�originally private mail, Steve suggests this might add to our
discussions here on Hockey-L..wts�
 
Great article, Steve.  Thanks!
 
I wish I had some ideas.  I really like having 4 more-or-less equal
conferences.  It makes for good comparisons and talk.
 
The local team and the "local" conference will be important to the game
attendees, and that may maximize local involvement and total revenues.
But a super conference has the potential to draw national attention
through participation of the bigger schools (still must expand to other
big-name schools) and have play at the highest level.
 
This sort of sounds like what happened 15-18 years ago in youth hockey
in Eastern Maine.  I was an administrator of a 600+ kid, 7 town
conference.  Some parents wanted their kids to play the best competition
and others were quite happy just to have their kids participate.  As is
quite common and accepted now, we formed "travel" teams that played all
over New England and the Maritimes and downplayed the must-win attitude
somewhat in the remaining house leagues.  That lifted the competition
for the best players and our High School teams became much better and
kids were now able to move on to D-3 ...  and a few here-and-there to
D-1 college hockey.
 
But the reasons we did that in Youth Hockey are not present in the
present D-I.  The Ivies and ECAC limit participation a bit more than
everyone else, but overall all conferences are relatively equal with
good teams and others.
 
What is to be gained by a super conference?  Isn't D-I our current
super conference and D-2/3 the other "house teams"?
 
Just rambling,
wayne
 
Wayne T. Smith                         Systems Group -- CAPS
[log in to unmask]                    University of Maine System
Co-owner of the College Hockey lists - Hockey-L/Info-Hockey-L/Hockey3
 
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