5 of 6 points is good for the conference standings

5 of 6 points is good for the conference standings
by wearendhockey (2019-01-27 10:16:51)

but the tie last night cost the Irish a couple of spots in the PWR. It's as if the NCAA bubble has a tractor beam on us. A tie against OSU on the road would likely have the reverse effect on our PWR but against a team far out of contention at home it's like an anchor.

2-4-1 at home in the conference ain't gettin' it done, nor is an overall .500 record on campus. Our only sweep at home is against the worst team we will likely to play all season. we've almost reversed the old college hockey adage of sweeping at home and splitting on the road. with two home series left (3 counting the postseason, as long as we finish well in the conference) Notre Dame might not be able to afford to drop any more points at home.

A huge opportunity awaits Notre Dame next weekend in Columbus. OSU is within range, 4 points ahead. Jackson looks to be leaning on Cale Morris as the season heads into the stretch drive. OSU likely will keep the tandem action going with both Romeo and Nappier seeing the ice. Tommy Nappier is atop all the important statistical categories for goalies in, with Morris right behind him. Wins against OSU would give our PWR a huge boost. If we're not getting it done at home we better to continue to do so on the road.

I'm not a fan of the NCAA bubble because this program has never made an NCAA tournament when conference tournaments were what made the difference. One way or another, we might be off the bubble after next weekend.

We’ve been a 4 seed at least twice

So I feel like we’ve been on the right side of the bubble before.

That being said..if last year is any indication...the bubble can burst for a lot of teams

Being a 4 seed is OK with me.

We're something like 6-3 as a #4 seed. It's just that if the conference tournaments roll around and we have not already cemented a spot in the NCAAs, we don't have a track record of playing our way in.

In 2008 we were only 2-3 in CCHA tournament play and still made it in, albeit as the last at-large. I just don't want the team to be 16th, 17th or 18th in the PWR following the last regular season game and find they need to make a run to the conference final, or win the whole thing, just to get in.

If we are 14 or below before the tourneys start

We will need to win the tourney to get in. The B1G rankings are so bad this year that we’re going to stay the same for wins and lose 3-4 spots for a loss. A loss to OSU in the final would probably put us right where we started 14, 15, etc and that’s not going to be good enough.