https://www.hockeyhousepod.com/articles/a-dummies-guide-to-the-echa-autobid-lsdg1h9i

PHILADELPHIA, PA., 02/08/2024— Welp, it’s that time of year folks. The playoff push is underway, and all hell is about to break loose across the ACHA and AAU College Hockey. That being said, no conference across both leagues has been as crazy as the ECHA so far this season. As I mentioned earlier in the year on the podcast, the ECHA was going to be a true wildcard this year when it comes to deciding who will be getting the all-important auto-bid to the ACHA National Tournament. Being one of the few remaining conferences that hands its auto-bid to the regular season champs, we are in for an absolute TREAT as we head into the final weekend of conference play.

At the beginning of the season, it seemed like it was going to be all Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks came out of the gates hot, getting off to the strongest start in program history at 13-4-2 (4-2-2). However, we quickly learned that everyone was going to beat everyone and there wasn’t going to be a clear runaway favorite. Things changed when George Mason got off on a hot streak of their own, picking up some notable road wins with a 3-0 shutout against reigning regular season and playoff runner-up Villanova, and a 5-3 win over the reigning playoff champion in West Chester.

Most surprisingly though, has been the lackluster performance of the United States Naval Academy, arguably the strongest program in the ECHA with too many regular season and playoff championships to count. Currently, the Midshipmen are sitting in second to last place ahead of Towson with only FOUR in conference wins in thirteen games. Last season, they were undefeated which makes this situation even more mind-boggling. If Temple wins even one game this weekend, they’ll miss conference playoffs for the first time in God knows how long.

Anyways, since taking over the Mountain Hawks position in first, it has been George Mason’s show, until this upcoming weekend. Currently, we have a three-horse race for first place in the ECHA between GMU, West Chester, and William Paterson and there are some wild scenarios for all these teams to punch their ticket to St. Louis. While there are a couple of weird scenarios for each team, I’m only going to focus on the most likely scenarios.

(Watch George Mason squeak by after WCU loses two OT games even though they’ll be tied in points. We saw it last year; my Villanova Wildcats got the two seed in the first coin-flip tie-breaker in ECHA history)

WEST CHESTER: The Most Likely Champs

If I’m being honest, the Golden Rams have got this in the bag. They sit in second place with 26 points at 7-2-2-1. Yes, they may complain about us not posting about them enough on Instagram, so to appease them, here’s an entire paragraph written by a Villanova guy absolutely glazing them.

Since starting in-conference play later than anyone else, this team has proved itself as a national tournament team with big wins over staple M1 programs like Pitt and URI, even competing for an at-large bid in the rankings at one point. In conference, they have steamrolled through everyone (except Villanova, we went to OT twice with you and split) with a whopping +32 goal differential. All the Rams need to do is sweep next weekend, or win one game next weekend in reg and hope that Villanova beats William Paterson at least once (in reg or OT) and they’re off to Maryland Heights. With Lehigh and Temple on the slate for the upcoming weekend, this should be pretty straightforward for WCU having beat both teams 3-2 and 6-5 respectively.

GEORGE MASON: Eh, it’s possible….not really

Sitting pretty in first place with 28 points and having played all 14 conference games, the Patriot's destiny is in the hands of the rest of the conference. Prior to this weekend, all GMU needed was one win over West Chester or Villanova and the regular season championship was theirs. However, they failed to do so, losing 3-1 to the Rams, and still failing to beat Villanova in their own building in a 5-4 shootout loss. In order for Mason to make their way out west, they’ll need both William Paterson and West Chester to get swept in either OT or regulation and they’ll be on their way.

WILLIAM PATERSON: Livin’ on a Prayer

So here’s the one that is just not likely at all, and the one that I have a say in (not like I really care who goes to nationals, but it’s fun to play spoiler I guess). In third place with 23 points and two games left to play, Willy P needs A LOT of help to get in. Like every team in the ECHA, the Pio’s have had some big wins over teams like West Chester but have dropped some pretty bad losses to Temple 8-6, George Mason 9-3, and Navy 3-2 (PICKETT WITH THE GOAL! PICKETT WITH THE GOAL! 3-2, 3-2 NAVY!). So, in order for the Pioneers to get through, they need to sweep Villanova in regulation this weekend and hope for both Lehigh and Temple to beat West Chester this weekend in reg or OT. One loss or OT win for Willy P and it’s all over. This scenario’s not likely to happen, but I’m saying there’s a chance.

After rattling all of this off, it just came to me that this will be the last time we will see the ECHA send its representative to nationals based on the regular season champ and it’s bittersweet (more sweet than bittah, bittah than sweet- Big Head Todd & The Monsters). While it’s great that the playoff champ is going to be the auto-bid next season, it sucks a bit to lose the chaos that comes with the final weekend of conference play. Like the last day of the Premier League, it’s filled with drama, excitement, tears, and immense joy and I’m really going to miss that in the years to come.

So, buckle up and get ready, because we got a wild weekend of hockey ahead of us.