Losses Hurt NCAA Chances

DETROIT, Mich.--The good news for the Harvard men's hockey team is that its two tough losses to nationally-ranked Michigan and Michigan State in the Great Lakes Invitational won't affect that Crimson's ECAC conference position.

The bad news is that the defeats will affect the team's NCAA tournament chances. Harvard missed a chance to make a positive statement to the NCAA Tournament selection committee in the Detroit games.

While an automatic bid is issued to the winner of the ECAC title, the other atlarge bids are decided by the selection committee. In choosing which teams to invite to the post-season party, heavy weight is given to a team's performance against non-conference teams.

By losing two non-conference games at the GLI, Harvard didn't help its post-season aspirations. "You don't get that many chances to prove yourself in outside [conference] games," Harvard Captain Kevin Sneddon said.

Despite the fact that both of Harvard's losses were extremely competitive, Harvard Coach Ronn Tomassoni doesn't believe they will help the team at all.

"You gotta win to help. L's don't count," said Tomassoni. "Your out-of-conference record means an awful lot when it comes to the NCAA. This tournament was a great opportunity. Now we'll just have to work hard."

Senior forward Tim Burke believed the team learned from its Detroit experience.

"It's a lot tougher out here. Much more physical," Burke noted. "If we can take this style of play back east, we'll be in real good shape."

Burke, for one, sees a simple solution to the problem of impressing the NCAA selection committee.

"If we go and win the ECAC, they don't have any choice but to take us," Burke said. "That's what we should be concentrating on right now."