[log in to unmask] wrote:

>After a little research, I have found that in the past 30 years, exactly one
>WCHA team has come to Lynah, DU in 1980 for two games.  Cornell won both
>nights.  For whatever reason, there are no other games played at Lynah.  Since then
>Cornell has played 8 times (including last Sunday) at CC (2), Wis(3),
>UMTC(2), and UND(1) going 2-6.  What does it mean?  Not much except that the teams
>can be competative, and they definitly do not play enough.
>

It isn't for "whatever" reason; it's for money.  And, as much as a lot
of people like to denigrate money as a reason, this isn't all that
surprising or out of bounds.  The fact that the NCAA does some wretched
things motivated by the $$, there are legitimate reasons.

I don't know how it is at Cornell, but the University of Minnesota
athletic department is supposed to be self-supporting.  (I have my
doubts about whether it really is, but that's the theory.)  Because of
that, they need to maximize revenue.  The Gophers can sell out Mariucci
Arena, selling about 10,000 tickets at $25 per.  Because of this (and
they are not unique among western schools) they can pay Cornell's travel
expenses, give them a guarantee of more money than Cornell would get
from selling out Lynah, and still pocket a goodly chunk of change.

Some of the Hockey East schools have recently built arenas large enough
that it makes sense to schedule home-and-homes, and a number of WCHA
schools have been doing so, as the Gophers did with BU the last couple
of seasons.  So long as the ECACHL schools have such tiny rinks, it
would be irresponsible of the Minnesota athletic department to schedule
games there.  Until such time, Cornell plays at Mariucci, they meet at a
neutral site tournament, or they don't play at all.

J. Michael Neal