Erik Biever <[log in to unmask]> writes:
>Tony Buffa writes:
>
>>I know this is a dead horse, but I still find it absolutely amazing that
>>some of these teams play only THREE non-conf games!!
>
>And he's right, it's a dead horse.  As a fan, I'd certainly like to see a
>few more non-conference games.
 
I'm going to be honest here and say that after 11 years, I've come to
the decision that I'd rather see more conference games.  However, I
come from the HE perspective where we only have 24 conference games,
whereas the WCHA has 32.  Maybe the "best" number is somewhere in
between.
 
The biggest reason I would like to see more conference games in HE is
that with few exceptions, any conference game is better than any
nonconference game.  There is more excitement around the game, both
teams know each other and so do both teams' fans, and so on.
 
Sure, there will be the great matchups throughout the year that
generate fan interest like Maine-Michigan or BU-Minnesota, but those
are few and far between.  And it seems that when it comes to big
nonconference matchups, it's a case of the "haves" and the "have
nots".  For example, Maine and BU are attractive to opponents from
other leagues, and so is BC, but the rest of the HE schools are not
going to be able to get a matchup with Michigan or MSU.  It is like
this in every league.  There's something unfair about that.
 
On the other hand, it is always great to see different teams and to go
to different places to see how things are done there.  It helps the
game grow to have more play between leagues, too, because the fans
learn about those other teams and players.  These are the prime
considerations; I don't think the question of the RPI and NCAA
selection is quite as important as some people suggest.  My reasons
for supporting interconference play would be different ones.  Numbers
aren't as exciting as a great game and crazy fans.
 
Either way, because of this, it's a tough call - more conference games
or more nonconference games.  I side with more conference games
because they're different and they mean more.  I think fans in general
want to see as many exciting games as they can, and those games tend
to be ones against teams from within their own conference.
 
In fact, for those places where attendance is a factor, more
conference games is definitely a plus.  The WCHA is not alone in this
regard.  HE rinks drew poorly whenever most of the WCHA teams came to
town.  I recall traveling fans from WCHA teams outnumbering home HE
fans in several cases.
 
And at Merrimack, there is such a difference between drawing 3,200 for
BU or Maine (or 1,500-2,000 for many of the other teams) versus
drawing 500-1,000 for a NC team.  Unless you're lucky enough to have
your rink sell out every night, you'd rather have the games that will
bring in more fans, and those are conference games.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                 [log in to unmask]           [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93
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