Seven Hockey East teams in the NCAA tournament? That’s not-so-far-fetched whatsoever.

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Since the beginning of the New Year, I’ve been talking about a seemingly unlikely scenario that six Hockey East teams could reach the NCAA tournament. Well, in the sense of being greedy, it’s not out of the questions that seven – yes, seven - Hockey East teams could punch their NCAA tickets.

For a couple of teams – namely Northeastern and, to a lesser extent, Vermont – there needs to be few or no upsets today and tomorrow to help their chances. But one upset that won’t crush either team’s hopes is New Hampshire coming away from the Hockey East tournament with the Lamoriello Trophy.

Should the Wildcats win and the highest team in the PairWise win all of the remaining games, Hockey East would get seven teams into the tournament. Here is what I plugged into the PairWise Predictor to get that result:

Atlantic Hockey

  • Semifinal #2: Niagara defeats Robert Morris
  • Semifinal #1: Mercyhurst defeats Canisius
  • Championship game: Mercyhurst defeats Niagara

Big Ten

  • Semifinal #2: Wisconsin defeats Penn State
  • Semifinal #1: Minnesota defeats Ohio State
  • Championship game: Minnesota defeats Wisconsin

ECAC

  • Semifinal #2: Quinnipiac defeats Colgate
  • Semifinal #1: Union defeats Cornell
  • Championship game: Union defeats Quinnipiac

Hockey East

  • Semifinal #2: New Hampshire defeats Providence
  • Semifinal #1: Massachusetts-Lowell defeats Notre Dame
  • Championship game: New Hampshire defeats Massachusetts-Lowell

NCHC

  • Semifinal #2: Western Michigan defeats Denver
  • Semifinal #1: North Dakota defeats Miami
  • Consolation game: Denver defeats Miami
  • Championship game: North Dakota defeats Western Michigan

WCHA

  • Semifinal #2: Bowling Green defeats Minnesota State
  • Semifinal #1: Ferris State defeats Alaska-Anchorage
  • Championship game: Ferris State defeats Bowling Green

Read more:  http://www.uscho.com/rankings/pairwise-predictor/#ixzz2wbZgFo7W

If you click on the above link, you can see the actual PWR for that scenario. There may be additional scenarios that produce this same result. Regardless, such a crazy potential for this league.

 

 

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