The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/402034
MICHIGAN HOCKEY the 2014‑15 preseason media day. Responses in the media day anal‑ ysis were overwhelmingly positive with several reasons cited as ben‑ eficial for the six conference mem‑ bers: Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin. Among the benefits were changes in scheduling, com‑ petition level, the freshness of a new beginning and the chance to compete against like schools. With the freedom to schedule more non‑conference games due to the smaller conference size, teams also had the added benefit of having the Big Ten schedule compacted into the last half of their dates of play. "I think the value is getting an op‑ portunity to play teams from other conferences," Minnesota head coach Don Lucia said regarding the en‑ hanced scheduling flexibility. "That gives you a gauge of where you're at as a team and as a conference come the end of the year. I look at the [non‑conference] teams we're play‑ ing. We've got St. Cloud State and UMD out of the NCHC this upcom‑ ing season. We've got Northeastern and Boston College, Notre Dame, Merrimack and possibly Lowell out of Hockey East. "I think that gives you a good gauge of where you're at heading into conference play and not only we as a team can do well, but as a confer‑ ence you can do well. It just drives your own indexes up for RPI come the end of the year. The better every‑ body does in the Big Ten, the better it is for the other members." From a player 's standpoint, the competition level felt considerably higher. "Every game is competitive with all really good players and really good teams," Michigan captain An‑ drew Copp pointed out. " I love the change." "The CCHA was a good league," Copp continued. "There were some really good teams. Going into the Big Ten meant being able to have that non‑conference schedule with Boston College, Boston University, UMass‑Lowell and New Hampshire last year. Going to Michigan Tech is going to be really cool this year. With the schedule flexibility, there are so many teams that you'd never be able to play with the larger conference schedule of the CCHA. "It's fun to see different rinks and different areas. In the Big Ten, you get up easily for every game. You're at Minnesota and Wisconsin. How can you not get up for those games? Michigan State and Ohio State are obviously big games for Michigan any year." The overall feel of newness to the whole process was perceived as a benefit as well. "It was my 15th year at Minnesota, but it felt like I had a new job," Lucia said. Rivalries were heightened and that meant increased fan interest due to familiar names on the visitor halves of scoreboards. "I think, for our fans, they iden‑ tified with the fact that Penn State was coming to town. Ohio State and