Here's my $.02 on the subject:
 
ELITE CONFERENCE
 
I would hate to see it happen because of my fears of what would happen to
those that were excluded.  In the midwest where this has been subject of
much recent discussion, there are many high caliber hockey programs that
would probably be excluded from such an arrangment (LSSU, BGSU, Western
Michigan, CC etc..)  The effects on these schools from being excluded could
be catastrophic.
 
EXPANSION OF NON-LEAGUE PLAY
 
I feel that this may hold the key to the future of college hockey and the
desire to get more national exposure.  The schedules of the CCHA and WCHA
make absolutely no sense to me - why play 95% of your total schedule against
league opponents.  Worse than that, many league teams may face each other in
holiday tournament play (witness next year's GLI with MSU, UM, LSSU and
Michigan Tech).  If conferences were to relax the number of league games
played (such as John Haeussler's proposal of 26 or 27 game schedules), this
would allow more opportunity for intra league matchups.  These intra league
matchups could be just the drawing card that college hockey needs to attract
a broader audience - a matchup amongst Minnesota, Wisconsin, Boston U,
Maine, Michigan, MSU etc. would certainly attract a lot of interest, while
still maintaining league integrity.
 
TV COVERAGE
 The current TV contract through the PRIME network is a joke - on Feb. 23rd,
the OSU/BGSU game was shown - no offense to either school but how many
people do you think tuned in to that one?  Especially on the same night when
Michigan and LSSU were playing - that makes no sense at all.  I'm sure that
if the league officials could get together and schedule some high profile
intra league games and package them along with some attractive regular
league games, they could draw some interest from a major network
(ESPN/ESPN2/FOX).
 
FEARS
My belief is that in spite of all its perceived shortcomings, the current
state of college hockey isn't bad.  I thoroughly college hockey as it is
(loyal fans, relatively inexpensive tickets, good availability of tickets,
fierce competition, accessible athletes etc..) and am fearful that when and
if hockey goes "big time", we true fans will lose some of that.  I certainly
wouldn't want hockey to end up like b-ball, with all the glitz, overexposure
(up to 15 games televised each Saturday), hype and high tickets prices.
Hopefully, with a little fine tuning and some real cooperation between the
leagues we could all achieve what we want without losing much of what we
already have.
 
I know I was rambling but hopefully some of it made sense.
 
Duane A. Keahl ([log in to unmask])
 
GO BLUE!! HAIL TO THE VICTORS!!!
 
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