BobW wrote, in part.. >Just curious. Why does Maine present a problem? Since Edward wrote that on Hockey-L, he won't see your ME-Hockey reply ... so I'll give it a shot... Home-and-home with Maine is a problem because after a Friday night game both teams must travel 240+ miles and get ready for their next game (probably against each other). It's do-able, but might lead to more tired players .. and maybe a missed game-day skate. I think it could be travel expense neutral (travel every weekend, not every other weekend), but might lead to an occasional weather cancellation. cheers, wayne >Moller Edward N wrote: >>What do you mean by "type of school" fit? How does UVM fit better in HEA >>than Merrimack does, and for that matter why would Merrimack fit better in >>ECAC? How much different a school is Merrimack than Providence? To take it >>several steps further, do you think Colorado College is not a good fit for >>the WCHA, based on the "type of school" it is? >> >>What I see happening in the long term is that Hockey East will ultimately >>become a 12-team conference, with UVM, UConn, and eventually Rhode Island >>coming on board. Then you'll have all six New England state universities in >>the league. URI has a new arena and has talked about upgrading their >>program for a while, while UConn needs to upgrade its facility. 12 teams is >>the max, with each team playing each other twice home and home (Maine >>presents a problem). A 9-team 24-game schedule thus becomes a 12-team >>22-game schedule. The freeing up of two games presents additional >>non-conference opportunities. >> >>That's just my opinion. I could be wrong. ...