Bob Schwartz writes:
>WCHA-CCHA INTER-LEAGUE PLAY - I think this has a much better chance of
>succeeding than the WCHA-HE agreement. I'm basing this conclusion on the
>following premise, which I THINK is accurate, but if it isn't, I feel confident
>than somebody on the list will correct me :-) That premise is that one of the
>reasons the WCHA-HE agreement did not last is because Eastern teams did not
>draw well when playing at the smaller Western schools.
 
To a certain extent, this is true.  But I should also point out that most of
the WCHA-HE games played in HE rinks did not draw as well as HE-HE games,
either.  Minnesota drew well, but even Wisconsin did not draw well at places
like Northeastern.  I recall one weekend set at NU with Denver and CC that
drew very poorly.  It has a lot to do with local fans being more interested
in seeing teams they are more familiar with.  Even after 5 years of the
interlocking agreement, the WCHA teams still weren't drawing well in the East,
and the same was true in the WCHA.
 
The interlocking schedule agreement, which lasted from 1984-89, was actually
killed by St Cloud's entry into the WCHA.  Just prior to St Cloud joining, here
is how the schedules for teams in each league were worked out:
 
HE: 3 games vs each of 6 HE opp; 1 game vs each of 8 WCHA opp; total 26 HE
    games
WCHA: 4 games vs each of 7 WCHA opp; 1 game vs each of 7 HE opp; total 35
    WCHA games
 
With St Cloud, HE would have played only 1 more league game for a total of 27,
but the WCHA would have 4 more, bringing their total to 39 which was one game
over the then NC$$ limit of 38.  HE tried to get the WCHA to cut back their
league schedule from 4 games/opp to keep the agreement alive.  But as you say,
games with HE teams didn't tend to draw as well in the WCHA rinks as games
against other WCHA teams, so the WCHA decided to drop the 7 HE games.
 
Had St Cloud not entered the WCHA, the agreement would still have had to end
prior to this season with the cutback from 38 games to 34.
 
When the agreement was officially dropped, HE was looking at only 18 league
games, so they then turned to Merrimack which had expressed interest in
joining the league a couple of years down the road after first moving up to
full-time Independent status.  Merrimack decided to accept the league's
invitation effective with 1989-90, rather than 1990 or 1991 as they would
have preferred.  Thus Merrimack entered HE a much weaker team than it would
have been, had it been able to spend a few years as an Independent and build
up the program a little more.  This was similar to Union moving up immediately
and perhaps not being completely ready in the first year or two.  Both teams
sacrificed a little for the better of the league they were joining (although
there were no plans I knew of for Union to be an Independent first; Merrimack
had already declared its intent to play as a fully-fledged Independent).
 
At any rate, any agreement between the WCHA and any other league will require
the WCHA to cut back from 4 games/opp.  The WCHA already faces this dilemma
right now as it decides on what basis to accept Alaska-Anchorage into the
league.  The CCHA, by accepting two more teams (Kent & Notre Dame) as full
members for next season and Alaska-Fairbanks as an affiliate member, has
decided it is willing to cut back from 4 games/opp.  We will have to see if
the WCHA wishes to do the same.  As you say, money is a key factor in this.
---
Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   mikem@{beanpot,bubba}.ma30.bull.com