Beanpot LXX: Timeless!

[Sean Pickett]

There's a fairly obvious solution to this. If you absolutely have to conform to uniform OT rules for PWR purposes, proceed with the gimmicky 3 on 3 five minute OT. But if nobody scores there's no reason to not let the Beanpot decide how they want to settle the game after that. The game would already be in the books as a tie for PWR purposes.

The BU men played 2 faux overtimes and the BU women a faux overtime in the championship game, all in 2020. Granted, the 5-minute overtime was 5x5, but I believe playing the faux overtimes may have caused the rule change explicitly requiring a shootout.

Sean

 

[Thiessen'sBetter]

Nothing says Beanpot final like the excitement of guys constantly intentionally leaving the zone with the puck during 3 on 3 OT and then a shootout

3rd period was awesome. 5 on 5 OT would have been more awesome. 3 on 3 created a lot of chances but to your point it's not the same thing. Guy gets caught too deep in the zone or blows an edge and it's an automatic breakaway the other way. Just a shame. Feels similar to the Super Bowl that the players gave us an awesome game and the powers that be ruined the ending.

 

[brassbonanza]

There's a fairly obvious solution to this. If you absolutely have to conform to uniform OT rules for PWR purposes, proceed with the gimmicky 3 on 3 five minute OT. But if nobody scores there's no reason to not let the Beanpot decide how they want to settle the game after that. The game would already be in the books as a tie for PWR purposes.

The four schools applied for a waiver before last year's tournament for exactly this - it was denied and they were forced to go with the 3 on 3. Word I heard is it was the western schools/conferences who were opposed.

 

[RossiRules]

Ok like it or not the NCAA has little to do with this change as any game beyond the initial OT 5min is a tie. However, that double OT final a few years ago likely cost the city a boatload in OT. Our MBTA workers union contracts now pay a boat load contractually after 1am. A little stipulation that wasn't in those contracts for most of the prior 70 years.
That year I took the Green line to Riverside and was bussed from Kenmore out I wasn't at my car till nearly 3am. If you are from out of town or not from Boston realize this is the one game where 80% of those in attendance arrive using public transport. I think the city was going to hang any future charges back to the schools or the NCAA. So the change..that's my unofficial thought

 

[ericredaxe]

Ok like it or not the NCAA has little to do with this change as any game beyond the initial OT 5min is a tie. However, that double OT final a few years ago likely cost the city a boatload in OT. Our MBTA workers union contracts now pay a boat load contractually after 1am. A little stipulation that wasn't in those contracts for most of the prior 70 years.
That year I took the Green line to Riverside and was bussed from Kenmore out I wasn't at my car till nearly 3am. If you are from out of town or not from Boston realize this is the one game where 80% of those in attendance arrive using public transport. I think the city was going to hang any future charges back to the schools or the NCAA. So the change..that's my unofficial thought

Well, the city should not be required to run the MBTA that much later because the game ran late (and they did not used to - i remember for sure years getting out of the garden and walking back to Allston because I chose to stay for the overtimes knowing I would miss the last train).

Those who took the T can decide to either leave early for the last train or choose to get home by an alternative method.

Beanpot being decided by a shoot-out is as lame as it gets.

 

[Lemonade]

Congrats to the NCAA for ruining the Beanpot with the asinine shootout rule. The lure and history of the beanpot are the classic OT games.

 

[Carmine Scarpaglia]

Ok like it or not the NCAA has little to do with this change as any game beyond the initial OT 5min is a tie. However, that double OT final a few years ago likely cost the city a boatload in OT. Our MBTA workers union contracts now pay a boat load contractually after 1am. A little stipulation that wasn't in those contracts for most of the prior 70 years.
That year I took the Green line to Riverside and was bussed from Kenmore out I wasn't at my car till nearly 3am. If you are from out of town or not from Boston realize this is the one game where 80% of those in attendance arrive using public transport. I think the city was going to hang any future charges back to the schools or the NCAA. So the change..that's my unofficial thought

Boy I don't know about this... this event fills a building in downtown Boston on two nights, fills restaurants, parking lots and garages, etc. And also produces additional revenue for the T itself in additional fares of people going to games. Worse case scenario, you simply don't provide service beyond normal hours and make fans choose between leaving and cabbing back to their car. Simple as that. The commuter rail doesn't hold trains under any circumstance (I know it's Keolis) and you have to decide if you want to stay or get stuck in the city if you take the commuter rail. It is what it is but this 3x3 and shootout stuff is quite literally the worst solution to a very small or non-existent problem.

What an absolute abomination to allow this to happen. It's now a low-level lame event similar to the GLI or any other lame in-season tournament.

Solutions need to be considered; any solution that avoids this if the NCAA wants to stick their nose in and ruin in. These four schools need to figure something out.

 

[Lemonade]

Boy I don't know about this... this event fills a building in downtown Boston on two nights, fills restaurants, parking lots and garages, etc. And also produces additional revenue for the T itself in additional fares of people going to games. Worse case scenario, you simply don't provide service beyond normal hours and make fans choose between leaving and cabbing back to their car. Simple as that. The commuter rail doesn't hold trains under any circumstance (I know it's Keolis) and you have to decide if you want to stay or get stuck in the city if you take the commuter rail. It is what it is but this 3x3 and shootout stuff is quite literally the worst solution to a very small or non-existent problem.

What an absolute abomination to allow this to happen. It's now a low-level lame event similar to the GLI or any other lame in-season tournament.

Solutions need to be considered; any solution that avoids this if the NCAA wants to stick their nose in and ruin in. These four schools need to figure something out.

Spot on. Everyone - the fans, the players, the coaches, the schools all want the game decided by playing hockey in some sort....NOT THE &*%^*&%# Shootout. Figure it out. Screw the NCAA for telling them the rules of this tournament. The teams deserve better.

 

[Scarlet]

Could they come to some sort of compromise? Like both semi finals and the consolation games - use the 3x3 OT/Shootout, but for the championship game, let it be decided with regular 5x5 20-minute OTs?

 

[ericredaxe]

I honestly have no idea, but I suspect this was more of an NCAA directive based on Pairwise implications rather than the MBTA dictating the format of the tournament. I suppose, in theory, TD Garden could have input as well, if they didn't want to keep their people there until 1:00 AM.

 

[Scarlet]

The MBTA had no input into this decision.

 

[Sean Pickett]

Ok like it or not the NCAA has little to do with this change as any game beyond the initial OT 5min is a tie. However, that double OT final a few years ago likely cost the city a boatload in OT. Our MBTA workers union contracts now pay a boat load contractually after 1am. A little stipulation that wasn't in those contracts for most of the prior 70 years.
That year I took the Green line to Riverside and was bussed from Kenmore out I wasn't at my car till nearly 3am. If you are from out of town or not from Boston realize this is the one game where 80% of those in attendance arrive using public transport. I think the city was going to hang any future charges back to the schools or the NCAA. So the change..that's my unofficial thought

First, the MBTA is run by and funded by the state, not the city. Therefore any decision to have run late would be a state and not city decision, even if the Mayor made the request.

Second, in 2020 there were"2OT" games both nights: the BU-BC semifinal ended at 11:46pm and the championship game ended at 11:21pm. According to the current T schedules the last Green Line train leaves Lechmere for Heath Street at 12:30am, North Station for Cleveland Circle about 12:46am, Government Center for Riverside about 12:49am and Park Street for Boston College about 12:52am. Furthermore the wait time between trains is usually 9-11 minutes at that time of night. So, after the BU-BC semifinal T riders had about an hour to get on the T and after the championship game they had about 90 minutes.

For other late nights: the BU-Harvard semifinal in 2018 ended at 11:45pm and the BC-NU semifinal in 2015 ended at 12:00am (although it was the BU-Harvard first game that went to 2OTs, pushing the start of the BC-NU game to 9:25).

And don't forget the late nights at the Hockey East Championships when games will remain 5x5 OT until there is a winner. In 2018 the NU-PC semifinal ended at 12:27am.

Sean

 

[DNAEagle]

Four terrific games, all close. A lot of talent on display last night. This is a unique event in college hockey and in city and there is just no way the championship game should be decided by a shoot out, actually I don't think any game should be decided by a SO. At all levels of hockey we have accepted ties as a part of the game, what changed ? You have an OT and if there is no goal it is a tie, if each game is now worth 3 points then a tie at the worth 1.5. We learned to add fractions in 3 grade, not that hard.

 

[RENCEB]

All of that said at-least the team that won the shootout was the better team tonight. If shootout won by Harvard would have been a bigger farce

Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree. I thought Harvard was the faster and more skilled team throughout. We agree that Coronato was the best player on the ice (* I'll address Levi separately) and I thought Sean Farrell was terrific. Harvard outshot the Huskies (34-29) and carried much of the play including in the 3rd period (outshot NU 14-9). Not sure that anyone (perhaps other than you) would have thought it a "farce" if Harvard had won. Agree with you that using a shootout is lame.
Levi was the biggest factor. He's clearly found his mojo, and I could see him taking NU on a pretty good run.

 

[Split-N]

My team won the Beanpot and while I'm happy beyond description, I'll be the first to agree that the 2023 championship should come with an asterisk. No sense repeating the comments that have already been made about the shootout abomination that was foisted on us primarily by certain western schools. Ending an epic game like this with what amounts to a skills competition is IMO a crime against college hockey humanity.

Rant aside, college hockey has seen some huge crowds in recent weeks: 18,258 last night; 18,325 for Michigan-Michigan State in Detroit; 17,952 for Denver-CC in Denver. Not sure what the Beanpot semi's drew but I'd assume somewhere around 18K for the two games.

 

[J.D.]

The four schools applied for a waiver before last year's tournament for exactly this - it was denied and they were forced to go with the 3 on 3. Word I heard is it was the western schools/conferences who were opposed.

OK but why? What is the logic? How does the Beanpot determining a tournament format that has zero impact on the PWR impact western schools? Furthermore, why are we even considering how western schools feel about the Beanpot when the PWR is not impacted? And to clarify, even though I think 3 on 3 is overrated, I am willing to take the five minutes of 3 on 3. But after that it counts as a tie and the Beanpot should be able to decide how they want the game to continue after those five minutes.

Edit: I guess I can add...did we apply for the wrong waiver? Did they apply for simply 5 on 5 continuous OT? If so, apply again. Succumb to the five minutes of 3 on 3. But after that? Beanpot gets to decide.

 

[brassbonanza]

OK but why? What is the logic? How does the Beanpot determining a tournament format that has zero impact on the PWR impact western schools? Furthermore, why are we even considering how western schools feel about the Beanpot when the PWR is not impacted? And to clarify, even though I think 3 on 3 is overrated, I am willing to take the five minutes of 3 on 3. But after that it counts as a tie and the Beanpot should be able to decide how they want the game to continue after those five minutes.

Edit: I guess I can add...did we apply for the wrong waiver? Did they apply for simply 5 on 5 continuous OT? If so, apply again. Succumb to the five minutes of 3 on 3. But after that? Beanpot gets to decide.

What I was told is it was denied in favor of "uniformity." Absolutely none of it makes sense, but that's what it was. Whether it was the wrong waiver, I have no clue. But I doubt that's what the issue was. I agree it should be open and shut that what happens after the 3 on 3 is irrelevant, but the NCAA/other conferences disagreed.

I heard absolutely no indication that anything Rossi posted is true about the MBTA/city having input. All of what's written there is garbage.

 

[J.D.]

If someone can deliver a compelling reason why random western school X cares how the Beanpot proceeds after a five minute 3 on 3 OT I am more than willing to listen!

 

[ericredaxe]

Rant aside, college hockey has seen some huge crowds in recent weeks: 18,258 last night; 18,325 for Michigan-Michigan State in Detroit; 17,952 for Denver-CC in Denver. Not sure what the Beanpot semi's drew but I'd assume somewhere around 18K for the two games.

Box score attendance for the Beanpot semi's / first round is listed at 18,258, but I always question if they report tickets sold or actual attendance (it always seems unlikely to me that every ticket sold gets scanned to make up the exact number of a sellout at the arena). As you know it is very hard to tell actual attendance for the opening round as a significant number stay only for the game their team is playing in.

Even last night, there were tons of open seats around me and looking up, quite a few sections of the balcony that were pretty sparse, so who knows how many were actually there for the championship game.

 

[Split-N]

What I was told is it was denied in favor of "uniformity." Absolutely none of it makes sense, but that's what it was. Whether it was the wrong waiver, I have no clue. But I doubt that's what the issue was. I agree it should be open and shut that what happens after the 3 on 3 is irrelevant, but the NCAA/other conferences disagreed...

#BeanpotEnvy. Plain and simple. End of story.