The talks between the two teams getting the schedule together for this could be as heated as the series on the ice...
Just from looking at the Schedules(teams may have other ice):
Markham:
Reg. Season: Friday (main), Thursday (rare), Saturday (rare)
Playoffs: Monday, Friday
St. Michael's:
Reg. Season: Friday / Sunday (split)
Playoffs: Tuesday, Friday (assume Sunday is available - was given to Toronto JC in round-2)
Assuming St. Michael's has their Sunday spot, and with Rogers Television broadcasting those games, it's a good bet the Buzzers are hoping for 'Friday-Sunday' home games in the opening weekend. That leaves Waxers in the tough spot of going 3-games in 3-nights (having game-2 at home on Saturday), or giving the first 2-games to St. Mike's and playing a 2-2-1-1-1 series...
St. Michael's is never one to shy away from the 3-games in 3-nights, and possibly pushes for it with the ice schedule, as one of their strengths is conditioning. I think they'd be very happy with Friday-Saturday-Sunday start to the series, game-4 mid-week, and then do it again the next weekend. That would play to their advantage in my opinion...
Markham in my opinion should want the games spread out over a more even amount of time, and should be given a garunteed Friday night home game as it is their main night - and they're in the 3rd round of the playoffs. Pickering had to fight to get a garunteed Friday night home game last season in ice/schedule negotiations that went back-and-forth etc etc...
TV could also play a role in all this. Suddenly a night the ice might be available, TV is not, and we all want to see the games on the tube - so it plays into another factor in the talks...
In my mind, the schedules should be made by the league for all series. Each team submits their available ice time - to which the other team doesn't see the schedule. The league then determines the schedule and format. It could a 2-2-1-1-1 or a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1, or even a 2-3-2. Too often you hear stories of regular ice "suddenly unavailable" and a schedule change that benefits one side, to which the opponent pulls the same and etc etc etc. The league steps in during a conflict, but I think it should happen from the get-go. The league picks the schedule right from the start - they can best judge when a series begins, and when each game is played, based on the confidential list of available ice by each team...
Unfortunately for TV, they'd have to live with the schedule (in the format of the league picking), as currently the viewership of televised games isn't at the point that it should be determining scheduling (just ask the NHL with playoff games - they don't get TV treatment in the U.S.)...
Just my two cents - although looking back at how much is here, it's more like 25-30 cents...
Thanks, JPM
