Expansion! 10 teams in the CW

[Hollywood3]

In 2020-21 the CW will add the MacEwan Griffins from the ACAC and the Trinity Western Spartans from the BCIHL.

New sport applications approved for TWU, MacEwan, UFV

Now let the speculation begin on the new league format. Eight teams was perfect to have a home and away series against each opponent. I don't see a 36 game season.

Also, teams have to make hockey highlights available as part of conference reporting requirements.

Click to read more...

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

These two programs have had success at the small school level. Trinity West (winners of the BCIHL championship) and MacEwan (3 peat champions, From the ACAC) will enter CanadaWest with direction to compete for a title.
From a recruiting standpoint, these two programs will put pressure on the rest for the best available WHL players.
I could see them challenging the middle to bottom schools from the get go.
As for MacEwan, it is an Edmonton based program and a quick look at this years roster and you can see that approx 70% of it's players are Edmonton born. The UofA will have now have competition with recruiting home born players.
I can see that program starting to look east for recruits.

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

I’m interested to see what they do with the schedule. Maybe they go to two five-team divisions?

With the rumour of UQAM joining the OUA, I wonder if there are any plans for any east coast schools to make the jump to U Sports? Or would it be possible for any Quebec schools join the AUS (ie/ Bishops in football)?

 

[MiamiHockey]

These two programs have had success at the small school level. Trinity West (winners of the BCIHL championship) and MacEwan (3 peat champions, From the ACAC) will enter CanadaWest with direction to compete for a title.
From a recruiting standpoint, these two programs will put pressure on the rest for the best available WHL players.
I could see them challenging the middle to bottom schools from the get go.
As for MacEwan, it is an Edmonton based program and a quick look at this years roster and you can see that approx 70% of it's players are Edmonton born. The UofA will have now have competition with recruiting home born players.
I can see that program starting to look east for recruits.

For those who are unfamiliar with TWU - it's a small Christian university noted for its Covenant banning sexual activities outside of heterosexual marriage.
That Covenant prevented its proposed Law School from being accredited in BC.
Suffice to say TWU will not appeal to a wide range of hockey players - so I see it being a recruiting threat to nobody.

MacEwan already has a strong program and has attracted WHL talent for years.
But it remains a weak alternative to Alberta with limited programs and resources.
I see MacEwan competing with Mount Royal and Lethbridge for Alberta players who can't get into Alberta - but it's not a threat to the Golden Bears.

What these programs will do has been foreshadowed in the OUA with the recent entry of Nipissing Laurentian and Durham College - they have diluted the level of competition by stealing recruits from the lower end teams but they're not competing with McGill for players.

 

[Rob]

Canada West and the OUA continue to expand while the AUS has been shrinking for the past two decades. Hopefully Dal sticks with it.

 

[Hollywood3]

I’m interested to see what they do with the schedule. Maybe they go to two five-team divisions?

With the rumour of UQAM joining the OUA, I wonder if there are any plans for any east coast schools to make the jump to U Sports? Or would it be possible for any Quebec schools join the AUS (ie/ Bishops in football)?

There is no natural divisional alignment because 5 of the 10 teams are in Alberta. Two would need to go east (with MB/SK), and three west (with BC).

 

[Hollywood3]

Canada West and the OUA continue to expand while the AUS has been shrinking for the past two decades. Hopefully Dal sticks with it.

Maybe a college league like the BCIHL would be a good idea.

 

[FreddyFoyle]

Maybe a college league like the BCIHL would be a good idea.

Enrolment issues are the cause of most of the financial problems with AUS schools. Because of the aging population in the Maritimes, and the number of young people who headed to the oil patch in recent years, there are fewer and fewer high school graduates every year. Older universities therefore have excess capacity (and more than enough tenured profs) and older buildings to maintain. Makes it hard to find money for athletics, even when they are are recruiting needed students from away.

 

[MiamiHockey]

There is no natural divisional alignment because 5 of the 10 teams are in Alberta. Two would need to go east (with MB/SK), and three west (with BC).

Geographically, this is the only sensible option ... but it would never fly because I can't see Alberta and Saskatchewan agreeing to face each other in the Semi-Finals instead of the Finals.

West:
UBC
TWU
Lethbridge
Calgary
MRU

East:
Alberta
MacEwan
Sask
Regina
Manitoba

Of course, given that UBC and TWU are on a geographic island anyways, you could do this:

Alberta Division:
Alberta, Calgary, Lethbridge, MRU, MacEwan

BC / Plains Division:
UBC, TWU, Regina, Sask, Manitoba

That would give more equitable competition between divisions, but is not great for travel.

In sum, I don't see divisions happening.

 

[Hollywood3]

One thing in the CW is that teams must play double-headers on the road so they have only 7 road trips. A split weekend can be played against their local rival. IMO they will have unofficial "divisions" for scheduling reasons. They did this before when they had 7 teams.

It would go like this:

BC
4 v other BC team: 1 x 4 = 4
2 v each other team: 8 x 2 = 16
4 random series: 4 x 2 = 8

This would mean they play 5 opponents twice at home and twice away (20 games) and 4 opponents either twice at home OR twice away (8 games), the same as for MB/SK teams.

Alberta
3 v each other Alta team: 4 x 3 = 12
2 v each other team: 5 x 2 = 10
3 random series: 3 x 2 = 6

This would mean they play 3 opponents twice at home and twice away (12 games) and 2 opponents either twice at home OR twice away (4 games), in addition to 12 games per season with Alberta.

Sask/Man
4 v each MB/SK team: 2 x 4 = 8
2 v each other team: 7 x 2 = 14
3 random series: 3 x 2 = 6

This would mean they play 5 opponents twice at home and twice away (20 games) and 4 opponents either twice at home OR twice away (8 games), the same as for BC teams.

 

[Hollywood3]

With regard to scheduling, whilst watching NHL playoffs I doodled away and found a scheduling formula which seems to work. If the regular season remains at 14 weeks (28 games) it would work like this:

- 9 weeks of a round-robin, i.e. one home or away series against each other team.

- The 5 weeks of extra series games would be regionalized;
- the teams would be split, and a 5-team round would also take 5 weeks;
- the teams from Alberta would be on one side, those from BC, Manitoba, and Sask on the other;
- the first 3 weeks would be 3/5 of a round-robin, which continues on a rotational basis every season;
- in those 3 weeks, the teams with the "bye" play each other;
- also in those 3 weeks, the Man/Sask teams play each other one series and the BC teams also play each other one series;
- the last 2 weeks are an "interlock", where an Alberta team plays one of the others, again on a rotational basis every season.

Here's what the 2021 chart would look like, indicating the number of games against each opponent:

I filled in the 10 teams into the subject slots, and here's that chart:

And here's the schedule for the extra series games:

Over time, the schedule would rotate annually, and here's the generic chart for a 5 year period:

After 5 years, the teams MS2 and MS3 (Regina and Manitoba in my example) would trade places for the next 5 years. If so, here's the generic chart for a 10-year period:

This is not the perfect schedule we get with 8 teams and one home series against team. But it is workable and economically viable.