suffer as well. The absence of both Michigan & Michigan St. from this year's field is a crusher for Toledo & Grand Rapids.
Quinnipiac is an hour and a half from Providence. They would travel well there especially with alumni from the Boston and Providence areas. They would also get a lot of fans from Connecticut come up as well.mabrowndog said:
I realize there's a solid following for QU, and I shouldn't have lumped them in with Niagara. But unless I'm missing something it's not the type of support that can help carry a regional, and that's my main point. I'm not trying to be a dick, but It's a school with 6,000 undergrads and zero Division I hockey tradition. It's looking like there'll be no BU, Maine, Vermont, or MA-Amherst this year, and under the above scenario BC & UNH would both be in Manchester while MA-Lowell would be out west. QU's hockey base can't compare with any of those schools when it comes to filling seats. I'd love it if they proved me wrong, but without the contingents of other noteworthy northeastern schools I think the Providence regional would be screwed.
Frankly, I'd probably be saying the same thing about Northeastern if they were a #1 seed this year, as their home attendance closely mirrors that of QU. But NU has a far larger alumni base and a much deeper history, so I'd give them a better shot of carrying the load.
Frankly, I'd probably be saying the same thing about Northeastern if they were a #1 seed this year, as their home attendance closely mirrors that of QU. But NU has a far larger alumni base and a much deeper history, so I'd give them a better shot of carrying the load.
mabrowndog said:
Next time use the 2012-13 capacity mark instead of 2011-12. Quinnipiac is at 101% of capacity this year averaging over 3,100 this year. They got over 4,000 for Yale. Quinnipiac will be a huge asset to Providence this year. Alumni in the area will travel to Providence for them especially from the Boston and NYC area where most of the alums live.
When talking about attendance I'd rather look at capacity percentage and UMass Amherst is filling up the Mullins Center at a 50% clip and BU is under 80% for a program that has a huge tradition. Also there is a reason Rand Pecknold turned down UMass. They have the same number of NCAA berths as Quinnipiac, 1. UMass is a lateral move that cares less about hockey.
My linking to the 2011-12 numbers was inadvertent. My apologies.
UMass is just one of the 7 northeastern schools I mentioned. But for the sake of argument, even if we discount UMass (and Vermont while we're at it), there are still 5 other New England schools (Maine, UNH, BC, BU and Lowell) that would bring more fans to Providence were they to be seeded there alongside Niagara and two midwest schools. This isn't even a debate. It's incontrovertible.
As for the second paragraph of your post, I have no idea where that's coming from. You seem to think I'm insulting QU, and that's not the case. But your tone is defensive, especially throwing out the crap about why Pecknold turned down UMass (he stayed for more money after QU counter-offered and didn't have to uproot his family, plain and simple. More power to him.), and the utter garbage about UMass caring less about hockey. Last year they ranked 7th out of 58 D-I programs in average home attendance. Even this season, a decidedly crappy one with the team playing .400 hockey, they're 19th. I mean, come on. Their arena is built in the middle of glorified cow pasture 40 minutes from Springfield, and doesn't benefit from being in the center of an MSA with >850,000 people, over half of which are within a 15-minute drive of Quinnipiac's campus. You don't think that if UMass was in contention for the HE title, or at minimum an NCAA seed, there'd at least be another thousand per game in the Mullins Center?
This isn't about percentage of seats filled at a small home arena. It's about filling the nearly 12,000 seats at Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence. Gross is all that matters to the NCAA when it comes to regionals. You can claim that Quinnipiac would fill more seats this season with a bigger home arena, but you can't prove it to the NCAA. This is the first year they've ever out-sold their 3,084-seat capacity. You can also claim that all sorts of alumni in Providence & Boston from a school with an average class of 1500 undergrads will flock to the DDC to support the Bobcats, but you'll have a tough time convincing the NCAA of that in advance. Like I said earlier, I hope I'm wrong. I'd absolutely love to see 4,000 to 5,000 or more Bobcat fans turning that building into a zoo, but I doubt more than 2,000 attendees will have QU ties.
UMass is just one of the 7 northeastern schools I mentioned. But for the sake of argument, even if we discount UMass (and Vermont while we're at it), there are still 5 other New England schools (Maine, UNH, BC, BU and Lowell) that would bring more fans to Providence were they to be seeded there alongside Niagara and two midwest schools. This isn't even a debate. It's incontrovertible.
As for the second paragraph of your post, I have no idea where that's coming from. You seem to think I'm insulting QU, and that's not the case. But your tone is defensive, especially throwing out the crap about why Pecknold turned down UMass (he stayed for more money after QU counter-offered and didn't have to uproot his family, plain and simple. More power to him.), and the utter garbage about UMass caring less about hockey. Last year they ranked 7th out of 58 D-I programs in average home attendance. Even this season, a decidedly crappy one with the team playing .400 hockey, they're 19th. I mean, come on. Their arena is built in the middle of glorified cow pasture 40 minutes from Springfield, and doesn't benefit from being in the center of an MSA with >850,000 people, over half of which are within a 15-minute drive of Quinnipiac's campus. You don't think that if UMass was in contention for the HE title, or at minimum an NCAA seed, there'd at least be another thousand per game in the Mullins Center?
This isn't about percentage of seats filled at a small home arena. It's about filling the nearly 12,000 seats at Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence. Gross is all that matters to the NCAA when it comes to regionals. You can claim that Quinnipiac would fill more seats this season with a bigger home arena, but you can't prove it to the NCAA. This is the first year they've ever out-sold their 3,084-seat capacity. You can also claim that all sorts of alumni in Providence & Boston from a school with an average class of 1500 undergrads will flock to the DDC to support the Bobcats, but you'll have a tough time convincing the NCAA of that in advance. Like I said earlier, I hope I'm wrong. I'd absolutely love to see 4,000 to 5,000 or more Bobcat fans turning that building into a zoo, but I doubt more than 2,000 attendees will have QU ties.
I think the NCAA would love to flip flop St. Cloud State and UMass Lowell to boast attendance in Providence along with Quinnipiac but at this point they can't have inter conference match ups in round 1. I have no idea how well Notre Dame fans travel for hockey. Niagara probably won't travel well.
The next few weeks will be important to see if they can get another Northeast team in Providence with Quinnipiac. I agree we can't carry the Dunk alone but I believe they will be able to get a good portion of fans to Providence especially with a team that is potential Frozen Four team.
mabrowndog said:
I think Miami can fill Michigan or Michigan State's shoes in terms of attendance in Toledo, but you're right about the rest. Toledo's only about 2 hours from campus and only about 30 minutes less of a drive than it is to the Joe for the CCHA finals, at which RedHawk fans acquit themselves well. And considering they've frequently been shipped to Worcester, Manchester, or New Haven because Michigan or State are the better gets, I think a lot of students will take advantage of finally being in a regional within driving distance.
jsinger121 said:
Meh. The Irish would probably be good for ~2 to 3,000 within an easy drive of South Bend (i.e. Grand Rapids, Ft Wayne, Toledo, of likely regional sites), but won't offer much anywhere else.
I remember the Ft. Wayne regional though, where Miami beat Michigan in that controversial 2OT game, and attendance was not outstanding for an equally close regional. They were a #1 seed that year as well, and the regional final between Michigan and Miami only drew about 3,200 in a ~10,000 seat arena. In a regional like the one outlined above though they'd be helped by North Dakota fans flocking no matter where they end up every year.Red(s)HawksFan said:
The committee looks like it has its hands tied though everywhere besides Manchester, where it looks almost certain BC and UNH will both be there, and if Dartmouth makes it in they'll probably just plop them there too. The western venues aren't close to big metropolitan areas, and there are some awkward first round intraconference matchups looming that can really muck things up right now. I'd almost guarantee Western Mich gets the Grand Rapids regional, but beyond that you're hoping the Minnesota schools fill up Grand Rapids and maybe a Hockey East squad can help out Providence. I don't doubt Quinnipiac can get a good following in Providence though, I remember what a #1 season will do to a smaller alumni base and relatively new but hockey hungry fanbase at Miami, and I think QU could get a pretty good sized crowd in Providence, not unlike what RIT did a few years ago with a pretty faithful following that packed a couple sections when nobody saw that coming.
Lowell just got an empty netter to go up 4-2 over BC with 0:46 left.
BU led Merrimack 5-0 after 2. Warriors have answered with a pair but time's running out. 5-2 with 4:07 left.
BU led Merrimack 5-0 after 2. Warriors have answered with a pair but time's running out. 5-2 with 4:07 left.
Despite the loss, BC remains in first place in HE as they own the tiebreaker vs UM-L. However, the Eagles drop to a tie for 5th in the PWR with North Dakota. UM-L rises to a tie for 9th with Western Michigan.
BU climbs into a 4-way tie for 17th in the PWR (with St. Lawrence, Robert Morris & Alaska). Terriers finish with a home pair vs Vermont and a home-and-home with NU.
Merrimack falls all the way to 29th. The Warriors have home-and-homes with UM-L and UM-Amherst.
Also, just noticed Providence has been riding a nice streak under the radar. Since getting swept by Minnesota State to open 2013, they're 6-2-4 in their last dozen and unbeaten in their last 7. They're also up to 25th in the PWR, tied with Wisconsin & Northern Michigan. Unfortunately for them they close out the HE slate with home-and-homes vs the top two teams in the conference.
BU climbs into a 4-way tie for 17th in the PWR (with St. Lawrence, Robert Morris & Alaska). Terriers finish with a home pair vs Vermont and a home-and-home with NU.
Merrimack falls all the way to 29th. The Warriors have home-and-homes with UM-L and UM-Amherst.
Also, just noticed Providence has been riding a nice streak under the radar. Since getting swept by Minnesota State to open 2013, they're 6-2-4 in their last dozen and unbeaten in their last 7. They're also up to 25th in the PWR, tied with Wisconsin & Northern Michigan. Unfortunately for them they close out the HE slate with home-and-homes vs the top two teams in the conference.
If BU misses the tourney again, isn't time to start thinking about moving JAckie P out? The administration is down on him after all; the off-ice incidents on campus. And his teams are not exactly good. I know they are very young, etc, but BU hockey is closer to being third best in the city than first despite the better facilities, etc