>
>Proposition: invite Canadian colleges into the major
>conferences.
 
O.K I guess I'll be the one who tells you why this is a lousy idea. :-)
BTW, I assume you mean the Universities, and not the Community Colleges. :-)
 
>No, I don't know whether any would be interested.
>Perhaps University of Toronto, or Alberta, or some of the
>other historical powers.  Probably you'ld get a large influx
>or none at all, since traditional rivalries are presumably
>important.
>
>I can imagine there would be eligibility questions, but a
>committee of smart people could certainly figure out a
>mutally agreeable compromise between NC$$ and CIAU
>(or is it CI$U?).
 
Well, yes, there is THE big question. Would former Major Junior players be
eligible to play for the Canadian teams? If not, then you've hamstrung the
CIAU teams.
 
>Why do this? For one thing, to raise the profile of
>American college hockey in Canada, in order to attract
>more talented players and improve play generally.  This
>in turn could spur further attention from NHL clubs, thus
>causing more talented players (American and Canadian)
>to choose college over the juniors, and so on.
 
I think you're trying to put out a fire that doesn't exist. Any NHL team that
doesn't look to the NC$$ as a source of talent is hurting itself. From my
experience with Junior A teams, they all know that they can choose to go
either to an NC$$ school or play Major Junior.
 
Since you still would (apparently) ban former Major Junior players, you have
hamstrung the CIAU teams. The CIAU does not have athletic scholarships and the
facilities are no match for those in the NC$$. The main reason that CIAU
teams can play against NC$$ teams is that they can draw from the CHL (Major
Junior).
 
I can't see why a Canadian team would want to move. The travel costs would
just increase, and if CHL players can't play, they would be uncompetitive.
 
There is a quantum difference between University sports in the US and Canada.
In Canada, it is very much a secondary thing. There is no such thing as a
"revenue sport" in Canada. A varsity team in Ontario is run on a budget of
about $100,000/year. I'm sure that NC$$ schools spend more in some months. :-)
University hockey is not on TV here, except for the University Cup, and the
odd playoff game. There is some football on TV, but certainly no 100,000
seat stadia packed to the rafters. In a lot of cases, varsity sports here are
a "friends and family" thing.
 
See you later,
John
 
--
John C.K. Edwards         Stats Geek, Ottawa Jr. Senators (CJHL, Jr. A)
Poli Sci/Law III                  It must be the pretzels!
CUSA Arts/SS Rep  [log in to unmask]      [log in to unmask]
Ottawa, ON       Unfortunately, my opinions aren't those of CUSA or Carleton U.