On Thu, 6 Aug 1998, Brian D Helland wrote:
 
> my final plan, I choose to divorce the Ivy's from the ECAC because the
> ECAC is too big (as is the CCHA).
 
Why is 12 too big?
 
> All I hear from ECAC-backers is "The ECAC is fine the way it is!".
> Well, what happens if more eastern schools
> start D-I programs and want to join either the ECAC or Hockey East?
 
Maybe that sentence answers your question: The ECAC is fine the way it
is. That is, with the current 12 teams - no more and no less.
 
> Should we just let the ECAC balloon to 14, 16, or even 18 teams?
 
I agree. A 17-team ECAC would be an absolute abomination. It would be
totally ridiculous. ;-)
 
Given that the ECAC schedule is only 22 games long, it seems to me that
there is still, should the league decide, some room for expansion. If the
league were to go to 14 teams, that would be a 26-game schedule - less
than the WCHA and CCHA. A 16-team ECAC would lead to a 30-game schedule.
That equals (I think) the CCHA, and is less than the WCHA's schedule of
two years ago.
 
> The ECAC is OK at the moment, but if there is another wave
> of expansion in the east, where will all of the teams go?
 
Where is the "wave of expansion" going to come from? Is the entire ECAC
West going to follow Niagara into D-I? The eastern D-I expansion has
mostly been because of the D-II exodus.
 
> wrong.  But I've always found it interesting that eastern fans will NEVER
> react to ANYTHING unless it involves them.
 
Right. And Minnesotans would have been full of comments if you had only
dealt with the ECAC and HEA.
 
FWIW, I think your plan fails on several levels (east *and* west), but I
won't get into all of that now.
 
See you later,
John
 
--
John Edwards - Carleton (Ont) '96, Manitoba '00 - [log in to unmask]
    So you see ... it was farting that saved Canada. - Terence & Phillip
The opinions expressed are mine alone, because everybody else says I'm weird.
   NOTE: I reserve the right to forward any obnoxious and/or stupid mail.
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.