Paul Grochowski writes:
>I read in *Hockey News* that Hockey East plans to split into two divisions
>so that they can schedule more league games and thereby save travel costs.
>Doesn't it seem like inter-league play would lead to more interest in
>college hockey and therefore benefit college hockey in the long run?
 
While I would prefer to see more inter-league play, there are too many
factors that weigh against it.  Two of the big ones are travel costs and
attendance.  These helped kill the interlocking schedule between the WCHA
and HE.  Although some of us here would like to see more nonleague games,
the hard facts are that fans do not turn out for them.  With many schools
being hit hard by the economy, money is a big factor, and if schools can
save money by decreasing travel costs and make money by scheduling more
league games that draw fans, they don't have much of a choice other than
to do it.
 
BTW, another reason HE is scheduling more league games is the perception
that other leagues will not be decreasing their league schedules and so
there won't be enough nonleague games to go around.
 
 
- mike