Clarkson Sucks Too

[CowbellGuy]

SLU is beating up on Clarkson, 6-2 in the second. Go Saints

[RedAR]

What's going on with Clarkson??

Or should I say, what's going on with St. Lawrence??

And, if Clarkson doesn't do well during the regular season, does that mean that they'll kick into gear during post-season play (a la Cornell)?

[Al DeFlorio \'65]

And Brown beats Mass-Lowell, 2-1.

Six goals for SLU in the 2nd period.

[CowbellGuy]

Hrmm. Maybe nothing. So much for no offense. It's now 6-5 SLU.

[jeh25]

Go Brown!

I'll admit that I still find it hard to believe but I suspect Brown is far better than anyone wants to give them credit. SCSU and UML fans have both claimed that this is a sign that their teams are falling apart. Rather, I suspect that this Brown squad is like the a certain Cornell squad in fairly recent memory that couldn't score but would keep games close with a stiffling D and occasionally pulling out a surprise win.

[RedAR]

SLU(t) holds on and WINS a 1-goal game, 6 - 5!!

[Al DeFlorio \'65]

Pretty much the reverse of the earlier SLU-Clarkson game in Potsdam.  Big lead for the home team whittled away by the visitor, but the home team hangs on.

[jy3]

some things that i thought of 2nite after the results...
cornell's future may be determined by teams within the ecac close to .500 if they do not win placid (knock on wood).

teams close to .500

clarkson (9-10-5)
brown (8-9-2)
bama (11-12-1) two with scsu this weekend
union (10-7-5)
dartmouth (9-8-3)
RPI (9-10-3)
harvard (9-6-3)

those are all the teams within 3 games of .500 that CU has played. so....let us hope that all of these teams end up above .500 except for harvard and dartmouth (since cornell lost to DC hahvahd ) :-(

[big red apple]

I think we want DC and Harvard over .500 - we just need to beat them the next time out.  If Dartmouth and Harvard are below .500, our SOS will be absolutely pathetic.  It might even mean only one ECAC team in the NCAA's, and I don't want to stake an NCAA bid on winning the tournament.  We can, and probably should, but Clarkson history tells us that having a good team isn't enough to win in LP.

I apologize for not being a traditionalist, Greg.  I would rather win the NCAA's than the ECAC's. (Though I would take an ECAC tourney win and an NCAA first round loss over an ECAC loss and an NCAA Frozen Four.)

[KeithK]

With the exception of the Beanpot games, all of the remaining games are ECAC games.  So my question is, does it make any difference to our SOS who wins any of the remaining ECAC games?  If Dartmouth goes 0-9-0 the rest of the way isn't that perfectly balanced by 9 wins and 0 losses for other teams?  Isn't the SOS component of RPI linear like that?

[Robb]

Keith,

I think you are right in terms of RPI - losses will balance out wins in the opponents' (and opps' opps') win percentage.  However, it does matter who is a TUC and who is not.  IF we beat HU and DC next time out, we will have at least a .500 record against all ECAC teams, so we'd like them ALL to end up as TUCs.  If we lose to HU/DC, we'd like them to end up below .500 so that our losses to them only hurt us in 2 categories (last 16 and RPI) rather than 3 (last 16, RPI, TUC).  Therefore, it will matter who-beats-who, but what we want depends on how we do.  I really love the complexity inherent in the PWR formula (yes, I would prefer KPWR!) - it makes it just complicated enough that the players can't possibly worry about all the nuances and possible scenarios - just win, and the numbers will take care of themselves!

[Greg Berge]

Also note that Cornell will have additional games against their playoff opponents.  It seems to me that, if Cornell finishes #1, it would be best for Cornell if the #11 and #12 teams lose all their remaining games, giving us the "best" possible #10 record to play against.  (By this logic, it would also pay for there to be no upsets throughout the tourny, so Cornell would meet the strongest-record opponent at each stage).

I don't think there's going to be an ECAC at large under any reasonable circumstance, so it's all moot.  ;-)

[Neil Shapiro \'83]

I think the only team that has a chance to be an ECAC at large selection is probably Cornell.

If we win every game until the ECAC final, get our ranking well into the top 10, and then lose the final, how could they avoid taking us as an at large team?

[KeithK]

If we were to go, for instance, 9-1-0 the rest of the way plus two QF wins and then split two in Placid (either way) I would bet that our PWR would be good enough for an at large bid. Obviously things depend on what other teams do and who ends up a TUC, but it seems likely. Not sure how many we could afford to lose though.

[Jason 95]

Although I'd love to see it, I think a 9-1 run is an awfully tall order for Cornell to fill. If that's what is necessary to get in w/o winning the conference tourny, I'm not going to hold my breath for an at-large bid. (If only the Everblades tourny went Cornell's way, or am I putting too much value in those games in terms of how they affect our pairwise?)