A look further at the Strength of Schedule

Here is an interesting conversation that I found on Twitter between Ryan Durling of the Somethings Bruin hockey blog and USCHO Hockey ECAC Blogger Brian Sullivan, the discussion is worth taking a look at, there is some legitimate points brought up by Durling.

@SullivanHockey it's tough to credit a team that's played 3/4 the schedule of UNH/BC and almost half as many games as NoDak, Minny, etc.
@SullivanHockey I'd love to, honest. Sadly, they don't dance with Hockey East too much and it's tough to get that far away to see them
@SullivanHockey i'm not an ECAC hater nor a HE homer, lol. Just find it tough to compare the schedules.
@Ryan_Durling And RPI is probably the LEAST impressive of that bunch right now. Really... Yale. Check 'em out, they're crazy fun to watch.
@Ryan_Durling Seriously though, you really ought to watch Yale, Union, Dartmouth & RPI before passing stereotypical judgment on #ECACHockey.
@SullivanHockey I don't deny that they're good teams. RPI looked solid earlier this year and I'm sure they've improved, BUT...
@Ryan_Durling The poll isn't necessarily about who'd beat whom, but who is doing the best they can...which Yale certainly is.
@Ryan_Durling Everyone has his own ballot philosophy, but there's no doubt that Yale's season is the most successful in D-I to date.

First off, I am glad that someone else is saying these things. This is also one of the reason I am so glad that there isn't a BCS of college hockey, this is not a beauty contest folks where your team loads up on cupcakes and over inflate their stats racking up wins against unimpressive opponents. I am not personally impressed if your team schedules a Sacred Heart and then beats them 8-1. I am more impressed with a game between two teams that play in a tough contested match with the outcome is in doubt till the end of the game.

The being said, the NCAA Division I Hockey tournament is a tourney that is based on merit you have to be one of the final 16 to make the tourney and your team has to win 4 games to get to the top.

Yeah first let’s compare Strength of Schedule, eight of the ten teams with the toughest Strength of Schedule are in the WCHA and the other two teams are from the Hockey East and the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Let’s take a look at the ECAC strength in scheduling or should we say a lack of strength.

The Top Ten Strength of Schedule

North Dakota 1
Bemidji State 2
Denver 3
Michigan Tech 4
Alaska-Anchorage 5
Minnesota-Duluth 6
Boston College 7
Notre Dame 8
Wisconsin 9
St. Cloud State 10

EZAC Strength of Schedule

Rensselaer 21
Brown 22
Yale 29
Dartmouth 33
Union 34
Harvard 35
St. Lawrence 40
Princeton 43
Quinnipiac 44
Cornell 45
Clarkson 46
Colgate 49

In conclusion; I am not saying that the ECAC or the Atlantic Hockey Associations aren’t good hockey leagues, they are the mid majors conferences of college hockey and “a few” of their teams can beat any team from the big three on any given night, but let’s be honest with ourselves, they are not in the same class as the Hockey East, WCHA or CCHA... Let the debate begin.

If you're looking for a good laugh

I know the only polls that matter are the PWR/RPI on selection Sunday in March and the final poll at the end of the season, however, if you're looking for a good laugh pursue this top 20 from the ECAC hockey writer.
My Top 20
1. Nebraska-Omaha 8-1-1
2. Minnesota Duluth 9-1-2
3. Boston University 6-0-4
4. Maine 6-1-3
5. New Hampshire 5-1-3
6. Yale 5-1-0
7. North Dakota 7-4-1
8. Miami 6-3-3
9. Michigan State
10. Notre Dame 7-3-1
11. Michigan 6-3-3
12. Wisconsin 6-4-2
13. Denver 6-4-2
14. Union 7-2-3
15. Alaska 7-4-1
16. Boston College 6-4-0
17. Colorado College 5-6-1
18. Michigan Tech 3-4-2
19. Western Michigan 6-2-2
20. Robert Morris 7-2-1

RPI hockey coach suspended for one game by ECAC

Here is a story worth checking out, in fact it's crazy, the head coach of the RPI Engineers Seth Appert was suspended for one game by the ECAC today or showing a video of a controversial call in the post game press conference. I guess that is considered showing up the on ice officials. Check out this story from RPI beat writer Ken Schott.

Parting Shotts ---- The Engineers had a potential tying goal waved off with 7.6 seconds left in the game. Mike Bergin had tipped a Chase Polacek (that is what we were told, although it looks like Nick Bailen did take the shot) past goalie Keith Kinkaid, tying the score at 2-2.

Or so everyone thought. Referee Bryan Hicks immediately waved off he goal and said CJ Lee made contact with Kinkaid.

As we started to question Bailen about the play, Appert, who was off to the side in the media room, interrupted. He brought his laptop to the table, and showed everyone the video.

It was tough to tell, but it didn't appear to be significant contact to warrant the goal being taken away. But give Hicks credit for immediately waving it off.

After Bailen and teammate John Kennedy left the room, it was Appert's turn to talk. The first question I asked was if he is worried about possibly getting fined by ECAC Hockey commissioner Steve Hagwell for showing the video to the media.

Appert was defiant with his response.

"Why? Is there a policy that you can't show video? I think the ref should be concerned about it," Appert said.

Well, it is showing up the officiating.

Here is the link to the act that got the head coach suspended for this weekend's first game. [click to view the video]

This brings me to a point, what’s a coach to do about refs when they blow a call, just sit there and take it with a smile on his face? The fans, bloggers and media can pontificate, pick apart and break down bad calls by the officials till they are blue in the face but in some instances a bad call on the ice, have consequences, bad call can cost a team points and inevitably it could keep that team home from the NCAA playoffs or cause them to lose a chance at hosting a first round series in the league playoffs.

For example; just ask Wisconsin how a few bad calls cost them a few year back. Randy Schmidt is no longer officiating in the WCHA because of a few of his bad calls, one of his bad calls cost Wisconsin points in the standings and probably cost them home ice during the 2008 WCHA playoffs, they finished out of the 5th and final spot by one point. Albeit the Badgers might have lost the tie breaker anyways, but you see where this can go.

I have to admit that if I had been the head coach in Appert's shoes I would have done the same thing because there is little room for error when your season is only 34-38 games long.