Greetings -

  Thanks to all who responded so quickly to my earlier query re: whether
the 'Alaska Exemption' was still is effect.  In follow-up, here's some
further thoughts on various (on/off-line) responses:

On Thu, 3 Jan 2002, Bill Fenwick wrote:
>> Are regular season CCHA/WCHA games vs. UAA and/or UAF played in Alaska
>> exempt for the visiting team (I hadn't thought so) ??
>
> A quick look at the other WCHA team schedules convinces me that regular-
> season games in Alaska are still exempt for the visiting (non-Alaska)
> team.

  As Homer would say - "doh" .... I should've thought to examine the other
WCHA schedules for confirmation, but somehow this simple 'ground-truthing'
step eluded me :-(  Thanks, Bill, for taking the time to clean up after
me :-)

> Colorado College -- 36 (2 @ UAA)
> Denver           -- 36 (2 @ UAA)
> MSU-Mankato      -- 36 (2 @ UAA)
> Michigan Tech    -- 36 (2 @ UAA)
> Minnesota        -- 37 (2 @ UAA + Hall of Fame game is exempt
> Minnesota-Duluth -- 38
>   !?!  I'm guessing on this one... they played two at Alaska-Anchorage,
>   plus they played in the Maverick Stampede on 10/12 and 10/13, and I'm
>   thinking that was exempt also, since it was the same weekend as the
>   Icebreaker

  As I recall, the controversy re: exemption of the Maverick Stampede
games was discussed earlier last Spring over on USCHO.  I don't remember
all the gory details (perhaps Ben F. can chime in with an update), but
it seems that the bottom line = the Stampede would retain its exemption
*THIS* year, but that would no longer be the case in future years ....

> North Dakota -- 35 (Hall of Fame game)
> Wisconsin    -- 36 (2 @ UAA)
> St. Cloud    -- 37
>   Two games at Alaska-Anchorage, and the Icebreaker is exempt, so hey,
>   they have an opening available...

Nathan Hampton chimes in with:
> Originally, we had two games scheduled vs U Mass Amherst. The Saturday
> game was changed to a game vs the US National Team. Probably to keep
> under the limit?

  Well, as Bill points out, such a game would've been well within the
rules to keep on the schedule, so some other rule obviously came into
play.  Is there an NC$$ edict limiting the *maximum* number of allowable
games (exhibitions + 34 RS + exemptions) per year ??  If Coach Dahl
*really* wanted to play the National Team to showcase the SCSU facilties/
program to future recruits, perhaps the UMA game was jettisoned to meet
such a 'maximum games' rule.  Anyone know ??

Craig Roberts rejoins:
> I know the old NCAA rule used to be trips to Alaska and/or Hawaii for
> games could be exempt, but only once every four years. I don't know if
> that rule applies to league games every year or every four years but,
> obviously, those games are exempt for SCSU this year.

  Well, it seems that the 'Alaska Exemption' does apply *each* year.  My
understanding is that the 'once every four years' rule does still apply
to the HoF game and certain Tournaments (most notably the IceBreaker, but
perhaps other exempted Tournaments like the Stampede as well) ....

Jeffrey Partnow provides some illuminating history:
> Yep, games [in Alaska] continue to be exempt, though the need for the
> exemption is less clear, now that UAA and UAF are accepted members of
> the WCHA and CCHA, respectively. The initial intent was to provide
> impetus for teams from "America" to play up here, but, now that Alaska
> is just another road trip, it seems that many coaches are finagling the
> exemption into a mechanism to (a) schedule extra games, and (b) try to
> make them home games to increase program revenue.

  You can't really blame the coaches for (a), but (b) is another story.
I remember this being an issue last season out in AA when UNH played in
the IceBreaker at Yost.  Berenson/Michigan evidently pushed the envelope
a bit too far re: the 'spirit' of the rule (something about exempted
games in Alaska + a two-game set with Merrimack), and the NCAA responded
by stripping a game from the Wolverines *this* year, a move nicely parried
by the Maize 'n Blue when they agreed to play in the (exempted) 'Cold
War' game vs. MSU.  UNH was also stripped of two games several seasons
ago as punishment for having mistakenly scheduled/played too many games
the preceding year ....

> Interestingly, UAA and UAF don't get any exempted games for playing one
> another, so we're stuck at 34 plus the odd exhibition, while our
> opponents get to play in the GLI, the Mariucci Classic, Everblades,
> etc. as a reward for the "hardship" of traveling to a place that is
> more readily accessible than either Marquette or the Soo. Go figure.

  Inertia is a powerful force, that once set in motion is darn near
impossible to resist :-)

> And, yes Jim, there's darn near as much snow in the Solomons as there
> is in Fairbanks this winter.

  This morning's predicted 'dusting' of snow somehow metamorphosed into
5-6 inches of fluffy powder instead.  It ain't nothing like the 7 *feet*
of snow dumped on Buffalo last week (next year's Frozen Four could be a
real adventure <grin>), but it's sure pretty :-)

  Cheers from the Solomons Winter Wonderland - Jim