fishkin (03/23/83)
From: fishkin (Ken Fishkin) To: sport.hockey@net Cc: net-sport-hockey This is my first post to the hockey net, so please excuse syntax errors, and settle in for some unadulterated hockey flaming : The selcetion process, as it is now, suffers from the same flaw as the NCAA basketball process : the regular season is becoming increasingly meaningless, only serving as a warm-up for the playoffs. Teams that finished first in the regular season have much to lose and nothing to gain - Minnesota, North Dakota, and Bowling Green are splendid examples of this. I would suggest they revert to something like the old system, namely : #1 in WCHA, CCHA, and ECAC get automatic seed. #2 in WCHA plays #2 CCHA for #4 bid. This would also remedy the ludicrous over-representation of the ECAC in the semi's. Let's face it, the ECAC no longer plays, overall, top-notch hockey. Every year, they get clobbered by WCHA teams and fade away - last year it was Harvard, UNH and Northeastern, this year St. Lawrence and UNH (yes, I know Providence beat UMD - even a blind squirrel catches a few nuts!). Re "seive" Weicker - I also remember last year that UNH had an All-american defenseman, and, I beleive, goalie, yet they were pounded by Wisconsin in the quarters. As long as FIFTY percent fo the All-Americas are from the East, this kind of thing is going to happen. Re Klinger vs. Behrend - Klinger showed, last year, that he could play excellent goalie in the NCAA's. BUT, this IS Behrends last year, and he IS the #1 hot goalie in the country. Every team should have such problems! Twere me, I'd play Behrend both nights. I will be in Grand Forks all weekend - any other Net denizens going? Anybody want any T-shirts? Ken "Lets Go Red" Fishkin fishkin@BERKELEY .....ucbvax!fishkin
pal (03/25/83)
More on All-American selections:
Providence has at least two (Kleinendorst and some defenseman). I was
not at all impressed by either. Proulx was a decent goalie, far better than
Weicker, but still not a match for Behrend or Wakelyn.
Neither Scott Bjugstad nor Butsy Erickson are All-American. They are #1 and
#2 in the WCHA in scoring this seasons, with something like 80 points each.
And those goals came against defenses like Wisconsin and North Dakota, not
St.Lawrence and Yale.
One suggested NCAA selection format was:
2 each from ECAC, WCHA and CCHA, 2 at-large.
ECAC will never give up their 4 easy berths.
After seeing Providence College thursday, I wonder how they beat Duluth.
Providence had almost no puck control, and were mediocre skaters at best. They
relied mainly on heavy hitting to intimidate. At least North Dakota have some
good, talented players. I hear Harvard are a fast-skating team. I saw them
lose to Wisconsin in last year's quarterfinals, they looked good, but kept
icing and getting caught offside. Providence, too, almost never managed to
skate the puck out of their zone, always icing, faceoff, or dump to centre-ice.citrin (03/27/83)
From: citrin (Wayne Citrin) To: net-sport-hockey Mr. Pal's recent letter implies that Mario Proulx, of Providence College, was the Eastern All-American choice as goalie. As I have heard it, the Eastern All-American goalie was Darren Eliot of Cornell, a better goalie than Proulx, although not as good as Eliot's predecessor, Brian Hayward, also a Cornell All-American and currently playing for the Winnepeg Jets. Wayne Citrin ucbvax!citrin