WCHA finalizing details of revamped league

[musicman2343]

Discussions about tournament sites and other info here:

LINK

[Falcon Fanatic]

WCHA Says Meetings 'Productive'

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2 ... uctive.php

[Falcon Fanatic]

And this news: The Alaska teams will play each other every year in the first round of the playoffs, unless one of them is the top seed. This guarantees at least one Alaska team in the Final Five every season. Hmmmmm.....

http://undhockey.areavoices.com/?p=91237

[pdt1081]

And this news: The Alaska teams will play each other every year in the first round of the playoffs, unless one of them is the top seed. This guarantees at least one Alaska team in the Final Five every season. Hmmmmm.....

http://undhockey.areavoices.com/?p=91237

Theoretically, one of them could be rewarded with home ice by finishing next to last.

[footballguy51]

I'm really confused on how the playoffs would work. They are giving a bye to the 1 seed, and the other 8 teams play. The next round has 5 teams. How does that work?

The only way to get it to work would be to have the 8 and 9 seeds play each other, and then the winner advances to a playoff of 8 teams.

[rood]

I'm really confused on how the playoffs would work. They are giving a bye to the 1 seed, and the other 8 teams play. The next round has 5 teams. How does that work?

Once you get to the final five, the two lowest seeds have a play-in game to see who meets the number one seed in the semi-finals. If I'm not mistaken the CCHA did this for a few years.

[threestooges]

I'm really confused on how the playoffs would work. They are giving a bye to the 1 seed, and the other 8 teams play. The next round has 5 teams. How does that work?

The only way to get it to work would be to have the 8 and 9 seeds play each other, and then the winner advances to a playoff of 8 teams.

I haven't read the links people have posted here, but I'm guessing the 1 seed gets a bye, and the other 8 teams play, as you stated. Those 8 teams produce 4 winners, & they join the 1 seed in the next round. Then, the 2 lowest remaining seeds (let's say 4 vs 5) play to get it down to a 4-team semifinal round.

[WhoDeyBG]

I'm really confused on how the playoffs would work. They are giving a bye to the 1 seed, and the other 8 teams play. The next round has 5 teams. How does that work?

Once you get to the final five, the two lowest seeds have a play-in game to see who meets the number one seed in the semi-finals. If I'm not mistaken the CCHA did this for a few years.

The CCHA did a "Super Six" years back, where all 12 teams played in the first round (12 v. 1, 11 v. 2, etc.) and then the six winners advanced to Detroit. Then there were two games Thursday (with the four lowest remaining seeds) to get it down to four teams, and then the semifinals and final went from there. They scrapped this eventually because nobody was showing up to the Thursday games. People would wait to see if their team would win, and then make a weekend of it for Friday and Saturday, because you knew your team was going to play at least two games (with the 3rd place game). Basically people weren't making a Thursday trip to Detroit for a possibility of only one game.

The WCHA has been doing a "Final 5" for some time now. Initially, when they had 10 teams, they all played in the first round (10 v. 1, 9 v. 2, etc.) and then the five winners advanced to Minneapolis. Then, as described above, there was a "play-in" Thursday night between the lowest two seeds, and then the semifinals and final from there. When the WCHA expanded to 12 teams recently, they adopted the "Super Six" format but still called it the "Final 5", as in the final five games (not teams) of the WCHA season. It would obviously return to meaning 5 teams in the new format with us.

As for the Alaska schools, that's pretty interesting, but I can see why they are doing it. I'd be pretty ticked to finish 5th and look to host, only to find out I'm going on the road because both Alaska schools finished 6th-9th. But I guess if everyone agrees to that situation then it is what it is.

That's a nice incentive to finishing first. A bye to the tournament semifinals and a week off.

[Falcon Fanatic]

More insight into the post season decisions for the "new" WCHA.

http://www.miningjournal.net/page/conte ... Q.facebook

BTW, Matt Wellens (from NMU) does a nice job of covering the league. I started following him on Twitter last spring when we were in our post season run. He gave a LOT of props to BG and some of his tweets about BG were just freaking hilarious!

Puck drops in 112 days!!
GO FALCON HOCKEY

[BGWriter]

New-look WCHA eyeing alternating sites for championship tournament:

http://www.miningjournal.net/page/blogs ... o.facebook

Somewhat off topic editorial comment:
I would love it if the "new WCHA" just got a NEW NAME, especially since 5 out of the 9 teams are former CCHA teams...

They'll never change the name. As a league under the name WCHA, they can claim too many national titles as part of their history. They won't want to give that up.

[Falcon Fanatic]

New-look WCHA eyeing alternating sites for championship tournament:

http://www.miningjournal.net/page/blogs ... o.facebook

Somewhat off topic editorial comment:
I would love it if the "new WCHA" just got a NEW NAME, especially since 5 out of the 9 teams are former CCHA teams...

They'll never change the name. As a league under the name WCHA, they can claim too many national titles as part of their history. They won't want to give that up.

Yeah, I know that...just me "hating" on this "new" conference crap.... Have I mentioned how much I REALLY FREAKING HATE the B1G 6 (hard to call them the big 10, when there is only 6!)!

[Falcon Fanatic]

The Ugly Reality of the Alaska Plan:

http://www.westerncollegehockeyblog.com ... laska-plan

On a happier note: THE FALCON PUCK DROPS IN 110 DAYS!!!

[Falcon Fanatic]

USCHO's article on the Alaska stuff:
http://www.uscho.com/2012/06/20/wchas-a ... s-anxious/

Puck drops in 108 days!