>The biggest
>problem I see is the potential travel problems between pairs host schools on
>a given weekend.  Minneapolis--Madison and Duluth--Grand Forks are both 260
>mile trips.  Winter storms could cause some difficult travel.
 
 
Maybe they aren't proposing travelling BETWEEN travel partners, but
an organization that just makes scheduling easier. Maybe when Tech
goes to Colorado for 2, then Denver will go to NMU for two. That is,
when N-1-a hosts, N-1-b the partner) travels. "Scheduling partners"
would be a better term.
 
Using Erik's breakdown, let's see what Wisconsin's schedule might be:
 
 
All are 2 games series.
 
         AT              HOME
West     UAA             UAF
         CC              DU
North    Tech            NMU
         Duluth          UND
Central  Minn            Minn
         SCSU            SCSU
         MSU             MSU
       --------        --------
         14              14
 
The following season, reverse the home and away columns. This makes 1 trip
to Alaska and 1 trip to Colorado each year for teams in the North &
Central, just as the story indicates.
 
For play-offs, you can do any number of crazy things, including
wild card berths. I won't touch it.
 
No inside info here; I am just speculating. But I assume that if
the plans we come up with here on hockey-l are significantly
better than what UAF has already proposed, then Ric Schafer will
forward them on to the UAF folks. (half smiley)
 
Keith