I've copied this seasons schedule at the bottom of this post. It's useful to look at the matchups and changes from past years. Home games are in CAPS and Conference games have an asterisk.
The major change (that some Seawolf fans aren't going to like) is that UAA and UAF play only twice this year in a home and home series at the end of February. The 4 games per year to contest the Governors Cup are a thing of the past. Dropping two games against our instate rival opens up the schedule for two non-conference games against a larger diversity of opponent. This has the potential to improve the "Out-Of-Conference" component when calculating PWR for NCAA playoff participation. It is an important and necessary step. Every year it seems that some team in the WCHA misses out on the NCAA's due to PWR calculations and often the key factor is their record in non-conference games and the strength of those opponents. This situation also makes those two games very very important. Both teams always contested the four games with vigor; but with only two games for the trophy, I expect even more intensity.
This move also allowed the other big change to the schedule from past seasons. UAA and UAF are hosting their tournaments cooperatively. The "Kendall Classic" comes first on October 10th and 11th. The following weekend the Seawolves will travel north for the "Brice Alaska Goal Rush" in Fairbanks. Both tournaments use a fixed schedule format. In Anchorage UAA and UAF will both play Connecticut and Northeastern. In Fairbanks they'll both face Maine and Mercyhurst. From an attendance perspective this should be a boon for both programs. Typically (no matter who attends) any tournament games that don't include the home team are marginally attended. I watched a great RMU/BU game last season with probably no more than 1000 other people in the rink. I can imagine that plenty of Seawolf fans will show up to watch Northeastern beat UAF. Conversely, UAF fans will likely show up in droves to see UAA play Maine. Of course there are UAF fans that live in Anchorage and UAA fans that live in Fairbanks as well. I congratulate Forrest Karr and Steve Cobb for this scheduling agreement. It's a good idea and should prove to be valuable for both teams over time.
The next change is the mid-season break over the holidays. In the past I've wondered what effect the holiday break may or may not have had on the teams second half performance. The last two seasons saw dramatically worse results in the second half and both of those seasons included a shorter break for the players. I think the longer break this year (from Dec 7th thru Jan 9th) will be one of the factors that improves the second half record. The players will have to ensure that they get some workouts in during the break so that they don't lose any intensity from the first half. They'll have to be responsible; and that is always a concept for the players at this level that must be adhered to closely. But I think the chance to spend quality time with their friends and families at home is important.
This season the unbalanced conference schedule means that we won't see the Gophers or Pioneers at the Sullivan and the team won't have to travel to Colorado Springs (woohoo! no crappy webcast with the disturbing floating Tiger head!) or the National Concrete Center in St. Cloud. From the looks of things (i.e... how the WCHA will likely shake out) it's a pretty favorable schedule for the Seawolves. The longest road trip will be the first road trip of the year to Houghton on Oct 31/Nov 1 to face MTU. After all that, it's pretty standard stuff.
The major change (that some Seawolf fans aren't going to like) is that UAA and UAF play only twice this year in a home and home series at the end of February. The 4 games per year to contest the Governors Cup are a thing of the past. Dropping two games against our instate rival opens up the schedule for two non-conference games against a larger diversity of opponent. This has the potential to improve the "Out-Of-Conference" component when calculating PWR for NCAA playoff participation. It is an important and necessary step. Every year it seems that some team in the WCHA misses out on the NCAA's due to PWR calculations and often the key factor is their record in non-conference games and the strength of those opponents. This situation also makes those two games very very important. Both teams always contested the four games with vigor; but with only two games for the trophy, I expect even more intensity.
This move also allowed the other big change to the schedule from past seasons. UAA and UAF are hosting their tournaments cooperatively. The "Kendall Classic" comes first on October 10th and 11th. The following weekend the Seawolves will travel north for the "Brice Alaska Goal Rush" in Fairbanks. Both tournaments use a fixed schedule format. In Anchorage UAA and UAF will both play Connecticut and Northeastern. In Fairbanks they'll both face Maine and Mercyhurst. From an attendance perspective this should be a boon for both programs. Typically (no matter who attends) any tournament games that don't include the home team are marginally attended. I watched a great RMU/BU game last season with probably no more than 1000 other people in the rink. I can imagine that plenty of Seawolf fans will show up to watch Northeastern beat UAF. Conversely, UAF fans will likely show up in droves to see UAA play Maine. Of course there are UAF fans that live in Anchorage and UAA fans that live in Fairbanks as well. I congratulate Forrest Karr and Steve Cobb for this scheduling agreement. It's a good idea and should prove to be valuable for both teams over time.
The next change is the mid-season break over the holidays. In the past I've wondered what effect the holiday break may or may not have had on the teams second half performance. The last two seasons saw dramatically worse results in the second half and both of those seasons included a shorter break for the players. I think the longer break this year (from Dec 7th thru Jan 9th) will be one of the factors that improves the second half record. The players will have to ensure that they get some workouts in during the break so that they don't lose any intensity from the first half. They'll have to be responsible; and that is always a concept for the players at this level that must be adhered to closely. But I think the chance to spend quality time with their friends and families at home is important.
This season the unbalanced conference schedule means that we won't see the Gophers or Pioneers at the Sullivan and the team won't have to travel to Colorado Springs (woohoo! no crappy webcast with the disturbing floating Tiger head!) or the National Concrete Center in St. Cloud. From the looks of things (i.e... how the WCHA will likely shake out) it's a pretty favorable schedule for the Seawolves. The longest road trip will be the first road trip of the year to Houghton on Oct 31/Nov 1 to face MTU. After all that, it's pretty standard stuff.
Thu, Sep 25 U.S. NATIONAL UNDER-18 TEAM Wasilla, Alaska 7:07 pm
Sat, Oct 04 UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Wasilla, Alaska 7:07 pm
Fri, Oct 10 Northeastern vs Alaska Fairbanks at SULLIVAN ARENA 5:07 pm
Fri, Oct 10 CONNECTICUT SULLIVAN ARENA 8:07 pm
Sat, Oct 11 Connecticut vs Alaska Fairbanks at SULLIVAN ARENA 4:07 pm
Sat, Oct 11 NORTHEASTERN SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Oct 17 Maine at Fairbanks, Alaska 4:35 pm
Sat, Oct 18 Mercyhurst at Fairbanks, Alaska 4:35 pm
Fri, Oct 24 MINNESOTA DULUTH * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Oct 25 MINNESOTA DULUTH * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Oct 31 Michigan Tech * at Houghton, Mich. 3:07 pm
Sat, Nov 01 Michigan Tech * at Houghton, Mich. 3:37 pm
Fri, Nov 07 MINNESOTA STATE * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Nov 08 MINNESOTA STATE * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Nov 14 North Dakota * at Grand Forks, N.D. 4:37 pm
Sat, Nov 15 North Dakota * at Grand Forks, N.D. 4:07 pm
Fri, Nov 21 COLORADO COLLEGE * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Nov 22 COLORADO COLLEGE * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Dec 05 Wisconsin * at Madison, Wis. 4:07 pm
Sat, Dec 06 Wisconsin * at Madison, Wis. 4:07 pm
Fri, Jan 09 WISCONSIN * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Jan 10 WISCONSIN * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Jan 16 Minnesota State * at Mankato, Minn. 4:37 pm
Sat, Jan 17 Minnesota State * at Mankato, Minn. 4:07 pm
Fri, Jan 23 MICHIGAN TECH * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Jan 24 MICHIGAN TECH * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Jan 30 Denver * at Denver, Colo. 5:37 pm
Sat, Jan 31 Denver * at Denver, Colo. 5:07 pm
Fri, Feb 06 ST. CLOUD STATE * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Feb 07 ST. CLOUD STATE * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Feb 13 Minnesota * at Minneapolis, Minn. 4:07 pm
Sat, Feb 14 Minnesota * at Minneapolis, Minn. 4:07 pm
Fri, Feb 20 NORTH DAKOTA * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Sat, Feb 21 NORTH DAKOTA * SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Feb 27 Alaska Fairbanks at Fairbanks, Alaska 7:05 p.m.
Sat, Feb 28 ALASKA FAIRBANKS SULLIVAN ARENA 7:07 pm
Fri, Mar 06 Minnesota Duluth * at Duluth, Minn. 4:07 pm
Sat, Mar 07 Minnesota Duluth * at Duluth, Minn. 4:07 pm
