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NCHC schedule possibilities for 2013-14 and beyond


Dave Berger

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Not to sound like an arrogant Gopher fan that thinks they are better than everyone else, but the SCSU athletic department is a joke. Their football team has been on the verge of being cut for financial reasons for the last few years. They voted a man as their Homecoming Queen and then dumped Homecoming Week because they could not afford it and nobody showed up. They have no NCAA hockey playoff history or success at all. A cash strapped DII school with no tradition that nobody outside of this region has heard of. Why exactly were they brought into the NCHC?

The whole point of leaving the WCHA and forming the NCHC was to have the most successful, visible schools with each other. I, for the life of me, am unable to see how SCSU even remotely fits in with this motive. Instead of Notre Dame we settled for SCSU and a crappy TV contract.

Notre Dame wanted the conference to revolve around them and their "storied past". Hockey East can have them as far as I'm concerned. St. Cloud isn't a great addition, but it gives us an even number of schools and makes scheduling a whole lot easier. And I think it's a sign that they want their hockey program to become greater than what it is.

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Not to sound like an arrogant Gopher fan that thinks they are better than everyone else, but the SCSU athletic department is a joke. Their football team has been on the verge of being cut for financial reasons for the last few years. They voted a man as their Homecoming Queen and then dumped Homecoming Week because they could not afford it and nobody showed up. They have no NCAA hockey playoff history or success at all. A cash strapped DII school with no tradition that nobody outside of this region has heard of. Why exactly were they brought into the NCHC?

The whole point of leaving the WCHA and forming the NCHC was to have the most successful, visible schools with each other. I, for the life of me, am unable to see how SCSU even remotely fits in with this motive. Instead of Notre Dame we settled for SCSU and a crappy TV contract.

I don't mind having SCSU for one reason...recruiting. What makes it so easy for Twin Cities kids to leave the Twin Cities is knowing that their families can still watch them when they play road games within proximitiy to central/eastern Minnesota. Duluth helps, but that's a bit of a hike. Having the closest foothold to the Twin Cities (other than an unattainable option in UMTC), may still persaude some kids to go to schools outside of Minnesota.

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Notre Dame wanted the conference to revolve around them and their "storied past". Hockey East can have them as far as I'm concerned. St. Cloud isn't a great addition, but it gives us an even number of schools and makes scheduling a whole lot easier. And I think it's a sign that they want their hockey program to become greater than what it is.

Why does an even number make scheduling easier? We don't get to play everyone 4 times like we could with 7. The tourney is the only reason 8 is better.

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Why does an even number make scheduling easier? We don't get to play everyone 4 times like we could with 7. The tourney is the only reason 8 is better.

One advantage of having an even number is that all schools can be playing in conference at the same time. With an uneven number the conference would have to let 1 school play non-conference each week, and those games can be difficult to find during large parts of the year.
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One advantage of having an even number is that all schools can be playing in conference at the same time. With an uneven number the conference would have to let 1 school play non-conference each week, and those games can be difficult to find during large parts of the year.

Wasn't there a time when the WCHA and Hockey East only had 7 teams each and that is why they played an inter-locking schedule?
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Wasn't there a time when the WCHA and Hockey East only had 7 teams each and that is why they played an inter-locking schedule?

In the mid-1980's, when the WCHA had only 6 teams, and 7-team Hockey East had just split off from the ECAC so there was a tiff going on, there was a good opportunity for both east and west. As both conferences added members, that ended.

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Wasn't there a time when the WCHA and Hockey East only had 7 teams each and that is why they played an inter-locking schedule?

I don't remember the exact numbers, but you are right that the WCHA and Hockey East had an inter-locking schedule because they both lacked numbers. I believe that it was shortly after the Michigan schools and Notre Dame went to the CCHA.
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In the mid-1980's, when the WCHA had only 6 teams, and 7-team Hockey East had just split off from the ECAC so there was a tiff going on, there was a good opportunity for both east and west. As both conferences added members, that ended.

If I remember right games against Hockey East counted in WCHA standings.
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