Pairwhat?

NCAA scientist hard at work determining tournament seeding.

I'm sure that I'm not the only one left scratching my head trying to figure out how only three WCHA teams made it into the NCAA tournament last week, while Hockey East and the CCHA got in five and four, respectively. Does this make any sense whatsoever? The numbers confirm that the WCHA, as usual, was the best conference this season, so how in the world did western teams fare so badly in the Pairwise Rankings? How can the CCHA on the whole go 6-16-5 against the WCHA and still get more teams into the tournament? Most frustrating of all, had the NCAA used the KRACH formula (which just about everyone agrees is better than the Pairwise) to determine the tournament field, the WCHA would have had a whopping seven teams in the tournament (Minnesota, St. Cloud State, North Dakota, Denver, Wisconsin, Michigan Tech, and Colorado College).

I'm not trying to be a homer and imply that I think CC should have made the tournament, because frankly, I don't. Tournament teams don't lose opening round home playoff series. However, something is seriously wrong when such a strong conference can get jobbed so badly come selection time. I mean, does anyone really think that St. Lawrence and Miami are better than Denver? Of course, the comeback to that is that if Denver wanted to get in, they shouldn't have laid an egg against Wisconsin in their first round series. At the same time, however, when you look at Denver's season on the whole and take into account strength of schedule, there is no way in hell they should be getting passed over in favor of teams from the CCHA and ECAC.

I would hope that a travesty like this would be the straw that breaks the camels back and forces the NCAA to adopt a new way of seeding teams, but I doubt it will happen. If there's one thing that could make matters even worse for the WCHA, it's that Minnesota and North Dakota ended up in the same region, meaning that one of those two will definitely be out of the Frozen Four (I'd be surprised if they didn't play each other to determine who goes).

Notes

* How worried is the NCAA about attendance in Denver? Not only are three of the biggest name teams in the country (Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan) being sent there, but the NCAA even managed to sneak a local team (Air Force) in there as well.

* The NCAA must have been grimacing watching DU and CC's seasons end. DU, which had been as high as 5th in the Pairwise Rankings looked like an absolute lock to make the tourney with just a few weeks left, but fell apart spectacularly down the stretch. CC, even, remained on the bubble as well right up until the end before falling short. When both teams lost their opening playoff series, there must have been some sort of panic going on. At least Air Force managed to give them some consolation.

* How happy is Maine that there's an OOC bonus involved in the Pairwise? Without it, they'd be way on the wrong side of the bubble; with it, they managed to get in. Shows once again the importance of early season non-conference wins - Maine racked up three against Minnesota and North Dakota.

Nice Season, Tigers

Tigers Win Gold Pan But Can't Hang On For Season Sweep

Tiger fans were excited last night as CC reclaimed the Gold Pan for the first time in three years, but that excitement faded when the Tigers coughed up a late two-goal lead and lost a chance to sweep the season series against their archrival. With just four seconds left to play, Denver's senior sniper Ryan Dingle completed the improbable comeback as the World Arena went silent. Five minutes later the game was in the books - a 5-5 tie. Disappointing and surprising, to say the least after taking a quick 3-0 lead and holding onto a two goal lead until the final seconds. Not to mention missing an open net in the final minute by just inches that would have put the game well out of reach. But such was the case on Saturday and the Tigers finished the regular season at 5th in the WCHA for the second straight year after a series that was fairly similar to last year's between the two teams. Last year Denver went 3-0-1 against CC after an early season sweep, a win at CC in March, and then a late and somewhat improbable come-from-behind tie in the final matchup. This year, the Tigers went 3-0-1 against the Pioneers after an early season sweep, a win at DU in March, and an enormously improbable come-from-behind tie in the final game.

Chad Rau had another big series against DU, scoring a goal on Friday night and then two on Saturday. Bill Sweatt and Andreas Vlassapoulos kept up their stellar play of late as well with each tallying three assists on Saturday, and Sweatt scoring a nice goal on Friday. Lee Sweatt also continued to lead the Tigers' defense in scoring with a goal and an assist on the weekend. Mike Testwuide tallied yet another goal against his brother's team. Lastly, Matt Zaba had his second shutout of the season with a great effort on Friday.

Overall, the weekend was a good one- but Tiger fans still wanted more after dominating the Pioneers for most of the game on Saturday and squandering a late lead. The weekend results combined with the results around college hockey dropped CC to 16th in the Pairwise Rankings - out of the tournament, for the time being. The one bright spot on the weekend, in my opinion, are the matchups for the first round of the WCHA playoffs. Denver, which finishes the season one point ahead of CC at 4th in the WCHA, will face No. 7 Wisconsin, while the Tigers will host No. 6 Michigan Tech. Technically, of course, Michigan Tech is the better team since they finished ahead of the Badgers, but I still like the Tigers chances more against the Huskies than I would against last year's champs. Michigan Tech is a much improved team this year and is currently on the bubble for NCAA postseason play, but the Tigers record against Tech at the World Arena is impeccable. Add to that the fact that Wisconsin, defending champs of the whole shabang, are desperate to advance and sneak into the tourney, and they have one of the best goalies in the country, and I think they could be a dangerous team late in the season. Wisconsin has already won one at Magness this season - I wouldn't be surprised to see them steal one or even two from DU in the coming series. Michigan Tech, however, is no slouch. The Huskies took three points from CC in Houghton last month and finished the season with an impressive win at Minnesota, which moved them to a tie for 17th in the Pairwise - right on the Tigers' heels. Both teams are playing to extend their season and get an NCAA bid. The Huskies also have one of the country's top goalies - sophomore Michael-Lee Teslak comes into this series with a .913 save percentage and 2.08 GAA. So, I may be wrong to want to face the Huskies, but I have vivid memories of Wisconsin coming to the World Arena last season and putting on a clinic, and I don't think I'd like to see them in a three game series next week.

I like the Tigers chances for next weekend - the boys should be hungry after the debacle at the end of the game on Saturday, and have a great history against Michigan Tech at the World Arena. I'm sure the veteran players on the team remember last year's disappointing playoff loss to St. Cloud State that kept the Tigers out of the Final Five and will be looking to reverse that trend this season. CC could also be playing for another shot at the Pioneers, if they can beat Wisconsin, as the two would play in the Final Five play-in game if they were to advance.