This Week in the ECAC: Feb. 28, 2002

By Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy
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Can things be any crazier? If you thought two years ago it was nuts, and last year it was nuttier, this time may take the cake.

With a week to go in the regular season, there are only two spots decided in the ECAC — first and last. Other than that, there is nothing decided. Four home-ice spots are up in the air. There are still three playoff spots to be determined.

Just your typical ECAC year.

The Winners

Cornell – The Big Red skate away with the Cleary Cup. ‘Nuff said.

Brown – The Bears are now the hottest team in the ECAC with another weekend sweep. They still lose the tiebreaker for home ice, but have a shot at second place.

Princeton – Three big points keep the Tigers ahead of the others nipping at their heels.

Yale – A weekend sweep and the Bulldogs are back in the playoff hunt.

Losers

Vermont – Two more games and the misery ends.

Dartmouth – The Big Green had a chance to sit alone in second and came out of the weekend with one point.

Union – What once was a chance at home ice could be no playoffs at all.

St. Lawrence – The Saints got one point, but then got shellacked at Colgate. They need help.

We Did Okay

Clarkson – The Knights got two points and are still in the hunt for second and home ice.

Colgate – Two points are better than none. The Raiders still hold the last home-ice spot.

Harvard – It could have been a bad weekend for the Crimson, but after a loss to Rensselaer, they bounced back to remain in second place.

Rensselaer – The Engineers got a big win over Harvard, but the streak was broken, and with the loss to Brown, home ice might not be there.

Clearing It Up — Sort Of

Here’s a handy-dandy guide to your team, its possible finishes, the best- and worst-case scenarios, and who you should be rooting for this weekend if you’re a fan of that team.

Maybe we’ll just confuse you.

As we go through this, the scenarios we paint for best and worst finish are examples. There are others out there.

Cornell

No doubt here.

Best – First
Worst – First
Rooting For – The teams you don’t want to play next week, or for a team you don’t want to play to finish in 11th.

Clarkson

Best – 2nd
How? – Two wins as Clarkson wins any tiebreakers head-to-head with Dartmouth or Harvard, or in a three-way tie.
Worst – 7th
How? – Two losses and Brown gets one point, Colgate gets one point and Rensselaer gets three points.
Rooting For – Whoever is playing Harvard, Dartmouth, Colgate, Brown and Rensselaer.

Dartmouth

Best – 2nd
How? – Two wins and Harvard does not sweep.
Worst – 7th
How? – Two losses and Colgate splits, Brown splits and Rensselaer wins and ties.
Rooting For – Yale, Princeton and Cornell.

Harvard

Best – 2nd
How? – Two wins and a Clarkson or Dartmouth not to get two wins.
Worst – 7th
How? – Two losses, Clarkson and Dartmouth tie each other, Rensselaer gets three points and Colgate and Brown get two points.
Rooting For – Vermont, St. Lawrence, Cornell, Yale and Princeton to beat Brown and a toss-up on Colgate-Rensselaer.

Brown

Best – 2nd
How? – Two wins, Clarkson, Dartmouth and Harvard split the weekend and Colgate gets three points at a maximum.
Worst – 8th
How? – Two losses, two Colgate losses and two Princeton wins, Brown loses the tiebreaker in that three-way scenario.
Rooting For – St. Lawrence, Vermont, Yale and Princeton to beat Harvard, and a toss-up on Colgate-Rensselaer.

Colgate

Best – 2nd
How? – Two wins, Clarkson, Dartmouth and Harvard split the weekend.
Worst – 8th
How? – Two losses, a Princeton sweep and Brown ties Yale.
Rooting For – St. Lawrence, Vermont, Yale, Princeton.

Rensselaer

Best – 2nd
How? – Two wins, a Dartmouth-Clarkson tie and each loses its other game, and Brown and Harvard get no more than two points.
Worst – 9th
How? – Two losses and Union sweeps and Princeton gets three points.
Rooting For – Yale, Princeton, Vermont, St. Lawrence and the tie.

Princeton

Best – 6th
How? – Two wins, Colgate gets swept and Brown gets swept. This sets up a three-way tie for sixth, which Princeton wins over Colgate.
Worst – 11th
How? – Two losses, a Union win, and St. Lawrence and Yale get at least three points.
Rooting For – Vermont, Dartmouth, Rensselaer and Yale.

Union

Best – 7th
How? – Union sweeps, Rensselaer gets swept and Princeton splits.
Worst – 11th
How? – Union loses twice and St. Lawrence and Yale each get two points.
Rooting For – Cornell and Colgate to beat Rensselaer, Vermont, Dartmouth, Harvard and Brown.

St. Lawrence

Best – 8th
How? – Two wins, Princeton gets swept, Yale does not sweep and Union at most splits.
Worst – 11th
How? – Two losses and one Yale point.
Rooting For – Harvard, Brown, Cornell and Colgate.

Yale

Best – 8th
How? – Two wins, Princeton gets swept, St. Lawrence does not sweep and Union at most splits.
Worst – 11th
How? – Two losses and one St. Lawrence point.
Rooting For – Vermont, Dartmouth, Cornell and Colgate

Vermont

No doubt here.

Best – 12th
Worst – 12th
Rooting For – closing out the season on a good note.

Scenarios

Six Ways For Second?

Can there be a six-way tie for second place? Yes. But it’s tough to get there, as a lot of ties are involved. What has to happen?

  • Rensselaer beats Cornell and ties Colgate
  • Colgate ties Union
  • Brown splits
  • Harvard gets a tie and a loss
  • Dartmouth and Clarkson lose and then tie each other

    You now have a six-way tie for second place. How does that shake out?

  • Clarkson gets second place based on head-to-head record
  • After that, Colgate and Harvard are tied for third
  • Then you break the remaining three-way tie, which leaves Dartmouth and Brown tied for fifth
  • Rensselaer becomes the seventh seed
  • Dartmouth gets fifth based on record versus top five over Brown
  • Harvard gets third based on record versus top five over Colgate

    The order:

    2. Clarkson
    3. Harvard
    4. Colgate
    5. Dartmouth
    6. Brown
    7. Rensselaer

    Four Ways For Eighth?

    Hey, this can happen too! How?

  • Princeton gets one point
  • Union splits
  • St. Lawrence and Yale get three points

    Who is the odd team out if this happens?

  • Record versus top five is the tiebreaker used to give St. Lawrence eighth
  • Record versus top five gives Yale ninth over Princeton and Union
  • Record versus top five gives Princeton tenth over Union

    So the order of this four-way tie is:

    8. St. Lawrence
    9. Yale
    10. Princeton
    11. Union

    Travel Partner Heaven

    How can you get the most travel partners playing each other in the playoffs? Well, we know that Dartmouth can’t play Vermont, Cornell can’t play Colgate and Yale can’t play Princeton. But, Harvard can play Brown, Rensselaer can play Union, and Clarkson can play St. Lawrence.

  • Brown splits with Princeton and Yale
  • Harvard gets swept
  • Colgate and Cornell gets swept
  • Union and Rensselaer sweep
  • St. Lawrence sweeps
  • Dartmouth and Clarkson tie and Clarkson beats Vermont

    We then get:

    1. Cornell
    2. Clarkson
    3. Rensselaer
    4. Brown
    4. Dartmouth
    6. Harvard
    7. Colgate
    8. Union
    9. Princeton
    9. St. Lawrence
    9. Yale
    12. Vermont

    Break the ties.

  • Dartmouth beats Brown on Record versus Top 5
  • St. Lawrence wins the three way tiebreaker on Record versus Top 5
  • Yale then beats Princeton on Record versus Top 5

    The matchups:

  • Cornell vs. Yale
  • Clarkson vs. St. Lawrence
  • Rensselaer vs. Union
  • Dartmouth vs. Colgate
  • Brown vs. Harvard

    Three travel partner series.

    Rematches?

    Can we get series that happened last year? We can’t get Clarkson-Vermont, nor St. Lawrence-Union. But Rensselaer-Dartmouth, Princeton-Cornell and Yale-Harvard can still happen.

  • Yale sweeps and Princeton gets swept
  • Rensselaer gets swept, Union beats Colgate, but loses to Cornell
  • Clarkson beats Vermont and ties Dartmouth
  • St. Lawrence loses to Vermont and ties Dartmouth

    We get:

    1. Cornell
    2. Clarkson
    3. Dartmouth
    3. Harvard
    5. Brown
    5. Colgate
    7. Rensselaer
    8. Yale
    9. Union
    10. Princeton
    11. St. Lawrence
    12. Vermont

    Let’s break the ties.

  • Harvard beats Dartmouth on head to head
  • Colgate beats Brown on head to head

    The matchups:

  • Cornell vs. Princeton
  • Clarkson vs. Union
  • Harvard vs. Yale
  • Dartmouth vs. Rensselaer
  • Colgate vs. Brown

    Three rematches, plus a series between the two teams not in the playoffs last year, plus Union goes to the North Country for the third straight year.

    Have your own fun at Joe Schlobotnik’s ECAC Page

    Double Standard?

    Last weekend, the Dartmouth Big Green lost a game to Yale, 4-2. In that game the Bulldogs got two power-play goals and after the game, Big Green forward Chris Taliercio was quoted by David Sherzer of The Dartmouth in regards to the refereeing of Peter Torgerson.

    “I felt like it was a bunch of 25-year-old goons playing 15-year-olds, and every time we touched somebody, he called a penalty,” he said. “I think he is the worst ref in the league, and you can put that in any paper you want. He ruined a good game tonight.”

    Now, if one of the 12 head coaches said something like this, the ECAC league office might suspend that head coach for one game. In fact, earlier this season a head coach was suspended for one game after remarks about officiating according to the school’s weekly release.

    If a head coach was suspended for remarks about officiating, shouldn’t Taliercio receive the same suspension?

    Picks Challenge

    Well, at the beginning of the year, we challenged you to pick the ECAC. Here were the picks: 

    Challenge        Range    Becky and Jayson
    1. Clarkson  (8) 1- 4     1. Cornell
    2. Harvard  (14) 1- 7     2. Dartmouth
    3. Cornell   (6) 1- 6     3. Harvard
    4. Dartmouth (4) 1- 6     4. Clarkson
    5. St. Lawrence  2- 7     5. St. Lawrence
    6. Rensselaer    2-10     6. Vermont
    7. Vermont       5-10     7. Rensselaer
    8. Union         8-11     8. Union
    9. Colgate       7-12     9. Colgate
    10. Yale         6-12     10. Yale
    11. Princeton    7-12     11. Princeton
    12. Brown        9-12     12. Brown

    Scoring the picks as we have for the past couple of weeks, let’s take the standings.

    Here are the standings as of today:

    1. Cornell
    2. Clarkson
    2. Dartmouth
    2. Harvard
    5. Brown
    5. Colgate
    7. Rensselaer
    8. Princeton
    9. Union
    10. St. Lawrence
    10. Yale
    12. Vermont

    We’ll apply the appropriate tiebreakers, as the ECAC does for the playoffs.

  • Clarkson wins the tiebreaker over Harvard and Dartmouth, going 2-1-0 against the other two teams.
  • Harvard wins the tiebreaker over Dartmouth, going 1-0-1 against the Big Green this season.
  • Colgate wins the tiebreaker over Brown, going 2-0-0 against the Bears this season.
  • St. Lawrence wins the tiebreaker over Yale, based on record versus the top five teams. The Saints have six points versus five for Yale.

    So the standings for our purposes:

    1. Cornell
    2. Clarkson
    3. Harvard
    4. Dartmouth
    5. Colgate
    6. Brown
    7. Rensselaer
    8. Princeton
    9. Union
    10. St. Lawrence
    11. Yale
    12. Vermont

    Now let’s do our comparisons with the points in parentheses.

    1. Cornell – Fans (2) / Becky and Jayson (0)
    2. Clarkson – Fans (1) / Becky and Jayson (2)
    3. Harvard – Fans (1) / Becky and Jayson (0)
    4. Dartmouth – Fans (0) / Becky and Jayson (2)
    5. Colgate – Fans (4) / Becky and Jayson (4)
    6. Brown – Fans (6) / Becky and Jayson (6)
    7. Rensselaer – Fans (1) / Becky and Jayson (0)
    8. Princeton – Fans (3) / Becky and Jayson (3)
    9. Union – Fans (1) / Becky and Jayson (1)
    10. St. Lawrence – Fans (5) / Becky and Jayson (5)
    11. Yale – Fans (1) / Becky and Jayson (1)
    12. Vermont – Fans (5) / Becky and Jayson (6)

    Guess what? Well, back to a tie at 30-30.

    If It’s So Easy, You Try It

    The Iron Columnists finally destroyed Mike Johnson. Good riddance.

    The competition thus far:

    Vic Brzozowksi t. The Iron Columnists – 7-2-1
    The Iron Columnists d. Vic Brzozowksi – 8-3-1 to 7-4-1
    Ben Flickinger d. The Iron Columnists – 11-4-2 to 10-5-2
    The Iron Columnists d. Ben Flickinger – 5-1-4 to 4-2-4
    John Beaber and Lisa McGill t. The Iron Columnists – 6-7-0
    The Iron Columnists d. John Beaber and Lisa McGill – 7-5-3 to 6-6-3
    Mike Johnson d. The Iron Columnists – 10-3-1 to 6-7-1
    Mike Johnson t. The Iron Columnists – 5-5-2
    Mike Johnson d. The Iron Columnists – 6-5-1 to 5-6-1
    The Iron Columnists d. Mike Johnson – 7-3-2 to 3-7-2

    It is time to bring out our final challenger of the season. Will the Iron Columnists go into the offseason with a losing streak? We doubt it.

    So, Dave Bryan, take your best shot at the Iron Columnists.

    The Picks

    Friday, Mar. 1

    Brown at Princeton
    Dave’s Pick – The Bears are on a roll. Brown 4, Princeton 2
    Becky and Jayson’s Pick – Princeton 3, Brown 1

    Harvard at Yale
    Dave’s Pick – The home team seems to like this series. Yale 4, Harvard 2
    Becky and Jayson’s Pick – Harvard 4, Yale 2

    Vermont at Clarkson
    Dave’s Pick – Poor, poor Vermont. Clarkson 8, Vermont 1
    Becky and Jayson’s Pick – Clarkson 5, Vermont 1

    Dartmouth at St. Lawrence
    Dave’s Pick – The Big Green roll to home ice. Dartmouth 5, St. Lawrence 2
    Becky and Jayson’s Pick – St. Lawrence 3, Dartmouth 2

    Colgate at Union
    Dave’s Pick – The Dutchmen can’t stop the slide. Colgate 4, Union 1
    Becky and Jayson’s Pick – Colgate 4, Union 2

    Cornell at Rensselaer
    Dave’s Pick – The Big Red defense wins out. Cornell 1, Rensselaer 0
    Becky and Jayson’s Pick – Cornell 3, Rensselaer 1

    Saturday, Mar. 2

    Brown at Yale
    Dave’s Pick – Home sweet home for the Bulldogs. Yale 4, Brown 2
    Becky and Jayson’s Pick – Brown 3, Yale 1

    Harvard at Princeton
    Dave’s Pick – The Crimson pick up home ice. Harvard 3, Princeton 2
    Becky and Jayson’s Pick – Harvard 4, Princeton 2

    Vermont at St. Lawrence
    Dave’s Pick – Poor, poor Vermont. St. Lawrence 8, Vermont 2
    Becky and Jayson’s Pick – St. Lawrence 4, Vermont 3

    Dartmouth at Clarkson
    Dave’s Pick – The Knights take this one. Clarkson 4, Dartmouth 2
    Becky and Jayson’s Pick – Clarkson 4, Dartmouth 1

    Colgate at Rensselaer
    Dave’s Pick – The Raiders pick up the last home-ice slot. Colgate 5, Rensselaer 2
    Becky and Jayson’s Pick – Colgate 3, Rensselaer 2

    Cornell at Union
    Dave’s Pick – The Big Red close out the regular season in style. Cornell 4, Union 0
    Becky and Jayson’s Pick – Cornell 2, Union 1

    And remember that if you are interested in putting your money where your mouth is, drop us an email to be eligible next season.

    By the way, here are Dave’s projected ECAC standings, based on his predictions for this weekend:

    1. Cornell
    2. Clarkson
    3. Colgate
    4. Dartmouth
    4. Harvard
    6. Brown
    7. Rensselaer
    8. Yale
    9. Princeton
    9. St. Lawrence
    11. Union
    12. Vermont

    His playoff matchups:

  • Cornell vs. Princeton
  • Clarkson vs. St. Lawrence
  • Colgate vs. Yale
  • Harvard vs. Rensselaer
  • Dartmouth vs. Brown

    And ours?

    1. Cornell
    2. Clarkson
    3. Harvard
    4. Colgate
    5. Brown
    6. Dartmouth
    7. Rensselaer
    8. Princeton
    8. St. Lawrence
    10. Union
    11. Yale
    12. Vermont

    So we get:

  • Cornell vs. Union
  • Clarkson vs. St. Lawrence
  • Harvard vs. Princeton
  • Colgate vs. Rensselaer
  • Brown vs. Dartmouth

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