2019 University Cup (Lethbridge, AB)

[MiamiHockey]

As always, Alberta and UN are prohibitive favourites.

There is ZERO chance that Lethbridge upsets UNB. It's like an SPHL team facing an AHL team. Shots will likely be 50-10 for UNB.

If Carleton is OUA #3, they have a legitimate shot at upsetting Alberta. Not saying they will, but they have the talent to do so. Carleton outplayed Queen's, and should have won the OUA East. The issue with Carleton has always been their team discipline. They are big and talented, but can be outworked. Consider that they lost TWICE to RMC this year.

Queen's should beat St FX. I see St FX as a team that rode the emotion of their conflict with Acadia to series wins, but their tank was emptied when they met UNB. Perhaps they can get it back, but Queen's is a talented team with good goaltending, and a core of Senior leadership that has been to the UCup before. They beat Ottawa AND Carleton in 4 straight, and should be confident.

Guelph will likely get pasted by Sask.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

Interesting to see on the ENMAX site that tickets for Thursday night are 'on sale'.

All other games (Thursday afternoon and both games on Friday) only come available on the 11th. This implies (to me) early purchases for local Lethbridge fans for their game.

So - it looks like Lethbridge has chosen to play on Thursday night.

(maybe their hoping to cash in on the Golden Bear fans coming for Friday night and the weekend)

I also noticed the men’s World Curling Championships are in Lethbridge at the end of the month. I wonder how much of an impact that will have on the attendance of casual fans. If you only have so much money to spend on entertainment, I can see a lot of people choosing that over the UCup, especially if it’s an Albertan team representing Canada.

 

[AUS Fan]

It could also mean they want Bears fans to buy tickets early for the Thursday game against OUA#3. Nice bit of sleuthing on the ticket sales, but I'll wait for the schedule.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

Just went on Lethbridge’s website and their schedule is showing a game vs. TBA on Thursday, March 14th. It’s looking very likely they are playing that night.

If that’s the case, a few things:

- We all figure they are playing UNB in that game. That means that group will have the extra day while Alberta’s group will need to go 3 in 3.

- We also assume OUA #1/X will be in that pool. They would then be playing Thursday afternoon. We have all saw how tricky those Thursday afternoon games can be, especially after traveling across the country.

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

Just went on Lethbridge’s website and their schedule is showing a game vs. TBA on Thursday, March 14th. It’s looking very likely they are playing that night.

If that’s the case, a few things:

- We all figure they are playing UNB in that game. That means that group will have the extra day while Alberta’s group will need to go 3 in 3.

- We also assume OUA #1/X will be in that pool. They would then be playing Thursday afternoon. We have all saw how tricky those Thursday afternoon games can be, especially after traveling across the country.

You can expect the unexpected in that first game, like Alberta's loss to X in 2003 University Cup, in Freddy. I think that the U of A was undefeated that year prior to that game.

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

Just went on Lethbridge’s website and their schedule is showing a game vs. TBA on Thursday, March 14th. It’s looking very likely they are playing that night.

If that’s the case, a few things:

- We all figure they are playing UNB in that game. That means that group will have the extra day while Alberta’s group will need to go 3 in 3.

- We also assume OUA #1/X will be in that pool. They would then be playing Thursday afternoon. We have all saw how tricky those Thursday afternoon games can be, especially after traveling across the country.

You are right. I can't believe that the host committee would choose to open Thursday night??
I thought for sure that they would pick Friday night game #4.
If they lose, I would think that it will kill some of the Friday gate?

Regardless, it's Bears or The Red Army in game#1.

 

[AUS Fan]

I just saw that too. Interesting that they would open on Thursday. At least UNB gets the night games.

 

[Drummer]

They would then be playing Thursday afternoon. We have all saw how tricky those Thursday afternoon games can be, especially after traveling across the country.

Yup - that Thursday afternoon game has been pretty crazy;
- As mentioned the ALB-SFX game in 2003
- USK vs CAR in 2016 (4 OT periods)
- ALB vs ACD in 2017

and these are the ones I remember off the top.

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

Yup - that Thursday afternoon game has been pretty crazy;
- As mentioned the ALB-SFX game in 2003
- USK vs CAR in 2016 (4 OT periods)
- ALB vs ACD in 2017

and these are the ones I remember off the top.

Alberta and St FX in Halifax 2016, when the Bears blew a 3 goal lead and lost 6-3, but that was Thursday night, I think?

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

OUA bronze medal game.
If Carlton wins this, it would certainly be a better match-up vs #1 Alberta.
They have a physical side that may cause problems for the Bears, if Carlton can remain out of the box??
If Western wins the OUA bronze, they will get their .......s kicked by Alberta!

 

[AdamMcg83]

Waterloo's 2-1 win over Alberta in 2013 was also a Thursday afternoon game.

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

Waterloo's 2-1 win over Alberta in 2013 was also a Thursday afternoon game.

Just in case Bob can't remember. Lol

 

[dale 1919]

I just saw that too. Interesting that they would open on Thursday. At least UNB gets the night games.

so AUS fan
i need to get my tickets in order!

you think
thursday 100pm
AB vs OUA 3
thursday 700pm
Leth vs UNB
friday 100pm
AUS 2 versus OUA 2
friday 700pm
CW 2 and oua 1

 

[Drummer]

Alberta and St FX in Halifax 2016, when the Bears blew a 3 goal lead and lost 6-3, but that was Thursday night, I think?

Close - it was a 2-goal 1st period lead that ended 6-2 for SFX (Thursday Night) - shots were 45-27 for ALB.

Not as bad as ACD losing 6-5 to UQTR in OT when up 5-2 with 10min left in the game (2015 - Friday afternoon)

 

[Drummer]

so AUS fan
i need to get my tickets in order!

you think
thursday 100pm AB vs OUA 3
thursday 700pm Leth vs UNB

friday 100pm AUS 2 versus OUA 2
friday 700pm CW 2 and oua 1

ALB and UNB are on different sides of the tournament and play on different days.

Thur. 1pm - SFX (6) vs OUA #1 (3)
Thur. 7pm - UNB (2) vs LTH (7)

Fri. 1pm - USK (5) vs OUA #2 (4)
Fri. 7pm - ALB (1) vs OUA #3 (8) - just a guess. Makes sense to allow ALB fans time to arrive from out of town

Sat. 1pm - Semi #1 (Thursday Winners)
Sat. 6pm - Semi #2 (Friday Winners)

Sun. 1pm - Bronze
Sun. 6pm - Gold

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

Not a fan of the ranking system for this tournament. So we may be looking at X vs UNB again, in a Saturday semi for the second straight year..
Alberta vs U Sask another possibility. I can tell you one thing, that would be extra motivation for Peddle and company to upset UNB, if they survive game #1.

 

[AUS Fan]

so AUS fan
i need to get my tickets in order!

you think
thursday 100pm
AB vs OUA 3
thursday 700pm
Leth vs UNB
friday 100pm
AUS 2 versus OUA 2
friday 700pm
CW 2 and oua 1

What Drummer said...Are you wearing socks this year? Looking forward to saying hi......

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

I have harped on this every year since they moved to the 8-team tournament...and I am going to do it again.

It continues to boggle my mind why they are so dead-set on keeping the 1/8 and 4/5 match-ups on the same day and the 2/7 and 3/6 match-ups on the opposite day, rather than keep each side of the bracket in the same time-slot while also giving the Thursday winners (ideally the top seeds) a day of rest. This was essentially the set-up for the old 6-team format with the Day/Evening pools and I am not sure why they went away from it.

In a perfect world (ie/ the host had no say when they wanted to play) those tournaments were set-up like this:

Thursday - Pool A #1 vs Pool A #3
Pool B #1 vs Pool B #3

Friday (assuming the two top seeds win) - Pool A #2 vs Pool A #3
Pool B #2 vs Pool B #3

Saturday - Pool A #1 vs Pool A #2
Pool B #1 vs Pool B #2

Sunday - Final

This made sense as it would mean the top two teams would get the advantage of the extra day of rest.

They could easily set-up this format in similar fashion by classifying 1/4/5/8 as the Day/Evening pool and 2/3/6/7 as the opposite. It would look like this :

Thursday - #1 vs #8
#2 vs #7

Friday - #4 vs #5
#3 vs #6

Saturday - 1/8 vs 4/5 semi-final
2/7 vs 3/6 semi-final

Sunday - Final

This would allow the four teams in each "pool" to stay in the same time-window, unlike now. For example, in 2017 UNB played 8PM Thursday night, 12PM Saturday afternoon, and the gold medal game at 1PM on Sunday. Last year it was 7PM on Thursday, 12PM on Saturday, and the bronze medal game at 9:30AM on Sunday.

Or even worse, look at what Alberta's "reward" may be for being the #1 seed this year. Playing three games in the least amount of time possible (Friday night/Saturday/Sunday). Under my proposal they, as the #1 seed, and the #2 seed would start Thursday and get an extra day of rest. I think the top two teams should get that kind of advantage. Instead, now we see one of the top teams basically at the mercy of the host team.

Having said all of this, after looking at the schedule for this year I am happy to see the four days are at least going to feature consistent game-times - 1PM and 7PM for Thursday and Friday, 1PM and 6PM for Saturday and Sunday. Certainly way better than the brutal schedules we had in Fredericton the last two years when the games were something like 1PM/7PM on Thursday and Friday, 12PM/4PM on Saturday, and 9:30am/1PM on Sunday.

 

[AdamMcg83]

Just in case Bob can't remember. Lol

Bob, how many even-strength shots did Waterloo have?

(Look, I know it was six years ago now, but when you represent the best program in the nation, sometimes you have to take a few expired slings and arrows. It's all we have!)

 

[Rob]

I know it will never happen but I would be fine if they just went back to the original 4 team format.
It sure would make the conference finals much meaningful.

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

I have harped on this every year since they moved to the 8-team tournament...and I am going to do it again.

It continues to boggle my mind why they are so dead-set on keeping the 1/8 and 4/5 match-ups on the same day and the 2/7 and 3/6 match-ups on the opposite day, rather than keep each side of the bracket in the same time-slot while also giving the Thursday winners (ideally the top seeds) a day of rest. This was essentially the set-up for the old 6-team format with the Day/Evening pools and I am not sure why they went away from it.

In a perfect world (ie/ the host had no say when they wanted to play) those tournaments were set-up like this:

Thursday - Pool A #1 vs Pool A #3
Pool B #1 vs Pool B #3

Friday (assuming the two top seeds win) - Pool A #2 vs Pool A #3
Pool B #2 vs Pool B #3

Saturday - Pool A #1 vs Pool A #2
Pool B #1 vs Pool B #2

Sunday - Final

This made sense as it would mean the top two teams would get the advantage of the extra day of rest.

They could easily set-up this format in similar fashion by classifying 1/4/5/8 as the Day/Evening pool and 2/3/6/7 as the opposite. It would look like this :

Thursday - #1 vs #8
#2 vs #7

Friday - #4 vs #5
#3 vs #6

Saturday - 1/8 vs 4/5 semi-final
2/7 vs 3/6 semi-final

Sunday - Final

This would allow the four teams in each "pool" to stay in the same time-window, unlike now. For example, in 2017 UNB played 8PM Thursday night, 12PM Saturday afternoon, and the gold medal game at 1PM on Sunday. Last year it was 7PM on Thursday, 12PM on Saturday, and the bronze medal game at 9:30AM on Sunday.

Or even worse, look at what Alberta's "reward" may be for being the #1 seed this year. Playing three games in the least amount of time possible (Friday night/Saturday/Sunday). Under my proposal they, as the #1 seed, and the #2 seed would start Thursday and get an extra day of rest. I think the top two teams should get that kind of advantage. Instead, now we see one of the top teams basically at the mercy of the host team.

Having said all of this, after looking at the schedule for this year I am happy to see the four days are at least going to feature consistent game-times - 1PM and 7PM for Thursday and Friday, 1PM and 6PM for Saturday and Sunday. Certainly way better than the brutal schedules we had in Fredericton the last two years when the games were something like 1PM/7PM on Thursday and Friday, 12PM/4PM on Saturday, and 9:30am/1PM on Sunday.

2017-18 UNB/org committee had no control over the ridiculous times for the bronze and gold medal match, Sportnet dictated the gold medal time slot.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

Carleton takes the final spot with a 3-0 win over Western. I didn’t think they looked that impressive but Brassard was a rock in net.

 

[Eastern Scout]

2017-18 UNB/org committee had no control over the ridiculous times for the bronze and gold medal match, Sportnet dictated the gold medal time slot.

Org Committee didn't have any say in the semi final times either... as these were dictated by Sportsnet. Those schedules were bush league and unfair to the teams competing. UNB and X play at noon in the national semi final... last time these players played at noon was in Midget. Totally unfair to the teams, players, coaches and staffs that work so hard to get there.

The reason 1/8 and 4/5 play on the same day and 3/6 + 2/7 on the other is to maintain some type of competitive balance for the semi finals. You can't have the Thursday early winner playing the Friday night winner on Saturday. If that were the case... the Thursday winner could have a 30Hr rest advantage over Friday winner. Imagine if it was 2016 in Halifax... and Sask was in the Friday night game. It would have ended at 3am on Saturday! Would be a farce to have them play less than 12 hours later against a team that has been resting for 48+ hours.

 

[Rob]

Carleton takes the final spot with a 3-0 win over Western. I didn’t think they looked that impressive but Brassard was a rock in net.

Yeah, the are going to be easy fodder for Alberta.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

The reason 1/8 and 4/5 play on the same day and 3/6 + 2/7 on the other is to maintain some type of competitive balance for the semi finals. You can't have the Thursday early winner playing the Friday night winner on Saturday. If that were the case... the Thursday winner could have a 30Hr rest advantage over Friday winner. Imagine if it was 2016 in Halifax... and Sask was in the Friday night game. It would have ended at 3am on Saturday! Would be a farce to have them play less than 12 hours later against a team that has been resting for 48+ hours.

You would set it up so the early Thursday winner plays the early Friday winner in the first semi-final on Saturday...and the late Thursday winner play the late Friday winner in the second semi-final. This is essentially how the old format worked. In that case, if Saskatchewan played Friday night that year they would have played the Thursday night winner so the rest advantage wouldn't have been quite that big.

I do understand what you are saying though, although I'm not sure you can really prepare for a possible 4 OT game.