Hockey East future tournament structure

[mookie1995]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

As long as we move to providence, I'm cool

[Jim]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

This would put the entire league at a SEVERE PWR disadvantage compared to the rest of the country. Top 10 with a play-in game single elimination round for 7-10 Eight is too small, 12 is too many.

Well,, sure and it wouldn't make as much money either...which might even be a bigger motivatior...I would want every conference to follow suit. Of course, as I said, it will never happen. Post season tournaments are too valuable and in an era of everyone gets a trophy, telling someone your out because you finished 2nd will NEVER return. I suspect that even if they stay with the Top 8 or even the top 10 for a few years, everybody gets a 2nd chance will ultimately come to dominate and everyone will get into the post season at that point.

[brassbonanza]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

As long as we move to providence, I'm cool

At UConn's press conference today announcing the HE move, the president of the XL Center said he was going to bid on the HET. He can have fun with that one. They can't even keep an AHL team there!

[Jim]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

At UConn's press conference today announcing the HE move, the president of the XL Center said he was going to bid on the HET. He can have fun with that one. They can't even keep an AHL team there!

People can bid on anything...doesn't mean they get it...but I'm not sure that the AHL situation is very meaningful...it was a pretty signifcant step down from the NHL in fact, and has been run and marketed only modestly well by the various "owners." I mean, how many people would show up at Fenway if the Sox moved to Charlotte and were replaced by the Triple A PawSox?

[brassbonanza]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

People can bid on anything...doesn't mean they get it...but I'm not sure that the AHL situation is very meaningful...it was a pretty signifcant step down from the NHL in fact, and has been run and marketed only modestly well by the various "owners." I mean, how many people would show up at Fenway if the Sox moved to Charlotte and were replaced by the Triple A PawSox?

The AHL was more of a sarcastic jab. The point is, it ain't moving to Hartford, that's just a pipedream pump-up statement from the XL guy trying to make that irrelevant arena seem a bit more relevant. 80% of the current league can take a train into the basement of the Garden. 30% of the league can practically see the Garden from their dorm window. Why move it to a place where one of 12 teams can easily get there?

[Craig P.]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

Like AHA and ECAC, right? I like this plan best, but not sure how 2013-2014 would shake out with the odd number 11 teams. I guess that the bottom three regular season teams should be out that year.

That's the CCHA format, both as a 12-team league (top four get byes, two weeks of best-of-three series to cull to four teams) and an 11-team league (top five get byes, two weeks of best-of-three series to cull to four teams).

It's seemed to work pretty well. Obviously, it's not as nervewracking to play for home ice instead of just making the tournament at all, but we did take getting home ice seriously.

[ScottK]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

I favor doing away with playoffs and just extending the season and awarding the actual winner over the 25 plus conference season--I mean why should the 1st loser get a second bite at the apple? But I know that isn't happening. just guessing but I would be pretty surprised if at the end of the day they leave anyone out. Here's the model I see: Teams to be re-seeded after each of the 1st 2 rounds based on regular season finish. Round 1: 5-12,6-11, 7-10, 8-9. Reseed winners if necessary Round 2: 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5. Semi-finals: re-seed and #1-4, #2-3. Finals: 1-2. re-seeding after each round has the effect of giving more meaning to the regular season, at least a bit and avoids the situation where the rs champ has a tougher road to the finals than the 3rd palce team. It also makes it tougher for the lower regular season finishers to progress. If the 12 wins round 1, it gets reseeded as an 8 and has to play the top team in the 2nd round rather than #4. To me that is as it should be.

Using this logic, we should do away with at-large bids for the NCAA tournament as well. After all, if you can't win your league, you don't deserve to keep playing, right?

[brassbonanza]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

Using this logic, we should do away with at-large bids for the NCAA tournament as well. After all, if you can't win your league, you don't deserve to keep playing, right?

You could go further and say just get rid of the NCAA tournament and have the two best teams after the regular season play each other, since it's all about the regular season, right? That structure seems to have worked well elsewhere...

Give me exciting postseason conference or national tournament games with endless OT any day over regular season games with increased relevance that end in a ties.

[kingdobbs]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

That's the CCHA format, both as a 12-team league (top four get byes, two weeks of best-of-three series to cull to four teams) and an 11-team league (top five get byes, two weeks of best-of-three series to cull to four teams).

It's seemed to work pretty well. Obviously, it's not as nervewracking to play for home ice instead of just making the tournament at all, but we did take getting home ice seriously.

It's also a system that is easy to sell to your members from a financial standpoint, because 8 of the 12 teams are guaranteed a 2-3 game home series.

[mookie1995]

At UConn's press conference today announcing the HE move, the president of the XL Center said he was going to bid on the HET. He can have fun with that one. They can't even keep an AHL team there!

Mookie no wanna go Hartford. Mookie has everything he wants in providence. That is where mookie will go.

[Jim]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

The AHL was more of a sarcastic jab. The point is, it ain't moving to Hartford, that's just a pipedream pump-up statement from the XL guy trying to make that irrelevant arena seem a bit more relevant. 80% of the current league can take a train into the basement of the Garden. 30% of the league can practically see the Garden from their dorm window. Why move it to a place where one of 12 teams can easily get there?

Don't disagree, hence my comment about bidding on anything! Look, in these kind of events, people make all kinds of statemnts to pump up the event and the audience. Just like somebody probably from BC took umbrage at Susan Herbst's statement about hoping ot beat thme, this was aimed at making the future seem bright. At some point we probably will beat BC. At some point maybe the XL Center will bid on the Hockey East Finals. We will beat BC...eventually. The XL's bid being successful is less likely...But it gave the even a bit of excitement.

[Patman]

It's also a system that is easy to sell to your members from a financial standpoint, because 8 of the 12 teams are guaranteed a 2-3 game home series.

This is true and if the league schedule shrinks then i would have to think a plurality will go for it.

[UMLFan]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

This is true and if the league schedule shrinks then i would have to think a plurality will go for it.

I also wonder with only a 22 game regular season in league play going forward (once UConn joins in), how much more of a cluster F the regular season standings will be with 12 teams mixed in.

[RSTuthill]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

Why move it to a place where one of 12 teams can easily get there?

Price.

[brassbonanza]

Re: Hockey East future tournament structure

Price.

Hartford/XL has money to give to HE? And when NESN decides it doesn't want to take its HD production (which is already set up in Boston for the Bruins) to Hartford and NBC Sports decides it doesn't want to televise from a one-third full crap hole of arena, that'll end that story right there. It's not happening. Providence is a slight maybe, Hartford is an absolute no. They'd go to Worcester long before Hartford.