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College hockey seems to be a financial wash for most schools. The NCAA and league tourneys likely keep some of the programs afloat. So, all this indicates that college hockey can't really afford to take a huge chance and start all this national interleague scheduling...incurring heavy, heavy travel expenses for programs who are just keeping afloat. I think there is a strong need to keep college hockey a much more feasible endeavor so some of the Division 1 hopeful programs won't be discouraged. With that said ... on to the recent discussions of determining prominence amongst the leagues as well as the issue of three-game home ice series. >>> Karen/Greg Ambrose <[log in to unmask]> >>> All the NCAA records prove is that the top teams in one league are stronger >>> than the top teams in another. It does not prove that the overall strength >>> of a league, top to bottom, is better. The only way to do that is to have >>> some serious interconference play which, for some reason, the WCHA and CCHA >>> tend to avoid. Maybe Ferris State is better than Providence but, if they >>> never play each other, how will we know? >>> >>> Greg Ambrose This is how I look at interleague results also. HockeyEast has the best interleague record but can we use that to claim national dominance? No, but it is one of the few things we have to go on so we do our best to use it in that way. Another thing we have is NCAA tourney performance. HockeyEast has had good results from BU and Maine and some nice western-regional performance by Lowell. All in all, HockeyEast does quite well with its NCAA tourney bids ... but this is such a small microcosm that it tends to be irrelevant. BC and BU should help in this respect in the coming tourney but I shudder to think what UNH is going to do. Of course, I'd love to see Lowell make it .. although they'd be out west again for sure ... and Maine still has a decent bid which they would likely perform quite well with ... given their history. So, if Lowell or Maine ... or even Merrimack win the HockeyEast championship ... then the winner will make a great representative for the league. In a separate issue, its doesn't seem that HockeyEast really has to implement the three game home ice series. Some logistics would have to be worked out when Maine is involved, but the other series could all play home-away-home. Maybe Maine would have to play home(thur)-home(fri)-away(sun) or away(thur)-home(sat)-home(sun). Obviously, none of the other leagues could likely swing this but HockeyEast certainly could. Why not give the away team at least one home game? Now, with attendance the way it always is at quarterfinals, this might stir up some extra interest. It doesn't seemm that the home team fans want to see a game three nights in a row ... which is a lot to ask for most fans (not me! :) I am in favor of the three-game home ice series for one reason, it does significantly reward the top four teams ... but its also rewards them all equally which doesn't suit me. For Lowell to have to play three at Northeastern when the two teams weren't that disparate doesn;t suit well with me either. I'd love to see less teams make the playoffs ... maybe allow #1 and #2 to get quarterfinal byes...3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5 in home and away series. This would also remove the possible quandry that BC now finds themselves in ... one where they have to play a low-rated team that can only hurt their own RPI. Not that I don;t love what Merrimack is doing this year ... I absolutely adore it!! But, I'm for making the regular season much more important to the big picture. Ok, that was way more than I wanted to say ... thanks for reading. - Paul. HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.