Just a few thoughts on scheduling...
 
There are so many factors involved, it is usually quite unlikely that any
team would be able to get a schedule that consists entirely of all the
teams they would want to play most and on dates that they would want to
play them.  The simple reason is that it takes two to tango.  Team A might
like to play Team B and on a certain date, but Team B has to be able to do
so *and* agree.
 
Maybe this was not intended, but an undercurrent I sensed running
throughout greenie's posts (and some that others have made about their
teams) was that BU either should or could dictate their entire schedule
based upon whatever they wanted to do.  This is never true for any team.
Some teams may be more desirable opponents, and thus get more of a listen
when they call and ask for a game.  But just because BU might want to play
Michigan doesn't mean that Michigan will be able to or wants to.  Michigan
has its own schedule to contend with and you can only play with it so much
to work in all the games you'd like to play.
 
According to a recent schedule Glen Keeney posted, Michigan State will be
coming to Boston to play BC and Northeastern.  An obvious question might
be, why didn't BU try to pick up a game against MSU that weekend.  But, the
way I understand it from seeing an earlier copy of the HE composite, BC and
NU were scheduled for a home-and-home that weekend and voluntarily moved
that series so they could both play MSU.  BU already had a game or two
scheduled that weekend and might not have been able to move it if they
wanted to.  BU also likely already had agreements for all of the games on
their schedule when it became clear that MSU was available that weekend and
schools are usually quite reluctant to break those agreements, for reasons
I think should be obvious.  You just do not do those things.  Sometimes you
can work out an arrangement that makes both schools happy and thus work in
another game, but especially considering the lateness of the schedule
change, I can see how other teams might not want to lose a game that they
might not be able to fill with someone else.
 
The things Sean said in response were pretty much true.  There are so many
factors involved in drawing up a schedule that there is no way we could go
into all of them.  The basic idea is that you have to schedule who you can
based on other teams' availabilities and their interest in playing you, as
well as the other agreements you have already made.  For example, BU may
have wanted to play in a tournament or they might not, considering all of
the other opponents they had agreed to play on specific dates.  But the
decision as to who they play is not just up to them.
 
The casting of blame upon the CCHA and WCHA probably stems from the fact
that those conferences have a longer schedule and thus have fewer NC games
available.  However, CCHA teams now have between 7 and 10 games available,
so there is an increased opportunity for NC meetings between the CCHA and
other conferences.  This year, because of the late date on which UIC
canceled their program, it was difficult for the CCHA teams to fill their
schedules with other games, because most other teams already had agreements
for most or all of the games on their schedules.  I do know that CCHA teams
were calling around to teams from the other conferences to see if they
could find someone to play.  Some teams were able to pick up better
opponents than others, and some (BG & OSU) had to schedule NC games against
each other that I'm guessing they would have preferred to play against
other teams if they could have.  But as I said, things rarely work out the
way you would most like them to.
 
Also, remember that there are certain teams that a whole lot of others
would like to play, but there aren't enough games for all of those games to
happen.  I'm not concerned about BU's ability to schedule NC opponents.  I
am much more concerned about the possibility that DivI hockey could develop
into groups of haves and have-nots, where the haves play each other all the
time and the have-nots, especially the ones who might most benefit from the
chance to play a better team and the exposure, never get that opportunity.
This would not be good for the sport.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
*****       Unofficial Merrimack Hockey home page located at:       *****
*****   http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/MChockey.html    *****
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.