{"id":97595,"date":"2013-04-12T08:41:06","date_gmt":"2013-04-12T13:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/ecac-blog\/?p=1483"},"modified":"2020-08-24T20:57:38","modified_gmt":"2020-08-25T01:57:38","slug":"all-apologies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2013\/04\/12\/all-apologies\/","title":{"rendered":"All apologies"},"content":{"rendered":"
It’s been a long time… and we’re sorry.<\/p>\n
ECAC Hockey fans are sorry that the league hasn’t put a team in the title game in 23 years. We’re sorry it’s been two dozen seasons since a conference member finished on top. We apologize for being dismissed, marginalized, underrated, ignored, and downright insulted for our opinion, pride, and belief that ECAC Hockey is as competitive a league as any other in Division 1 (and twice as smart). We’re sorry that half of the league’s teams are Ivy League institutions, and that the other half are small private schools that prioritize the “student” part over the “athlete” part. We’re sorry that ECAC teams have to travel so often to play top programs, because top programs are loathe to play dangerous teams in small markets.<\/p>\n
And we’re sorry to be so damned thrilled by this year’s national title tilt. Yale, we’re proud of you; Quinnipiac, we’re proud of you, too… and to the rest of the nation, we are sorry about one thing most of all: We’re really not sorry at all.<\/p>\n
I’ve known all year that I would be unavailable for the Frozen Four – life calls, ya know? But boy, is the universe rubbing it in with the Connecticut Derby match for all the marbles. Not only did ECAC Hockey put a team in the title game, but two… and both from my soon-to-be home, as I’m moving to New Haven in the summer. (Just watch, next year Harvard will play BU for the crown.)<\/p>\n
A few notes from the Twitterverse, and some info for the uninitiated:<\/p>\n
\u2022 It’s been said before, and I’ll say it again until it stops being amazing and hilarious: The NCAA National Championship game is a rematch of the ECAC Hockey Consolation Game<\/em>. The freakin’ third-place game!<\/p>\n \u2022 Yale and Quinnipiac are eight miles apart, in the neighboring cities of New Haven and Hamden, Conn, respectively. The last time there were two teams from the same league in the championship game was 2005, when Denver topped North Dakota in Columbus, Ohio. The last two rivals (if Yale will ever admit to the rivalry) to compete in the title game were Maine and New Hampshire in Anaheim, Calif. in 1999.<\/p>\n The last time there were two teams from the same state fighting for the trophy was also<\/em> the last time there were two squads from the same metropolitan area in the championship game: Boston University downed Boston College in Providence, R.I. in 1978. (Those teams were each in the ECAC at that point, as well, so there’s that trivial tidbit to boot.) BU and BC are about three miles apart… so that was the last time the championship featured two teams so geographically close.<\/p>\n The last time two current<\/i> ECAC teams played each other for the whole shebang was 1970, when Cornell beat Clarkson 6-4.<\/p>\n Q: Did you start PIT native Jesse Root on purpose? Yale HC Allain: I started him on purpose because he centers our top line! #frozenfour<\/a><\/p>\n