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ECAC Semifinals 2024
- Thread starter BowWowWow
- Start date
QuasiCosmos
Member
Women's ECAC semifinal and final games at Colgate this weekend – tickets now available for online purchase:
https://colgate.universitytickets.com/w/default.aspx
https://colgate.universitytickets.com/w/default.aspx
The ECAC hasn't listed the semifinals or final on its schedule page. But semifinals look to be set for 2 and 6PM on Fri and the final for 5PM on Sat. So the semifinals will be around the same time as WCHA semifinals in Minnesota, and the championship will be a bit after the WCHA, Hockey East, and NEWHA championships. A big weekend!
thirdtime's . . .
New member
On the eve of the conference championship it’s time to wonder if the Ivies (with the exception of Cornell) are ever going to see the NC$$s again, to say nothing of the FF. Semi-serious question. The portal, 5th year eligibility and demographics, added to the the general mojo of the North Country and Q, suggest that we’ll be shut out for the foreseeable future. A random Fillier now and then or a blossoming talented group in an outlier (Yale, e.g.) ain't much to build on. The solution? A new five-school conference (no Cornell!), complete with an auto-bid:
“IWIC” (Ivies Want In Conference) has a nice ring to it. I don’t know what to do with Union and RPI.
“IWIC” (Ivies Want In Conference) has a nice ring to it. I don’t know what to do with Union and RPI.
You're spot on! ECAC needs to be broken up. Lots of changes need to be made in womens hockey.
QuasiCosmos
Member
I'm not sure what you're basing your point on. Maybe you know something about the future recruiting and performances that the rest of us don't.
I know just looking at the ECAC Women's Tournament Finals is not the full story, but it does give some indication of the strongest teams at the end of the season. In the last ten years (prior to 2024 and excluding the Covid 2021 year): Of the twenty teams playing in the finals, 10 were Ivies and 10 were non-Ivies. In the last 5 years, the numbers are 4 Ivies and 6 non-Ivies. Over the same ten years, four different Ivy teams played in the finals and 4 non-Ivies did. In the last five years its 3 Ivies and only 2 non-Ivies. Clarkson, Colgate and Cornell have had had the largest number of Finals appearances in the last five and ten year periods. Take them out of the equation and things are pretty even.
Maybe there should be a New York division and a non-New York division. (I am only joking here.)
Yes, Quasi, while tt... and Sierra, I don't feel I can exactly get behind what you're saying. The fifth year of eligibility is phasing out with the end of next season. And even while that 5th year has existed, Harvard and Yale have both made the tournament, with almost no transfer students. Harvard has struggled mightily around the time the Katey Stone news broke and afterward; however, that's far from implying that the recruits they've gotten the past couple years are the problem. Princeton has made the tournament 4 times before, and their Pairwise ranking, 12, suggests that they were pretty close this year too.
thirdtime's . . .
New member
That’s exactly what I’m trying to do with my fanciful new IWIC: take them out of the equation. Also, I’m not focusing on the Ivies' pretty indifferent ECAC tournament past, but on their pretty bleak-looking national tournament future, all things considered. I’ve been known to be a poor prognosticator though. lol
thirdtime's . . .
New member
Princeton No. 12? Great. This season's record against the ECAC's top guns? 1-11-0. That's one source of my foreboding.
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Yes, the Tigers consistently were outmatched there, interesting. I'm still impressed, though, with the ECAC having 7 teams in the top 15 this year.
ECAC Hockey announced its "_______ of the Year" awards last night:
- Player of the Year, Izzy Daniel
- Forward of the Year, Izzy Daniel
- Defender of the Year, Nicole Gosling
- Goaltender of the Year, Michelle Pasiechnyk
- Rookie of the Year, Emma Pais
- Coach of the Year, Matt Desrosiers
The semifinals poll closes this afternoon when the first game starts: get your predictions in!
Princeton's ranking was a bit of a mystery all year. But the pairwise also has them at 12 so something about the math puts them there. They didn't seem to beat anyone and finished below Yale in both Ivies and ECAC and yet still ranked 12 all year. But regardless, 7 ECAC teams are in the top 15 and that is pretty impressive.
I have wondered for years why the Ivies don't form their own 6-team league. If nothing else, this assures an auto-bid for an Ivy each year. I think the Ivies have actually been able to compete remarkably well considering how hamstrung the Ivy teams are by the oppressive Ivy rules. Less games, no transfers (virtually), no scholarships. These rules put them in their own, very unique, basket.
I don't agree that the Ivy future is bleak. But I do think that the teams would just be better off in their own league. Why not? Why not take the auto-bid and compete with the other teams that actually need to abide by the Ivy rules. The fact that the Ivies still don't allow their hockey teams to play the same number of games as other teams is just a dumb rule. But it's been in existence forever.
I have wondered for years why the Ivies don't form their own 6-team league. If nothing else, this assures an auto-bid for an Ivy each year. I think the Ivies have actually been able to compete remarkably well considering how hamstrung the Ivy teams are by the oppressive Ivy rules. Less games, no transfers (virtually), no scholarships. These rules put them in their own, very unique, basket.
I don't agree that the Ivy future is bleak. But I do think that the teams would just be better off in their own league. Why not? Why not take the auto-bid and compete with the other teams that actually need to abide by the Ivy rules. The fact that the Ivies still don't allow their hockey teams to play the same number of games as other teams is just a dumb rule. But it's been in existence forever.
ARM
Fan of chipmunk-like mascots.
To be fair, I think that nobody was hurt by Covid to the extent that the Ivy League teams were. Cornell was the top seed entering the NCAA Tournament that never was. The 2019 Princeton team gave the program a lot of momentum that was washed away when the next tourney and the season that followed were axed; plus, the Tigers lost their next franchise player when Eden left the program. How much do teams suffer competitively in the long term while their four biggest competitors in the league -- Colgate, Clarkson, SLU, and Q -- can practice and play for a season while they cannot?
thirdtime's . . .
New member
I’m glad to be reminded of the recent history and can’t argue with any of this, but in taking the current temperature of the league’s best (and don’t forget I’ve gerrymandered Cornell out), I think they're going to feel a cold wind blowing from the north for a long time. (The 2020 Tigers/Huskies game at Matthews would have been a beaut!)
The SLU goal made #6 in the ESPN Sportscenter Top Ten this AM.
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ARM
Fan of chipmunk-like mascots.
I give you a lot of credit for still being here, but I want to give you a cooling-off period in the wake of this season. I don't believe a fan of a program that has been a contender for decades is ready to go off in search of participation medals this quickly.
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