When the NCHA adopted the travel partner system ten years ago, many long-time NCHA fans lamented the fact it meant the elimination of the two-game weekend sets against the same opponent.
Though the travel partner setup made sense in terms of both geography and finances, gone was the potential for storyline development that could only exist when the same teams met on back-to-back nights.
Surprisingly, it really has been ten years since the change was implemented, but this autumn will bring more change as the NCHA will once again offer some two-game series as part of its conference schedule.
Leaving the league with only seven members, Lake Forest's departure for the MCHA facilitated some sort of a change in scheduling, so the league elected to adopt an 18 game conference schedule in which teams will play every other three times. Inclusive to that change is the return of two game series.
So how does this work? It's pretty straightforward. Each NCHA team will play three league opponents in home series and the other three league opponents in road series this season, for a total of 12 games. The remaining six will be played in single game meetings hosted by the opposite shool that hosts the series.
For example: Superior hosts River Falls on October 30 and 31 to open the season, which means the Yellowjackets will travel to River Falls for a single game later in the season - in this case on January 30.
The one exception to this is Stout and Eau Claire who will play a home-and-home series in lieu of a two-game set hosted at a single institution.
Looking to mark your calendar for when your favorite team will be hosting a series? Here they all are:
Eau Claire hosts: River Falls (11/13, 11/14); St. Norbert (1/15, 1/16); St. Scholastica (1/22, 1/23)
River Falls hosts: St. Norbert (11/20, 11/21); Stout (12/11, 12/12); Stevens Point (1/22, 1/23)
St. Norbert hosts: Stevens Point (11/13, 11/14); St. Scholastica (12/4, 12/5); Superior (1/22, 1/23)
St. Scholastica hosts: Stout (11/13, 11/14); Superior (12/11, 12/12); River Falls (1/15, 1/16)
Stevens Point hosts: St. Scholastica (10/30, 10/31); Superior (12/4, 12/5); Eau Claire (12/11, 12/12)
Stout hosts: St. Norbert (10/30, 10/31); Stevens Point (11/20, 11/21)
Superior hosts: River Falls (10/30, 10/31); Eau Claire (11/20, 11/21); Stout (1/15, 1/16)
While those are the logistics of the affair, one question I've heard asked a few times is "why an 18 game league schedule?". Though I don't know for certain, I suspect a few things may have come into play. One, to attain a balanced schedule in a seven team league there must be 12 or 18 conference games. Clearly 18 was preferential to 12 in this case.
Second, and perhaps more important, I suspect the NCHA may be looking at the ECACW as a model for this. The ECACW, a six team league, currently plays 15 conference games. The ECACW has also been able to land three teams in the NCAA tourrnament (a clear goal of the NCHA) the past two seasons. The ECACW's ability to to this has largely been fueled by very high strength-of-schedule ratings league-wide, thanks in part to a relatively insular league schedule and some fairly significant non-conference success.
The nuts and bolts: If the NCHA can continue to dominate the MCHA and MIAC the way it has the past four seasons, it's conceivable that more games against itself will only bolster the selection criteria (particularly SOS) for the top NCHA teams come selection time.
Just a theory, and we'll certainly have to follow the numbers as this season progresses, but there does seem to be some validity to this line of thinking.
Regardless of what the future may hold to that end, what we do know for now is that the two-game series are back for the 2009-10 NCHA season. As one who was around before the travel partner system was adopted, I remember the intensity and rivalries that were generated by those two-game series -- the Saturday contests in particular.
As someone who is up for as much drama and intensity as the NCHA can muster, I can only say: Welcome back, for you have been missed.
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