At 10:42 AM -0500 6/14/96, MATTHEW CALDERWOOD wrote:
>     -Why does Maine have to go to Detroit again?  Can't the Wolverines
>     come out here?
 
Scheduling probably plays a large part in it.  Michigan might not have an
open weekend to travel East, plus they might have only had one game
available.
 
>     -Why must Maine always play an exhibition against a Canadian or non
>     D-I team in the first night of the JC Penney (formerly Dexter)
>     Classic?  Just schedule your Canadian or D-3 exhibition in October and
>     invite three D-I's.
 
Again, I suspect scheduling has a lot to do with it.  I'm sure Maine would
like to get the best teams it can for their tourney, but those teams aren't
always available or interested in coming.  Maine also wants to take
advantage of all the exemptions it can and one of those is the foreign team
exemption; if they can't get three DivI teams for the Classic, then it
makes sense to play the game that would be exempted in the first round so
they can play another game earlier or later.
 
Also, it's possible that the Dalhousie game won't actually be an
exhibition...it will be exempted from the 34 game limit and will not count
in Maine's DivI record, but it can still be counted in the overall record
and stats.  Personally, I don't understand why every team does not count
these games in their overall numbers.  The only reason I have been able to
see is that some coaches approach the game differently and will dress extra
lines to give more players some time.  But that usually happens when the
exempted games vs Canadian teams are played at the beginning of the season.
 
Scheduling is a very tricky thing.  Most teams can't get games against
everyone they want.  There is a relatively small number of DivI hockey
programs, and each team has a small and limited number of NC games
available.  You have to work those in with your conference schedule, and
often it doesn't turn out the way teams would like.  This is something
people should keep in mind when they wonder why their team is playing
various NC opponents.
 
>     -Does anyone have any attendance figures from Frozen Fours past?  Is
>     the percent sellout any better in the East than in the West?
 
In recent years, from memory, the West sites have tended to sell out more,
but even the East has drawn well.
 
>     My
>     fiance wants to see Disney World (not to mention SoCal in April-a
>     break from Mud Season), so we'll get out to Anaheim.
 
Actually, it is Disneyland that is in Anaheim, DisneyWorld is in Orlando.
If rumors I have heard turn out to be true, there will be packages offered
that will allow people to go to Disneyland and the final four.  I know that
if this happens, we are planning to try to take the week off and spend it
out there.  It has the potential to be a memorable event.
 
It also doesn't hurt those of us from the East that the final fours in
1998, 2000, and 2001 are within a short driving distance.  You can plan to
spend more in Anaheim and save more the other years.  And even Buffalo in
2003 is only an 8 or 9 hour drive from Boston.  In fact, Buffalo should
prove to be one of the more centrally located sites, since it is within a
day's drive of all of the East schools and perhaps all of the CCHA schools.
It's also a half hour or so from Niagara Falls.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
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