Keith writes: >>> As a result of the UM game being moved up to what was >>> originally an off weekend, the Falcons' on-ice practice sessions now >>> will commence Monday, Oct. 9 instead of Monday, Oct. 2. >> >>Keith - >> >> Am I confused? A change in schedule for December moves the on-ice >>practice date back a week and leaves only four ice sessions prior to the start >>of the season? >> >> 1) Why does December affect a change in October? >> 2) Why would anyone cut out a week of pre-season ice time? >> >>This just doesn't make sense to me. Any insight? > >1) >If you take an ENTIRE WEEK off during the regular season (no games, >not even practices), then you can start practicing a week earlier. >NCAA rule. Some additional info that I hope will help clarify it for people... The main rule that applied as of last year (I don't believe it has changed this year and I do not have the manual here; this is from the file in the archives I have been slowly working on) was: +17.10.1 LENGTH OF PLAYING SEASON. The length of an institution's +playing season (traditional and nontraditional segments combined) in +ice hockey shall be limited to the following: +a) Divisions I and II - A maximum of 22 weeks. (Revised: 1/10/91 effective +8/1/91) From memory, the week is considered to be Sunday through Saturday (could be Mon->Sun, but again, I do not have the manual here). If you play or practice even once during any such period, you have to count it as a week. BG was going to be off, I believe, from the period of Nov 26->Dec 2, but they rescheduled the Michigan game to Dec 2. That means they had to take a different week off during the season, and they probably could only take it at the start. Thus they begin practice a week later than they had originally planned. It is interesting how different coaches decide to plan the weeks off. Taking time at the start rather than the middle can mean a slow start. But extra practice time at the beginning and a longer break in the middle can mean a better start but a second half struggle. It is also interesting to see how it affects certain teams. Last year, Maine's week off seemed to come at just the right time, following the RPI Invitational, as All-HE goalie Blair Allison looked absolutely tired at that tournament after a busy first semester that saw Maine play 23 games by the end of the calendar year. (Three in Alaska, 2 in LA. Between Oct 20 and Dec 30, no more than 6 days ever went by between two consecutive Maine games, and that only happened 5 times - and Allison played every game.) Still, Maine finished the semester with just one loss, 17-1-5. It seems to me that Walsh's strategy is to risk his team being tired rather than out of tune. I suspect he believes that not playing enough hurts a team more than playing too much. From what I have seen in other cases, I think I would say this too. Last season, Merrimack took time at the start of the season and chose to begin practice after most other teams. Like BG will do this year, MC opened up with two games vs Canadian teams (both at Dalhousie). And they had a slow first semester, starting off 1-8-2 before rebounding to go 13-10-3 the rest of the way (13-6-3 in their next 22 before dropping their last 4, 3 nail-biters to BU). And none of those first 11 games were with Maine & BU. MC's strong finish included 7 games against the two NCAA finalists with their 1-5-1 record being an accomplishment, seeing how Maine & BU were a combined 63-12-9 last season. In 1993-94, Merrimack had instead taken a week around the holidays, prior to a trip to DivII Alabama-Huntsville which saw them drop the first game 7-5, a disappointing loss. After the UAH trip, MC returned home to go 1-6-1 in its next 8. They had begun the year 4-0, including a win at then-top 10 RPI. So whether they took the time off at the beginning of the season or in the middle, they suffered. It was no surprise that Ron Anderson chose to take the week at the start of last season, knowing what had happened the year before. But whether it was just a coincidence or not, last season the period after the break was also a slow one for the team. I'm sure this also explains why some teams choose to play Canadian schools even if they have a chance to play another US school. Might as well get your feet wet playing a game that won't affect you in the conference standings or in NCAA selection. But it might take longer than a game or two to get your feet wet. We'll have to see what happens with Buddy's boys this October. In the end, you have to take the time off sometime. The challenge is how to have your team prepared to play, every night, whether they have been off or not. --- --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93 ***** Unofficial Merrimack Hockey home page under construction at: ***** ***** http://www.tiac.net/users/machnik/MChockey/MChockey.html ***** ** Send comments/suggestions to: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] **