Wayne writes:
>(3) (add) 10/26 Hall of Fame Classic, Detroit, MI.
 
Anyone know who the opponent is for this game?  Maybe Michigan or MSU?
 
>By my count, that's 17 home games (1@Portland) and *26* away games,
>for a total of 43 ... before any HE conference or NCAA play-off
>games.  Should Maine make it to the HE & NCAA finals, that would
>be *50* games!
 
Or even 51 if Maine drew a first round matchup in a regional and then
made it to the final.  (4 HE, 4 NC$$)
 
Some people may be wondering how Maine can play so many games when the
NC$$ limit is 34.  It is worth noting that of the 43 games, 8 *may*
be classified as exhibitions: the 7 in Canada, and the second game of
the Dexter Classic which will be against one of the World Junior
teams.  Going by past history, none of the stats or results from those
8 games should count in the Maine records.  However, I am not aware of
a rule that *prevents* you from counting these in your record.
Standard practice has been for teams not to count them, but it will be
interesting to see what Maine does.  They certainly won't count in
Maine's DivI record or towards NC$$ selection.
 
Of the 35 remaining games, the Hall of Fame game (first time in
Detroit?) is exempted from counting against the limit by NC$$ rules.
 
Maine is taking additional exemptions to play the 8 exhibitions.  You
get to go on one "foreign tour" over each four-year period, and Canada
counts.  You also get to play one game each year vs a foreign opponent
in the US - the junior opponent here.
 
Arthur Berman asked if Maine was "ducking" Alberta.  I don't know the
details, but I wouldn't go that far.  First, we don't know whether
Maine even tried to schedule Alberta.  Also, Maine has had a history
of playing Canadian national champions, most recently Acadia.  And at
least one of Maine's opponents on the tour - Ottawa - is a past
Canadian national champ too.  I don't know about the others, but they
are all teams that have played a number of US teams in recent years.
 
>I think I hear the NCAA figuring out how to change the
>max-game rules ... again.
 
Would this be the "Maine Rule"? :-)  I'm not too concerned about this,
although I am sure some people will use it as a reason to criticize
Maine.  After all, the rules do allow for one such trip, and only
every four years (so Maine can't do it again until at least 1999-2000).
And Maine also hasn't been the only team to take advantage of many of
the exemptions allowed.
 
I think the ramifications of the Canadian trip will be very
interesting.  Immediately, one has to wonder if the trip will result
in Maine getting burned out - 7 games in 8 days or so?  Some teams
have gone on trips like this one and returned to struggle the rest of
the way, but others have done better, so there's no proof one way or
the other.  I suspect Walsh will take the opportunity to look at a
number of players who wouldn't ordinarily get to play, and that's
good.  It could help if injuries become a factor later on.
 
Another question is whether this will aid in Maine's recruiting.
Maine already draws a good number of players from the areas they'll be
playing in - Western Canada and Quebec.  Maybe this will help a number
of players who didn't know much about Maine before decide to go there.
Not that Maine isn't already one of the most visible programs in DivI. :-)
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93