The players all seemed to get a lifelong memory out of it, and the friends of mine who went all seemed to really enjoy it. I don't have a problem with the game; I have a problem with it being a standard WCHA game.
In my opinion, they need to add another exemption to Section 17.14.5.3 of the NCAA Manual. They already have exemptions to the total number of allowable contests for the Hockey Hall of Fame Game, the Icebreaker Tournament, as well as a wealth of others.
17.14.5.3 Annual Exemptions. The maximum number of ice hockey contests shall exclude the following:
(a) Conference Championship. Competition in one conference championship tournament in ice hockey (or the tournament used to determine the conference's automatic entry in an NCAA ice hockey championship);
(b) Conference Playoff. Competition involving member institutions that tie for a conference championship. Such teams may participate in a single-elimination playoff to determine the conference's automatic entry in an NCAA ice hockey championship without the game(s) being counted as a postseason tournament;
(c) NCAA Championship Play-In Competition. Competition in play-in contests conducted before NCAA championships;
(d) Season-Ending Event. Competition in one season-ending event (e.g., NCAA championship). A season-ending event involves competition after the end of the regular season between teams that are not identified until the close of the regular season;
(e) Alumni Game. One ice hockey contest each year against an alumni team of the institution;
(f) Foreign Team in the United States. One ice hockey contest each year with a foreign opponent in the United States;
(g) Hall of Fame Game. The one ice hockey game between two Division I intercollegiate teams conducted by the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame;
(h) U.S. Olympic or Paralympic Team. One ice hockey contest each year against the U.S. Olympic or Paralympic ice hockey team during that team's training for participation in the Winter Olympics;
(i) Hawaii or Alaska. Any games played in Hawaii or Alaska, respectively, against an active Division I member institution located in Hawaii or Alaska, by a member located outside the area in question;
(j) Fundraising Activity. Any ice hockey activities in which student-athletes from more than one of the institution's athletics teams participate with and against alumni and friends of the institution, the purpose of which is to raise funds for the benefit of the institution's athletics or other programs, provided the student-athletes do not miss classes as a result of their participation (see Bylaw 12.5.1.1);
(k) Celebrity Sports Activity. Competition involving a limit of two student-athletes from a member institution's ice hockey team who participate in local celebrity ice hockey activities conducted for the purpose of raising funds for charitable organizations, provided: (1) The student-athletes do not miss classes as a result of the participation; (2) The involvement of the student-athletes has the approval of the institution's athletics director; and (3) The activity takes place within a 30-mile radius of the institution's main campus.
(l) U.S. National Team. One game played against any team as selected and designated by the appropriate national governing body for ice hockey as a U.S. national team (e.g., "Under-21" U.S. national team);
and (m) Hockey Commissioners Association/Ice Breaker Tournaments. Competition in the men's or women's Ice Breaker Tournament sponsored by the Hockey Commissioners Association.
Scrimmage/Exhibition Contest. One ice hockey scrimmage or exhibition contest each year against outside competition.
That's a lot of exemptions already, so let's dial up another one and add (o) one outdoor ice hockey contest
If you're going to have a game played on a massively substandard surface for the almost sole purpose of promoting the sport, give it an exemption and leave the games that count where they should be.
