What's that, you say? A post? No way!
It's been a while, but I decided to get back on the old posting train given the importance of this weekend for both teams. Bear with me while I work out the kinks.
We'll start with the home team this weekend, the women. Their final two regular season games bear a large amount of significance for multiple reasons. Firstly, on the human interest side, given that there is no chance the Saints slide up to fourth and get a home ice spot, these will be the last two games at Appleton Arena for the seniors: Amanda Boulier, Mikaela Thompson, Megan Armstrong, Jenna Marks, Kailee Heidersbach, Abbey McRae, Dom Korakianitis, Sydney Bell and Victoria Leimgardt. That's quite a cast, and we salute you with a tip of our caps, thank you for everything during your four years.
But, before we can bid farewell to them, they, and their teammates, have a chance to gift us with more hockey. The Saints sit rather precariously in seventh place, and for those who did not know, the women's ECAC playoff format is far less forgiving than the mens. There are no first round byes and only the top eight teams make the tournament. The Saints are just one point clear of Yale, which occupies the eighth and final playoff spot and just two points clear of Cornell. Darmouth can still mathematically make it, but cannot overtake SLU.
This makes Friday's contest against Yale of the utmost importance. A win against the Bulldogs all but guarantees the Saints a playoff spot, given that Saturday's matchup comes against Brown, which has just 1 league win all year.
Essentially, tame the Bulldogs, and the Saints get some postseason hockey, albeit on the road. However, this is easier said than done. Yale beat SLU earlier this year by a score of 5-2 on the back of a Hanna Åström hat trick and 32 saves from Hannah Mandl. Yale may be below SLU in the standings, but to look down upon them would be a grave mistake.
It would be equally foolish to assume victory will be the outcome against Brown. We've seen in the past that a team with nothing to lose is just as dangerous as a team with everything to lose. Take care of business, and we are talking playoffs.
Let's take the same opponent, switch venues and genders, and examine the situation for coach Carvel and the men. They've taken us on quite a ride this season, courtesy of the programs best first half since 2005-06, followed by a five game losing streak to open 2016, and a much improved 6-1-1 that's included overtime wins against Cornell and Quinnipiac at home. Good thing I like roller coasters.
Now, with four games left in their campaign, the men sit in a tie for fourth in the ECAC, holding the tie-breaker over RPI courtesy of their 3-0 win two weeks ago. They trail Harvard by one point and will face the Crimson in the final regular season game of the year. They are three points behind Friday's opponent, Yale and can pretty much write off ever catching Quinnipiac.
This weekend presents a compelling opportunity for the men to make up some serious ground on Yale. A win Friday coupled with a win at Brown the next night would bring them within one point, if the Bulldogs take care of business against Clarkson. However, the Golden Knights have been playing equally well and may just defeat Yale as well. Should this advantageous situation become reality, SLU would find themselves no worse than T-3 at weekend's conclusion, depending on the outcome of Harvard's series against Cornell and Colgate.
However, the larger importance of this weekend regarding SLU's playoff hopes may lie not in the ECAC but the PairWise implications. At 15th, St. Lawrence is not in. Given that neither the WCHA nor Atlantic Hockey has a team within the top 16, by my best guess, 13th is the last 100% safe spot that will guarantee an at-large bid. A win against Yale, currently 10th, goes a long way in moving SLU up, as does avoiding a loss against Brown. Wins against Harvard and Dartmouth are equally important on the final weekend, but given that much is likely to change between now and then, I'll leave that until a later post.
It's a big weekend for both teams, with a lot of playoff implications on the line. I'll be at both women's games and we'll see what the hockey gods have in store for us.
It's been a while, but I decided to get back on the old posting train given the importance of this weekend for both teams. Bear with me while I work out the kinks.
We'll start with the home team this weekend, the women. Their final two regular season games bear a large amount of significance for multiple reasons. Firstly, on the human interest side, given that there is no chance the Saints slide up to fourth and get a home ice spot, these will be the last two games at Appleton Arena for the seniors: Amanda Boulier, Mikaela Thompson, Megan Armstrong, Jenna Marks, Kailee Heidersbach, Abbey McRae, Dom Korakianitis, Sydney Bell and Victoria Leimgardt. That's quite a cast, and we salute you with a tip of our caps, thank you for everything during your four years.
But, before we can bid farewell to them, they, and their teammates, have a chance to gift us with more hockey. The Saints sit rather precariously in seventh place, and for those who did not know, the women's ECAC playoff format is far less forgiving than the mens. There are no first round byes and only the top eight teams make the tournament. The Saints are just one point clear of Yale, which occupies the eighth and final playoff spot and just two points clear of Cornell. Darmouth can still mathematically make it, but cannot overtake SLU.
This makes Friday's contest against Yale of the utmost importance. A win against the Bulldogs all but guarantees the Saints a playoff spot, given that Saturday's matchup comes against Brown, which has just 1 league win all year.
Essentially, tame the Bulldogs, and the Saints get some postseason hockey, albeit on the road. However, this is easier said than done. Yale beat SLU earlier this year by a score of 5-2 on the back of a Hanna Åström hat trick and 32 saves from Hannah Mandl. Yale may be below SLU in the standings, but to look down upon them would be a grave mistake.
It would be equally foolish to assume victory will be the outcome against Brown. We've seen in the past that a team with nothing to lose is just as dangerous as a team with everything to lose. Take care of business, and we are talking playoffs.
Let's take the same opponent, switch venues and genders, and examine the situation for coach Carvel and the men. They've taken us on quite a ride this season, courtesy of the programs best first half since 2005-06, followed by a five game losing streak to open 2016, and a much improved 6-1-1 that's included overtime wins against Cornell and Quinnipiac at home. Good thing I like roller coasters.
Now, with four games left in their campaign, the men sit in a tie for fourth in the ECAC, holding the tie-breaker over RPI courtesy of their 3-0 win two weeks ago. They trail Harvard by one point and will face the Crimson in the final regular season game of the year. They are three points behind Friday's opponent, Yale and can pretty much write off ever catching Quinnipiac.
This weekend presents a compelling opportunity for the men to make up some serious ground on Yale. A win Friday coupled with a win at Brown the next night would bring them within one point, if the Bulldogs take care of business against Clarkson. However, the Golden Knights have been playing equally well and may just defeat Yale as well. Should this advantageous situation become reality, SLU would find themselves no worse than T-3 at weekend's conclusion, depending on the outcome of Harvard's series against Cornell and Colgate.
However, the larger importance of this weekend regarding SLU's playoff hopes may lie not in the ECAC but the PairWise implications. At 15th, St. Lawrence is not in. Given that neither the WCHA nor Atlantic Hockey has a team within the top 16, by my best guess, 13th is the last 100% safe spot that will guarantee an at-large bid. A win against Yale, currently 10th, goes a long way in moving SLU up, as does avoiding a loss against Brown. Wins against Harvard and Dartmouth are equally important on the final weekend, but given that much is likely to change between now and then, I'll leave that until a later post.
It's a big weekend for both teams, with a lot of playoff implications on the line. I'll be at both women's games and we'll see what the hockey gods have in store for us.
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