Here it is, the final weekend, and as usual, there is a jumble in the ECAC. Take a look at the standings.<\/p>\n
1 SLU 29
2 Clk 28
3 Cor 23
Har 23
5 Dar 22
6 RPI 20
Yal 20
8 Pri 19
9 Uni 18
10 Ver 16
11 Col 15
12 Brn 7<\/pre>\nHere are the definites:<\/p>\n
Now, let’s list the tiebreakers.<\/p>\n
Our advice to figure this all out? Just wait until 10:30 on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Let’s keep it brief once again. What we’ll do is give you a best case scenario, a worst-case scenario, and a little handicapping from our point of view (take that with a grain of salt, as Normand Chouinard will tell you).<\/p>\n
Remember, all scenarios that we paint are just one way of getting to the result. There are different combinations. We just give you one or two examples.<\/p>\n
Best Case — 1st<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Two wins and the Saints are the champs. Or, two Clarkson losses.
\nWorst Case — 2nd<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Two losses and one Clarkson win. Or, only one win and two Clarkson wins.
\nHandicapping<\/b> — The Saints have to travel to two tough places to play, the Gut and Thompson. It won’t be easy for the Saints to pull off two wins.<\/p>\nClarkson<\/h4>\n
Best Case — 1st<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Two wins and one St. Lawrence loss. Or, one win and two St. Lawrence losses.
\nWorst Case — 2nd<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Two St. Lawrence wins, or two losses by the Knights.
\nHandicapping<\/b> — See above in reference to St. Lawrence. The Knights are in the same boat.<\/p>\nCornell<\/h4>\n
Best Case — 3rd<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Two wins. The Big Red win the tiebreaker over Harvard by virtue of a win and a tie. Or, one win and a loss, plus at least one loss by Rensselaer and Yale, one loss and a win by Harvard, and no more than two points by Dartmouth.
\nWorst Case — 8th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — The Big Red lose two, Rensselaer sweeps, Dartmouth wins one game, Yale and Harvard tie their game, Yale defeats Brown, Harvard loses to Princeton and Princeton defeats Brown. Cornell loses a three-way tiebreaker to Yale and Princeton.
\nHandicapping<\/b> — The Big Red face two teams in the lower half of the league right now, but that doesn’t really matter. At home, and after losing two on the road, the Big Red should come away with at least one win.<\/p>\nHarvard<\/h4>\n
Best Case — 3rd<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — The Crimson win two and Cornell takes less than four points.
\nWorst Case — 8th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — The key is that Rensselaer is not in the top five, so Harvard loses two, Cornell takes at least one point, Princeton sweeps, Dartmouth sweeps, Yale sweeps and Rensselaer sweeps. The Crimson then lose a top five tiebreaker to Princeton.
\nHandicapping<\/b> — The Crimson should be able to knock of Yale on Friday night, but finishing the sweep against Princeton may be tough. The Crimson has only completed a weekend sweep once this year, and that was against RPI and Union back in early January.<\/p>\nDartmouth<\/h4>\n
Best Case — 3rd<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Dartmouth sweeps and Cornell and Harvard do not take more than three points each. A three way tie between Dartmouth, Cornell and Harvard goes to Dartmouth.
\nWorst Case — 9th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Dartmouth loses two, Rensselaer sweeps, Yale sweeps, Princeton sweeps, Union sweeps. The Big Green then lose a top five tiebreaker to Union.
\nHandicapping<\/b> — The good news is that Dartmouth plays much better in front of its home crowd (9–4–0 at home versus a 3–7–4 away record). The bad news is that Big Green will be taking on the North Country duo — St. Lawrence and Clarkson — vying for the league crown. <\/p>\nRensselaer<\/h4>\n
Best Case — 3rd<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Yale takes no more than three points, Dartmouth, Harvard and Cornell are swept and the Engineers sweep.
\nWorst Case — 9th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Rensselaer is swept, Union wins one game and Princeton takes two points. Rensselaer loses a head-to-head tiebreaker to Union.
\nHandicapping<\/b> — On the road at Cornell will be tough. A game at Colgate is winnable for the Engineers, but a sweep may be too much to ask.<\/p>\nYale<\/h4>\n
Best Case — 3rd<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — The Bulldogs sweep and Harvard, Cornell and Dartmouth get swept. Even if Rensselaer sweeps, the Bulldogs win a top ten tiebreaker.
\nWorst Case — 10th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Yale loses twice, Rensselaer, Union, Vermont, Princeton sweep. The Bulldogs then lose a top five tiebreaker to Vermont.
\nHandicapping<\/b> — Yale picked a good time to go on a three-game winning streak, scoring 19 goals in its last three games. The Bulldogs offense should have no troubles against Brown’s defense, but the team has notoriously struggled at Bright. <\/p>\nPrinceton<\/h4>\n
Best Case — 3rd<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Princeton sweeps, Harvard is swept, Yale and Rensselaer each loses one game, Cornell is swept, Dartmouth gets only one point. The Tigers then win a head-to-head tiebreaker over Dartmouth, Cornell and Harvard.
\nWorst Case — 11th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Princeton is swept, Vermont gets three points, Colgate sweeps, Union beats Cornell. The Tigers lose a three-way head to head tiebreaker with Colgate and Vermont to Colgate, then lose a top five tiebreaker to Vermont.
\nHandicapping<\/b> — The Tigers shouldn’t have a problem splitting this weekend’s series — they’ve done that plenty of times this year — but a sweep may be too much to ask for.<\/p>\nUnion<\/h4>\n
Best Case — 5th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Union sweeps, Rensselaer, Dartmouth and Yale are swept, and Princeton only takes two points. Union then wins a top five tiebreaker over Dartmouth.
\nWorst Case — 11th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Union is swept. Colgate sweeps and Vermont takes at least three points. Union is then alone in eleventh.
\nHandicapping<\/b> — The Skating Dutchmen played one of their best games of the year last weekend against Harvard. Union beat both Colgate and Cornell at\u000ehome earlier this year, but taking on these two teams on the road may prove to be a tougher challenge.\u000e A split is possible, a sweep unlikely.<\/p>\nVermont<\/h4>\n
Best Case — 7th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Vermont sweeps, Rensselaer sweeps, Yale is swept, Union is swept, Princeton is swept and Dartmouth is swept. Vermont then wins a top five tiebreaker over Yale.
\nWorst Case — 11th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Vermont is swept and Colgate gets one point. Colgate wins the head-to-head tiebreaker.
\nHandicapping<\/b> — The prognosis for the Cats doesn’t look very good. With its very playoff life at stake this weekend, the team must host the two best teams in the league. The only sliver of hope is the fact that the home crowd will be on Vermont’s side. This will be a test to see just how powerful the Catamount faithful really is.<\/p>\nColgate<\/h4>\n
Best Case — 8th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Colgate sweeps, Vermont takes three points exactly and Princeton is swept. Colgate wins a three-way head-to-head tiebreaker for eighth.
\nWorst Case — 11th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Colgate loses two.
\nHandicapping<\/b> — The Red Raiders are in the midst of a three–game slide and will need to keep the score down in both contests to have a chance. With its playoff life at stake, Colgate should manage at least one win this weekend. <\/p>\nBrown<\/h4>\n
Best Case — 12th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Doesn’t matter what happens.
\nWorst Case — 12th<\/i><\/b>
\nHow?<\/b> — Doesn’t matter what happens.
\nHandicapping<\/b> — Play spoiler, that’s the plan. The Bears are looking to the future and hoping to mess up Princeton and Yale’s chances of home ice and positioning.<\/p>\nLet’s Have Some Fun<\/h4>\n
Say this happens:<\/p>\n
Rensselaer d. Cornell
\nYale d. Harvard
\nPrinceton d. Brown
\nClarkson d. Vermont
\nSt. Lawrence d. Dartmouth
\nColgate d. Union
\nRensselaer t. Colgate
\nYale t. Brown
\nUnion d. Cornell
\nPrinceton d. Harvard
\nClarkson t. Dartmouth
\nSt. Lawrence d. Vermont<\/p>\n
Your standings become:<\/p>\n
1 SLU 33
2 Clk 31
3 Cor 23
Dar 23
Har 23
Pri 23
RPI 23
Yal 23
9 Uni 20
10 Col 18
11 Ver 16
12 Brn 7 <\/pre>\nThat’s a six–way tie for third place. What happens?<\/p>\n
Your playoff matchups:<\/p>\n
How about a five–way tie for fifth place?<\/p>\n
For that to happen:<\/p>\n
Cornell d. Rensselaer
\nHarvard d. Yale
\nUnion d. Colgate
\nPrinceton d. Brown
\nClarkson d. Vermont
\nSt. Lawrence d. Dartmouth
\nRensselaer d. Colgate
\nYale d. Brown
\nUnion d. Cornell
\nPrinceton t. Harvard
\nClarkson d. Dartmouth
\nVermont d. St. Lawrence<\/p>\n
Your standings:<\/p>\n
1 Clk 32
2 SLU 31
3 Har 26
4 Cor 25
5 Dar 22
Pri 22
RPI 22
Uni 22
Yal 22
10 Ver 16
11 Col 15
12 Brn 7 <\/pre>\nSo what happens?<\/p>\n
Your playoff pairings:<\/p>\n
How about a four–way tie for eighth place? Which team loses out in the tiebreaker and stays home?<\/p>\n
For that to happen:<\/p>\n
Cornell d. Rensselaer
\nHarvard d. Yale
\nColgate d. Union
\nBrown d. Princeton
\nClarkson t. Vermont
\nSt. Lawrence d. Dartmouth
\nColgate d. Rensselaer
\nYale d. Brown
\nUnion t. Cornell
\nHarvard d. Princeton
\nClarkson d. Dartmouth
\nVermont d. St. Lawrence<\/p>\n
The standings then become:<\/p>\n
1 Clk 31
SLU 31
3 Har 27
4 Cor 26
5 Dar 22
Yal 22
7 RPI 20
8 Col 19
Pri 19
Uni 19
Ver 19
12 Brn 9 <\/pre>\nHow does that break down?<\/p>\n
To decide, we have to break the tie for fifth place first.<\/p>\n
Now we can break the four–way tie.<\/p>\n
One more tiebreaker to apply before we give you the playoff scenarios.<\/p>\n
Now, the playoff matchups:<\/p>\n
One more for you, folks. We know this would shock people, but what if there were no need for tiebreakers?<\/p>\n
Here’s what has to happen.<\/p>\n
Rensselaer d. Cornell
\nHarvard d. Yale
\nColgate d. Union
\nPrinceton d. Brown
\nClarkson d. Vermont
\nSt. Lawrence d. Dartmouth
\nRensselaer d. Colgate
\nBrown d. Yale
\nCornell d. Union
\nHarvard d. Princeton
\nClarkson d. Dartmouth
\nSt. Lawrence d. Vermont<\/p>\n
Our new standings:<\/p>\n
1 SLU 33
2 Clk 32
3 Har 27
4 Cor 25
5 RPI 24
6 Dar 22
7 Pri 21
8 Yal 20
9 Uni 18
10 Col 17
11 Ver 16
12 Brn 9 <\/pre>\nWow, no ties to break!<\/p>\n
The playoff matchups:<\/p>\n
Yeah, we know, no tiebreakers in the ECAC, there’s a better chance of someone beating the Iron Columnists four weeks in a row.<\/p>\n
There is one thing that cannot<\/i> happen. We cannot get the same five matchups as last season’s playoffs. That is impossible no matter how you slice it. The main reason — it’s impossible to match up Yale and Colgate.<\/p>\n