Okay I have touched on this once before, but have been criticized for my stand that the new regional heavy schedule isn't that bad of a thing when costs are factored in. After a recent interview with Evan “the Hammer” Hammond, play-by-play voice of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, we had a quick discussion about the schedule and some of its impact on the perception of the teams and the league itself.
In the interview we scratched the surface of two symptoms of the scheduling adopted by the BCHL during the offseason, limited cross-conference meetings and the lack of visits from half of those teams from outside the conference. There may be other symptoms that may be latent in nature right now, but have the potential of showing themselves in the near future and perhaps at the worst possible time – the playoffs.
The Prince George Spruce Kings as well as the Quesnel Millionaires, Merritt Centennials and Westside Warriors all have fans that are passionate about Junior A hockey and want to see all that the BCHL has to offer, but they don't even get to see this year's RBC Royal Bank Cup host team. They don't have an opportunity to measure their team against the only team guaranteed to play the game against the best the country has to offer. And perhaps just as disappointing, the Victoria Grizzlies don't get to go into those hostile environments and test their abilities against those Interior Division teams in unfriendly territory.
Yes the Grizzlies, and every other team in the league, will have the proverbial one-game winner-takes-all opportunity to test each other's ability to prepare and compete in a single meeting of this magnitude. I can see how this was so enticing in the offseason; it reeked of intense competition and places so much importance on those eight out-of-conference games. But I wonder if the teams and fans would agree or disagree that these games have lived up to that expected hype. Perhaps they have, but at what expense?
A regionally heavy schedule is nothing new, but I think that fans should have every opportunity to see all that the BCHL has to offer them. Fans should be able to see elite players from every team play at least once with their own eyes. Teams should also have the extra opportunity of playing opponents in both home and away rinks; pitting home and road records against each other.
Doing research for the Spruce Kings visit to the four Island based teams uncovered a few scheduling surprises such as four consecutive meetings between the Nanaimo Clippers and Victoria Grizzlies. Such a scheduling scenario would be commonplace during the playoffs, but midway through the regular season it is something that is unheard of. By my count the Vancouver Island based teams play over half of their regular season games against each other, twelve games each for a combined total of 36. Add in the eight out-of-conference games and that leaves 16 games for the remaining four teams in the Mainland Division.
Does a schedule like that give an accurate reflection of a team's performance during the season? I say no it doesn’t; there isn't enough cross referencing with the other teams in the league. Another question that pops is whether or not a schedule like this can do everything possible to prepare a team for an extended post-season. At this time I can only theorize and so can you, but the real test will come in the later stages of the playoffs when a representative from the BCHL will meet a team out of the Alberta Junior Hockey League and then potentially two teams in the RBC Royal Bank Cup.
Ron Gallo, the voice of the Prince George Spruce Kings, will be blogging the Interior Conference during the 2008/09 season. Check back often for Ron's insights into the latest news from the BCHL's Okanagan and Northern-based teams.
