Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins
I can appreciate the RIT perspective about the questions about if the east can actually rise. Every east team, and as a bentley person i greatly appreciate this, benefits from a massive goose from the lower part of the standings. What would normally be a 6th place team can become a 3rd place team. Likewise, in the west, what would be a 3rd place team easily becomes a 6th place team.
Still, I can't help myself in this regard - the playoffs are the great equalizer. Even though a team travels great distances (like when Canisius went to UConn), I wholly believe talent wins these series moreso than anything. Therefore, even if Canisius finishes 6th, they should, hypothetically, beat a team like UConn in the playoffs. Or Bentley. So the regular season becomes less about winning games as it does avoiding some of these teams.
I, for one, wasn't upset that Bentley missed out on a home ice second round series moreso than they missed out on a chance to play a beatable team in the 2nd round. I would've been MUCH happier playing Holy Cross in Worcester than playing RIT in Rochester. Likewise, had Bentley finished 3rd, they probably would've drawn RIT in the 2nd round, and I wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs, home or away. Home ice to me for certain teams is more overstated, even if it's great to sleep in your own beds. Unless you're Air Force. Then home ice makes someone fly across the country. That's never fun. But then again, Bentley's a place that until last year never really had a home-ice advantage (25 people in the stands. 25 people in the press box).
That said, this year is going to be very different from our perspective simply because everyone is raising an eyebrow. There's increased talk about an on-campus building for the Falcons in the planning stages. The team last year broke out and now faces Year Two where they won't sneak up on anyone. People are now expecting them to finish in the top 4 or 5 teams in the league. They're expected to beat teams that are losing pieces (i.e. RIT in the regular season), and they need to, IMHO, distance themselves from the pack this year. The school's finally behind them resource wise (well, at least it's gaining traction, unlike 2 or 3 years ago), and the team itself is benefitting from talented players who play the right style for the system.
When you factor that some of the western teams have graduated pieces and might actually be on the way down, you have to figure that you can go out and shore up the areas where they historically have been beaten.
I can appreciate the RIT perspective about the questions about if the east can actually rise. Every east team, and as a bentley person i greatly appreciate this, benefits from a massive goose from the lower part of the standings. What would normally be a 6th place team can become a 3rd place team. Likewise, in the west, what would be a 3rd place team easily becomes a 6th place team.
Still, I can't help myself in this regard - the playoffs are the great equalizer. Even though a team travels great distances (like when Canisius went to UConn), I wholly believe talent wins these series moreso than anything. Therefore, even if Canisius finishes 6th, they should, hypothetically, beat a team like UConn in the playoffs. Or Bentley. So the regular season becomes less about winning games as it does avoiding some of these teams.
I, for one, wasn't upset that Bentley missed out on a home ice second round series moreso than they missed out on a chance to play a beatable team in the 2nd round. I would've been MUCH happier playing Holy Cross in Worcester than playing RIT in Rochester. Likewise, had Bentley finished 3rd, they probably would've drawn RIT in the 2nd round, and I wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs, home or away. Home ice to me for certain teams is more overstated, even if it's great to sleep in your own beds. Unless you're Air Force. Then home ice makes someone fly across the country. That's never fun. But then again, Bentley's a place that until last year never really had a home-ice advantage (25 people in the stands. 25 people in the press box).
That said, this year is going to be very different from our perspective simply because everyone is raising an eyebrow. There's increased talk about an on-campus building for the Falcons in the planning stages. The team last year broke out and now faces Year Two where they won't sneak up on anyone. People are now expecting them to finish in the top 4 or 5 teams in the league. They're expected to beat teams that are losing pieces (i.e. RIT in the regular season), and they need to, IMHO, distance themselves from the pack this year. The school's finally behind them resource wise (well, at least it's gaining traction, unlike 2 or 3 years ago), and the team itself is benefitting from talented players who play the right style for the system.
When you factor that some of the western teams have graduated pieces and might actually be on the way down, you have to figure that you can go out and shore up the areas where they historically have been beaten.
