ECAC Playoff Possibilities Time

Ah, the Nutshell calms the nerves.

Given that we have four of our next six at home, that Clarkson and Harvard still have one more game to play with each other, that the trailing group of Harvard, Clarkson, Quinnipiac, Yale, and Dartmouth have quite a few games left against each other, and that two of those teams, Clarkson and Dartmouth, are not all that good, I feel pretty secure that three wins in the final six, something we should very much be able to do, would allow us to back into the playoffs with a first-round bye.

I like it when the back of the envelope augurs well.

Scersk '97
Ah, the Nutshell calms the nerves.

Given that we have four of our next six at home, that Clarkson and Harvard still have one more game to play with each other, that the trailing group of Harvard, Clarkson, Quinnipiac, Yale, and Dartmouth have quite a few games left against each other, and that two of those teams, Clarkson and Dartmouth, are not all that good, I feel pretty secure that three wins in the final six, something we should very much be able to do, would allow us to back into the playoffs with a first-round bye.

I like it when the back of the envelope augurs well.

I just tried to see how low I can drop Cornell. I didn't spend a lot of time on it, but a whole lot of weird stuff would have to happen for Cornell to finish out of the top 8 at this point. Even if Cornell loses every remaining game, and Union drops every point except the 2 against Cornell, the Big Red's current record gives enough tiebreaker juice to prevent a fall to the bottom (with RPI winning out, Cornell ends up 9th, with RPI losing to everyone but Cornell 11th place is possible).

By beating RPI and Brown - the bottom 2 teams in the league, at home - Cornell will be in the hunt for a first round bye but will likely finish about 6th. A third win would likely secure a top 4 finish, especially if it comes against Clarkson or Yale. That's pretty impressive for a team that's soft in the third period (2-3-5 when leading after 2) and has one of the worst PKs in the country (~74%).

Beautiful work as always, John.

Shameless plug: John's links are accessible from 2012--> top 2 links under "Features."

BTW, the nice thing about the tie is that if Cornell wins out they are guaranteed first.