I found this article in the Lowell Sun to be interesting and also a bit over the top, I guess not everyone is excited about having the Fighting Irish in
Hockey East. I also agree with Mike Machnik because there will be more opportunities for non conference games with the formation of the Big Ten and NCHC conferences.
Chaz Scoggins; Lowell Sun --- If you're one of Hockey East's elite programs, like BC, Boston University, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, that shouldn't be much of a problem. Those schools have wanted to have the latitude to play more than seven non-league games for awhile now, and those are teams every other school in the country wants to play.
But if you're not one of the elite programs, if you're UMass Lowell, UMass Amherst, Providence, Merrimack, and Northeastern, trying to find 14 worthy non-league opponents is going to be a major headache.
Sure, those schools could schedule a flock of games against Atlantic Hockey teams like UConn, Bentley, Holy Cross, and Sacred Heart. But scheduling and beating those teams only hurts you if you're trying to earn an at-large berth for the NCAA Tournament.
The notorious pairwise rankings are a major factor in determining at least 12 of the 16 NCAA berths, and a big part of the pairwise formula is strength of schedule. It doesn't do the River Hawks much good if they win 25 games but nine or ten of those victories are against ACHA schools, while Vermont might have won only 21 games but had a handful of wins over perennial national powers like North Dakota, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
