Friday, February 21, 2014

MECA Isn't Planning on UNO Hockey Playing a Sunday Night NCHC Playoff Game

Browsing through the CenturyLink Center schedule, an entry caught my eye.  Demi Lovato has a concert scheduled for Sunday, March 16th at 7 pm.  Lovato doesn't interest me; she's apparently a former Disney Channel star with her own music career. Not my taste.

What interested me was the date.  Sunday, March 16, 2014 should be reserved at the CenturyLink Center for something else, and sure enough, I confirmed the hockey schedule on the UNO web site.  The first round of the NCHC playoffs run from Friday, March 14th through the 16th, and the games are played on the home rink of the top four seeds.

UNO is currently in third place in the NCHC, and if the season had ended last weekend, would be hosting a playoff series that weekend.  There's still three weeks left to go in the season, so that's subject to change, but as it stands, UNO is potentially looking to host a best-of-three series that weekend.

Except that the operators of the CenturyLink Center have already booked a concert the night of the third game.  How does this happen?

Yes, I know UNO is building an $85 million arena to get away from MECA, but organizations shouldn't have to build their own arena to avoid this type of scheduling conflict.  After March 16th, UNO won't hold another hockey game until October. Certainly, there's plenty of time to schedule this concert after hockey season.

The big question is: what happens if UNO hosts a playoff series that weekend?  Does UNO schedule a Thursday through Saturday series?  Schedule a Friday, Saturday, and Monday series?  Or (gag), schedule a deciding game three in the snot-encrusted walls of the Civic Auditorium for one final hockey game?

There is a simple solution for UNO here: get home ice and sweep the opponent to make MECA's screwup a moot point.

But really... how does an organization like MECA make a mistake like this?  Seriously.

UPDATE:  UNO has announced that if the Mavs host a series, the series would be played Thursday through Saturday.
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownMarch 11, 2014 at 12:40 AM

    Mistake. This was on purpose. MECA should be ashamed of themselves. They would never to this to the Bluejays. Think of all the money that will be lost when we play Thursday instead of Saturday. I hope UNO sweeps and there is no Saturday game. I seeing all my concerns at the Pinnacle Bank from now on.

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