Ends of the Spectrum

I must say that it was very cool hearing Tim Russert congratulate Boston College on the NCAA title at the end of Meet the Press on Sunday morning. Russert's son, Luke, goes to BC...although apparently, he didn't go out to Denver for the Frozen Four, despite the fact that he co-hosts a sports talk show with James Carville on XM. I wonder if anyone told Papa Russ who holds the NHL rights of the Frozen Four's Most Outstanding Player, Nathan Gerbe (that would be Russert's hometown Buffalo Sabres for anyone who didn't know).

It was significantly less cool, of course, seeing the Devils beat the Rangers on Sunday night. It's not like I was expecting a Rangers sweep, but getting beat on some tough bounces is tough to stomach.

What was also annoying was not being able to hear DOC~! call the game. I opted for the Rangers crew over Cangelosi and Chico, the one consolation being that I got to hear Sam Rosen's "It's a POWER PLAY GOAL" call a couple of times, knowing how much it pisses off a certain Isles fan I know, especially when Sean Avery was the goalscorer.

Speaking of Avery, the NHL has declared his little faceguarding technique on Martin Brodeur to be unsportsmanlike conduct. That's fine by me, since it looked like something out of a Mighty Ducks movie, but it was pretty funny. I'm sure Avery will continue to chirp at Brodeur whenever he's in front of the net (albeit without the arm waving), as reporters seem to be the only people that Avery won't talk to these days.

As someone whose seats at the Garden are in the zone the Rangers attack twice, I'm always happy to see someone yelling at the goalie. After all, yelling at goalies is one of my favorite aspects of college hockey fan behavior that doesn't really make the move to the NHL. Of course, the Rangers fans do enjoy taunting Brodeur, and as long as they like that, I have another couple of college chants that apply in this series with the Devils.

- The "KILL THE MIDGET" chant for Brian Gionta, as originated by the fans at BU. The Terrier fans - or as the one and only Pinhead Nation calls them, the "fanboys" - revived this one for the aforementioned Nathan Gerbe this season, but I think it's time to return the chant to its original target. Sadly, I didn't buy tickets for these games (the price jump from $36 to $84.50 is a little tough to stomach when you're unemployed), or I would try to get it going myself.

- RPI's 19:00 tradition of "Ooooooooooooone Minute, and CLARKSON STILL SUCKS!" I wonder if Paul Ranger takes it personally when he's at New Jersey for the "Rangers Suck" chant, or at the Mausoleum for "If you know the Rangers suck, clap your hands." I tend to doubt it, but that's no reason not to apply the same principle to the Devils' David Clarkson.

- Finally, since the Devils are emphasizing their red jerseys with these "Red-outs" and such at the Prudential Center, I'd be amused if some of the Devils fans picked up Cornell and RPI's tradition of yelling out the word "RED" at the appropriate point during the national anthem.

Getting back to the series, someone needs to remind the Rangers TV crew that Mike Mottau isn't the only Devil who went to Boston College...just the only Devil who won a Hobey Baker there. But seriously, it seems like the first mention of Mottau on the last couple of Rangers telecasts (which I watch when DOC~! isn't doing the Devils game) has been followed by a mention of "Mottau's Boston College Eagles" in the Frozen Four, but no mention of Gionta. And a mention of Gionta's history at BC would have been a nice touch in the third period, when he wound up as Chris Drury's dance partner during one of those scrambles in the third period last night.

And in case anyone's wondering, BU and BC never met in the postseason while Drury was at BU and Mottau and Gionta were at BC. BU won the Hockey East championship in 1997, beating UMass-Lowell after the River Hawks beat Mottau and the Eagles in the semifinals. In 1998, Mottau and Hockey East Freshman of the Year Gionta won the Hockey East title with BC, Drury's Terriers having been eliminated in the quarterfinals by...Merrimack in the 1-8 matchup.

I'm typing this as I watch the Wild-Avalanche game on Versus. This may well be the best series of the first round. Personally, I'm looking for the Avs to come out of this one, because with the great rivalries in the first round in the East (Rangers-Devils, Canadiens-Bruins), the Western Conference could use a good Wings-Avs series, especially if T.J. Hensick were to get a taxi squad call-up now that the Lake Erie Monsters' seeason is over.

In general, though, I'd just like to see Colorado win because of David Jones. It's good to see a Dartmouth product (can't call him an alum since he hasn't graduated yet) in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It continues to solidify the wisdom of Jones' forfeiture of his last year of college eligibility, since I tend to agree with Red Berenson that a player shouldn't leave college early unless he's ready for the NHL. 27 regular-season games and a regular spot on the playoff roster is pretty darn good, even if it wouldn't have gotten over the threshold in my statistical analysis that I did for CSTV before last year's NHL Draft. Then again, Jones was drafted in 2003, and he would only have had a one-year contract if he'd signed this spring (I finally have a handle on that rule, having looked in the back of the Isles media guide a couple of weeks ago). He's even got a pretty decent playoff beard going.

OK, the game is over, the Wild having won on Pierre-Marc Bouchard's overtime goal, so I'll leave you with one final thought. And since a picture is worth a thousand words...

Sometimes, I Don't Love New York

I'm never missing the Frozen Four again, if I can help it.

I had a job interview yesterday (Yes, if you're scoring at home - or even if you're alone, as Keith Olbermann used to say - I'm still pursuing new full-time employment), and decided to spend some time in Manhattan afterwards. Of course, with the Frozen Four going on, I'd have to find a place to watch it.

Chris over at Western College Hockey informed me of a Michigan alumni club viewing of the second game, but besides not wanting to crash and take advantage of someone else's drink specials, I was more interested in the first game, figuring BC and North Dakota would be the better matchup.

Ha. That's a good one.

You know, after I wrote my last post, I thought to myself, "Gee, now that I picked North Dakota, they're probably going to lose, and when they do, some Sioux fan is going to claim I gave them the Kiss of Death on purpose because I'm a 'a little East Coast homer' or an 'East Coast tool,' or some other phrase starting with 'East Coast.'" Then, I thought, "Nah," and laughed.

In any case, I settled on ESPN Zone, figuring that since the games were on ESPN2, they'd have to show them there. I was right, more or less, except that the game was on a small TV on the highest level of their big wall of screens, while the NHL Network, which was showing a replay of the NHL Live radio talk show with no sound, was on one of the big screens. I wasn't the only one annoyed - a lovely young woman from Fargo was two tables away from me - but despite our complaints to management, they couldn't change the arrangement, because the TVs are preprogrammed.

Yes, that's right. They can't change the TVs at ESPNZone, even if it's that kind of ridiculous situation. Now I ask you: What kind of Mickey Mouse organization is so unresponsive to its...oh, wait a minute....right.

I left ESPNZone at the second intermission, figuring I'd watch what was left of the game, along with the start of Michigan-Notre Dame, at the gym. I go to New York Sports Club, which has individual TV monitors attached to the top of most of the cardio equipment, but the location I went to doesn't have ESPN2 available. In any event, it's not like there was much game left anyway.

After I got out of the gym, I headed to my favorite bar in Manhattan, Keats on 45th and 2nd, where I figured to watch the rest of the game. Unfortunately, I hadn't planned on the Mets going into extra innings, so I didn't get to see the second period, either (good thing the Mets won, or I'd really have been pissed).

In any event, I got to see the third period and overtime, and it seems like it was one hell of a game.

So now, we get Boston College and Notre Dame for the national championship. Given my horrible prediction record in this tournament - somewhat surprising, since I won the USCHO Staff (and friends) bracket competiition in 2006 - I will refrain from picking a winner.

All of that said, it is worth noting that even in bad years, Notre Dame has had good success against BC. It's also worth noting that Notre Dame's arrival on the national scene really began with last October's 7-1 win over the Eagles at Conte Forum (a game that, like tomorrow's game, I was originally supposed to be at, but plans changed). Then again, the third time could wind up being the charm for BC.

In any event, it should be an interesting game tomorrow night.

Tonight, meanwhile, in what should be another great game, the Rangers go for a 2-0 lead against the Devils. For those picking the Rangers in five, this is the game I think the Devils would be expected to win. Both teams have things to improve on tonight - upon further review, Brodeur really did have a stinker of a game for the Devils on Wednesday - but if the Devils can't win tonight, the series is over. I don't mean that in the sense of a sweep, but that if the Rangers win tonight, they will be unbeaten in regulation against the Devils in 10 games this season, and New Jersey's big guns have never really gotten on track against the Rangers. If they don't do it now, they're not going to do it, and while New Jersey could certainly get one or two wins based entirely on the brilliance of Martin Brodeur, they won't win the series that way.

As a side note, does anyone find it somewhat odd that of the three coaches the Devils have started the season with since the lockout, Brent Sutter is the one who weent the distance? I always thought it was kind of an odd pairing, with Lou Lamoriello being a big proponent of college hockey (founder of Hockey East, former Providence coach, etc.) and the Sutters being a family of major junior hardliners. But go figure, Brent got out of the regular season in tact. If this is a short series, though, I don't know if he'll last the summer.

This Is Why I Don't Make Predictions

I probably should have gone out on a limb and made some NCAA Tournament picks at some point this week. I was going to. I meant to. Other stuff kept getting in the way.

In the end, it's probably just as well. I would have wound up looking stupid.

OK, Michigan-Niagara was a slam dunk. That said, it's probably the only game I would have gotten right.

I would have figured the University of No Hardware to bow out early, but not in the first round against a Notre Dame team playing without its top forward.

I would have gone back and forth several times about Michigan State and Colorado College, but then I would have gone with the Tigers at home on the big sheet.

I would have picked St. Cloud to beat Clarkson...against my better judgement.

But now that I've said what I was expecting yesterday, here are a few thoughts for the rest of the weekend.

Denver beats Wisconsin, if for no other reason than that the Pioneers own the Badgers at the Kohl Center. If you need more reasons, try Peter Mannino.

North Dakota beats Princeton. Congratulations on returning to the tournament, Tigers, but it's time to go home.

BC beats Minnesota. I'd wonder how the Gophers would contend with the likes of Mike Brennan, Tim Filangieri, and all the other Eagle defensemen from Long Island, but Alex Kangas is the Gophers' starter these days, so I can't really make that joke.

Miami beats Air Force, despite the inspiring return of Eric Ehn. The Falcons are going to give the RedHawks one hell of a run, but Miami is too strong from top to bottom.

Michigan State beats Notre Dame As much as I'd love to call the revenge win for the Irish - who, of course, fell to the Spartans in last year's regional final in Grand Rapids - I think the champs get to try and defend their title, and Jeff Lerg may just play his way into the Hobey Hat Trick.

Michigan beats Clarkson. Clarkson is the first ECAC Hockey team other than Cornell to win a game in the tournament since 2000 (St. Lawrence), so good on them for that, but this Michigan team is just too doggone good.

And for tomorrow

Miami beats Boston College The RedHawks exorcise their demons...wait...demons? At a Jesuit school? How does that work?

North Dakota beats Denver I like Denver as much as the next guy, but I maintain that the Sioux are a Frozen Four team under Dave Hakstol until proven otherwise.

That gives us a Frozen Four of Michigan-Michigan State and Miami-North Dakota. Oh, wouldn't the CCHA-haters love that? I suppose it's only fair, though, after the WCHA had four teams in Columbus in 2005.

Michigan over MSU, North Dakota over Miami in a multi-overtime classic, Michigan over North Dakota for all the marbles.

One quick Rangers thought: I don't like Renney tinkering with the lines. It took most of the season to figure out how to get Jagr to work, and while the Rangers have taken three of a possible four points since changing things up (and having to because of the Gomez injury), I'd stick with the way things were now that Gomez is back in the lineup.

Catching Up

Yeah, I know, I haven't posted in a while...although I have posted a couple of entries at my blog over at USCHO, so hopefully you haven't missed these entries too much.

In my sort-of-silence, the Rangers have amassed five points in three games, making it 28 points in 18 contests for the Blueshirts. Sadly the one game they didn't win was last night against the Flyers, and as you know, I can't stand the Flyers, particularly in their current form.

It'll be interesting now to see whether Prince Vali-ant, previously thought to be a Flyer-killer, will get the start for the return engagement on Tuesday at the Garden. Of course, the more pressing concern will be the center position, with both Scott Gomez and Blair Betts out of the lineup. Greg Moore, Artem Anisimov, come on down...

Meanwhile, in the college ranks, there's an interesting day of action on tap in conference championships. Miami gets one more shot at Michigan, the top national contenders out of the WCHA will meet in the consolation game at the Final Five, Princeton has a chance to make the NCAA tournament by beating Harvard for the ECAC Hockey title, and Vermont gets to play for the Hockey East title against a Boston College team that played into triple overtime against New Hampshire before pulling out a 5-4 win in a game they trailed 4-1.

Of course, that means Boston University is done for the year, which is quite a shame given their admirable second half run. Speaking of admirable runs, Minnesota has a shot at the WCHA title, and if the Gophers pull it out against Denver tonight, someone should look into getting Don Lucia an at-large berth as a Spencer Penrose finalist (only conference Coach of the Year winners and Frozen Four coaches are nominated). Given how the Gophers had been left for dead after everything that happened in the first half of the season, this is really an impressive accomplishment.

That doesn't mean I'm rooting for them tonight, though. I really have no preference in that WCHA game, although I do have a soft spot for Denver and George Gwozdecky. I like both Michigan and Miami, too, although Miami has much more to lose in that game, since the RedHawks' ability to beat the Wolverines and Jeff Zatkoff's ability to "win the big one" are both in question.

In the east, I'm for Princeton and Vermont. Besides my not-so-warm feelings toward Harvard, it'd be great to see this Princeton team that came from out of nowhere win the ECAC and make it to the NCAA tournament. As for Vermont, my dislike for Harvard seems kind of odd in light of the fact that Crimson alum Kevin Sneddon has long been one of my favorite coaches to work with, and I think he runs a great program. It'd be good to see this team get into the NCAA tournament.

Like this blog entry, it's been a long time coming.

Oh Well

You know those jokes about Florida being someplace where people go to die? A lot of those people happen to be New Yorkers, so it's only appropriate that the Rangers' point streak died in Florida.

Yep, the Rangers return to the Garden to face the Penguins on Tuesday night (with yours truly in attendance), looking to snap a two-game pointless streak. Ugly game against Tampa tonight. No real jump that I could talk about from the Rangers, although Lundqvist made his best effort to steal a point or two for the Blueshirts. Just hoping the boys can shake it off and get back at it in a huge game against the Pens on Tuesday, to be immediately followed on Wednesday by a game against the Devils in Newark.

Friday against Florida, I didn't mind so much, because I'd like to see Florida make the playoffs. For starters, Tanner Glass would be part of a taxi squad, I assume, which is his only real shot at the postseason since the Rochester Americans aren't making the Calder Cup playoffs. Also, the Panthers getting in would probably mean that Philadelphia would drop out, and if there's one team I can't stand, it's the goon squad known as the Philadelphia Flyers. There are things that have happened in Flyer uniforms this season that have no place in hockey, and I would rather not see them rewarded with a playoff berth.

Of course, they're the teams trying to get into the playoffs. In the college hockey world, we have playoffs going on right now, and two conference champs set to be crowned tomorrow. Bemidji State, having dropped the final curtain on Wayne State, will face Niagara for the CHA title, while Mercyhurst, having beaten Sacred Heart and Army, will look to post one more upset against Air Force for the Atlantic Hockey title.

I'm sad to see Army's season come to a close, but I'd love to see Air Force go to the tournament. Actually, I'd love to see a Serratore Sweep go down, with Bemidji and Air Force going to the tournament. Both Frank and Tom are great guys, even among college hockey coaches, who are pretty much good guys all around to begin with.

Meanwhile, in playoffs that end next weekend, there are some interesting Game 3 situations going down on Sunday night, with teams on the bubble potentially playing for their seasons. Notre Dame, sitting fourteenth in the Pairwise after Saturday's game, goes into a potential do-or-die situation against Ferris State, while Boston University, on the outside looking in at the moment, needs a win against UMass-Lowell to stay alive. I'd love to speculate on the implications of the Minnesota-Minnesota State game, but as we've learned, the Gophers are about as indestructible as their coach's hair.

Finally, there's Michigan Tech and North Dakota. Now, I doubt there's much in the way of implications here, because the Sioux are clearly in, and the Huskies are almost certainly out (if they take two out of three from North Dakota, who's to say they couldn't win the WCHA, you know?). However, I do think it's kind of funny that after handing North Dakota its first loss of the season, Michigan Tech snaps another North Dakota unbeaten streak.

Oh, and I've started doing some blogging for USCHO, speculating on the Hobey Baker race. You can read my first entry here.

Roger That

As mentioned last night, it turns out that there never was a rule about needing to have a .500 record to be considered for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

I'm very sorry to hear that.

Now, in one sense, I suppose there are some benefits to not having such a rule. I can see some teams, being concerned about a .500 record, taking it easy in the non-conference schedule to compensate for a tough conference slate, and one thing I think we always want to see is non-conference games between top teams.

On the other hand, a team with a sub-.500 record making the NCAA tournament as an at-large selection doesn't sit right with me, and here's why:

You may or may not remember a former president of Union College by the name of Roger Hull. Dr. Hull - who happens to be a Dartmouth alum, class of 1964 - was president at Union College from 1990 to 2005, a period that included the 2004 vote on Prop 65. Prop 65, as you may recall, would have forced RPI, St. Lawrence, Clarkson and Colorado College to stop offering scholarships (along with other D-III schools that play up in a single sport, like Johns Hopkins and Hobart lacrosse).

Anyway, an amendment passed that would allow the D-III schools in question to keep their scholarships for the Division I teams, but ol' Roger voted against it, and afterwards, offered this comment, which Adam Wodon quoted in a column for USCHO (Hey, remember when Adam and the USCHO folks got along?):

“Let me tell you of my idea of being competitive: fielding a team that has a reasonable chance of winning every time it steps on the ice,” Hull said. “And when they got to 40 percent [winning percentage] , I was proud, and when they reached nearly 50 percent a few years ago, I was tremendously proud of them.”

Now, Dr. Hull does some excellent work, and is the founder of the Help Yourself Foundation, which helps underprivileged children prepare themselves for college. Dr. Hull deserves a world of commendations for that important work. However, he was roundly mocked for his comments on Prop 65, and rightly so. I think a Union fan on the USCHO board still uses the quote in his signature.

A sub-.500 record is nothing to be "tremendously proud" of. You can be proud improvement to get to that point - as Minnesota Duluth should certainly be, in light of losing Mason Raymond and Matt Niskanen - but I doubt you could get Scott Sandelin to say, "We are tremendously proud of our 12-14-6 record."

I know the WCHA is great. It's far and away, top to bottom, the best conference in college hockey right now. However, I don't think that means that you can justify an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament based on a sub-.500 overall record without getting very close to Dr. Hull's theory of competitiveness.

Now, the truth is this: Minnesota Duluth won't make the NCAA tournament with a sub-.500 record. Either they'll get it over .500 between the Minnesota series and the NCAA tournament, or their bubble will burst. Ditto anyone else who's hanging around the .500 mark, whether it's eastern teams like Providence and BU (who meet this weekend) or western teams like Minnesota and Wisconsin.

However, I like the idea of writing it into the rules: a winning record, or no at-large bid for you.

In other news, I got my Tanner Glass replica jersey delivered today. I tried it on briefly, but the only NHL attire I'm wearing right now is my Rangers Bluephoria t-shirt, although I may go to the hat as well when the puck drops on the Island tonight.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah...

Well, the bad news, of course, is that the Rangers lost to the Islanders last night, 4-3, in a shootout, with former Michigan Wolverine Jeff Tambellini getting the winner in the shootout. Also, Denver alum Wade Dubielewicz played a hell of a game for the Isles, although I refuse to concede that his stop on Brandon Dubinsky in the shootout gives him the exclusive New York rights to the nickname "Dubie." I think they should settle it over the summer in a penalty shot best-of-seven.

To be honest, I have very little animosity towards the Isles unless the Rangers are directly involved. For one thing, I spent Isles color commentator Billy Jaffe is one of the many outstanding people I had the opportunity to work with at CSTV...which is probably something I haven't made enough of a point of mentioning: in terms of the things I got to do and the people I had the opportunity to work with, I couldn't have asked for much better in terms of a first job out of college. One thing that I've tried to stress has been what a great community we have in college hockey (fans who call me a "little dweeb" and comment on my sex life notwithstanding), and my place in this community is something that CSTV gave to me (or at least, gave me the opportunity to take...I dare say that my willingness to work seven days and sleep on frat house couches and Greyhound buses had a role as well), and it's something that I plan to hold onto for a long time.

...but I digress.

Yes, unless they're playing the Rangers (or Panthers or Blues), I really don't care about the Islanders. Yeah, I have a slight distrust of Ted Nolan for the stunt he tried to pull with Simon Danis-Pepin when he was the coach and GM of the Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL, and of course, Garth Snow made a fool out of himself with his comments on Don Lucia and the Minnesota program after signing Kyle Okposo (although 21 points in 24 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers does suggest that the change itself did Okposo some good).

All that said, damn it, they did just beat the Rangers, although it did take a shootout loss for Henrik, which means the Rangers still haven't lost in regulation since February 7 against Anaheim, a streak I expect them to continue tomorrow night at the Coliseum.

In other news...Sidney Crosby came back last night and had a win in Pittsburgh's 2-0 win over the Lightning. I mention this for two reasons: 1) Sid is the star in the NHL right now, and it's good to see him back relatively quickly, just for the good of the game; and 2) I have tickets to the Rangers-Penguins game on March 18, and I'm glad to know that I'll be seeing No. 87 in action.

Meanwhile, how hot is Curtis Anderson right now? Two nights after stopping 53 shots in a 1-0 win over the Islanders, he stops 40 in another 1-0 win, this one in overtime against the Bruins. Tanner Glass played a little less than four minutes in the win. Lee Stempniak had a goal for St. Louis tonight, but unfortunately, it was the Blues' only tally in a 4-1 loss to the Red Wings.

In college hockey news, it's time for another comparison of the current projected NCAA Tournament bracket, as compared to what the bracket would look like using KRACH instead of the PairWise Rankings, comparing the bracket to Jason Moy's latest Bracketology column over at USCHO.

PairWise-Based Bracket

Worcester
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 15 Bemidji State
No. 6 Denver vs. No. 9 Boston College

Colorado Springs
No. 4 Colorado College vs. No. 14 Minnesota Duluth
No. 5 Miami vs. No. 12 Minnesota

Madison
No. 3 New Hampshire vs. No. 13 Wisconsin
No. 8 Michigan State vs. No. 11 Minnesota State

Albany
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 16 Army
No. 7 Clarkson vs. No. 10 St. Cloud

KRACH-Based Bracket

Madison
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 16 Army
No. 8 St. Cloud vs. No. 10 Wisconsin

Worcester
No. 4 Miami vs. No. 13 Minnesota Duluth
No. 5 New Hampshire vs. No. 11 Minnesota

Colorado Springs
No. 3 Colorado College vs. No. 14 Clarkson
No. 5 Denver vs. No. 12 Boston College

Albany
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 15 Bemidji State
No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 9 Minnesota State

A few quick notes:

Clarkson, the No. 7 seed in the actual projected bracket, is No. 15 in the KRACH system, and only gets into the "bracket" based on being the ECAC Hockey frontrunner (cue "EZAC" comments from the peanut gallery out west).

Wisconsin climbs from No. 13 in the PairWise to No. 10 in KRACH, which means that the NCAA could justify a bracket that makes actual geographic sense, because North Dakota can go to Madison without drawing Wisconsin in the first round. New Hampshire, meanwhile, is left to hold down the attendance fort in Worrcester, while Albany could be something of an attendance disaster (although I think Southwest flies from Detroit to Albany) and CC and Denver would keep things nice and exciting in the Springs.

Of course, the big subject of discussion this week is the "phantom rule" about a .500 record being necessary for at-large consideration. I'll comment more on this tomorrow, but I will say that I can see both sides of the issue, although I would certainly welcome this rule in the future if it ever is actually put into the NCAA rulebook.

Upon Further Review...

You know, I was wondering where the reaction was when I suggested that teams that finished below .500 in conference play - including teams from the mighty WCHA - but I suppose all it took was Chris Dilks posting about it over at Western College Hockey to bring out the hate.

First, let me say it's amusing that one of those people called me "little." I suppose I should take it as a compliment, since one of the things I'm trying to do while I'm unemployed is lose some weight (having more time to go to the gym and fewer press meals to eat are two excellent conditions for trying to get back under 200 pounds). As for the post about my personal life...well, that's one of the other things I'm trying to improve on. And as for a girl who goes to a Western Conference school changing my mind, I'd be happy to arrange a trip to Oxford for myself (Oh, come on, that's funny).

However, all (half-)kidding aside, the overriding theme I sense here is one of my supposed East Coast Bias. I suppose I'll be hearing more of that now, since my travel will no longer be nearly as extensive. However, just because the comments will be more frequent doesn't mean that they're any more true.

I would hope that my commitment to college hockey - regardless of geographical location - would be beyond question at this point. I've traveled as much as budgetary factors would allow to cover college hockey on a national level. If, after three and a half years, you think I favor college hockey in the east over the west, then I suppose there's not much else that I can say, other than "You should take off the tinfoil hat...it looks kind of uncomfortable."

But this isn't about me, or at least, it shouldn't be.

I am more than happy to acknowledge that the WCHA is the best conference in college hockey, and has been for some time. Former Hobey Baker winner Tom Kurvers, now the director of player personnel for the Phoenix Coyotes, went so far as to call the conference the second best league in the country after the NHL, and he just may be right.

The thinking behind my comment is this: as nice as it is to have a perfectly transparent system to determine who gets into the NCAA tournament and who doesn't - with no talk about "who got screwed by the committee" - part of me likes the idea of achievement being rewarded at tournament time. If there's an argument that Minnesota's achievements this season deserve to be rewarded with an NCAA tournament berth - other than the PairWise itself, of course - I'd love to hear it. I would submit that Princeton and Providence (if not Notre Dame) have done more this season to deserve an NCAA tournament bid. Of course, no one sits around and decides who deserves to be in the tournament, and that's generally regarded as a good thing, by me and by just about everyone else. Still, I think that finishing .500 in conference play is a fair enough measure of achievement that making it a condition for at-large consideration shouldn't be all that mind-boggling.

All of that said, I have taken some time to think further on my controversial assertion, and I have a couple of additional thoughts.

Since this isn't actually a rule, and just my opinion, I'm making an exception in the case of Wisconsin. I will have no problem with the Badgers making the tournament if the PairWise puts them in. Yes, the Badgers' WCHA record is 11-12-5 with their regular season over. However, it is worth noting that Wisconsin has been screwed by WCHA officiating not once...



but twice...



If not for the crack officiating in the WCHA this season, Wisconsin would probably be at least .500, and also, the fact they're hosting this year makes their participation a little bit easier for me to handle.

However, on the subject of Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota, there's one little nugget in the NCAA manual that hasn't been talked about much until the other day, when it popped up on the USCHO board:

"To be considered during the at-large selection process, a team must have an overall won-lost record of .500 or better."

In other words, Minnesota can't lose any more than one more game than it wins between the series against Minnesota Duluth this weekend and the WCHA tournament, or else the Gophers are out of the NCAA tournament picture. Meanwhile, Minnesota Duluth needs to win two more games than it loses between the Minnesota series and the WCHA tournament, or it's bye-bye Bulldogs. Wisconsin can't get swept in the WCHA tournament, or else the Badgers are out. St. Cloud needs at least one point against North Dakota, or a sweep in the WCHA tournament knocks them out.

The eyes are growing wider at Notre Dame, Princeton, Providence, BU and Harvard. Now, in all fairness, BU has had a disappointing year by many measures - and is also in danger of falling victim to the .500 record rule, but the Terriers have taken care of business in conference.

I'm not sure exactly how any of this is going to play out this weekend, but I will take a stab at it later in the week, when I make a guest appearance in Theresa Spisak's weekly WCHA column on USCHO to make my predictions for the weekend. However, I will always say that I'd rather see teams that overachieve make the NCAA tournament as opposed to teams that underachieve.

Wow, that was more time than I expected to spend on this issue tonight. Brief NHL observations from yesterday.

- The Rangers beat the goon squad known as the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday, 5-4, in a shootout. Henrik Lundqvist allowed three goals in the first period before being pulled in favor of Stephen Valiquette, while Antero Niittymaki allowed four goals before giving way to Martin Biron early in the second. While Valiquette - or as I call him, "Prince Vali-ant" (since he backs up "King Henrik") - did give up the tying goal late in the third period, it was the one goal he allowed in his last eight periods of play against Philadelphia. It was kind of funny tonight, watching the Capitals destroy the Bruins and seeing Lundqvist talking about the rivalry tonight in an ad for the next Rangers-Flyers game (which, like the Caps-Bruins game, will air on Versus), knowing that the likelihood of Lundqvist starting that game is pretty low right about now. Of note: the Attitude ADJustment line did not score.

- While I watched the first two periods of the Rangers game on NBC - as called by DOC~! and Eddie Olczyk - I listened to the third, overtime, and the shootout on the radio as I headed for Long Island, where I saw the Islanders lose to Tanner Glass and the Panthers, 1-0. Tanner had seven shifts and 4:54 total ice time in the win, but the big story was Panthers backup netminder Craig Anderson, who outdueled Denver alumnus and fellow backup Wade Dubielewicz. Former Michgian State Spartan David Booth supplied the lone goal for the Panthers, who have a tough uphill climb to get a playoff spot.

I was also none too impressed by Wade Belak. His mobility is definitely an issue, and to be honest, I think Florida will need more than one of its five injured forwards back before Tanner can be sent back to Rochester. Just as the Wild cannot afford to have Derek Boogaard in the lineup every night, so too is Belak going to be a liability for the Panthers. There will be nights when a smaller, more mobile player (who can still drop the gloves when it's called for) will be necessary, and I think it's pretty obvious who that guy is.

Hopefully, he will still be up when the Panthers close the regular season against the Capitals, because I'm thinking of visiting some friends in DC that weekend. By the way, I got my New Era caps (Blues and Panthers) today (ordered during NHL.com's trade deadline sale), and they are really pretty nice (especially for the four bucks each I paid).

OK, that's it for now. Time for me to go and figure out which direction my bed points and which way I'd need to lay in it to...oh, never mind!

Taking In The Action

I already don't like Josh Gratton.

Since I am no longer professionally responsible for college hockey, I decided to check out the Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday night, driving out to Hartford to see my friends Hugh Jessiman and Mike Ouellette. The Pack beat Norfolk, 6-2, in a game that saw both Dartmouth alumni record an assist each.

Gratton got on my bad side with a really ugly boarding call early in the second period, the kind of hit, head first into the boards, that there's really no place for in hockey. Naturally, he was challenged to a fight all of five seconds after he got out of the box, and David Koci scored a pretty decisive win in that bout. Myself, I just sat back down and said, "Well, he had that coming."

Other observations:

I think it's horribly cruel what happens with visiting goaltenders in Hartford. Apparently, there's no room for them on the bench, so Norfolk's backup watched the game from a folding chair set up just outside the tunnel. Why is this cruel, you ask? Because loudmouths like me - and yes, I am a loudmouth when I go to a game as a fan - can chirp at the poor backup sieve the entire game. I didn't have too much to say to Jonathan Boutin, but I said enough that he turned around and stared at me.

Mike Ouellette will play in the NHL before he's done. He's not going to be a big numbers guy, but he's going to be a good role player for someone. The role he was in on Friday was largely a defensive one. He was Hartford's go-to guy on faceoffs in the defensive zone, and he was absolutely money on those faceoffs. The assist wasn't particularly notable - Mike's ontact with the puck came back in the defensive zone - but killing penalties and winning faceoffs in the defensive zone are skills that you can take anywhere.

Jessiman looked good as well, although he did wind up a -1 on the evening for being on the ice during Rob Klikhammer's goal. He was comfortable in the Wolf Pack power play unit, which is where he contributed his assist. He's maturing nicely, and I think he'll compete for a spot on the Rangers next season.

Always nice to hear Kevin Nash's shoutout of "WOLFPACK IN DA HOUSE!" That brings back memories...

Moving on...last night, I headed up to West Point for Army's game against Sacred Heart. I recapped the game for USCHO, and you can read that here.

If Army wins the conference tournament - hardly a given with RIT, Sacred Heart, and Air Force in the mix - Michigan will have one hell of a time with the Black Knights in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Atlantic Hockey has abeen a very tough out in the NCAA tournament in recent years, generally speaking.

2005: BC 6, Mercyhurst 5
2006: Well...you know.
2007: Minnesota 4, Air Force 3

Army will be in that mold if given the opportunity. Mark my words. The Black Knights check like the dickens, and I mean forechecking and backchecking. Their puck pursuit is relentless, and Army makes it nearly impossible to complete a pass cleanly.

The big problem for Army is that the Black Knight power play is one of the least efficient in the country, and special teams are such a key in playoff hockey. What Army does have, however, is a great top line, with Bryce Hollweg (yes, that's Ryan's little brother, or as I call him, "Little Hollywood"), centering Owen Meyer and Luke Flicek. That line has 40 of Army's 90 goals this year, and their chemistry will serve them well in the postseason.

In my first year at CSTV, I interviewed the five new D-I head coaches before the season: Dave Hakstol, Ted Donato, Guy Gadowsky, Tavis MacMillan and Brian Riley. When I wrote my article on Riley, one of my superiors at the time asked me what the heck he was doing at Army, having been successful as a head coach at Shattuck-St. Mary's.

The answer, by the way, is that Brian cares deeply about West Point. Obviously, he's the third Riley to be the head coach of the Black Knights after his older brother Rob and their legendary father, Jack (who was in attendance last night), and this is the job he wants. He's won the Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year award twice in a row, and he's earned it. I know I've said this before, but what you have at West Point is a world-class coach working with some of the most coachable and hardest working student-athletes you will find. The combination has been more and more successful each year, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of these guys next weekend, as I'll be covering their first-round playoff series against American International.

Oh, and I'd like to expand on my previous comments on at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. This isn't just Minnesota. It's Wisconsin, Minnesota-Duluth, and - in all likelihood - St. Cloud. I may need to think about this one a bit more, given that Wisconsin is one game under .500 with five ties, but generally speaking, I think that you should need a .500 record or better in conference play to make the NCAA tournament. For the record, taking out the three teams with sub-.500 records at the moment would put Providence, Notre Dame and Princeton in the tournament, and simply based on what the teams have done this season, I would much rather see those three teams make the tournament than a sub-.500 WCHA team.

Speaking of Notre Dame, SportsCenter had a great feature on Christian Hanson this morning. It's always great to see college hockey get that kind of airtime when it isn't the NCAA tournament or the Beanpot.

OK, that's it for now...time to get set to head for the Island, where Tanner Glass and the Panthers are in town. Hey, the man got me a job interview...you think I'm not going to go see him?

Tanner, Gold and Green...Tanner, Gold and GREEN!

For Anyone Who Cares: the aforementioned interview went well...thanks again to Tanner for "getting involved" and making it happen!

For Anyone Who Cares II: The title of this post is a play on "Karma Chameleon." Feel free to insult my taste in music.

Speaking of Tanner, he had his first NHL assist last night in the Panthers' 4-3 shootout loss to the Maple Leafs...good to see him still playing for the Panthers despite their trade deadline acquisitions. He also survived the first post-deadline round of AHL demotions - Rob Globke is headed up/down to Rochester - which is a good sign. Of course, with my luck, he'll get sent down after the game against the Isles on Sunday, which I plan on attending if he's playing.

I know that sounds good, in that I'd get to see Tanner play, but his first stint with the Panthers ended after I first dared him to fight Sean Avery, and his second ended after I went to see him in New Jersey on Jan. 2. He survived the game in Boston where the above photo was taken, despite the fact that he got burned by Glen Murray in that game, but if he gets sent down after I see his game against the Isles, then I may never go to see him again. Would it be my fault? Of course not, but we all know hockey players and their superstitions, right?

Actually, Dartmouth lost the first five men's hockey games I covered of theirs for CSTV.com, including the stunning 2-1 loss to Quinnipiac in October 2004, which saw the Big Green outshoot the Bobcats something like 44-13 (actually, it was 43-11, I just looked it up). Former Valley News beat writer Greg Fennel nearly convinced me that it was my fault, but then I was in Hanover when Bob Norton helped call a 5-1 win over Harvard in December 2005 (Billy Jaffe's flight was delayed, so Bob was called in on short notice). Once it became clear that Dartmouth was going to win, I wrote down "IT IS NO LONGER MY FAULT" on a sheet of paper, and shoved it in Greg's face about a second after the buzzer.

In other Ivy League news, I finished writing my feature on Princeton today. It's significantly longer than the 1,000 words I was asked for, but you don't get involved in this business if you don't have some affection for the sound of your own voice (in the literary sense), anyhow. I will say this. You know that line attributed to Chris Rock that goes on about all the ways in which the world has gone crazy? You know, "The best golfer is black, the best rapper is white, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss have the Americas Cup, etc.?" Let's add "Princeton is the Ivy League hockey champion and Cornell is going to be the Ivy League basketball champion" to the list.

Finally, a thought on the subject of the NCAA tournament. One of the suggestions I made at CSTV.com that was not taken was to show what the NCAA tournament would look like if KRACH was used instead of the Pairwise (I'm stunned that noted champion of KRACH Adam Wodon has never thought of this).

Well, I don't work for them anymore, and I can do whatever I damn well please here.

So, let's compare a KRACH-based bracket, using all the other rules employed by the NCAA, to the bracket from this week's Bracketology column by Jason Moy at USCHO.

PAIRWISE BRACKET

Albany
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 16 Army
No. 8 Boston College vs. No. 9 Minnesota State

Madison
No. 4 North Dakota vs. No. 13 Wisconsin
No. 5 Miami vs. No. 12 Minnesota Duluth

Colorado Springs
No. 3 Colorado College vs. No. 14 Notre Dame
No. 6 Denver vs. No. 11 Clarkson

Worcester
No. 2 New Hampshire vs. No. 15 Bemidji State
No. 7. Michigan State vs. No. 10 St. Cloud State

KRACH Bracket

Albany
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 16 Army
No. 8 St. Cloud State vs. No. 10 Minnesota State

Worcester
No. 4 Miami vs. No. 13 Minnesota Duluth
No. 5 New Hampshire vs. No. 12 Notre Dame

Colorado Springs
No. 3 Colorado College vs. No. 14 Minnesota
No. 6 Denver vs. No. 11 Boston College

Madison
No. 2 North Dakota vs. No. 15 Bemidji State
No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 9 Wisconsin

The quick impressions from me:

- I love how the supposedly more fair KRACH system rates Miami higher than the PairWise does, given all the flak they've taken from certain WCHA folks.

- It's also kind of funny how New Hampshire goes from second to fifth when you switch to KRACH, but still winds up it Worcester when you bracket the tournament. It's also kind of cool that Denver and CC both wind up in the Springs under either system. I'd love that to be a regional final.

- Of course, no matter how you slice it, eight WCHA teams wind up in the tournament going by the current records. This is, of course, likely to change, especially once they start beating up on each other in the WCHA playoffs. However, I finally identified my discomfort with the concept of Minnesota making the NCAA tournament this season, which also applies to Minnesota Duluth.

The Gophers are currently 7-11-6 in WCHA play, and the Bulldogs are 8-11-5. Given that they play on the last weekend of the regular season, at least one of those teams will wind up with a sub-.500 conference record.

Some time ago, my former colleague Eric Mirlis - who edited a fantastic book called
Being There: 100 Sports Pros Talk About the Best Sporting Events They Ever Witnessed Firsthand - wrote a column for CSTV.com on the subject of the NCAA basketball tournament, and suggested a rule that no team with a conference record below .500 should be allowed to receive an at-large bid.

I thought it was a great idea for the 65-team basketball tournament. It's an even better idea for the 16-team hockey tournament.

Look, I know the WCHA is great. Yes, it is the best conference, top to bottom in the entire country. I don't doubt that. Alaska-Anchorage is the best last-place team you'll find in the country, and while CC may not be the best firs-place team - remember, Hockey East leader UNH swept them - they're close enough. There's no denying the strength of the conference.

However, if you finish under .500 in your conference, you don't deserve to play in the NCAA tournament...unless, of course, you can win the conference tournament (love that 2006-07 Alabama-Huntsville team).

Leaving aside the question of Minnesota Duluth - which improbably lost its two best players over the summer and got better this season - Minnesota has underachieved this season, and underachievement should not be rewarded with an NCAA tournament berth.

There. Rant over.