Warde with a nice scheduling move for the Bye Week
So the full 2017-18 Hockey schedule was released yesterday.
Three scheduling quirks but the first one is just a great move, something we haven't seen in a long time. A weekend exhibtion game.
We won't get a look at Mel Pearson's Michigan Hockey team until October 20, 2 weeks after the season begins. The season starts on the road on October 6 at St. Lawrence.
So our exhibition game will be against Western Ontario........on September 30.
That's the Football bye week. So there will be plenty going on in Ann Arbor that day and probably one of the most attended exhibiton games ever.
The other scheduling quirk is that for the first time since the teams began playing in 1999-00, Michigan will NOT play the US NTDP Under-18 team in an exhibition.
Not a good thing. We already lost some footing potentially with the NTDP leaving Ann Arbor for Plymouth. But now we will not play them. This could be a power play move by new MSU coach Danton Cole who used to coach the NTDP.
They didn't schedule us but they scheduled MSU for a game in Plymouth.
Full Hockey schedule-
| Date | Opponent |
| 9/30 | vs Western Ontario (ex) |
| 10/6 | at St. Lawrence |
| 10/7 | at Clarkson |
| 10/20 | vs Vermont |
| 10/21 | vs Vermont |
| 10/27 | at Penn State* |
| 10/28 | at Penn State |
| 11/3 | vs Ferris State |
| 11/4 | vs Ferris State |
| 11/10 | vs Minnesota* |
| 11/11 | vs Minnesota* |
| 11/17 | at Wisconsin* |
| 11/18 | at Wisconsin* |
| 11/24 | vs Ohio State* |
| 11/25 | vs Ohio State* |
| 12/8 | vs Michigan State* |
| 12/9 | at Michigan State* |
| Great Lakes Invitational (Detroit, MI) | |
| 12/27 | Bowling Green |
| 12/28 | Tech/State |
| 1/5 | vs Notre Dame* |
| 1/7 | at Notre Dame* |
| 1/12 | at Minnesota* |
| 1/13 | at Minnesota* |
| 1/19 | vs Penn State* |
| 1/20 | vs Penn State* |
| 1/26 | at Ohio State* |
| 1/27 | at Ohio State* |
| 2/2 | vs Wisconsin* |
| 2/3 | vs Wisconsin* |
| 2/9 | at Michigan State* |
| Duel in the D (Detroit, MI) | |
| 2/10 | Michigan State* |
| 2/16 | at Notre Dame* |
| 2/18 | vs Notre Dame* |
| 2/23 | vs Arizona State |
| 2/24 | vs Arizona State |
| B1G Tournament | |
| 3/2 | First Round^ |
| 3/3 | First Round^ |
| 3/4 | First Round (if nec.)^ |
| 3/10 | Semifinals |
| 3/17 | Championship |
| NCAA Tournament^ | |
| 3/ | First Round |
| 3/ | Regional Final |
| 4/5 | Frozen Four% |
| 4/7 | National Championship% |
*B1G Conference Game
^if applies
% in Saint Paul, MN
But I have a hard time that the exhibition game will matter as much to recruiting as NTDP moving to Plymouth.
Also, I think the "Duel in the D" and it's crappy trophy should be relegated to Joe Louis Arena, even after that place is leveled.
Also, the team moved like 15-20 minutes away from Ann Arbor. It isn't like they relocated to Grand Rapids.
I can't believe he didn't schedule Oregon State. Warde, I think you were a little hard on the Beavers last night...
So was Eddie Haskell, Wally, and Ms. Cleaver
Oh, you just know June Cleaver secretly knew how to party.
...now everybody from the 3-1-3...throw ya mothafuckin hands up and fooollow meeee.
the 1 and only D-1 NCAA hockey team nicknamed the Beavers.
The Danton Cole theory would make sense if it were the other way around (i.e. if he was now at NTDP after having been at MSU). I prefer to not play them, so am (obviously) happy with this change.
Curious, why do you prefer to not play them? Risk of embarrassing loss? Just don't like exhibition games?
Yes, this. People think there is a recruiting advantage by doing it, but there isn't
I guess, but the difference is this is just an exhibition. Losing doesn't count and playing it doesn't cost the opportunity to play someone better (like playing an FCS team means you sacrifice an FBS game). It's basically a chance for fans to watch a scrimmage.
Feels weird to end the regular season with a pair of games against Arizona State. Not much chance there to move up in the pairwise, likely.
This seems akin to MSU scheduling a football game @WMU. It's a bad look for their program ime
He (or she) is looking forward to that game.
How was that a bad look for their program? Their State series was praised by just about everyone for the impact it had on the Kzoo and Mt Pleasant economies. Before this season, the only time Waldo Stadium could get on ESPN was if it was on a Tuesday night or something.
Now you could argue that it was fiscally irresponsible for the WMU and CMU ADs for playing at home and not getting the tomato can money they usually get for playing at a P5 stadium. MSU got their home games in regardless. I thought it was nice gesture for toward state camaraderie.
I'm sure it helped the economies of Kzoo and Mt Pleasant but 'big' programs don't give small programs token home games. I chuckled at them for agreeing to go on the road for some MACtion. Who does that?
over the last 10-15 years.
Even OSU played at Toledo (game actually played in Cleveland at the Browns' Stadium, but Toledo controlled the gate) in 2009. Wisconsin did the same thing with NIU in 2011 (game in Chicago). PSU at Temple (when Temple was a MAC team), Iowa at Miami University, Illinois vs. WMU at Ford Field, Minnesota at BGSU, Maryland at NIU, Rutgers at Buffalo, et cetera et cetera.
Best I can tell, Nebraska is the only other school who hasn't played at a MAC school over the last 25 years.
When I read the title I was hoping it was somehow related to the 2019 week 3 bye week...
Invading Madison via football and hockey that weekend. #beatdownbucky
I didn't realize the notional distance between A2 and Plymouth was that great?!
just want to say it's nice to see you posting again!! I've been pretty busy at work so not sure if you've been back posting for a while but either way, good to have you back.
UM Fan from Sydney disagrees.
You sure this is Warde?
He may have signed off on it, but I can't imagine he doesn't much hockey scheduling. It usually the coaching staff and he just gives a signature on all of the game contracts.
Same reason everyone blames Beilein (not Warde) for the MBB cupcake schedule.
Usually it's a coach on the staff who handles scheduling, sometimes it's a head coach, sometimes it's delegated to an assistant (especially in basketball). I can't imagine hockey is much different. But maybe this was Warde...
I was about to say that. Besides big money football ADs don't have their hands much in scheduling of other sports. This seems more like a coincidence than anything else.
Those were my thoughts too - because the scheduling of various sports is done in silos and by various people, the timing of this seems like a rather interesting and yes, even fortuitous coincidence more than anything. I assume Warde signs off on everything, but I don't know that much of this is him per se, just things that probably have his signature on them somewhere.