I am writing in reference to legislative proposal No. 2000-82 (Preseason Practice and First Contest Date -- Men's and Women's Ice Hockey). The Division I Management Council at its October meeting referred this proposal to the Division I Academics/
Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference submitted the proposal on behalf of the Eastern College Athletic Conference.

The first element of the legislation would modify Bylaw 17.13.2 to set the Saturday of the 25th full weekend before the first round of the Division I championship as the first permissible date for preseason practice sessions in ice hockey.

The second section of the proposal would modify Bylaw 17.13.3 to set the 23rd full weekend before the first round of the Division I championship as the first permissible date for the first contest in ice hockey.

Proposal No. 2000-82 is designed to regulate the playing season in ice hockey that within the last few seasons has grown at both ends of the season to become one of the longest playing seasons in any Division I sport. The issues addressed by this legislation are well-known within the ice hockey community.

"Few of us can make an argument with a straight face that the length of our season is not an issue," said American Hockey Coaches Association Executive Director and Hockey East Association Commissioner Joe Bertagna in a recent commentary in Stops & Starts (October 2000). "The number of games is not the problem. But as October to March becomes September to mid-April, we have to take notice at what we have done to our season."

The expanding season has occurred for two primary reasons. In 1998, the Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship was moved back one week to avoid playing the same weekend as the Men's and Women's Final Fours. In that same time, with the proliferation of exempt events in hockey, the actual start of the season moved forward to the first weekend in October, extending the season by two weeks. By contrast, men's and women's basketball, whose championships take place before ice hockey, cannot begin practice until October 15, which currently serves as the second weekend of play for some teams in men's ice hockey. A further example of lengthening the season occurred in 2000-01 when one institution that participated in two exempted events played an exhibition game September 30.

In 1996-97, the year before the Division I championship moved back one week, the first college hockey exhibition was played October 8 (Waterloo at Michigan) and 11 regular-season games were played October 11-12 (the second weekend of October), marking the first weekend of the college hockey season.

In 2000-01, however, with the Division I championship remaining one week later than in 1996-97, the first exhibition of the season was played September 30 (Wilfred Laurier at Michigan) and the weekend of October 6-8 (the first weekend of October) saw nine regular-season games and 21 exhibitions involving 33 Division I institutions.

Proposal No. 2000-82 seeks to regulate the rapid lengthening of the ice hockey season, which taxes the already tight academic schedule of student-athletes. The proposal would create a better balance across Division I ice hockey with regard to teams starting practice and actual games each season. The proposal would avoid common situations that currently exist where a team playing its first game of the season after one week of practice plays a team with six games played and one month of practice completed.

The proposed legislation does not decrease the number of practice days possible for student-athletes, and the maximum number of permissible contests would stay at 34, which is attainable with a weekend schedule that reduces missed class time.

The two changes included in Proposal No. 2000-82 provide a model of consistency within Division I ice hockey that is fair to all student-athletes in regard to both competitiveness on the ice and opportunity in the classroom. It also takes pressure off universities to begin practices early in the fall.

I would hope that the AEC Cabinet would endorse this legislation for all the above reasons and recommend that it be approved by the Management Council when it meets in April 2001.

Ken Taylor is the director of ice hockey and special events at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.