Playoff time is fast approaching. The NCHA and SUNYAC playoffs begin
this weekend, while the ECAC East and MIAC finish up their regular
season. The ECAC West, North, Central and South have two weekend left.
Around the leagues:
ECAC East: As usually, the East will be up in the air until the last
moment due to the NESCAC situation. Any of the nine NESCAC schools who
qualify for the playoffs must declare for *either* the ECAC playoffs
or sit out and hope for an NCAA bid, since NESCAC rules prohibit more
than one post-season tournament. Williams and Middlebury will most
likely find themselves in that predicament on 2/22, when a decision
will have to be made. Interestingly enough, if both teams sweep this
weekend it will be Williams (15-2, 17-5), not Middlebury(14-1-2,
18-2-2) who will win the regular season title. Even though Middlebury
beat Williams 7-0 in head to head play, the ECAC East uses conference
wins as their primary tiebreaker.
ECAC West: Three of the four playoff positions are locked up with two
weeks to go in the regular season. Niagara, RIT and Mercyhurst are in,
while Canisius and Elmira are in a battle for the final playoff
position. Canisius leads Elmira by five points, but Elmira has two
games in hand....Freshman Peter Bournazakis of RIT now leads all of
Division III in scoring with 59 points... The Tigers will go
undefeated (11-0-2) in Division III in the regular season as their
only game remaining is against Division II Mercyhurst.
SUNYAC: The past two weeks gave us one of the wildest finishes in
years. When the dust settled, Oswego claimed the regular season title.
Both Geneseo (2nd) and Plattsburgh (3rd) had chances to clinch 1st
place, but were denied at home in key conference matchups....Oswego
netminder Carl Antifonario was the hero last weekend, shutting out
Plattsburgh on their home ice and then allowing just one goal against
Potsdam the next night to ensure a title-clinching sweep.
NCHA: The playoffs begin this weekend with eight teams in action.
Don't expect a lot of surprises in the quarterfinal matchups as the
top seeds are all highly favored to advance. After that, however, any
of the top four seeds (St. Norbert, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point,
UW-Superior) has a legitimate shot at the title....UW-Superior's Bryan
Grycan had quite a weekend, recording back-to-back hattricks in a
sweep of UW-Stout. Grycan added n assist each night for good measure.
MIAC: St. John's once huge lead in the MIAC has dwindled to a mere
three points heading into the final weekend of the season. The
Johnnies have completed conference play and must now wait for St.
Thomas and Augsburg, who each trail by three points but have two games
in hand....St. Thomas swept St. John's last weekend 9-1 and 9-8. The
Tommies' Steve Aronson scored two hat-tricks in the series, his final
goal coming with just 16 seconds left to give the St. Thomas the
sweep....Augsburg is 10-2-1 in their last 13 games and have won six
straight...St. Thomas is just as hot, going 9-1-1 in their last eleven.
ECAC N/C/S: The off-ice controversy continues as Fairfield and Sacred
Heart have been booted for offering althetic-based financial aid (i.e.
hockey scholarships). Quinnipiac was kicked out a month ago for the
same infraction. All three are trying to ramp up for their move to the
Division I MAAC next season..The new program at Salve Regina appears
to be in trouble. Injuries and illness caused them to forfeit two
games last weekend....Villanova also continues to be undermanned and
also may have to forfeit some additional games.. .Oh, yeah, they
played some hockey in the N/C/S last week. Drew Carlton of Tufts had
back-to-back five point games vs. Suffolk and UMass-Dartmouth.
Independents: The list of indys grows longer with the addition of
Sacred Heart and Fairfield...The only independent team likely to make
the post-season is UAH, which will most likely host either Bemidji or
Mercyhurst for the NCAA Division II championship.
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