> If holding first round and possibly q-final matches on campus extends the
> tourney to 3 weekends (allowing travel time), is that necessarily a bad
> thing.
 
An important thing to remember (which was a hot topic at the begining of
the season) is that the players are also student, or more appropriately,
they are students who play hockey.  They still have to attend classes and
exams take.  A case in point was 1991 the last year before the Regionals
(I not saying that this case was the sole reason for the change, but it
and similar situations may have led to the concept).  Clarkson goes on
the road to LSSU for the q-finals.  The team usually leaves Thursday
for away games, but due to the distance (15 hour bus ride), I believe
they left on Wednesday.  The series went to 3 games (Sunday night), with
a long ride home Sunday night/Monday morning.  After winning that
q-final, they then had to get on a plane and fly to St. Paul MN for the
semi-finals 2 days later on Wednesday.  There was no time in those 2
weeks for being a student.
 
How do the Western schools (Denver, CC, UAA, UAF) handle this lengthy
travel problem during the regular season?
 
> **2)  Most importantly - Most of us agree that College Hockey deserves
> more publicity and that better national TV coverage of the Final Four is
> a big step.  Having it a week after the b-ball Final Four, instead of
> competing against it, can only help.  How many more people would have
> watched the "game-of-the century" between Maine and Michigan last year if
> it was not up against a Final Four b-ball game?  Getting more people to
> see games like that one is the easiest way to grow the sport.
 
I remember 1992 finals in Albany.  I kept looking over my shoulder at the
TV in one of the private boxes to see the score of the Michigan-Duke
basketball game.  You are correct, to compete against such a well
established and hyped event as the Basketball Final Four is an uphill
climb.  Could competition with the basketball tournament be the reason
for the hockey finals have been shifted to the afternoon recently.
 
those are my thoughts
 
Kevin
 
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