High school hockey is little more than a week away from the start of the regular season, and this winter a record number of 50 schools are lacing up their skates and taking to the ice.

Fifty. In two classes. That isn’t a typo, nor is the next little tidbit: There are more teams playing in Class A this season (28) than in Class B (22).

Currently, high school hockey is divided into two geographic groups, East and West, just like every other sport in Maine high school sports. But hockey is unlike any other sport, not only for its geography, but also its talent pool.

It doesn’t take long to figure that the Maine Principals’ Association’s geography doesn’t come from a map of Maine. Winthrop/Hall-Dale will play in the West this season in Class B, while in Class A, Poland/Gray-New Gloucester, a team obviously south and west of Lewiston, is set to play in the East.

There are two problems in high school hockey, to which I propose some possible solutions.

Problem No. 1: There are too many teams designated Class A. With apologies to the coaches, teams and fans of Sanford, Gray-New Gloucester/Poland, Westbrook, Marshwood, Massabesic and Thornton, there just aren’t enough schools that play Class A hockey in Maine with a chance to win a state title.

Those teams, along with Scarborough, Kennebunk, Messalonskee, Bonny Eagle, Lawrence and Skowhegan, have about as much of a chance at winning a Class A title in the next five years as would Dixfield (or Dirigo) has of forming a team on the 45th anniversary of its state championship upset of St. Dom’s.

I have spoken with just about every coach in Class A and B in the last two weeks, and most agree that there are too many teams in Class A.

My solution: re-define the leagues, and do away with the class structure. It’s time to create a three-tier system.

In Tier I, place all the top-notch teams. Include St. Dom’s, Edward Little, Lewiston, Waterville, Cheverus, North Yarmouth Academy, Portland, Bangor and any other school that feels its team can compete at an elite level. Surprisingly, most coaches are honest about their program’s abilities.

Tier II would be home to Gardiner, Hampden, Orono, York, Greely and the remainder of the current top Class B schools.

In Tier III, developmental teams such as Bonny Eagle, Westbrook, Gray-New Gloucester/Poland could join teams that may not have such a good team in any given one-year or two-year period. Call it the Developmental Division or just call it Tier III. Either way, the games would be more competitive and fun.

The biggest piece to this puzzle, of course, is that the tiers would have to be flexible. In other words, teams would have to be able to move freely.

For example, the year following a championship in Tier II, the team would have the option of moving to Tier I, or on the other end, a poor year in Tier I may result in a “demotion” or moving downward of a team to Tier II. This would also ensure that teams wanting to try to move into Tier III from Tier II would have a fair chance to do so. Ability, not school size, should determine how the schools are placed into tiers.

Problem No. 2: Maine is not an East/West state. When I see Portland, South Portland, Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth in the West, it makes my head spin. If I try to drive east of Portland, the nearest hunk of land I will encounter is England. Last time I checked, that’s a long, wet drive for a hockey game.

The solution: Do away with tradition. I know. Many in Maine shudder at the thought of change. A re-division into North and South, however, makes sense. Even in Tier II, for example, which would be home to the bulk of the state’s teams under the above proposal, there could be (gasp!) three divisions: North, Central and South.

Draw a northern line at Brewer. All teams North of that line would be in the Northern Division. From Brewer south to the Lewiston/Auburn area would be the Central Division, and anything south of Exit 12 would be in a Southern Division.

In Tier I, two divisions would be enough, while in Tier III, everyone would have an opportunity to schedule with everyone else.

New Hampshire and Massachusetts have adopted similar plans that have succeeded. It’s time for Maine to stop lagging, stop relying on archaic notions of East vs. West and divide things fairly.

Justin Pelletier is a staff sports writer. He can be reached by E-mail at jpelletier@sunjournal.com.

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