Re: Hockey East - Who's in, who's out, who's home: by the numbers - 2013-14 edition
After Fri 3/8:
UML 1 @ UVM 0 OT
NU 1 @ BU 4
PC 4 @ ME 2
UNH 2 @ MC 4
BC 34 -
36 [1]
UML 25 -
27 [2]
--- Quarter-Final Home Lock (Top 4) - 23 pts ---
NU 22 -
24 [3-5]
--- Quarter-Final Lock (Top 5) - 22 pts w/ tbs ---
PC 22 -
24 [3-6]
ME 21 -
23 [3-6]
UNH 20 -
22 [4-7]
--- Top 4 Eligible -
22 (NU/PC) ---
--- Top 5 Eligible -
22 (NU/PC/ME/UNH) ---
UVM 18 -
20 [6-8]
ND 18 -
20 [7-8]
--- 1R Home Lock – 13 w BU/UMA tb, 14 w/o ---
---
1R Road ---
BU 11 -
13 [9]
UMA 11 [10]
MC 8 -
10 [11]
Remaining LEAGUE schedules:
BC - ND
UML - @UVM
NU - BU
PC - @ME
ME - PC
UNH - @MC
UVM - UML
ND - @BC
BU - @NU
UMA - Off
MC - UNH (not sure why MC gets to host both)
Heading into the f1nal night:
UML's nail-biting win at the Gut, combined with NU's loss at Agganis and ME's home loss, leaves the River Hawks clear of the field behind them. UML will be 2nd seed behind BC at 1.
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Mc's win gave them a shot of moving up, but BU's win made it moot. The Terriers pulled them even with the idle Minutemen and out of reach of the Warriors. BU's tb w/ UMA locks up the final three as BU/UMA/MC at 9/10/11.
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With PC leapfrogging ME, the winner of tonight's game is assured of having at least 23 points - or PC will have 23 if they tie. The loser will have 22 or 21. If they tie, ME is the "loser" and PC the "winner", as PC is ahead by a point going in. NU has the H2H tb with either (can't tie both).
A NU win keeps them at least even with PC and wraps up 3rd for the Huskies.
A NU tie gives them the tb with PC at 23 after a PC/ME tie, or with ME after a ME win - in either case, they'd have 3rd. A PC win here puts PC 3rd and NU 4th.
A NU loss puts them behind the outcome of the PC/ME game. Here a PC win or tie puts the Friars 3rd. A ME win puts the Black Bears 3rd. NU take the tb for 4th over either of these two (more to come below).
ME and PC can't tie each other, so one of them will be ahead of the other after tonight. The winner of tonight's game will take either 3rd or 4th, depending on how NU fares on Senior Night against BU.
That covers any of the ties at 24 and 23.
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There a variety of matchups with a tie at 22.
A NU loss keeps them there.
A PC loss keeps them there.
A PC/ME tie elevates ME to 22.
A UNH win moves the Wildcats up to 22.
As pointed out previously, ME and PC can't tie each other, so only one of them (or neither) could be here.
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The possible pairs at 22 break these ways:
NU-PC -> NU/PC (H2H)
NU-ME -> NU/ME (H2H)
NU-UNH -> UNH/NU (H2H)
PC-UNH -> UNH/PC (wins: 11/10)
ME-UNH -> UNH/ME (wins: 11/9)
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The three-ways among this group we already covered the other night. I'll re-post here:
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The final set of three-ways here (without UML) go like this:<table border="1">
<tr><th>RRRs</th><th>ME</th><th>PC</th><th>NU</th><th>UNH</th><th>ME Total</th><th>PC Total</th></tr>
<tr><td>ME:</td><td></td><td></td><td>0-1-1</td><td>1-1-0</td><td>1-2-1</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>PC:</td><td></td><td></td><td>0-1-1</td><td>1-1-0</td><td></td><td>1-2-1</td></tr>
<tr><td>NU:</td><td>1-0-1</td><td>1-0-1</td><td></td><td>0-2-0</td><td>1-2-1</td><td>1-2-1</td></tr>
<tr><td>UNH:</td><td>1-1-0</td><td>1-1-0</td><td>2-0-0</td><td></td><td>3-1-0</td><td>3-1-0</td></tr>
</table>There's a big swing by swapping out UML.
Instead of NU sweeping UML and UNH getting swept, the roles reverse as UNH sweeps NU directly. In all combos here, the initial split has NU and either ME or PC all at 1-2-1 and UNH at 3-1-0. NU then wins H2H over both ME and PC, so these trios fall UNH/NU/ME or UNH/NU/PC.
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NU and PC are already clear of 21, and UVM and ND can't get there.
The only tie here is a ME loss and a UNH tie. UNH wins that on 2nd tb, 10-9. That tb would put UNH 5th for the final bye and ME 6th to host MC.
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Taking the broader look at these four teams:
UNH trails the group, but has the tbs with everyone in every scenario. Being caught by UNH means being seeded behind them.
PC and ME lose tbs in every scenario here: whether NU, UNH, or UNH/NU.
NU's only vulnerability on tbs is to UNH. The only way that happens is if there is a tie at 22 - meaning a NU loss and UNH win. In this scenario, that means the PC/ME winner is 3rd, so we are breaking ties for 4/5 or 4/5/6. That puts UNH 4th, NU 5th, and PC/ME 6th.
NU gets home ice UNLESS they tie with UNH. So, with any points from tonight's game - or with UNH not beating MC - the Huskies play at home in the Quarters. If these two <i>do</i> tie, that puts NU at the Whitt for the Quarters.
The PC/ME winner gets home ice as 3 or 4. The loser will be behind NU, or UNH and NU. If UNH is not involved, the PC/ME loser either goes to NU or these two face off again at the winner's house in the QFs. If UNH <is> involved (at 22 or at 21 w/ ME), then the PC/ME loser is 6th and hosts MC in the first round (1R). If they beat the Warriorsthey face the same fate in the QFs as they would if UNH weren't in the mix to begin with.
The reason for this is that, since both have byes this year, there is no possibility for 5 to be upset. 4 <i>definitely</i> plays 5 in the QFS (that changes next year). That means that 6 definitely plays 3 if they win in the 1R. UNH can only get as high as 4 by putting NU 5th, so the PC/ME loser - either 5th (behind winner and NU but ahead of UNH), or 6th behind winner/UNH/NU - cannot face UNH in the QFs.
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The only thing possibly keeping UNH from wrapping up at least 6th is the possibility of a tie at 20 with either UVM, ND, or both.
With UVM losing in OT and ND idle, UVM and ND come into tonight still tied at 18 and unable to pass UNH on points alone.
UNH-UVM -> UVM/UNH (sweep)
UNH-ND -> UNH/ND (sweep)
In the three-way tb at 20, we get UNH at 2-2-0 (sweep and swept). UVM and ND split wins, so UVM is 3-1-0 and ND is 1-3-0. UVM gets 6 and UNH takes the tb from ND for 7th. ND 8th and hosting BU.
UNH doesn't have to worry about ND in any scenario, and so can't be 8th (and can't host BU).
We've covered the H2H tb between UVM and ND already.
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At 19 and 18, it's simply UVM/ND H2H (1-1-0), and then 2nd tb gives UVM the nod, 9-8.
Like UNH in the 3-6 range, UVM wins in any tb scenario among these three.
If UVM wins and UNH loses, UVM is 6th and hosts MC, UNH is 7th and hosts UMA, ND is 8th and hosts BU.
Anything short of that and UNH is at least 6th, but might bet a bye (see above).
In any tie scenario with UVM, ND comes out 8th. ND needs to out-point UVM to move up. Whether UNH is involved is moot.
If ND <i>does</i> out-point UVM, that means UVM didn't win (ND can't <i>out</i>-point a UVM win), and so UVM didn't catch UNH. ND 7, hosting UMA. UVM 8, hosting BU.