Hockey is a way of life for many people. It provides jobs, food on the table and entertainment when the other two are not options. Hockey used to be a revenue option for me. I wrote for a couple of paying blogs, papers and such to make a few bucks here and there. I was even published in the hockey digest a couple years back.
Now I watch hockey as a fun loving family man and hobbyist scout. I've been writing recently about the Big 10 entering hockey and today is no different. I've talked about expansion and the teams involved in the future growth of the Big 10.
First, to satisfy my need to talk about growth I'll address the reason why the Big 10 won't add Notre Dame or Boston College: The Big 10 prides itself on research and similar grants. With the exception of Nebraska, every school within the Big 10 is an AAU member. Long of the short: AAU schools dominate in research grants. Side note: Nebraska was accepted into the Big 10 and lost their AAU membership 3 months later. Had the big 10 waited, Nebraska would be sounding a different horn and it wouldn't be against fellow Big 10 opponents on a regular basis. Anyways, I digress.
Here are the teams that have not added provisions to include D1 hockey in the Big 10:
Rutgers
Maryland
Indiana
Purdue
Illinois
Northwestern
Let's do a breakdown of the feasibility of each program:
Rutgers: Currently holds D1 hockey at the club level, but has failed in recent years to establish a solid basketball or football program. The clear wording here is Basketball and Football. The bread and butter of the Big 10. So until at least one of those void's are filled, or unless some rich alumni steps up, Rutgers won't be seeing the likes of Penn State on ice any time soon.
Maryland: Opposite of Rutgers, Maryland has a very rich alumni. Can't think of his name, but the company he started you may know of: Underarmor. He's got money and is often found raising money for the Terrapins, but doesn't have the funds that the Buffalo Sabres owner and Penn State alumnus does. Not to mention, hockey falls pretty flat in the D.C. area. The Capitals worship all things Ovechkin but before that suffered from years of junk hockey. Maryland has Basketball covered and can run with SOME big dogs in football. Still though, they don't have recruiting or the wholesale money to fund a D1 program.
Indiana: Well here is a no brainer. Indiana is basketball as Alabama is football. Name the last time Alabama won a basketball championship. Do the same for football at Indiana. Hard to remember without Google. So as much as this is a feel good story to bring hockey to the Hoosier state, it's not happening in Bloomington.
Purdue: Currently the only school in Indiana with a D1 hockey team is Notre Dame. Currently the only school in Indiana with a winning football record over the past 10 years is Notre Dame. Also currently the only Big 10 school to contribute anything to Big 10 sports in the state of Indiana, is Indiana. They won't be fielding hockey. So just reference Rutgers for this one.
Illinois: The copperhead. Has been above average in basketball and went to the rose bowl in football roughly 5 or 6 years ago. Large endowment and steady growth in the past years makes this school wonder why. Of the schools who have declared not to enter a program in hockey, Illinois is the only one to stump me. They have the money to make it happen, they have the recruiting grounds and they are within driving distance of a couple Big 10 hockey programs. Sad.
Northwestern: Contributes nearly no research to the Big 10 academic success, but takes everyone else's hard working research and culminates it into the Kellogg School of Business. The last time Northwestern did something in athletics, Blake Wheeler died. Of the schools without a team, this is the one with the most money from alums.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Nebraska awaits fate of Big 10 hockey
Much has been made recently about the Big 10 (B1G) joining the collegiate ranks in hockey. With Penn State joining in 2013-14, things are about to heat up. But how much does that play into the Big 10 succeeding in creating a legitimate hockey league?
I've supplied a link with some details:
http://www.cornnation.com/2012/10/16/3510000/could-nebraska-start-a-b1g-hockey-team
Copy and paste the link.
I've posted some of my own thoughts regarding the official declaration of Nebraska. Athletic director Tom Osborne released a statement detailing that " The University of Nebraska remains committed to the Big 10 conference in all sports. We will monitor progress with all due respect to hockey and consider options in the next few years".
Take that statement how you want it, but Nebraska is churning. As a former president of an ACHA hockey program (the same type that Penn State came from), I have had the opportunity to play and coach against Nebraska's current program. I can tell you that they are not slouches and the following on campus is high. High enough that when their on campus rink is in use, fans will drive an hour to the nearest campus.
Why it will work:
Nebraska is in prime recruiting country. Iowa has been planning for some time to convert their current ACHA team to a big time program, but lacks the funds. Many schools in the B1G have this same problem, but not many have the alumni that Penn State does to increase their program.
Nebraska is like Penn State. They have a rich following. They are in prime recruiting territory, and unlike Penn State they are the state's only big time show. Enter hockey.
Why it won't work:
Penn State is in euphoria mode. They have been playing some major programs with some good success. When next season come's around and their regular teams are Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota the records are going to fall. As in WI, MI, and MN scoring records. Not to mention Penn State should get some good games against BC, BU and Notre Dame. This is going to hit the fan base hard. Unless Nebraska is willing to follow the lead and prepare for some long winded losing seasons, this will go no where. This is why it's in the best interest of Nebraska to wait. Big 10 hockey won't fail, the Big 10 network funnels too much money into it's sports teams to let a program fail. But the rankings could fall and this is why Nebraska will wait and ultimately no-go the opportunity to add a team. Not to mention the school is required by title 6 to add women's hockey. That's hard to do.
The facts stand against Nebraska. However, I am all for another big 10 team. What are your thoughts?
I've supplied a link with some details:
http://www.cornnation.com/2012/10/16/3510000/could-nebraska-start-a-b1g-hockey-team
Copy and paste the link.
I've posted some of my own thoughts regarding the official declaration of Nebraska. Athletic director Tom Osborne released a statement detailing that " The University of Nebraska remains committed to the Big 10 conference in all sports. We will monitor progress with all due respect to hockey and consider options in the next few years".
Take that statement how you want it, but Nebraska is churning. As a former president of an ACHA hockey program (the same type that Penn State came from), I have had the opportunity to play and coach against Nebraska's current program. I can tell you that they are not slouches and the following on campus is high. High enough that when their on campus rink is in use, fans will drive an hour to the nearest campus.
Why it will work:
Nebraska is in prime recruiting country. Iowa has been planning for some time to convert their current ACHA team to a big time program, but lacks the funds. Many schools in the B1G have this same problem, but not many have the alumni that Penn State does to increase their program.
Nebraska is like Penn State. They have a rich following. They are in prime recruiting territory, and unlike Penn State they are the state's only big time show. Enter hockey.
Why it won't work:
Penn State is in euphoria mode. They have been playing some major programs with some good success. When next season come's around and their regular teams are Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota the records are going to fall. As in WI, MI, and MN scoring records. Not to mention Penn State should get some good games against BC, BU and Notre Dame. This is going to hit the fan base hard. Unless Nebraska is willing to follow the lead and prepare for some long winded losing seasons, this will go no where. This is why it's in the best interest of Nebraska to wait. Big 10 hockey won't fail, the Big 10 network funnels too much money into it's sports teams to let a program fail. But the rankings could fall and this is why Nebraska will wait and ultimately no-go the opportunity to add a team. Not to mention the school is required by title 6 to add women's hockey. That's hard to do.
The facts stand against Nebraska. However, I am all for another big 10 team. What are your thoughts?
Saturday, November 17, 2012
The ugliness continues......
I was so inspired by the play of the Badgers during their Friday night contest that I decided to record the game and put off a family event to watch it. As it turns out, that was a very bad idea.
The Badgers started off extremely well and even caused me to crack open a beer for their short handed goal. From the get go, I was watching the game on delay and I saw the poor offensive play come out. I figured that checking the real time score would be a bad idea due to the poor zone play. Then the short handed goal came, and I thought this might be a really good game.
As it turns out, Wisconsin ended up losing the game 3-1 and stifled down the trove of losses that has become known to their name. Rumpel did well, allowing two goals with the third being an empy netter. At this point, I maintain a high confidence for the Badgers due to their missing components. However, this kind of play cannot continue or Wisconsin will end up lower than anyone anticipated.
The Badgers started off extremely well and even caused me to crack open a beer for their short handed goal. From the get go, I was watching the game on delay and I saw the poor offensive play come out. I figured that checking the real time score would be a bad idea due to the poor zone play. Then the short handed goal came, and I thought this might be a really good game.
As it turns out, Wisconsin ended up losing the game 3-1 and stifled down the trove of losses that has become known to their name. Rumpel did well, allowing two goals with the third being an empy netter. At this point, I maintain a high confidence for the Badgers due to their missing components. However, this kind of play cannot continue or Wisconsin will end up lower than anyone anticipated.
Pioneers ice CC, Gophers and Badgers....
Another Friday, another day of hatred coughed up in the lineage between rivals. On this day, four teams took part in arguably the two best rivalry's in all of college hockey: CC vs. DU and WI vs. MN.
CC has had a strong year from their team in terms of points, defense, player contribution and teamwork. This time last year their junior goalie, Joe Howe, was swirling down a season that belonged in the toilet. The CC defense was lagging behind and really made the offense look mediocre. This was a sad season because CC had an awesome player in Jaden Schwartz.
Fast forward to this season: Putting the Cornell series aside, CC has had an absolutely dominant season. Josh Thorimbert has looked stunning while Joe Howe has returned to form and found his swagger. The matured defense looks great from their hard knocks a year ago, and the offense has sizzled everything in it's path. I was one of the few people who gave CC absolutely no chance this year because Jaden was gone. Tisk, Tisk. I'm bad. The good news is, without Jaden the Tigers have looked great and have proved to almost everyone that they will not be a bottom feeder in the new NCHC, but a possible contender.....
....Well that was until last night when the Tigers played their first game against a future NCHC team. Denver staple-gunned the Tigers to the boards and railed four goals on 12 shots against Josh Thorimbert. By the fourth goal, Josh seemed to be out of it and everything appeared in line for Josh to leave the game. Howe came in during a tough spot and gave up another goal within two minutes making the score 5-2. Not long after, Joe gave up his final goal making the score 6-2 and the Tigers officially washed out of the game.......but wait a second....The Tigers came back in the third period and literally stunned the Pioneers. CC ripped, clawed and scratched their way to a 6-5 game using the exact same formula that got them past Bemidji and Wisconsin. To say how good the tigers did, they left their net open for over a minute and no goals were even scored. Denver never even got a shot off to the empty netter. It was the exact kind of empty netter that fans want to see. The one that never attracts a puck. With 15.4 seconds left, Rylan Schwartz posted on Denver's goalie skated forward and slapped a shot which was only stopped by a defender in the way. The play wound down to about 3.4 seconds and a faceoff near the blue line all but keeping CC from a season sweep of the Pioneers. Looking back at the game, I think the Tigers showed some real fortitude in playing this game. They showed that they can compete. They did give up quite a few goals, but at least they can work off of this.
BADGERS VS. GOPHERS
I am not one who is nice to college goaltenders. I tend to rip them when I see poor performances. For references on my past views of college goalies, just consult CC fan Lee Siewart. He can tell you personally how many poor reviews I gave of CC goalies in the past. Given my history, I was less than thrilled to see the Wisconsin back up starting for the Badgers. Landon Petersen is a capable goalie who can definitely make plays. However, he did not play much last year and played one game this season. Joel Rumpel has played okay in the past and has a respectable GAA. My main concern with Petersen was not his lack of work, it was the lack of personnel in front of him that worried me. Nic Kerdiles(2nd rd, Anaheim, Suspension) and Mark Zengerle(Broken Finger) were both out leaving Wisconsin without capable scoring options. So my first thought was to grab some beers because I would need a buzz to watch this game. Boy was I wrong! The Badgers never led, but did some solid tape to tape passing and played incredibly good defense against #3 Minnesota. Last year, Minnesota was #2 in the nation for goals scored and all of their top scorers (Bjugstand, Condon, Haula) all came back for another round. Although they lost their goalie to graduation, they picked up a capable replacement in Adam Wilcox. During the first period, Wisconsin showed some talent with the puck. They only had nine shots on goal, but kept the Gophers to the same. They played a solid effort game with a few penalties which they killed off. During the second period, the badgers fell flat. They got scored on, but came right back to score the game equalizing goal. I was not impressed to see a 10 minute game misconduct and a 5 minute major for a blow to the head. However, the badgers played through it and kept their skates moving. Most importantly, Landon Petersen held strong facing 20 shots in the period and only allowing one goal. Enter the third period and yet again another 10 minute game misconduct and a 5 minute major for a blow to the head. Yet again, the badgers killed the penalty off and staved off wicked break away's by Bjugstand and Condon to force an uneventful overtime and a tie. Minnesota gave the first and second star to their players and the third star to Michael Mersch who scored both goals. I however, would have given a star to Petersen for standing tall. He faced 44 shots and only allowed two goals. As a fan, I am optimistic for the Badgers to play another round against the Gophers. However, they are going to need to keep this defense up to continue.
All in all it was a great night for college hockey. Between the two games, I give the goalie star to Landon Petersen. He played better than any of the other goalies mentioned in this blog. I give the player star to Rylan Schwartz because he played outstanding and led by example (except after the game had ended he slammed a DU player into the boards causing a DQ which will force him to watch the next game from the stands). My defensive star is going to Minnesota. Although they didn't play well, I think they were a key contributor into the fine play of Wilcox. Denver, CC and Wisconsin all left their goalies out to dry while the Gophers held a good D.
CC has had a strong year from their team in terms of points, defense, player contribution and teamwork. This time last year their junior goalie, Joe Howe, was swirling down a season that belonged in the toilet. The CC defense was lagging behind and really made the offense look mediocre. This was a sad season because CC had an awesome player in Jaden Schwartz.
Fast forward to this season: Putting the Cornell series aside, CC has had an absolutely dominant season. Josh Thorimbert has looked stunning while Joe Howe has returned to form and found his swagger. The matured defense looks great from their hard knocks a year ago, and the offense has sizzled everything in it's path. I was one of the few people who gave CC absolutely no chance this year because Jaden was gone. Tisk, Tisk. I'm bad. The good news is, without Jaden the Tigers have looked great and have proved to almost everyone that they will not be a bottom feeder in the new NCHC, but a possible contender.....
....Well that was until last night when the Tigers played their first game against a future NCHC team. Denver staple-gunned the Tigers to the boards and railed four goals on 12 shots against Josh Thorimbert. By the fourth goal, Josh seemed to be out of it and everything appeared in line for Josh to leave the game. Howe came in during a tough spot and gave up another goal within two minutes making the score 5-2. Not long after, Joe gave up his final goal making the score 6-2 and the Tigers officially washed out of the game.......but wait a second....The Tigers came back in the third period and literally stunned the Pioneers. CC ripped, clawed and scratched their way to a 6-5 game using the exact same formula that got them past Bemidji and Wisconsin. To say how good the tigers did, they left their net open for over a minute and no goals were even scored. Denver never even got a shot off to the empty netter. It was the exact kind of empty netter that fans want to see. The one that never attracts a puck. With 15.4 seconds left, Rylan Schwartz posted on Denver's goalie skated forward and slapped a shot which was only stopped by a defender in the way. The play wound down to about 3.4 seconds and a faceoff near the blue line all but keeping CC from a season sweep of the Pioneers. Looking back at the game, I think the Tigers showed some real fortitude in playing this game. They showed that they can compete. They did give up quite a few goals, but at least they can work off of this.
BADGERS VS. GOPHERS
I am not one who is nice to college goaltenders. I tend to rip them when I see poor performances. For references on my past views of college goalies, just consult CC fan Lee Siewart. He can tell you personally how many poor reviews I gave of CC goalies in the past. Given my history, I was less than thrilled to see the Wisconsin back up starting for the Badgers. Landon Petersen is a capable goalie who can definitely make plays. However, he did not play much last year and played one game this season. Joel Rumpel has played okay in the past and has a respectable GAA. My main concern with Petersen was not his lack of work, it was the lack of personnel in front of him that worried me. Nic Kerdiles(2nd rd, Anaheim, Suspension) and Mark Zengerle(Broken Finger) were both out leaving Wisconsin without capable scoring options. So my first thought was to grab some beers because I would need a buzz to watch this game. Boy was I wrong! The Badgers never led, but did some solid tape to tape passing and played incredibly good defense against #3 Minnesota. Last year, Minnesota was #2 in the nation for goals scored and all of their top scorers (Bjugstand, Condon, Haula) all came back for another round. Although they lost their goalie to graduation, they picked up a capable replacement in Adam Wilcox. During the first period, Wisconsin showed some talent with the puck. They only had nine shots on goal, but kept the Gophers to the same. They played a solid effort game with a few penalties which they killed off. During the second period, the badgers fell flat. They got scored on, but came right back to score the game equalizing goal. I was not impressed to see a 10 minute game misconduct and a 5 minute major for a blow to the head. However, the badgers played through it and kept their skates moving. Most importantly, Landon Petersen held strong facing 20 shots in the period and only allowing one goal. Enter the third period and yet again another 10 minute game misconduct and a 5 minute major for a blow to the head. Yet again, the badgers killed the penalty off and staved off wicked break away's by Bjugstand and Condon to force an uneventful overtime and a tie. Minnesota gave the first and second star to their players and the third star to Michael Mersch who scored both goals. I however, would have given a star to Petersen for standing tall. He faced 44 shots and only allowed two goals. As a fan, I am optimistic for the Badgers to play another round against the Gophers. However, they are going to need to keep this defense up to continue.
All in all it was a great night for college hockey. Between the two games, I give the goalie star to Landon Petersen. He played better than any of the other goalies mentioned in this blog. I give the player star to Rylan Schwartz because he played outstanding and led by example (except after the game had ended he slammed a DU player into the boards causing a DQ which will force him to watch the next game from the stands). My defensive star is going to Minnesota. Although they didn't play well, I think they were a key contributor into the fine play of Wilcox. Denver, CC and Wisconsin all left their goalies out to dry while the Gophers held a good D.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Badgers go down in flames
What a week of hype and showdowns. This blogger used to be a tiger fan.....bad weekend to say that.....YIKES!
Coming into this weekend, CC had fire from the Cornell series and Wisconsin looked poised to end all things after dominating Duluth.
My weekend preview was that Joel Rumpel would take the pipes against Josh Thorimbert and possibly Joe Howe. Rumpel proved his worth in the Northern Michigan series after Petersen messed up big time.
It's slipping my mind (note for a later edit), WI had a player injured this week during practice. Not that it would have changed the outcome.
So then begins my thoughts.......
When WI went up 2-0 on Friday night I thought that my friend Lee Siewert and Tim Matteson would be the laughing stock of the WCHA. I laughed at the Kohl Center during the Tiger frustration. What I didn't know is the resilience of this Tiger team. They began to play like a team and more importantly, began scoring. Their work was a thing of beauty that had not been seen since the Boston College playoff game a couple of years ago.
Now, it was back.
With the scored tied 2-2 I was wanting Justin Schultz and Nic Kerdiles to be on the ice so badly. Both players had the same chance of playing on these nights. Schultz is now a pro and Kerdiles is suspended.
CC took over and never looked back. They did give up the lead once, but never really felt like they were down. I watched as my Badgers looked in misery.
My night ended with an AK-16 goal which for the first time, ruined my night.
Enter Saturday. It didn't get much better.
Now during my time as a Tiger fan I often gave criticism to Joe Howe. I gave honest critiques and never gave anything that I didn't feel was deserved. I never felt that I gave Joe a scolding just because he had a bad play. It just happened to be that his Junior year was not his best, and one of my most public as a Tiger fan.
With that being said, Joe looked like the Joe that I knew. The Joe who signed my goalie mask. The Joe who took the world arena from Colorado Springs and held it on his shoulders in St. Louis while the rest of his team dismantled BC. That same base lowered him to the ground when Michigan owned St. Louis for only a night. A costly one.
But tonight, Joe was back in form. He played well and really saw the puck. I was very impressed with his work, but more impressed with the defense. Last year, people saw the defensive problems which was such a poor outlet for that team. They did so many good things.
However, on this night the Tigers would not be denied their lineage. The right to say that they had Bob before the Badgers did. The right to say they didn't sell out for him.
My Badgers have an incredible amount of work. The offense did nothing on Saturday and the defense messed up on Friday. We need Kerdiles more than he needs us. Hopefully he'll be a force in Denver.
To all my CC friends: Fans of CC 1. Jim 0
Coming into this weekend, CC had fire from the Cornell series and Wisconsin looked poised to end all things after dominating Duluth.
My weekend preview was that Joel Rumpel would take the pipes against Josh Thorimbert and possibly Joe Howe. Rumpel proved his worth in the Northern Michigan series after Petersen messed up big time.
It's slipping my mind (note for a later edit), WI had a player injured this week during practice. Not that it would have changed the outcome.
So then begins my thoughts.......
When WI went up 2-0 on Friday night I thought that my friend Lee Siewert and Tim Matteson would be the laughing stock of the WCHA. I laughed at the Kohl Center during the Tiger frustration. What I didn't know is the resilience of this Tiger team. They began to play like a team and more importantly, began scoring. Their work was a thing of beauty that had not been seen since the Boston College playoff game a couple of years ago.
Now, it was back.
With the scored tied 2-2 I was wanting Justin Schultz and Nic Kerdiles to be on the ice so badly. Both players had the same chance of playing on these nights. Schultz is now a pro and Kerdiles is suspended.
CC took over and never looked back. They did give up the lead once, but never really felt like they were down. I watched as my Badgers looked in misery.
My night ended with an AK-16 goal which for the first time, ruined my night.
Enter Saturday. It didn't get much better.
Now during my time as a Tiger fan I often gave criticism to Joe Howe. I gave honest critiques and never gave anything that I didn't feel was deserved. I never felt that I gave Joe a scolding just because he had a bad play. It just happened to be that his Junior year was not his best, and one of my most public as a Tiger fan.
With that being said, Joe looked like the Joe that I knew. The Joe who signed my goalie mask. The Joe who took the world arena from Colorado Springs and held it on his shoulders in St. Louis while the rest of his team dismantled BC. That same base lowered him to the ground when Michigan owned St. Louis for only a night. A costly one.
But tonight, Joe was back in form. He played well and really saw the puck. I was very impressed with his work, but more impressed with the defense. Last year, people saw the defensive problems which was such a poor outlet for that team. They did so many good things.
However, on this night the Tigers would not be denied their lineage. The right to say that they had Bob before the Badgers did. The right to say they didn't sell out for him.
My Badgers have an incredible amount of work. The offense did nothing on Saturday and the defense messed up on Friday. We need Kerdiles more than he needs us. Hopefully he'll be a force in Denver.
To all my CC friends: Fans of CC 1. Jim 0
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
College Hockey talks
This has been a lonely week for the news casters of college hockey. Inside College Hockey tied up their skates and called it a career. Although this is not as big of a shift change as the conference line up, it's pretty big in the sports world. Almost 75% of what INCH wrote or ranked ended up on other news feeds.
Being such, I have decided to put my money where my mouth or in this case fingers are and start my own news agency. All of the legal framework is set and I hope to have it up and running for the next season.
Since I am quite a crafty guy, I called some sports bloggers and ended up talking with some representatives from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Yes, they corrected me UAH is referred to properly as "in" rather than "at". During our talks, I spoke with a number of people sensitive to the required conference shift and in the interest of keeping peoples names out of the news I have decided to withhold all names from these talks. Basically, UAH is in a battle with the WCHA to gain acceptance. With the folding of the CCHA, no team will want to take UAH. This is because Hockey East is not looking to add teams without a name lineage (Notre Dame) far away from the bulk of their campuses. Atlantic Hockey would be a good choice, but they would reduce the allowable scholarships. The Big Ten or B1G is untouchable. No team in that league will exit or form in another conference. This leaves the WCHA as the only hope for UAH. The problem is in the travel. When the CCHA folded, they left the burden of Alaska-Fairbanks on the WCHA. Combined with Alaska-Anchorage the bills are going to add up quickly.
From what I gathered, most of the meetings with the WCHA have been positive with the general exception being getting accepted. It appears the WCHA is hinging upon Iowa State to turn their club team to varsity. As a former director of a college club team, I have played Iowa State. I know that this team is likely the best team to move up. Although the WCHA won't say it, they don't want UAH because of the travel. If the WCHA does indeed get the opportunity to strip Air Force from Atlantic Hockey, this conversation is completely over. But that likely won't happen, so if you are a UAH fan just hope that I.S. doesn't elevate their program.
Being such, I have decided to put my money where my mouth or in this case fingers are and start my own news agency. All of the legal framework is set and I hope to have it up and running for the next season.
Since I am quite a crafty guy, I called some sports bloggers and ended up talking with some representatives from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Yes, they corrected me UAH is referred to properly as "in" rather than "at". During our talks, I spoke with a number of people sensitive to the required conference shift and in the interest of keeping peoples names out of the news I have decided to withhold all names from these talks. Basically, UAH is in a battle with the WCHA to gain acceptance. With the folding of the CCHA, no team will want to take UAH. This is because Hockey East is not looking to add teams without a name lineage (Notre Dame) far away from the bulk of their campuses. Atlantic Hockey would be a good choice, but they would reduce the allowable scholarships. The Big Ten or B1G is untouchable. No team in that league will exit or form in another conference. This leaves the WCHA as the only hope for UAH. The problem is in the travel. When the CCHA folded, they left the burden of Alaska-Fairbanks on the WCHA. Combined with Alaska-Anchorage the bills are going to add up quickly.
From what I gathered, most of the meetings with the WCHA have been positive with the general exception being getting accepted. It appears the WCHA is hinging upon Iowa State to turn their club team to varsity. As a former director of a college club team, I have played Iowa State. I know that this team is likely the best team to move up. Although the WCHA won't say it, they don't want UAH because of the travel. If the WCHA does indeed get the opportunity to strip Air Force from Atlantic Hockey, this conversation is completely over. But that likely won't happen, so if you are a UAH fan just hope that I.S. doesn't elevate their program.
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