WCHA and/or CCHA teams. That would leave six non-conference openings to fill in with opponents from Atlantic Hockey, Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference and Hockey East Association.Big Ten teams will play 20 league games - home-and-home series against one another - and hope to augment the rest of their schedules with eight games against
During the American Hockey Coaches Association convention in Florida last month, Frazier said WCHA and CCHA officials are receptive to having some type of interlocking schedule with the Big Ten.
One complication to the Badgers playing against WCHA opponents is that they wouldn't be able to schedule North Dakota — a major rival and perennial national power — because of its Fighting Sioux nickname and Native American warrior logo.
UW has a policy that prohibits scheduling non-conference opponents with monikers that defy an NCAA mandate against racially insensitive nicknames.
"We'd love to continue our relationship with North Dakota," Frazier said, "but North Dakota has to figure (its nickname issue) out from an NCAA perspective."
Goon's World Extras
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