Hockey East athletic directors to consider coaches’ request for 11-team playoff format

[huskymedic]

Hockey East athletic directors to consider coaches’ request for 11-team playoff format

The athletic directors will vote on the playoff format at their meeting next month.

bangordailynews.com

>>The coaches, who met recently during the annual American Hockey Coaches Association in Naples, Florida, want to include all league teams and scrap the eight-team format used this season.<<

>>The athletic directors will vote on the playoff format at their meeting next month.<<

 

[CTBballfan243]

I personally prefer the 8 team format. You should actually have to earn a playoff spot. I hate the everybody gets a trophy mentality.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Ugh, 11 teams would be awful. If you have a crappy regular season, it's your fault.

 

[HCCForever]

I agree that you should have to earn your way into the playoffs.

 

[freescooter]

Just about every other sport with a post season tourney uses the all in format. Pretty sure all the other hockey leagues do. I would buy the argument if you only took 4 maybe but let’s face it, the argument loses some merit when the 8th best team in an 11 team league gets into the tourney. It ain’t like they distinguished themselves over the course of the season.

Truth be told though I would rather add a couple of weeks to the regular season and give the NCAA bid to the team that proves itself over 28 games rather than one who gets hot for a few nights in March. But once you go with a league tournament I say bring everyone.

 

[freescooter]

I agree that you should have to earn your way into the playoffs.

By finishing 8 th? Please save the platitudes.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Take the top 4 teams. That's all we need for the Hockey East Playoff.

 

[huskymedic]

Just about every other sport with a post season tourney uses the all in format. Pretty sure all the other hockey leagues do. I would buy the argument if you only took 4 maybe but let’s face it, the argument loses some merit when the 8th best team in an 11 team league gets into the tourney. It ain’t like they distinguished themselves over the course of the season.

Truth be told though I would rather add a couple of weeks to the regular season and give the NCAA bid to the team that proves itself over 28 games rather than one who gets hot for a few nights in March. But once you go with a league tournament I say bring everyone.

From the article:

>>Hockey East and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association were the only two conferences among the six in Division I that didn’t include all of their teams in the playoffs. In the 10-team WCHA, eight of 10 teams qualified.

Two leagues, the National College Hockey Conference and the Big Ten, have eight and seven teams, respectively.<<

 

[Palatine]

Which format produces the most money?

That's the one they should go with and usually do.

 

[freescooter]

From the article:

>>Hockey East and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association were the only two conferences among the six in Division I that didn’t include all of their teams in the playoffs. In the 10-team WCHA, eight of 10 teams qualified.

Two leagues, the National College Hockey Conference and the Big Ten, have eight and seven teams, respectively.<<

Exactly why one should read the fine print. LOL. My argument stands none the less.

 

[freescooter]

Ugh, 11 teams would be awful. If you have a crappy regular season, it's your fault.

You mean like having a losing record in the league? That kind of crappy?

 

[The Viking]

I totally understand not letting everyone in but damn I missed playoff hockey after the last UConn game. We were playing well down the stretch with a hot goalie and some quality youngsters.

 

[freescooter]

I am actually in favor of earning your way into the NCAAs. I have argued on the hoop board that if you don’t finish in the top half of your league and have a winning record you have no business getting an at-large bid. But a league tourney isn’t the NCAA tournament. If you are going to award a league title based on it, then everyone should get a shot. Otherwise it would be like playing the regular season but not having to play Merrimack because you’ll probably beat them anyway.

 

[huskymedic]

AD’s win... Hockey East playoff format to remain an eight-team affair for at least one more year

>>At the annual American Hockey Coaches Association convention in Naples, Florida, in April, the Hockey East coaches had voted overwhelmingly in favor of returning to the 11-team format.

But University of Maine athletic director Ken Ralph said when the league’s athletic directors met last month, they decided to stick with last year’s format.

He explained that the athletic directors wanted to give the eight-team format more than just a one-year run. “We wanted to get a couple years of data before we decided to change it,” Ralph said. “The feeling was that a one-year sample size wasn’t big enough in our industry.”<<

 

[freescooter]

I would be in favor of this if it was maybe top 4. But to me leaving out 3 teams and claiming #8 earned its way is bogus