Understanding NCAA Hockey East Standings
The Hockey East Association, a prominent college ice hockey conference operating entirely in New England, has a unique system for determining its standings. This system has evolved in recent years to incorporate shootouts while still adhering to NCAA regulations for record keeping.
Point System and Tie-Breaking Procedures
Beginning in 2020-21, the Hockey Commissioners Association agreed that all leagues utilizing shootouts would adopt the same point system for calculating standings, a change prompted by the NCAA mandating 3-on-3 overtime for all games. Under this system, all conference games are worth three points.
While nearly every Division I college conference now uses shootouts to break ties after overtime, the NCAA uses Win-Loss-Tie (W-L-T) for record keeping and does not recognize shootout "wins" as wins. A game is considered a "tie" for both team and coach historical records after overtime ends without a goal scored. Shootouts are used only to determine points in league standings. For this reason, records will continue to be displayed as W-L-T with OW-OL-SW following to display total point calculations.
NCAA Record Keeping vs. League Standings
It's crucial to distinguish between how the NCAA officially records games and how Hockey East determines its standings. The NCAA maintains a traditional W-L-T record, where a game that goes to a shootout but remains tied after overtime is recorded as a tie. However, Hockey East uses shootouts to award points in the league standings. This means that while a team might have a certain W-L-T record according to the NCAA, their position in the Hockey East standings will be influenced by their performance in shootouts.
Hockey East Tournament
The Hockey East Championship Game has been held in Boston since 1987. The semifinal and final games are held on consecutive nights in mid-March at TD Garden. The quarterfinal round takes place the previous weekend, and the opening round is the midweek prior to the quarterfinals. Eight teams in the league advance to the quarterfinal round. In the opening round, seeds six, seven, and eight host seeds 11, 10, and nine, respectively. The Hockey East Championship was held in Boston from its inception in 2003 until 2007. The event was held at Northeastern's Matthews Arena in 2003 and 2004 before moving to BU's Walter Brown Arena in 2005. The tournament returned to Matthews Arena in 2006, was held at UNH's Whittemore Center in 2007, and at UConn's Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum in 2008. The tournament went back to UNH in 2009, Providence in 2010, and the last campus to host was Boston University in 2011.
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Rivalries within Hockey East
The conference is home to several intense rivalries. The previously existing rivalry between Boston College and Notre Dame, the Holy War on Ice, became a conference matchup with Notre Dame's arrival in Hockey East. The two are rivals in other sports as well, as both are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference for most sports (though Notre Dame's football team remains independent, they play BC in that sport on a regular basis). Maine also has a rivalry with New Hampshire, often called "The Border War".
All-Conference Teams and Awards
At the conclusion of each regular season schedule the coaches of each Hockey East team vote which players they choose to be on the three All-Conference Teams: first team, second team and rookie team (except for 1985-86 when no rookie team was selected). Additionally they vote to award up to 6 individual trophies to an eligible player at the same time. Hockey East also awards a Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player and names a tournament all-star team, which are voted on at the conclusion of the conference tournament. The award for the top HEA player each year is the Cammi Granato Award, awarded since 2009.
Media Coverage
Hockey East games are broadcast on a variety of platforms, including CBS Interactive, NESN, and ESPN+. These partnerships provide fans with multiple options to follow their favorite teams throughout the season.
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tags: #NCAA #Hockey #East #standings
