The Hockey News reports that among the limitations to be placed on
    the Union hockey team with its entry into Division I is an overall
    25-game limit.  This is supposedly necessary because of the limit
    in Division III, but as we all know there are other Division II or
    III schools with hockey teams in Div I that do not have to adhere to
    these limits.  I disagree with the school forcing the team to hold
    to 25 games for a number of reasons:
 
    1) I believe that playing schools from outside your conference is one
        way for college hockey to become more of a nationally recognized
        sport.  Thus far, Hockey East, the CCHA, the WCHA, the independents,
        and half the ECAC has become involved in this venture, while the
        Ivies and now Union have remained in the dark ages.
 
    2) Playing a number of nonleague games, especially against good teams
        from around the nation, helps your team improve itself because it
        is exposed to a wide variety of play.  Many coaches have learned
        new techniques/ideas from seeing their team perform against strong
        competition outside the league.  For example, I don't think many
        Cornell fans would argue that their team was worse off for having
        played Lake Superior, even though they lost a close game.  The
        best example of this point is Hockey East's interlocking schedule
        with the WCHA from 1984-1989.  The league as a whole clearly
        improved over the late 1980s.  This is another reason HE has not
        expanded its league schedule from 21 to 28 games - it gives teams
        an opportunity to schedule more nonleague games.
 
    3) With the 22-game ECAC schedule, Union will only be able to schedule
        three nonleague games.  They will likely play in one tournament
        (will they continue to play in the RPI Invitational?), leaving ONE
        other game.
 
    4) Playing more nonleague games gets your team more exposure which
        benefits your team in many ways: recruiting, fan interest, school
        interest, etc.  It also gives the NCAA Selection Committee a basis
        on which to rate your team with others when deciding who will play
        in the Div I tourney.  I think there's little doubt that if Union
        has not changed this policy by the time their team becomes an ECAC
        power, it will hurt them when the postseason rolls around.  A
        Michigan/Maine/Wisconsin that has proved itself against other top
        teams will get the edge over Union.
 
    5) From having watched the evolution of Merrimack over the past two years,
        I am more and more impressed with the way the school and coaching
        staff have handled the transition.  A key factor in how a team performs
        is the morale of the players.  Even though Merrimack was a dismal 3-18
        in Hockey East last year, the nonleague schedule was almost entirely
        made up of teams Merrimack could play with and often beat; their
        nonleague record was 7-6-1.  10-24-1 looks a little better than 3-18,
        but Union's record (like the Ivies) will almost entirely consist of its
        ECAC record, and if they struggle, they could be looking at a Dartmouth-
        like record.  Bob Gross has already commented to me in private mail
        about how tough the season has been on Dartmouth.  (I think Dartmouth
        has a bright future and a lot to look forward to.)  Last year, winning a
        few nonleague games helped bring up the morale of the players at
        Merrimack.  I think scheduling some winnable nonleague games would be in
        Union's best interests over the next few years.
 
    So far, it seems to me that Union has been trying very hard to do things
    right.  That's very commendable.  But if they aren't ready to really commit
    to fielding a Division I program, they should not have made the move.  I
    know they are concerned about the academic/athletic balance, and they've
    tried to maintain that.  Yet I don't see where forcing the team to play
    only 25 games comes in.  THN seemed to suggest that this was required
    because the rest of Union's sports are in Div III, but that sounds
    ridiculous to me, because the hockey team will be in Div I.  Again, you
    must either commit all the way or forget it.  The only people that
    will get hurt will be the players, coaches, and the rest of the team
    when Union has to drop back down within several years because the
    administration held them back.
 
 
    - mike