What is the value of the regular season?
The Interscholastic League fosters participation in sports, which is great, but it should also foster a higher level of competition in its state tournaments.
Take Division I in girls hockey. Four teams -- Bay View, Mount St. Charles, Barrington and Lincoln/PCD -- participate, and all four make the playoffs. So what's the point of the regular season? To play 18 games for seeding purposes? Shouldn't there be some incentive, like making the playoffs? How about having four teams play for three playoff berths and the second and third seeds meeting for the right to play the top seed for the champiopnship?
Here's another question. Should the Interscholastic League establish a minimum qualification for post-season play? Lincoln School/PCD will finish 0-18 unless it upsets Bay View Froday night but is still in the playoffs. Does that make sense?
The RIIL hockey committee considered a proposal to have one nine-team league with the top four finishers making the playoffs. The two winners would play for the state championship. The losers would play the fifth and sixth-place teams in a mini-tournament for a so-called Division II title. Three teams would not make the playoffs. It's not perfect, but it would make the playoffs more interesting, especially this year with Division II La Salle and North Smithfield having competitive teams.
The committee decided to stay with the existing format. Oh well, there's always next year.
Posted by Mike Szostak 
at 10:59 AM | Permalink
| Comments (1)
Your analysis and remarks make sense, but the most egregious example might very well be at the top of boys hockey. Tollgate has managed to score 18 goals in 19 games, and has been outscored in league games 83 to 9, including seven shutouts. They have also been outscored in crossover games by nearly 2 to 1, by apparently 'inferior' teams. Last night vs. Mount they had 4 shots on goal for the game. How is Tollgate a "playoff team", and when will the Interscholastic League acknowledge that they have a huge problem with the boys' hockey league in terms of talent disparity?