Til Death Do Us Part

Before TigerBlog gets to the ECAC hockey standings, he first wants to tell a family story that has him a bit freaked out.

FatherBlog had a first cousin named David, and he was married for 61 years to a woman named Minnie. They were a kind, friendly couple, the kind TB saw at extended family gatherings like weddings and such. In all the time he knew them, TB can't remember either ever saying or doing anything that could be construed as anything but nice.

Anyway, Minnie passed away earlier this week, at the age of 83. Then, two days later, David (who had not been sick) died as well. Married for 61 years, apart for two days.

TigerBlog has heard many stories about married couples who had been together for such long periods of time who passed away close to each other. TigerBlog remembers being at Mrs. Zucker's mother's funeral a few months after he father's and seeing her hear one time too many that her mother had "died of a broken heart" before she lashed out; ironically, it was Mr. Zucker who would die similarly many years later, a few months after Mrs. Zucker.

Still, in the case of David and Minnie, it was two days apart. Yes, it is sad that they both passed away, but there are worse ways to end up than being married for 61 years and dying two days apart.

TB wanted to share that story, partly to say goodbye to David and Minnie and partly because he's not sure why it happens. Is the mind that strong that it can take the body with it in such a fashion? It must be.

Anyway, thanks for indulgence.

As for the ECAC hockey standings, Princeton went into the exam break in second place, but that wasn't a very good indication of where the Tigers stood, since the rest of the league would be playing as many as four league games while Princeton was off.

Princeton got on the bus yesterday to head to the north country to take on St. Lawrence and Clarkson this weekend, and it did so tied for third. In reality, it's a better sign for Princeton than being in second was three weeks ago.

As an aside, Princeton qualifies for "north country" status these days. And TB just heard that there's another "significant snowfall" on the radar for next week.

If TB told you that the ECAC hockey standings had Colgate in first, Harvard in second and St. Lawrence in third, you'd figure that was simply business as usual. Instead, those three rank 10-11-12, as in the bottom three, right now.

At the other end? It's No. 1 Yale in first, followed by Union in second and then Princeton and Dartmouth tied for fourth.

TB assumes that the average Yale fan is okay with how things are going, by the way, as much with where the Crimson are as with where the Bulldogs are.

The point totals are like this:
Yale 20
Union 17
Princeton/Dartmouth 15
RPI 14
Clarkson/Cornell 13
Quinnipiac 12
Brown 11
St. Lawrence 6
Harvard 4
Colgate 2

The goal is to be in the top four, which earns a first-round bye in the ECAC playoffs and makes the path to a potential NCAA tournament berth more attainable. Princeton's RPI currently is 18, which is actually fifth among ECAC teams, behind Yale (1), Union (10), RPI (11) and Dartmouth (15).

On the other hand, Princeton plays Union and RPI twice each still, including games at Baker Rink next weekend, while also playing at Dartmouth and home with Yale.

The ECAC regular season ends Feb. 26, which means the Tigers now have 10 league games in a 29-day stretch that starts tonight.

At the very least, the goal is to be in eighth place or better, to get a home series in the first round. Mathematically, it'll be hard for Princeton not to be at least eighth.

But sitting in third in late January, the Tigers' goals can be set a little higher.

Princeton hockey in the last few years has given its fans some of the greatest moments in the history of the program, and there have been more home playoff games at Baker Rink of late than there were in the decades that predated this run combined.

It's easy to forget that there were years when Princeton hockey was playing out the string in late February, locked into a road playoff series to open the playoffs and hoping against hope to capture some magic.

TigerBlog has said before and will repeat it that Baker Rink could be Princeton's best athletic venue, with the action directly in front of the fans and with high-quality, competitive games the norm.

Princeton hasn't played a league game in three weeks; tonight is the start of five straight Friday/Saturday games to end the regular season, with at least one guaranteed playoff round, almost surely at home.

Starting tonight, Princeton is playing to see if it can get a week off before having to start the playoffs.

From there, anything is possible. A year ago, a group of Tigers in orange and black made the NCAA Final Four - the ones from RIT.

Maybe some day a different group will get there as well, the ones from Princeton.

Will it this be this year? Maybe not, but there's no harm in dreaming big.