There's one more year left on the contract between ECAC Hockey and the Times Union Center to keep the league's tournament championship round in Albany. The tournament has been here since 2003, when it was moved from Lake Placid.
Neither side has had formal negotiations to renew the contract, but both ECACH commissioner Steve Hagwell and TU Center Bob Belber will be talking soon about a new deal.
Now, I know there are ECACH fans who would love to see the tournament leave Albany and move somewhere else, preferably back to Lake Placid, where the championship round was played from 1993-2002.
During separate interviews before Saturday's games at the TU Center, Hagwell and Belber acknowledged that there are other venues interested in hosting the ECACs. Hagwell wouldn't divulge which arenas were interested, but Belber said he heard Lake Placid and The Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn., where the NCAA tournament East Regional will be held this weekend.
There may be other venues interested. But my suggestion is that the tournament should stay in Albany.
For starters, Albany is centrally located for all the teams. No one has an over four-hour trip.
Second, for all the charm and quaintness of Lake Placid, it is difficult to drive around town. But, more importantly, the coaches don't want to decide their championship playing on an Olympic ice sheet (200 feet long by 100 feet wide) when most of the league's rinks are 15 feet shorter in width.
Bridgeport? It may be closer to Quinnipiac and Yale, but it's not an ideal location for the rest of the league.
Of course, it seems like the tournament has been cursed since it moved to the TU Center. It never seems like the right mix of teams get here. RPI and Union have yet to play in the semifinals here.
But the games, especially Friday's dramatic turnarounds in the semifinals, should make fans want to come out to the games. However, all I hear from the fans is complaints about the prices. What the fans have to realize that if you divide the cost of the ticket by the four games, you are getting a great deal.
I don't expect too many hurdles when the Belber and Hagwell start talking soon. If there is one suggestion I can make, bring back the Fan Fest. You need to have a party atmosphere outside the arena.
Video interviews
I have extensive video interviews with Belber and Hagwell, which were conducted prior to Saturday's games. Hagwell addressed other league issues. To see it, click
here.
For the Belber interview, click here.
Daily Gazette ECAC Hockey team of the week — Yale
The final award of the season goes to the Bulldogs for winning their first ECACH tournament title. After coming back with two goals in the final two minutes to beat St. Lawrence in the semifinals, 4-3, Yale rolled to a 5-0 win over Cornell in the final.
I think the Bulldogs will be a dangerous team in the NCAA tournament.
Cook scores
Union senior Matt Cook scored his first professional goal Saturday, helping the Idaho Steelheads to a 7-1 ECHL victory over the Victoria Salmon Kings.
Cook scored 2:08 into the second period, giving the Steelheads a 2-0 lead. It proved to be the game-winning goal.
Cook is wearing No. 20, the same number he wore for the Dutchmen.
Dutchmen defenseman Brendan Milnamow played in two games for the Steelheads. He had a penalty, and was a plus-2.
The polls
Boston University jumped back ahead of Notre Dame in the final USCHO.com/CBS College Sports top-20 poll.
Final USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I Men's Poll
Team (First Place) Record Pts Last Week
1 Boston University (27) 31- 6-4 977 2
2 Notre Dame (23) 31- 5-3 973 1
3 Michigan 29-11-0 882 3
4 Denver 23-11-5 832 4
5 Yale 24- 7-2 803 7
6 Northeastern 25-11-4 727 5
7 North Dakota 24-14-4 661 6
8 Minnesota-Duluth 21-12-8 621 17
9 Cornell 21- 9-4 578 9
10 Princeton 22-11-1 541 8
11 Vermont 20-11-5 506 10
12 New Hampshire 19-12-5 465 11
13 Miami 20-12-5 399 12
14 Ohio State 23-14-4 243 18
15 St. Lawrence 21-12-5 239 14
16 Mass.-Lowell 20-16-2 228 19
17 Wisconsin 20-16-4 201 16
18 Air Force 27-10-2 192 NR
19 Minnesota 17-13-7 175 13
20 Boston College 18-14-5 150 15
Others receiving votes: Colorado College 44, Bemidji State 26, Northern Michigan 25, Alaska 9, St. Cloud State 2, Dartmouth 1.
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses)
Rank School Last Week's Ranking 2008-09 Record Weeks in Top 15
1 Boston University, 498 (22) 1 31-6-4 24
2 University of Notre Dame, 488 (12) 2 31-5-3 24
3 University of Michigan, 438 3 29-11-0 24
4 University of Denver, 400 4 23-11-5 24
5 Yale University, 370 7 24-7-2 8
6 Northeastern University, 336 6 25-11-4 21
7 University of North Dakota, 272 5 24-14-4 15
8 University of Minnesota Duluth, 258 NR 21-12-8 2
9 Cornell University, 232 10 21-9-4 18
10 University of Vermont, 186 9 20-11-5 19
11 Princeton University, 176 8 22-11-1 23
12 University of New Hampshire, 168 12 19-12-5 23
13 Miami (Ohio) University, 108 13 20-12-5 24
14 University of Massachusetts Lowell, 34 NR 20-16-2 1
15 U.S. Air Force Academy, 29 NR 27-10-2 10
Others receiving votes: The Ohio State University, 28; University of Minnesota, 23; St. Lawrence University, 18; University of Wisconsin, 10; Northern Michigan University, 8.
Final Monday blog
This is my final College Hockey Slap Schotts blog of the season. I hope you enjoyed it. I look forward to doing it again next season.
