If you could choose...

[jason]

Ok, waiting for each successive weekend of hockey is proving more and more difficult. So, to pass time (and avoid work) I'll pose the following question:

If you could choose, would you rather (a) Cornell wins the ECAC Championship in Lake Placid but loses its first game in the NCAAs, or (b) Cornell loses in the ECAC final, still qualifies for the NCAAs, then wins its first two games (convincingly) in the NCAAs thereby advancing to the Frozen Four, losing in the semifinals.

Personally, I think I'd enjoy "a" more (plus, being two wins away from winning the NCAAs and coming up short might kill me), but I think "b" would be better for the program recognition/recruiting wise. The point being that choosing "a" is not cut-n-dry for me.

(For those who find such hypotheticals stupid/annoying, please forgive me.)

[kaelistus]

A. No question about it. Mainly because A gives us a banner and B does not.

[Beeeej]

With very little hesitation, given these choices I choose B - especially if we win the Cleary cup this year for finishing first in the regular season.  Yes, it'd be great if we could win the ECAC tournament again, it's been five years - but our losing in the first round of the NCAA regionals would give other conferences all the usual "Easy-AC" ammunition.

So I'd rather have the respect of a great regular season, the excitement of winning the ECAC semis and a good ECAC finals (even if we lose), followed by what would have to be an absolutely incredible experience of seeing us in the national semis in St. Paul with national attention.

Beeeej

[KeithK]

I've got to agree with Beeeej and go for B, though only if we do win the RS title (I still think you ought to have to win *something* before being admitted to the national tourney.)
By the way, B does get us on the NC$$ Tournament banner (can't remember if we still do the individual tourney appearance banners).  And there's also the chance of the all-important Ivy banner.:-)

[Beeeej]

We still do individual NCAA tourney appearance banners (while more hardware-starved teams like Brown go for the "ECAC Final Four" banners).

I don't think we've ever done regular season title banners, tho'.

Beeeej

[cbuckser]

I agree with Jeff and Keith.  I'd rather be one of the four best teams in the nation than the best team in a relatively weak conference.  I'd prefer a trip to the Frozen Four even if we didn't win the Cleary Cup.

[Lee \'99]

Would you rather drive a Yugo or a Porsche.  The Frozen Four is what it is all about!  That is where respect comes from.  Most of us have seen a ECAC title.  What we haven't seen if we went to Cornell fairly recently, is a trip to the Frozen 4.  Almost in 1997 (which was great), but making it and being on national TV would be incredible.

[CowbellGuy]

Yugo or Porsche

Are there any other choices? ::rolleyes::

[Josh '99]

Jeffrey "Beeeej" Anbinder '94 wrote:

I don't think we've ever done regular season title banners, tho'.

But then, as we've discussed, it's been a LONG time since there's been any call for one.

[ugarte]

No question. With an ECAC regular season title, I would take the Frozen Four this year. And I don't care if our NCAA wins are convincing. (Unless one of them is against one of the scrub conferences.)  

The choice is complicated because winning the ECAC and losing in the first round would suck. If I didn't know the tournament results and was given a choice between taking our chances in the NCAA tournament after winning the ECAC's and taking our chances in the Frozen Four following a PWR-based bid I would rather win the ECAC title first. I think. It is just so hard to choose from among good, but ultimately disappointing outcomes. ::worry::

[jeh25]

To be fair I think a better analogy would be:

A) a 4Motion Turbo Passat

or

B) a Ferrari 360 Modena with a balky shifter that needs a full engine rebuild.

[Craine]

Actually, I think the analogy should be "Do you want to own a Yugo or test drive a Porsche?"

That said, I'll take the national respect that goes with making the NCAA Frozen Four (although I would love another night at Mudpuddles!!!)

[Melissa \'01]

I too would pick the NCAA"s tho choice A isn't bad either from the perspective of someone who hasn't seen a LP win and thus hasn't experienced the joy of Mudpuddles

[Brunke]

somehow i posted this under "venting" dont know how i did that.

why limit yourself to only two options?

C) Win Ivy Title, Cleary Cup, Placid and make it to the Frozen Four? Being a little GREEDY is a GOOD THING. What does this get us? Its simple, we know other schools will say "easy AC", so dominate the regular season (ivy and cleary) play well against better competition (yes same teams, but the DRIVE of the playoffs kicks in) and win placid, solidifying the team's claim as a dominant force. Then march into NCAA's, pull off a first round win, then take it as far as you can go, and no matter what play with respect. Nobody outside of Lynah and the Faithful EXPECT the team to do anything better than win Placid.

D) same as C), then call out the spartans and BC and see if they want to play a little non conference action next year. Go into their barns, and show them that the previous season was no fluke. A chip on your shoulder is ALSO a good thing (all in moderation)

[min \'97]

i'll take the frozen four but a Passat any time of the week... :-)

on a related note, i noticed that a few had assumed that Cornell would play in the first round of the NCAAs... what about our chances of getting a bye if Cornell does win the RS and ECAC titles (knock on wood)?