I would be opposed to changing the WCHA format or schedule any
differently to accomidate 2 Alaskan teams. If Fairbanks joins the WCHA
it would be ridiculous for any team to travel to Alaska twice to play
both teams. So looking at how the WCHA roadmap would look like is
puzzling. You could have a team dominate the 3 other teams, for instance
"just as an example" Say that Colorado College will go undefeated in the
12 games that they play against thier 3 rivals (UAA, UAF, Denver). The
WCHA will lose its cohesiveness and competition. You will end up having
3 top heavy teams with artificial records representing there distinctive
geographic region. Standings would mean very little in the WCHA, until
the playoffs. I would hate to see NMU only get to play Wisconsin and
Minnesota 2 games each instead of the usual 4, these are some of the
best rivalries and provide the league with some of its best games. Its
time for the NCAA to sit down and look at the Pacific Northwest and see
how many colleges have division II or club status teams and put together
a plan for the future and perhaps form another NCAA Division I league in
the Pacific Northwest.