Friday, April 18, 2008

Western College Hockey: It's Not Easy Being Anchorage

A post by Chris about an article part time Grand Forks Hearald sports writer Virg Foss wrote back in March has stirred up at hornets net over on Western College hockey. In a March 15 issue of the Grand Forks Herald Virg Foss said this:

Living in that kind of perpetual darkness must be like playing on the cellar dwelling Alaska Anchorage hockey team. ...wishes there was a way to kick Alaska Anchorage out of the WCHA and replace the Seawolves with Bemidji State


The article is interesting in itself but the comments are the most entertaining part the blog post. If you haven't seen the aritcle it suggest you stroll on over and take a look, this is a going to be a train wreck.

Dan Meyer from This is the WCHA had an interesting take on this issue. Dan is suggesting that the WCHA cut itself into two divisions and east and a west.

I have seen this suggested a few times before and there are many problems with the concept. First; the strength of schedule in the two divisions would have some serious disparity; the west division would have a significantly easier schedule than the east. Second; Air Force is not going to be in the WCHA, they could not compete on a regular basis in the WCHA (my humble opinion). Also; I was told by someone in the CHA know that Air Force left the CHA to be in AHA so they could compete in the same league as Army. Also, the natural rivals of the present WCHA would not be preserved. The travel cost of the Western Division would also outweigh the costs of the Eastern Division travel. Lastly, you would also have to increase the WCHA schedule from 28 to 32 games to accommodate the extra two teams.

East Division
Michigan Tech
Minnesota
Minnesota-Duluth
Minnesota State
St. Cloud State
Wisconsin

West Division
Air Force
Alaska-Anchorage
Bemidji State
Colorado College
Denver
North Dakota

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