Arthur Mintz writes:
 
>       Talk of sending the four conference champions to the NCAA
> tournament is nice, but remember that it is by accident, not by
> design, that there are four conferences. When I started watching
> college hockey, back in 1967, there were just two conferences,
> the WCHA and the ECAC. Then the CCHA came along, then Hockey
> East. What do you when the next conference (perhaps the Ivy
> League, God forbid) comes along?
 
Hmmm, let's see.  There appears to be no way, or no good reason for that
matter, to prevent the formation of new conferences.  The four-team
tournament does not pose a problem until a new conference is formed.
If the four-team format is a great success, it could serve as a deterrent
to the formation of new conferences.  If the format becomes nonviable or
less satisfactory than its predecessors, other formats should be explored.
 
-- Erik