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The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

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Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

oldish husky said:
Absolutely. One need only look at the number of series that occur in the WCHA without a series thread on this board to see that there is a lack of familiarity which creates a lack of interest. I think this year's close standings will accelerate the process. There's going to be essentially a month long playoff this year. Teams will have a reason to keep an eye on other matchups each week. Half of the "home" teams may well lose just because of how close the conference is top to bottom.
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One thing I saw Bruce Ciskie point out is that the NCHC has 4 or 5 straight weeks of all teams playing conference games to end the season...no games in hand, no uneven schedules left...no wondering what you need to do to get home ice, etc. I wish the WCHA would follow that idea and finish with at least a month of nothing but conference games.
 
Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Alright everyone, stop looking at Donald. Look at the pony!
<img src="http://dashie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw10677-DERPY.gif"></img>
Look! It's Derpy! She's got a flag! Just ignore dumb man, look at the pony. That's it. Pony! Derpy! Flag!
 
Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Shirtless Guy said:
One thing I saw Bruce Ciskie point out is that the NCHC has 4 or 5 straight weeks of all teams playing conference games to end the season...no games in hand, no uneven schedules left...no wondering what you need to do to get home ice, etc. I wish the WCHA would follow that idea and finish with at least a month of nothing but conference games.
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That would have been very difficult with the late schedule changes this year. Next year may be a bit uneven too. But eventually it should balance out a bit better.
 
Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

davyd83 said:
That would have been very difficult with the late schedule changes this year. Next year may be a bit uneven too. But eventually it should balance out a bit better.
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Why would it be so hard to not have a bye for any team over the last 4 weeks of the season? The only excuse I could come up with is giving a team a weekend off after returning from Alaska but I think that's extremely overhyped.
 
Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Shirtless Guy said:
Why would it be so hard to not have a bye for any team over the last 4 weeks of the season? The only excuse I could come up with is giving a team a weekend off after returning from Alaska but I think that's extremely overhyped.
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Try making a schedule some time. You have travel, available arena dates, existing non conference contracts and more to deal with. Not easy if you have a nice, compact footprint for your teams. Now throw in the Alaskas and Huntsville. As for the weekend off after Alaska overhyped, how many times have you made the trip to Fairbanks? At the very least, you don't want to send a team on a long bus trip the week after an Alaska series. Have a flight delay, get back at 2 am Monday, have to be in class at 8 am and then turn around a couple days later for a 9 hour bus ride some time. The week coming back is always harder on the individual than going out there. Done it 7 or 8 times. It's not picnic. And that's without setting foot on the ice or taking a single hit.
 
MaizeRage said:
More non-conference games are a terrible idea. Why would you want to play more games that mean less? Fans don't want to watch, and players don't want to play games for decimal points on some computer.
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Adding more teams to the WCHA will get rid of the teams worrying about having home games. I would like to see a couple of teams from PA added.
 
Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

davyd83 said:
Try making a schedule some time. You have travel, available arena dates, existing non conference contracts and more to deal with. Not easy if you have a nice, compact footprint for your teams. Now throw in the Alaskas and Huntsville. As for the weekend off after Alaska overhyped, how many times have you made the trip to Fairbanks? At the very least, you don't want to send a team on a long bus trip the week after an Alaska series. Have a flight delay, get back at 2 am Monday, have to be in class at 8 am and then turn around a couple days later for a 9 hour bus ride some time. The week coming back is always harder on the individual than going out there. Done it 7 or 8 times. It's not picnic. And that's without setting foot on the ice or taking a single hit.
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You're almost as bad as donald beating your dead horse.
 
davyd83 said:
Try making a schedule some time. You have travel, available arena dates, existing non conference contracts and more to deal with. Not easy if you have a nice, compact footprint for your teams. Now throw in the Alaskas and Huntsville. As for the weekend off after Alaska overhyped, how many times have you made the trip to Fairbanks? At the very least, you don't want to send a team on a long bus trip the week after an Alaska series. Have a flight delay, get back at 2 am Monday, have to be in class at 8 am and then turn around a couple days later for a 9 hour bus ride some time. The week coming back is always harder on the individual than going out there. Done it 7 or 8 times. It's not picnic. And that's without setting foot on the ice or taking a single hit.
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NMU might as well play Finlandia to save on burden of playing those far away teams.
 
Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Pink Pony said:
Adding more teams to the WCHA will get rid of the teams worrying about having home games. I would like to see a couple of teams from PA added.
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A 28 game conference schedule is 14 home and 14 away no matter how many teams you have. Are you advocating a 30 or 32 game conference schedule?
 
davyd83 said:
A 28 game conference schedule is 14 home and 14 away no matter how many teams you have. Are you advocating a 30 or 32 game conference schedule?
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The more games WCHA has it would guarantee teams home games that have been a problem for some teams down the road.
 
Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Speaking of schedules, will next season's WCHA conference schedule come out in early March like it did last year?
 
Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Shirtless Guy said:
You're almost as bad as donald beating your dead horse.
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Everyone just thinks it's all so easy. It's not. Of course fans are always smarter than coaches, AD's, referees and commissioners.
 
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Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

davyd83 said:
Everyone just think it's all so easy. It's not. Of course fans are always smarter than coaches, AD's, referees and commissioners.
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I understand the argument that there are issues with building agreements and NC agreements but by now those things should be agreed upon so that the final 3-5 weeks, every team plays WCHA games every weekend. I understand schedules are complex and each school has it's own needs, etc but is it really appropriate for any team to have played 4 more games than some other team going into the final 5 weeks of the season?
 
Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Pink Pony said:
The more games WCHA has it would guarantee teams home games that have been a problem for some teams down the road.
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There actually was discussion before Huntsville was added to play a 32 game schedule with 2 home and 2 away against each of the 8 other teams. The 2 Alaska trips would still have allowed 6 non conference games for each teams. it wasn't a bad idea.
 
Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Shirtless Guy said:
I understand the argument that there are issues with building agreements and NC agreements but by now those things should be agreed upon so that the final 3-5 weeks, every team plays WCHA games every weekend. I understand schedules are complex and each school has it's own needs, etc but is it really appropriate for any team to have played 4 more games than some other team going into the final 5 weeks of the season?
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As I said, those issues will become less and less next year and the year after. The addition of Huntsville and giving them a full conference schedule this year caused a ton of chaos that won't be there next year. Their building availability was a big contributor to the chaos. There was very little flexibility there due to the minor pro team that plays there as well. It definitely gets easier, but it just takes time. There was the thought that UAH would just play as an affiliate member this year, not a full schedule. But the leaguedidnt select that option. Another factor is that the schedule with 9 teams had already been completed, which did necessitate a team being off each week.
 
Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

davyd83 said:
As I said, those issues will become less and less next year and the year after. The addition of Huntsville and giving them a full conference schedule this year caused a ton of chaos that won't be there next year. Their building availability was a big contributor to the chaos. There was very little flexibility there due to the minor pro team that plays there as well. It definitely gets easier, but it just takes time. There was the thought that UAH would just play as an affiliate member this year, not a full schedule. But the leaguedidnt select that option. Another factor is that the schedule with 9 teams had already been completed, which did necessitate a team being off each week.
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Understood, I just hope going forward they plan to have a month of solid conference games.
 
davyd83 said:
There actually was discussion before Huntsville was added to play a 32 game schedule with 2 home and 2 away against each of the 8 other teams. The 2 Alaska trips would still have allowed 6 non conference games for each teams. it wasn't a bad idea.
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Could they up the games next season to 32 games and not play one team in the WCHA?
 
Re: The New WCHA IV (2013-14): Unlocked and Cocked

Me too. I would also like to see the final weekend against your travel partner. UAA-UAF, Bemidji-Mankato, Tech-NMU, etc...
 
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