College Hockey:
Paula’s picks: Nov. 30, 2012

By Paula C. Weston • CCHA Columnist • Nov. 30, 2012

I knew last week would be a bit painful. Perhaps I should be grateful for any week in which I at least break even.

Last week: 4-3-1 (.562)
Season to date: 51-29-15 (.616)

Wrong-way splits … sigh.

This week

It’s a full slate of CCHA action this week, with 10 teams playing and Bowling Green off. All series are Friday-Saturday. All games are at 7:05 p.m. local time unless otherwise noted.

Lake Superior State at No. 6 Notre Dame. The Lakers split a series with the Buckeyes at home last week, losing 4-1 and winning 3-2. The Fighting Irish split at home with North Dakota, losing 2-1 and winning 5-2. LSSU junior Kevin Kapalka returned to play for Saturday’s win, having been out since Oct. 26. ND junior Anders Lee scored a bunch of goals for the Irish, but if you want to know exactly how many, I suggest you talk to ND coach Jeff Jackson. The teams split a pair in Sault Ste. Marie nearly a year ago this weekend. Friday’s game begins at 7:35 p.m. ND 3-2, 3-2

No. 4 Miami at Alaska. The RedHawks were off last weekend, having last played Nov. 16-17 at home, a series against Michigan State in which Miami captured five points with a 2-2 tie and 2-0 win. Miami is undefeated in its last five games (3-0-2). Last weekend, the Nanooks took one point away from their road series against Northern Michigan, losing 4-3 in overtime and tying 2-2 the following night. Last season, the RedHawks won two 2-1 games in Fairbanks (Nov. 4-5) and Miami is 5-0-1 in its last six road games against Alaska. Miami 2-1, 2-1

Michigan at No. 17 Ferris State. The Wolverines are 2-4-0 in their last six, including a 5-1 loss to Cornell in Madison Square Garden last Saturday and a 3-1 home win over Bowling Green the night before Thanksgiving. The Bulldogs, off last weekend, are 4-2-0 in their last six and ride a three-game win streak into this weekend, having swept Bowling Green on the road, 4-3 (OT) and 3-1, Nov. 16-17. UM swept FSU in Yost Ice Arena Oct. 27-28, 2011. FSU 3-2, UM 3-2

Northern Michigan at No. 10 Western Michigan. At home last weekend, the Wildcats took five points from Alaska. Alaska was also the last team that the Broncos played, Nov. 16-17, a split in Fairbanks before WMU took the Thanksgiving weekend off. WMU swept NMU in Kalamazoo Oct. 28-29, 2011 (4-2, 3-2 OT). The Broncos are 4-0-0 against the Wildcats in their last four meetings. WMU 3-2, NMU 3-2

Ohio State at Michigan State. Last weekend, the Buckeyes split a pair of road games versus Lake Superior, winning 4-1 and losing 3-2. The Spartans were off last weekend, having last played Nov. 16-17, two road games against Miami that resulted in a 2-2 tie and 2-0 loss. MSU was 3-1-0 against OSU last season, losing 3-0 and winning 5-2 at home Oct. 20-21, 2011, and sweeping on the road, 6-3 and 3-2, Feb. 3-4. Friday’s game begins at 8:05 p.m., Saturday’s at 6:05 p.m. OSU 3-1, MSU 3-1

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Danmanfu
Gordon Bombay brought me, Danmanfu, on as an assistant in 1992, the year we beat the Hawks and won the peewee title. I was also a part of USA coaching staff when we won at the Junior Goodwill Games in 1994. Hakstol is ok.
- Shaunmc04
  what?
- ND
  Hahaha you watch too many movies… and speaking of movies they should come out with a new mighty ducks 3D movie, Charlie Conway gets drafted while Adam Banks gets drafted in the first round of the NHL entry draft.. Goldberg opens up a bakery, and Julie “the cat” Gaffney is a centerfold. Kenny Wu makes the final table at the WSOP and Gav Averman writes a novel.. Just saying…
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JBQC34XSYM4Q4VGCKWTO53PIGQ Anonymous
It’s like watching some bad reality show. Just think, we have two years of this before it’s over.
Dan
Brian Patterson makes some good points and I totally agree that this would not be happening in football. Of course, this isn’t football and hockey isn’t paying the athletic department bills at many universities like it does at small schools. Willfully eliminating a Division I, multiple national championship winning team from conference membership because the gate isn’t big enough is about as sad as it gets and, if it happens, is a blow to college hockey. Ask Doug Weight if LSSU belongs in the big leagues.
Csitzman
Very interesting and I agree that it is a shame that LSSU is being cast off. There have been a number of colleges that have in the past 10-15 years who have moved up to DI and trying to build up strong programs. My alma mater, Bemidji State, has been the beneficiary of being able to play some of the top programs in college hockey, with some success in post season play. For newer DI programs like Bemidji, this realignment threatens the survival in college hockey. When you talk about historically successful teams, Bemidji State is in that class. Yes, their many championships have come at the DII and DIII levels, but they have demonstrated recently they can play with the best at the DI level. But what happens when a program like BSU is no longer allowed the opportunity to compete with the top programs? College hockey is likely about to lose some programs at the DI level, which will only weaken the overall sport, not grow it.
NC_Buckeye
Buckeye alum here so you know. Good points and I agree LSSU being in this position sucks (as well as BGSU, Ferris, WMU, and Alaska).
As a Big Ten alum, I have to be honest, I’ve always wanted for hockey to be a Big Ten sport. And realistically if it weren’t for the BTN, the abdication of these five schools from CCHA and WCHA might never have happened. The nationwide network coverage of the BTN will provide more exposure (and money) for Big Ten hockey. It appears that the NCHC schools came to the same conclusion (i.e. their pursuit of a contract with Versus/NBC). And I believe Hockey East already had a deal in the works with CBS College Sports.
So where’s that leave everybody else? Not sure. There’s definitely going to be a delineation of the have/have nots even more now. But I think it’s time for the sport to move forward. By my estimation that hasn’t happened since the 90′s.
I’ve brought this up on the Mid American Conference blog, Hustle Belt, that I think this is an opportunity for an all sports conference (like the MAC) to come forward and establish itself in hockey. Fox Sports is developing a nationwide college sports network and might view this as a programming opportunity themselves. I’m pretty sure that LSSU is D-I in only hockey (as is Ferris), but the MAC has history of single sport associate members. Something to think about.
BTW, I’m also a Kent alum which explains my fondness for the MAC.
- yooper
  I appreciate your honesty when you say that you’ve always wanted college hockey to be a big ten sport. I’m familiar with your feelings because I have traveled to many big ten schools to watch my team (NMU) play. I always get the same vibes… pure arrogance on the part of the larger school. I really would like to know where this elitist mind set comes from. I’m not referring to you in any way, I would just like to know why the likes of Michigan or Wisconsin feel that it is inappropriate for them to play SCSU or FSU etc. Just because they have only one DI sport, are they somehow second class? If the likes of LSSU can field a class A hockey team, why should they not be in the national limelight? Hockey isn’t quite like football or basketball, whereas nearly all
  participants are recruited nationwide from US schools. Hockey gets European and many Canadian players. They come from small towns and they don’t mind playing in a small town college. Why is it the mindset that the big ten has to be big ten for everything? Because one school has 40k students and Bemidji
  has only 10k, are the Bemidji folks supposed to feel lucky. Certainly not when their team can play toe to toe. Why can’t the hockey fans just stick to hockey and forget about their status in football, basketball or whatever? To be honest with you, I think it is just a lack of character.
  - NC_Buckeye
    First, having reread my post it occurs to me that my observation about LSSU and Ferris being D-I in only one sport might come across as elitist. That wasn’t my intention. While admittedly I have no knowledge of MAC by-laws, I only raised that to point out that I’m pretty sure the MAC would work with a school for a single sport only. But that’s all day-dreaming at this point as someone below mentioned.
    I’ll be the first to admit that Big Ten fans can be pretty over-bearing. My perspective, however, is that elitism didn’t drive this as much as a historical identity. We’ve been playing each other in every sport but hockey since 1912 (for my Buckeyes, 1896 for the rest of the conference). We’ve just been programmed over time to think of competing athletically against fellow Big Ten schools; be it in wrestling, gymnastics, swimming & diving, softball… you get my drift. Hockey has always been kind of an asterick sport for me personally because of that. And yes I’m aware that there was resistance to this by Minnesota but I think their fans are starting to warm up to it.
    I realize that hockey is special due to the fact that it is extremely regional and working with a very limited recruiting base compared to other sports. On top of that you have this mix of D-I, D-II, and D-III schools playing each other as D-I. Which naturally is going to produce a disparity of resources among schools especially since hockey is such an expensive program to fund.
    Like I said above I don’t want LSSU, Ferris, WMU, or Alaska to fold because of realignment. I also hope that tOSU continues to play the above schools both home and away. But I also think it’s time for college hockey to take the next step and become something more than it is now.
  - Some Guy
    Michigan fan here. I don’t think that its so much that we feel too good to play the smaller schools as much as, like the OSU fan responded, that we’re trained to care about other Big Ten schools.
    In my experience at least, we care very much when a good small school comes to Yost. When Miami comes, its a big game to us, and the same can be said for any other MAC or normally DII team that’s having a strong year. When a bad BG team comes though, we tend to take it less seriously because they are having a bad year and because they are a school we just normally don’t care about. On the other hand, if Wisconsin or Minnesota shows up, even if they are having a bad year, we care about the game just because we’re used to caring about those teams no matter how good they are. If we played, say, Western Michigan and they came in at 5-10, then played a Minnesota team with the same record the next night, we’re just going to care more about Minnesota because we are that much more used to playing them across the board.
    Money is certainly involved here, but Big Ten hockey is still, I think, very much rooted in the fact that all the schools like being affiliated with each other and we want to do so in as many ways as we can. We even all have an academic consortium in which we share materials and faculty. This extra realignment is really a knee-jerk reaction by the moving parties I think, since even the Big Ten schools aren’t on top every year. Wisconsin had a down year, Minnesota has been in rough times, MSU has fallen off somewhat, OSU I’m not sure has ever been consistently good, and PSU is a start-up. Even Michigan almost had the steak ended without a major run at the end of the season in 2010.
  - RamboWildcat
    Very well said, Yooper! Ironically, Michigan State, Minnesota and Ohio State are very, very average programs right now….some could argue on a big decline to mediocrity. Look who just won the national title??? A small, little school in Duluth. College hockey is a total different animal. It’s much more associated with basketball than football….i.e. see Butler and VCU in the final four.
blackswampblues
while generally agreeing with the letter…it is bizarre that the writer–ostensibly speaking of tradition and storied teams–only goes back 25 years and himself casts off the 1984 National Champion, Bowling Green State Univ.
LSSU is not the only program left in limbo.
- http://www.Vernon-J.com Vernon J
  He admitted that he was an LSSU grad & that he was biases.
yooper
Isn’t the NCAA supposed to be leading here. Where is their leadership? It seems that they like to make all the other rules. They choose the playoff contenders, they decide on what infractions on the ice will not be tolerated. etc. etc. Yet they sit idly
by and watch UAH get left out. Now it’s LSSU and others. They have all the cards,
why don’t they use them. They should dictate to the conferences (if they want to
participate in NCAA postseason) that they will except these teams. Or, to reconfigure themselves to accomodate the leftouts. They should insist that TV coverage will include smaller schools, and that no school should experience a dilution of their usual schedules. They preach that college sports is to be sportsmanlike and its purpose is for the physical training of our younger generation and that monetary gain is not the purpose. Why don’t they follow the philosophys they exhort.
- NC_Buckeye
  The NCAA got burned by dictating TV rights and have abdicated that responsibility. See the Supreme Court case Univ. of Oklahoma vs NCAA.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_v._Board_of_Regents_of_Univ._of_Oklahoma
  So I wouldn’t look for any help from them as far as TV coverage. But you’re correct that this should be something of concern for the smaller schools.
  There are so many factors at play it makes the head spin. Is college hockey going to continue to be a regional sport where most of the players come from the “M” states, junior hockey, and Canada? How is global climate change going to affect the sport? (Will pond hockey become a thing of the past?) What about population shifts? If the economy doesn’t start to recover, how does that affect budgets at schools? Will this affect state schools more than private schools? Most of these issues have been on the minds of the NHL and USA Hockey for some time now. And they don’t know the answers either.
  I think the only definite objective that can be derived from realignment is that the powers-that-be want the sport to change. Whether that change is positive or negative depends on the eye of the beholder.
da GUC
I agree that the MAC has an opportunity to develop a league with Kent St., Ohio, EMU, CMU etc. but that is not likely to happen when most universities are getting their budgets slashed to beyound the bone. Too bad too.
- NC_Buckeye
  I see Buffalo, Ohio, EMU, and NIU as good candidates. I can’t believe there isn’t already a college team in the hockey-crazy northern Illinois area. But like you said AD budgets and Title IX are going to be issues for MAC schools.
  Both Kent State and Ohio have flirted with D-I hockey in the past.
Zekeskar
I wonder how this shake up would be further shaken up if the NCAA declared that a a league minimum of 8 teams is necessary to get an automatic championship tournament spot? It seems the Big 10 would not exist, the NCHC and WCHA both would HAVE to invite a couple more teams and therefore a lot of the orphans’ problems would be solved.
jawbones
I think it is incumbent on the WCHA to make sure that teams like LSSU, BGSU and FSU have a place to play.
Stephen
I think these changes will be a fine thing for college hockey. The last time something like this happened was when the five original Hockey East schools left the ECAC. This new conference created division one opportunities at two UMass campuses and Merrimack in short time. It also improved the level of play at most of the HE schools. ECAC has only themselves to blame (mostly due to the Ivy’s insistence on playing a reduced schedule) for their inability to keep up, though they still routinely place multiple teams in the tournament.
These new conference alignments will create opportunities for the sport in general. The one caveat is obviously the Big Ten conference is limited by its nature to who it can include. Within five years, though, I would not be the slightest bit surprised to see Illinois or Iowa or Nebraska add hockey programs, which would be a boon to college hockey in general.
One thing that made Hockey East viable in the early days before they expanded to eight and eventually ten teams was their interlocking schedule with the WCHA. Any chance we might see that with the CCHA and ECAC or NCHC and HE or WCHA and Big Ten? That could also be an unexpected benefit to all of this.
- http://www.Vernon-J.com Vernon J
  The University of Nebraska system already has a hockey team.
  Is it safe to say that you are talking about the little brother of UNO southwest of Omaha adding a hockey team or UNK adding a hockey team?
Joe C
Hockey East alum here. Having gone through this as a fan, I hope that it will work out for all the institutions the way it work with Hockey East/ECAC and very recently AHA. This means:
1) Schools and leagues work together to make sure that everyone has a chair when the music stops.
2) The newer and smaller programs get a role in their future, the way Merrimack, Union, RIT, UConn and Umass did.
3) Programs that find in a few years they really belong somewhere else are allowed to make secondary moves/delayed moves, the way Vermont did, paving the way for new and natural rivalries like the one with UNH
4) There is a clear path for new programs and “left out” programs like LSSU, BGSU, UAH to have leagues to join, the way that RIT and Bemidji joined. The presence of RIT and Bemidji in Frozen Fours is testament to the positives of growth in NCAA.
5) If there are independent programs in two years, that B10 and NCHC are especially accomodating to home-and-home out of conference play
6) I think the AHA will play a huge role in the future of smaller programs. I wonder if CCHA can survive on its own, now that WCHA has its sixth team.
While I agree with the main points of Todd’s article and thank him for his insight, I think we should go further than just 25 years and national championships. UVM has two frozen fours and high profile NHL alumni, just like Providence. Schools like St Lawrence and Clarkson have plenty of history and importance. I do not like any of the schools currently on the outside looking in being in there situation. I hope that they can make it through.
In the end, I hope that 20 years from now, we are celebrating NCAA Division I hockey with many more programs, some in places that would shock us today. There are a lot of empty spaces in the Northern half of the country with otherwise huge universities and local high school hockey programs supplying players to many current college programs in other states.
- blackswampblues
  unfortunately, there is no clear path for BGSU.
  BGSU is a public school with almost 20,000 students and Division I programs across the board. The AHA schools that would be most likely to move to a new CCHA are tiny, private, and Catholic (NU, Mercyhurst, Canisius). BGSU has no natural rivalries with any of those schools. Neither is there any natural rivalry with UAH or RMU, nor is there ever likely to be one.This is not a situation comparable to the ECAC/Hockey East breakup, where Clarkson and St. Lawrence stayed together, or Vermont and UNH developed new rivalry based on similarities.It’s one thing to look at the map and group schools geographically–another to find a lasting institutional match.
  If BGSU ends up in the new CCHA–it’s strictly a shotgun marriage, and we’ll be doing this dance again in a few short years.
Jondsni
As a UVM grad, who was there during ECAC years, I see a lot of valid arguments. But as I live in the heart of the Big 10, to anybody who believes that more of their 12 schools will jump to D1, there is little chance. These schools, particularly Northwestern and Illinois have a bunch of D1 prospects in their backyards, places to play AND zero desire to fight either budget, Title IX fights or both. And you could use UVM as an example; the Cats cut both baseball and softball last year.
Anonymous
It will take a good 3-5 years to see what happens to the College Hockey world,but there will be winners and losers no matter what…you will see the so called super conferences get the TV deals and will have the best of the best in recruiting…money talks these days. Sadly I see College Hockey shooting themseleves in the foot instead of keeping the game and teams together,instead we are going to the route of B-ball and FB…2bad indeed.
Brian P
It will never happen, but wouldn’t it be great if Notre Dame, who currently holds all the cards, makes it a condition that they only way they join the NCHC is if LSSU is admitted as well? Why? Because ND coach Jeff Jackson, who won two Championships at Lake State, decided to throw them a lifeline. Now–this won’t happen, but that would be a good story.
- guest
  ND Alum here. It will be very interesting to see what we do; I’m sad to see the CCHA go, I know Western and BGSU certainly aren’t the biggest games but it was fun to take roadtrips to see them play; those trips will certainly be tougher being in either the NCHC or hockey east.
  As for Jackson, that would be nice, but you can forget it, Jack Swarbrink and Fr. Jenkins hold the cards as to where we go and I wouldn’t be suprised if its east at this point since:
  1) We’re trying to enhance our eastern fanbase in football (the be all and end all) by playing several neutral site games out east. By playeing in an eastern league that would only enhance this effort
  2) Hockey east is not only the hockey equilivant of the Big East, but also already has 3 Catholic members; Notre Dame-BC is the NCAA’s biggest Catholic rivalry and ND- Providence is already a frequent matchup in Big East play
  Also I want to point out that while ND football hasn’t exactally been the greatest (class of 2011 saw the worst football record of any class in school history), we still have arguably more exposure than any other program in the country
  - Tb111960
    If ND moves to Hockey East, don’t be totally shocked if BG is asked to come along. ND and BG have been partnered for many years in the CCHA, meaning they always have played 4 games each year. Coach Jackson I think will lobby for them as he might want at least one closer league member and also knows of BG’s storied hockey history and their re-commitment to hockey. Also, BC might also support that as Jerry York coached at BG in his early years and won his first National Championship with them. However, even if they are asked, I’m not sure BG would accept. Travel costs would increase and they are one of the founding members of the CCHA and have played more consecutive years than any other team in that conference.
  - Guest
    Oh, you mean the 4 years that Jimmy Clausen was going to win 4 national championship? LOL!!!!!
Aofste
I think one other thing to consider is losing some of the best rivalries in college hockey. With the WCHA splitting in three are we going to see Minnesota versus North Dakota? Ask any fan of those two schools and they will most likely say that is one of the best rivalries in all of college hockey. Great losses in great matchups all around.
- BeaverHockey
  With the smaller conferences, there will be a lot more room for non-conference games. Being a Minnesotan, trust me, Minnesota and North Dakota will play each other every year. Most likely in a home and home series. Play in Grand Forks one night and then Minneapolis the next, or vice versa.
  - Laker_one
    When teams are in a conference together, they have an obligation to play and to play in each others’ barns. Although Big10 schools might, on occasion, schedule the small schools, now they will insist that those games be played in their rinks where they get to keep the revenue. This argument that non-conference schedules will save the small schools ignores how much the power structure is shifting.
  - Ballgamer2
    It’s a 5 hr bus ride from GF to MSP and visa versa. Now add winter weather possibilities. Only thing that works is 2 games in GFone year and MSP the next. Please don’t consider flying. Same weather possibilities, and, we are speaking of Delta.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_HKXU6GCWSTGTBLWRNPJMHNDJ6I HelenE
  This rivalry will likely go away because of the North Dakota nickname. Minnesota has already stated that they will not play North Dakota in any sport except for conference post-season obligations until the current nickname is retired. The North Dakota legislature passed a law requiring the university to keep the nickname.
Thericefamily
I
don’t quite understand all the anger and resentment being directed at the
schools that have left for the Big Ten or National College Hockey Conference
(NCHC). Being a member of a conference, when you boil it down, is just being in
a scheduling agreement. We’ll play you, you play us, maybe we’ll have a
conference tournament at the end of the regular season, and that’s it. It’s not
like a marriage where you promise to stick together through good and bad, till
death, nor is it like being a parent, where you have a responsibility to your children.
Schools should be free to schedule who they want, when they want, without being
accused of abandoning other schools, or even worse, causing the death of other programs.
If a school needs Minnesota or Michigan to come into your rink and play you in
order to survive, what does that say about your program? I was perplexed by the
criticism leveled at the CCHA for not accepting Alabama-Huntsville into the
conference, like it was somehow an obligation of the CCHA to schedule
Alabama-Huntsville, and it would be the CCHA’s fault if Alabama-Huntsville
dropped its program. Why is it the responsibility of the CCHA (or the WCHA or
Hockey East for that matter) to ensure the survival of any program? Further, the five schools leaving the CCHA and
WCHA to start the Big ten hockey conference shouldn’t be criticized for doing
that. They have no obligation to any school other than themselves, and the
schools are already in a scheduling agreement (aka conference) in all other
sports. As far as the teams leaving the WCHA and CCHA to form the NCHC, what is
wrong with that? They want to play schools who have made a similar commitment
to the sport. Where is it written that they can never leave the WCHA or CCHA? Personally,
I think everything that has happened is for the good. The three major
conferences (WCHA, CCHA, and Hockey East) play too many conference games
(usually 28 of their 34 allowed games), with only six or so out of conference
games. In basketball and football, a much higher percentage of games are out of
conference. With the Big Ten and the NCHC playing a 20 game conference
schedule, there will be more out of conference games. As far as the Mankato
States, Michigan Techs, Ferris States, and Bowling Greens of the world, they
will do just fine as long as the schools are committed to the sport. The “leftovers”
(not what I would call them but what others have been calling them) can form
very competitive conferences among themselves, and schedule each other, which,
after all, is all a conference is.
- blackswampblues
  This is so far off the mark that I hardly know where to begin.
  Sounds almost like some sort of weird athletic-conference darwinism: “survival of the fittest conference, the biggest conference, and the conference with the most $$$”. That’s just fine for the biggest and the richest–but not so good for keeping smaller programs from shutting down.
  Hockey programs are expensive to run, and financing is a challenge for smaller schools. For that reason, conferences are about much more than simple scheduling. they are about rivalries, $$$, branding, $$$, marketing, $$$, scheduling, $$$, and TV contracts. To deny that is naive.
  
  BGSU’s imminent loss of all long-time regional and MAC rivalries (Michigan, Ohio St., Miami, Western, Notre Dame) will directly affect attendance, earnings, and the overall health of the program.
  Obviously, a season of conference games vs. historical rivals will draw much better than a slate of games vs. distant schools with no shared history.
  And as for the pie-in-the-sky nonsense, “they will do just fine as long as the schools are committed to the sport”…tell that to Kent, Ohio, Wayne St., Findlay, St. Louis, and all the other schools that have pulled the plug on hockey for financial reasons.
  - NC_Buckeye
    Not sure that Kent State and Ohio are good examples of programs that were committed to D-I hockey. Since both schools sponsored hockey for two years each (Ohio 71-73, Kent 92-94) it appears that the administration was just toying with the idea but backed off when the cost became apparent. However, I should point out that both schools now have very popular M-1 ACHL club teams.
    Can’t speak about Wayne St., Findlay, and St. Louis though.
    - blackswampblues
      pretty sure Kent’s DI team was independent for a number of years before joining the CCHA for 92-94.
      We can add Fairfield (1974-2003), Iona (1967-2003), and Illinois-Chicago (1966-1996) to the list of DI teams that had to pull the plug.
      Point is, being “committed” is pretty much entirely a matter of having the $$$.
      - Gfkbob
        The theory that schools will only “make it” doesn’t seem to hold true. St Louis, UI-Chicago and others were in the same league as the big boys of Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. I do believe that committment is the key.
RamboWildcat
Great piece of writing. LSSU was almost a four-time champ during this time period. They were an awesome winning machine unlike any other program you see today. For them, it comes down to very poor leadership at the University. They should have joined forces with NMU and walked over to the WCHA. Now they are in limbo, ready to die at the vine. So long Lake State, it was a real pleasure. Take care.
Dick
UNH alum and splitter of season tickets here – what makes college hockey so different is that small schools that can’t compete in basketball for example (the Ncaa could expand to a 200 team hoop tournament and UNH wouldn’t get in) or football, can become a national power in hockey. Just look at the top 20 from last year. In schools like ours, hockey is king. Talked about all year long. Players become legends.. we still talk about the Clark-Hislop-Cox line from 1975! The point being – to deny schools like Lake Superior State or St Cloud or Alaska-Fairbanks to enjoy this opportunity to be part of the college hockey frenzy is a crime. The NCAA (Never Cares About Athletes) should do something, but they are useless. The heads of the hockey conferences need to meet and act on this injustice for the betterment of the sport.
BIG10_LOL
I knew the WCHA was in trouble when Minnesota State – Moorhead was being considered for entry — without having a team. Names aside, I like the new NCHC and look forward to the non-conference schedule against quality teams from other conferences. The lack of non-conference games is a problem for all of college hockey. I’d also like to see a mid-season tournament featuring 8 teams from the top conferences. Next up — Big 12 and Pac 10 hockey!
Simon

“The ironic thing is, and I am not the first to say this — for years
college hockey fans have wanted their sport to get more attention within
the overall collegiate landscape and be more “like” NCAA football and
basketball. Well, we got it.
Be careful what you wish for.”
I think that the majority of fans are going to be happy with the change because they are fans of the big schools and not of the small schools like yourself. As a BSU alum, I was looking forward to BSU joining the WCHA and maybe becoming competitive at some point. I still think that is possible, but only because the seven best teams just quit. This whole thing is tough to swallow if you are a fan of a small school or tradition. But like you said, those things don’t matter for basketball and football because it is all about money and being corporate sellouts. Now college hockey will be effectively ruined and I can honestly say that I probably won’t pay as close attention to the college hockey world outside of BSU anymore.