Tweaking the Pairwise and other NCAA Hockey issues

Todd Milewski Executive Editor of USCHO has a couple of interesting blog posts that are posted up on USCHO and think there are a couple of points that are worth addressing… They are as follows.

Minor discussions on rules

The rules committee is in the middle of a two-year rule book cycle, so no changes can be made this offseason. There were some small discussions, however, on giving on-ice officials the ability to use video to review major penalties and ways to increase offense.

Anastos, the rules committee chair, said the most prominent idea presented to increase scoring opportunities was to not allow players to intentionally leave a skating position (i.e., kneel or lay down) to block shots.

First off, shot blocking is part of the game of hockey and any talk of taking shot blocking out of hockey should immediately be dismissed and discredited. I can't see that going anywhere and any talk of this needs to stop. This would be a good way for college hockey to lose the top blue chip recruits to the CHL immediately.

To quote BSU head coach Tom Serratore, shot blocking is part of the game of hockey. “You got to block shots,” Serratore said. “That’s hockey; that’s not a key, that’s automatic, that’s non-negotiable, that’s part of being a hockey player, that’s sacrifice.

As far as tweaking the criteria for the Pairwise Ranking for road wins. I am all for it. Bravo! Let’s do it. There are teams that for whatever reason, that refuse to travel, that’s a fact. The teams that travel for nonconference games should be rewarded for their travel; it’s harder to play in another team’s rink. That team should get a bump in the pairwise, especially when they get a quality win against a top-ten opponent.

I still think that there is going to be a movement by some to get the NCAA regionals back to campus. Starting in September 2013, UND Athletic Director Brian Faison is going to be part of the NCAA Ice Hockey Rules committee, so there will be an advocate of moving the NCAA Division I Hockey regionals back to campus.

Earlier this month, the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee heard ideas from coaches on changes to improve the regional atmosphere, but there was no consensus. The movement to return NCAA games to campus sites has its supporters but there also has been a good amount of pushback. [USCHO]

I am interested in seeing what others think about some of these issues. I would love to see what schools actually pushed back against bringing the NCAA regionals back on campus. I have not heard yet, but I have my suspicions.