start date

[Section A]

I'm not sure why, but I was under the impression that Ivy League schools were not allowed to play their first hockey game (aside from exhibitions, of course) until November 1. Now, this year we play Western Michigan on Halloween (and Yale and Princeton also have games on that date). Did the rule change or was it never actually a rule?

(Real quick - some notes about our start, which of course is considerably later than the non-Ivies. By the time we play our exhibition against the Under 18 team on 10/25, there will have already been 27 games involving ECAC teams, including the NCAA season opener between SLU(t) and Miami, and while we will have only played that one exhibition by our season opener, UWM will have already played 6 games - all conference games - plus an exhibition of their own. That's one more game than even Ohio State had played last year by the time we beat them 3-1 in Columbus. Obviously, last season, our late start didn't seem to affect us, as we won 30 of our first 36 games :-P , but will it affect us more this year, with a younger team?)



Post Edited (07-12-03 21:49)

[Greg Berge]

I was under the impression (I'm sure a rulemeister will correct this) that there's no explicit Ivy League rule about the first game, but there is a rule about first practice, and it is around 10/15.  Since teams want a couple weeks of practice before their first game, we generally don't start until 11/1.

Likewise, I thought the NCAA rule was about practice, not games, and that that the rule was around 10/1.

[Robb Newman]

When I was in school, 10/15 was the Ivy-imposed start date for official winter sport practices - basketball, hockey, etc, etc.  I don't recall any particular rule about competition start dates, but two weeks is awfully short, even taking into account any unofficial practicing that might have been going on before 10/15.  I don't think you'd see games much before 10/31, regardless of the presence of a rule.

[DeltaOne81]

Yep, the 10/15 start date is the only rule I remember too, and seeing no comments to the contrary, that's almost as good as a confirmation from someone who's positive.

About the concept of it affecting us more this year, yeah, probably, just like it's done in most of the seasons in the past. It's a downside, but it's always been there and probably always will be. Pissing and moaning won't do a thing :-).