Something that may be worth considering...during the 5 years of the
WCHA-HE interlocking scheduling agreement, 1984-89, the final three
years had teams only facing teams from the other conference once.
Traveling partners were worked out so that when a HE team travelled
out West, they'd play two teams back to back instead of playing a pair
at one team.  WCHA pairs at the time were MTU/NMU, Duluth/Minn,
Wis/NoDak, and CC/Denver.  So, it has been done before and could be
done again.
 
The argument about losing games against teams like Minnesota and
Wisconsin is a valid one, though, and I'm sure it would weigh heavily
in the decision.  That's one reason the WCHA dropped HE, rather than
cut back on playing 4 games vs each WCHA team.  However, an adjustment
has already been made to accommodate UAA...it isn't that large of a
step to further accommodate UAF and/or a 12th team.  It could be done
if the league decides it is worth it.
 
And, on traveling to Alaska...one problem Eastern teams have is that
when they go there, they effectively lose two days of practice.
They'll fly out on Thursday, normally a practice day; play Fri-Sat;
and even though they fly home Sun, most coaches have found the trip to
be tiring enough that they have to give the kids Monday off as well.
Of course, Eastern teams have farther to go than WCHA members would,
and the Alaska schools have to make that trip numerous times a year
anyway as compared to one for most WCHA teams, 2 for the two teams
that would be in UAA/UAF's division.
---                                                                 ---
Mike Machnik                                          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMM* 11/13/93
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