NCAA does things right with hockey

I won’t be shocked if the University of Maine Black Bears win twice this weekend and return to the NCAA Division I Frozen Four.

Maine isn’t exactly riding a wave of momentum heading into its East Regional matchup against St. Cloud State tonight.

But with Ben Bishop recovered from his nagging groin injury, Maine has its starting goaltender back, no small addition to any good hockey team.

And its early ouster from the Hockey East playoffs provided a 13-day break from the intensity of game action, not necessarily a bad thing given that Maine has lost six of its last eight games and gone 13-14-1 since an 8-0-1 start.

No, in what appears to be a fairly wide-open regional, a Maine program steeped in postseason tradition won’t be the favorite but probably has as good a chance to advance as St. Cloud State, UMass, and Clarkson, the other teams comprising the four-team regional field in Rochester, N.Y.

But I’m just as intrigued by how the Black Bears got there in the first place, because I think this is something college hockey has gotten right – making every game count.

For Maine ultimately earned its NCAA bid not by how it played in February and March, but by how it played nearly half a year ago – in October 2006.

Remember way back then, when the UMaine football team was in the middle of its season and leaves were no longer leaves but foliage.

The last thing I want to see in October is ice.

No matter, that’s when the Division I hockey season begins, and Maine took full advantage with a hot start that included a 3-1 victory at Minnesota (now the No. 2 team in the nation) in its opener on Oct. 6, and a 6-2, 3-1 sweep at No. 6 North Dakota two weeks later.

That was followed by the team’s lone win in five tries this season over No. 12 UMass, a 4-1 decision at Alfond Arena in Orono on Oct. 28.

Those early games ultimately produced a backlog of quality victories that made all the difference when the computations that produced this year’s 16-team NCAA field were completed. All the games were created equal, and that served to Maine’s benefit.

It’s a format for determining a championship field unlike those used in some other Division I sports. Take basketball, which uses strength of schedule as one factor but also values how a team played late in the season. Under that criterion, all games are not created equal.

Then there’s the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I football, formerly known as Div. I-A and always known as the big guys. In that world, it’s best to be unbeaten, but if you have to lose, make sure you lose before hockey season starts if you want to play on New Year’s Day or beyond.

Again, not all games are created equal in that scenario.

There’s plenty to question about how college hockey does its business, such as why the season is as long as it is, and why when Maine plays New Hampshire at Manchester, N.H., or Minnesota at St. Paul instead of at the Golden Gophers’ home rink, it’s considered a neutral-ice game as far as the NCAA is concerned.

And why does Division I hockey take nearly two weeks off between its regional tournaments and the Frozen Four, as if letting NCAA basketball’s March Madness run its course will open things up for a flood of public interest to suddenly switch to its sport?

But in a college sports world where many suggest that all games are created equal, hockey lives up to those words.

Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net