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It's April 5, which means we're right around a month out from the hockey schedule release. Anyone have any ideas who we will be playing in non-conference action this year?

I'm pretty sure Ohio State is back on the schedule this year, as well as mainstay WMU. But who else would you like/expect to see on our slate this year?

mbenecke wrote:I'm pretty sure Ohio State is back on the schedule this year, as well as mainstay WMU. But who else would you like/expect to see on our slate this year?

I think we should play Ohio State and Miami every year. (And I think they should play us every year.) I've said it before: I'd love to turn these games into an annual Ohio Challenge Cup or something.

I like playing Western Michigan every year.

Any time we can play Michigan, Michigan State, or Notre Dame, that's great so long as we are getting a home game out of it.

Other than that: Personally, I'd like to see games with Ivy League schools, but I can see why these games rarely happen. (They have lots of scheduling options out East already.)

Schadenfreude wrote: I think we should play Ohio State and Miami every year. (And I think they should play us every year.) I've said it before: I'd love to turn these games into an annual Ohio Challenge Cup or something.

The newspaper that used to sponsor the "Ohio Cup" quit doing it quite a few years before the implosion of the leagues.

Other than that: Personally, I'd like to see games with Ivy League schools, but I can see why these games rarely happen. (They have lots of scheduling options out East already.)

28 game league schedule, 34 games total. BG gets at least 2 exempt games each year for a trip to Alaska, sometimes 4 games. That makes an absolute maximum 38 games, 10 out of conference. Miami, Western, OSU take 6. If scUM, MSU, and/or ND are willing to do a home/home series, there's no room to go east or west. Not to mention the amount of in conference travel makes those 6 teams the best possible out of conference schedule.

Until the next conference realignment, I'm fairly confident you won't see an out of conference road trip go further than Robert Morris, Canisius, RIT, or Niagra.

Pretty sure Canisius still owes us a home game and we owe Mercyhurst a game in Erie. Not sure if those would be this season, however.

It’s hard to play all of the exempt games you earn from Alaska trips now with the season ending a week sooner.

pdt1081 wrote:

Schadenfreude wrote: I think we should play Ohio State and Miami every year. (And I think they should play us every year.) I've said it before: I'd love to turn these games into an annual Ohio Challenge Cup or something.

The newspaper that used to sponsor the "Ohio Cup" quit doing it quite a few years before the implosion of the leagues.

Huh. I didn't realize that was actually a thing. Or maybe I did and that's why I think it's such a good idea now.

Another team I wouldn't mind seeing around here more often is RIT, given the Wayne Wilson connection.

We aren’t playing Miami next year per their schedule released today. A complete spitball guess on my part would be OSU, WMU, Sparty, and Canisius/Mercyhurst as our nonleague games this year. Again, that’s just my guess and isn’t based on anything else.

The Alaska exemption would allow two more nonleague games, but I’m guessing they’ll opt for a week off instead.

The official schedule will be released on Wednesday, May 9th, per the WCHA on Twitter.

The schedule will be released tomorrow at 2pm. I'll post it here as soon as I see it.

BGSU Hockey Schedule 2018-2019

10/6 @ Mercyhurst*
10/9 @ Western Michigan*
10/12 @ Robert Morris*
10/14 vs. Robert Morris*
10/23 vs. Western Michigan*
10/26 @ Ohio State*
10/27 vs. Ohio State*
11/2 vs. Northern Michigan
11/3 vs. Northern Michigan
11/9 @ Anchorage
11/10 @ Anchorage
11/16 vs. Lake Superior State
11/17 vs. Lake Superior State
11/21 @ US Under-18 (Exhibition)
12/1 @ UAH
12/2 @ UAH
12/7 @ Ferris State
12/8 @ Ferris State
12/14 vs. Minnesota State
12/15 vs. Minnesota State
12/30 vs. Windsor (Exhibition)
1/3 vs. Bemidji State
1/4 vs. Bemidji State
1/11 @ Michigan Tech
1/12 @ Michigan Tech
1/18 @ Fairbanks
1/19 @ Fairbanks
1/25 vs. Ferris State
1/26 vs. Ferris State
2/1 @ Northern Michigan
2/2 @ Northern Michigan
2/15 vs. Fairbanks
2/16 vs. Fairbanks
2/22 @ Bemidji State
2/23 @ Bemidji State
3/1 vs. UAH
3/1 vs. UAH

The season begins on a Saturday night at Mercyhurst. The team then plays a road game in Kalamazoo against Western Michigan. That Friday, we play at Robert Morris, and we play a Sunday game during homecoming weekend against that same Robert Morris team. Two days later, we play Western Michigan at home on a Tuesday night in a callback to the CCHA. We then play at Ohio State in Columbus on Friday before they come to our barn the next night. This is an interesting and intriguing non-conference schedule, and each opponent is fairly good.

What is the point of playing Windsor over Christmas Break?

Probably to shake the rust off after Christmas break. Kind of the start of the second half.

Mankato only one weekend, and at home. Hope we take advantage of that.
Two trips to AK... tiring (and $$$).

Mankato only one weekend, and at home. Hope we take advantage of that.
Two trips to AK... tiring (and $$$).

Too bad its with the students on break........seems we are always on break when we have a really big series in town, frustrating.

AZIce wrote:

Mankato only one weekend, and at home. Hope we take advantage of that.
Two trips to AK... tiring (and $$$).

Too bad its with the students on break........seems we are always on break when we have a really big series in town, frustrating.

I agree with that. The academic schedule has changed even more this coming school year, so students will be home for break for that series as well as the home series against Bemidji and Ferris State in January. It's frustrating, but we can't do much about that.