The Ice Breaker Tournament has inspired me to play what if for a moment.

What if the NCHC thought outside the box and twice per season held weekend tournaments matching all eight of its teams at two campus sites. With four teams at two different sites on the same weekend each team could host one of the events every other season.

Here are some other ground rules:

• The four games teams would play in the two weekend mini-tournaments each season would count in the NCHC standings
• Geographic rivals aren’t at the same site, so Denver and Colorado College would retain their four-game Gold Pan rivalry series.
• Matchups would rotate so the first-round games would be different each time to give teams a variety of opponents in addition to the regularly scheduled games.

The benefits of doing this?

• It would better prepare the league’s teams for postseason play.
• It could potentially generate increased interest, particularly early in the season when there is more competing for sports fans’ interest.
• It also could save some travel for teams.

Will it happen? Highly unlikely. But it’s fun to think about.