College Hockey:

MCHA Season Preview

As many may recall, last seasons MCHA preview focused on the myriad of changes the league had gone through in the previous year. Though the state of the MCHA has solidified somewhat between then and now, it is still evolving at a more rapid pace than any other league in the nation.

As certain questions relating to the MCHA have surfaced numerous times over the past year, its time to set the record straight on a variety of topics.

To do so we turn to MCHA Commissioner Terry Brand, who was kind enough to answer a multitude of questions regarding the past, present and future of the league.

Special thanks to Terry for taking the time to talk with us.

USCHO: The MCHA has come along way in only 11 years. What is your take on the current state of the league relative to what it has been and what you would eventually like it to be?

Brand: Stability is the first word that comes to mind. Four charter member schools, those being Lawrence, MSOE, Marian, and Northland have been competing in the conference since the 1998-99 season, Crookston came into the conference in the 1999-2000 season, Finlandia in 2004-05, and then we expanded by two members for the 2007-08 season with Adrian and Concordia of Wisconsin. We are now a contender in the search for student athletes that are looking to continue their hockey careers while getting a quality education.

USCHO: There is still a fairly wide-held perception that the MCHA is a weak sister of D-III hockey. What are your thoughts on the validity of that perception?

Brand: I think that is only the opinion of those who have not seen the top teams of the MCHA play. Our Harris Cup championship game last March, which featured Adrian and Finlandia, was the most competitive game I saw all season. People have to understand that our schools are a bit different in that they are all recruiting younger players, both right out of high school or with only a year of juniors or prep school play. So when we play out of conference in the preseason we are putting 18 year-old true freshman up against 24 year-old seniors. Look at our scores when we play out of conference again in January. We close the gap. I think that is when the politics of NCAA bids starts up because nobody wants to get picked off by what they think is a weak sister.

USCHO: What are your thoughts on the overall competitiveness within the MCHA itself?

Brand: Last season our games broke down as follows. In 80 conference games we had one tie, 22 games decided by one goal, eight by two goals, 15 by three goals, five by four goals, 10 by five goals, and 17 decided by six or more goals. As you can see, a strong majority of our games are very competitive. The big scores are happening when our top teams are playing our lowest ranking teams. Those games concern me because it is very hard to take a loss like that and also very hard to tell your team to slow down and not run up scores. I would like to see that number of big score games diminish this season.

I think our top four teams can compete with anyone in the nation.

USCHO: The MCHA is largely comprised of relative newcomers to the D-III hockey world, yet many MCHA teams appear to receive excellent institutional support. Is this a fair assessment?

Brand: Yes, that is a fair assessment. Overall our teams are receiving the support they need to compete at this level. They have all seen the benefits of having a hockey program on campus and the diversity in the student population that a hockey team can bring. Many of our schools have to keep a strict balance between athletics and academics, which can have a huge effect on the potential student-athletes that the coaches can be recruiting. However, I think as a result we put a much more well-rounded young man on the ice when those academic standards are achieved.

USCHO: How big of a landmark event do you think the additions of Concordia and Adrian were?

Brand: We were looking to expand, but set some pretty high standards for the programs we considered. Both schools were willing to make a large commitment to their hockey programs. Everything from coaching, recruiting, facilities, academic standards, and overall budget were considered in the decision to bring them both aboard before ever putting a team of any kind on the ice. Look at the results. Adrian wins a conference championship in their first season and Concordia boasts a roster of over 30 players for this upcoming season. These additions also give the MCHA that magic number of seven teams needed as part of the qualification for an automatic qualifier for a conference.

USCHO: Adrians success as a first-year team was something the likes of which college hockey had never seen. Do you think that success is good for the league, and if so, why?

Brand: Adrians success has been a huge boost for the league. Every time people hear about Adrian it begs the question: where do they play? That then leads people to the MCHA. Their strength adds to the strength of the MCHA by strengthening all our members schedules and they give us exposure as a conference every time they show up in the rankings.

USCHO: There are rumors that UM-Crookston will no longer be in the MCHA following this season. Is that true, and if so, why?

Brand: Yes, that is true. Having a Division II school in the MCHA has been a concern for some of our members for some time. The fact that those games do not count in the rankings made it hard for our stronger teams to get ranked, as it was as if those games never happened. It had been the topic of many discussions prior to any official action being taken. The University of Minnesota system even did a study of the athletic program at Crookston to determine if Division III would be a better fit. The findings showed that there would not be competition available for its other sports, so in the fall of 2006, Crookston made the announcement that it would remain an NCAA Division II institution.

At our spring 2007 membership meeting a motion was passed to make an addition to our bylaws that required all members to be NCAA Division III institutions by July 1 of 2008. Therefore, the 2008-09 season will be the last season that Crookston will be a member of the MCHA.

Its never a good thing for hockey to see a college team put into a situation where it does not know its future. It was a very difficult decision for some of our members to vote to take a team that was a 10 season member of the MCHA and tell them they are no longer welcome.

Lake Forest will be joining the MCHA for the 2009-10 season.

USCHO: Why will Lake Forest be joining the MCHA beginning in 09-10? Did they approach the MCHA or did the MCHA approach Lake Forest — and in either case what was the motivation behind it?

Brand: Back in the fall of 2006, I was hearing lots of rumors that Lake Forest wanted out of the NCHA and into the MCHA. So to put rumors to rest, I scheduled a visit to Lake Forest to meet with their administration. We all found that making the change would be a good fit for everyone. So I guess the easy way to explain it is that I heard they may be knocking on our door so I made the gesture to welcome them in.

USCHO: It is well known the lack of available non-conference games has resigned the MCHA to a 20 game league schedule. With the expiration of the NCHA-MIAC Interlock following this season, will the MCHA be able to reduce the amount of league games and play more non-conference games against NCHA and MIAC teams beginning in 09-10?

Brand: Over this past off season, there was a proposal drawn up by the NCHA that would have provided a four game interlocking schedule between the MCHA and the NCHA. All spring and summer we heard it was a done deal. Then just before our fall membership meeting where had had planned on making it official, we were notified that the NCHA had chosen some alternative type schedule.

We decided that maybe