Are all of those holiday tournaments that someone listed four team, two day
affairs?
 
I always thought that the two day format was kind of silly; it seems odd to
award such an important-looking trophy as the GLI championship trophy to a
team that wins two games.  In addition (and this may not be the case in
other tournaments), the GLI is hosted by three teams--MSU, MTU and UofM, and
that allows for only one additional team to be able to appear here each year.
Last year it was Maine and this year it's Harvard, but sometimes it's Western
Michigan, a team that both Michigan and Michigan State see four times a year
anyway.
 
So, for a couple of years, I've been wondering why the GLI doesn't expand to
an eight team tournament.  They'd only have to add two days.  They could play
the quarter and semifinals on consecutive nights and then allow an off day
before the championship game.  This sort of format would allow for some
interesting tournaments, for instance MTU, MSU, Michigan, Clarkson, Harvard,
LSSU, Minnesota, and Alaska-Anchorage sounds like a great lineup.
 
Think the tournament committee would go for it?
 
Could that tournament generate enough money to satisfy eight athletic
departments?  Would Detroit-area college hockey fans attend a championship
game that didn't guarantee a participant from Michigan?  Would teams travel
this far with only a guarantee of one game?  What would a college hockey team
do with an off day in Detroit?
 
Just kind of wondering...
 
 
P. Grochowski
Univ o' Michigan
GO BLUE