SCAHA should schedule 16-19 games between pre-season, reg season and exhibitions. CAHA will schedule the CAHA weekends. Each team has to play every team once during the season, which counts in the standings. Exhibition games are just extras and are usually when you play the girls teams.
Tier teams play as CAHA teams, only the CAHA schedule counts. Don't worry about the SCAHA website once the full schedule is up on CAHA.
This year was great with the South teams only playing North teams on CAHA weekends. Saves on travel and gives you the opportunity to do more tournaments. I've been told that in the past, when all teams have had to attend the CAHA weekends, you could travel to Nor Cal and end up playing only So Cal teams. Some have made the arguement that they don't get as many games as the old format, but you have to pay for CAHA weekends just like tournaments. My sons Peewee AA team played 67 games this season.