Bowling Green hasn't been in contact with the NCHC by email or snail mail.

undhockey.areavoices.com

Unless BGSU has been talking exclusively via phone, looks like Mankato is in with Ariz St.

Ariz St will get added before this season.

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/sports/

The Mens club teams have been reported that they played the varsity schools of NCAA D1 hockey. MIT still fields a mens club hockey team. That could explain why I got confused with thinking North Dakota State had a varsity men's team for hockey. There is a good long list if any of the central states and western states start adding Men's and Women's ice hockey, you could see a new western and central conferences take form. There are a number of southeastern schools that also have club teams like Alabama, Florida, Florida State and so forth.

Good for Mankato.

No reason St Cloud should get in and Mankato shouldn't. Pretty much equivalent flagships of MNSCU, equivalent markets, etc.

Duluth is better than both.

There my be another school in the hunt for an NCHC berth: San Diego St.

A poster on USCHO forums said SDSU would announce varsity hockey this spring.

Since San Diego doesn't have NBA or NHL teams, and has a reasonable hockey arena, SDSU could use hockey to get in early on PAC12 league. San Diego and Orange County have produced seviral high quality players letely.

(08-17-2016 07:36 PM)NoDak Wrote:  There my be another school in the hunt for an NCHC berth: San Diego St.

A poster on USCHO forums said SDSU would announce varsity hockey this spring.

Since San Diego doesn't have NBA or NHL teams, and has a reasonable hockey arena, SDSU could use hockey to get in early on PAC12 league. San Diego and Orange County have produced seviral high quality players letely.

USCHO posters say a lot of things. They were talking about UNLV starting hockey not too long ago. Besides, the poster said it was all hearsay. If USCHO posting about hearsay had any credibility, we'd see Nebraska, Iowa, Iowa State, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Buffalo, and Stanford all fielding D1 hockey teams.

(08-18-2016 11:58 PM)Mav Wrote:  

(08-17-2016 07:36 PM)NoDak Wrote:  There my be another school in the hunt for an NCHC berth: San Diego St.

A poster on USCHO forums said SDSU would announce varsity hockey this spring.

Since San Diego doesn't have NBA or NHL teams, and has a reasonable hockey arena, SDSU could use hockey to get in early on PAC12 league. San Diego and Orange County have produced seviral high quality players letely.

USCHO posters say a lot of things. They were talking about UNLV starting hockey not too long ago. Besides, the poster said it was all hearsay. If USCHO posting about hearsay had any credibility, we'd see Nebraska, Iowa, Iowa State, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Buffalo, and Stanford all fielding D1 hockey teams.

Yesterday, there were tweets from Zee Khan meeting with UNLV alumni for a fundraiser and support for UNLV varsity hockey. USCHO also says UCLA received a $25 mill donation to start hockey.

Starting hockey takes time. Stanford, Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon and even Indiana could possibly be in the works in addition to SDSU, UCLA, and UNLV.

(08-19-2016 12:07 AM)NoDak Wrote:  

(08-18-2016 11:58 PM)Mav Wrote:  

(08-17-2016 07:36 PM)NoDak Wrote:  There my be another school in the hunt for an NCHC berth: San Diego St.

A poster on USCHO forums said SDSU would announce varsity hockey this spring.

Since San Diego doesn't have NBA or NHL teams, and has a reasonable hockey arena, SDSU could use hockey to get in early on PAC12 league. San Diego and Orange County have produced seviral high quality players letely.

USCHO posters say a lot of things. They were talking about UNLV starting hockey not too long ago. Besides, the poster said it was all hearsay. If USCHO posting about hearsay had any credibility, we'd see Nebraska, Iowa, Iowa State, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Buffalo, and Stanford all fielding D1 hockey teams.

Yesterday, there were tweets from Zee Khan meeting with UNLV alumni for a fundraiser and support for UNLV varsity hockey. USCHO also says UCLA received a $25 mill donation to start hockey.

Starting hockey takes time. Stanford, Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon and even Indiana could possibly be in the works in addition to SDSU, UCLA, and UNLV.

I'm only seeing tweets about him discussing "growth of the program" with them. That could mean about anything. I'm not seeing anything about that UCLA donation either, but it wouldn't shock me if that was going to happen.

Nebraska's AD has said numerous times over the last few years that he's more interested in building the basketball program to respectability and getting the football program to live up to expectations than adding sports like hockey. The fans and alumni really want it, but so far they've only got pretty sharp dismissals. There is talk of his seat being a little warm, though, due to Nebraska just getting a new chancellor. Nebraska's men's programs have been pretty rough since the move to the Big Ten, so I kind of get it. It doesn't make sense to add another when everything you have is sputtering.

Iowa wouldn't surprise me in the least, though, with that hockey arena that was just put up in Coralville. Oregon wouldn't surprise me either, but only if Nike wants to get into hockey, and Phil Knight can be talked out of putting gold-plated bidets and Spago training tables in the football players' lounge.

Not directly related to Minnesota St, but Atlantic Hockey has announced that it will allow the full DI scholarships (18 instead of 14). That change could give Bowling Green an alternative to the WCHA and may be the reason they didn't apply to the NCHC. AHA can technically split off six teams and form a new league.

Wouldn't be surprised if BGSU, Mercy Hurst, Robert Morris, Canisius, Niagara and RIT start a new CCHA and invite Miami and W Mich, who probably don't want PAC12 teams in the NCHC. Whats left of AHA can invite Liberty, Navy, URI and others to become a true eastern seaboard league with the exception of Air Force.

(09-09-2016 10:57 PM)NoDak Wrote:  Not directly related to Minnesota St, but Atlantic Hockey has announced that it will allow the full DI scholarships (18 instead of 14). That change could give Bowling Green an alternative to the WCHA and may be the reason they didn't apply to the NCHC. AHA can technically split off six teams and form a new league.

Wouldn't be surprised if BGSU, Mercy Hurst, Robert Morris, Canisius, Niagara and RIT start a new CCHA and invite Miami and W Mich, who probably don't want PAC12 teams in the NCHC. Whats left of AHA can invite Liberty, Navy, URI and others to become a true eastern seaboard league with the exception of Air Force.

That new CCHA isn't any better then the current WCHA tho.

WMU and Miami would push for Bowling Green and maybe some other Great Lakes region team if the NCHC expanded to the west coast. WMU and Miami knew there'd be possibly increased travel in the NCHC and they joined eagerly. With the way college hockey is forming, it's turning into college football - Say Minnesota St and Bowling Green join the NCHC - Just like that the WCHA is practically dead.

(09-10-2016 09:59 AM)Bronco14 Wrote:  

(09-09-2016 10:57 PM)NoDak Wrote:  Not directly related to Minnesota St, but Atlantic Hockey has announced that it will allow the full DI scholarships (18 instead of 14). That change could give Bowling Green an alternative to the WCHA and may be the reason they didn't apply to the NCHC. AHA can technically split off six teams and form a new league.

Wouldn't be surprised if BGSU, Mercy Hurst, Robert Morris, Canisius, Niagara and RIT start a new CCHA and invite Miami and W Mich, who probably don't want PAC12 teams in the NCHC. Whats left of AHA can invite Liberty, Navy, URI and others to become a true eastern seaboard league with the exception of Air Force.

That new CCHA isn't any better then the current WCHA tho.

WMU and Miami would push for Bowling Green and maybe some other Great Lakes region team if the NCHC expanded to the west coast. WMU and Miami knew there'd be possibly increased travel in the NCHC and they joined eagerly. With the way college hockey is forming, it's turning into college football - Say Minnesota St and Bowling Green join the NCHC - Just like that the WCHA is practically dead.

Hockey finances for conferences are much more dependent upon attendance for tournaments than basketball. Miami and W Mich don't help boost the NCHC tournament attendance but would have a major impact if a new CCHA tournament was held in Detroit, Cleveland, or Buffalo. Having rival fan bases accessible by automobile also has a major impact on regular season attendance. The old WCHA and CCHA used those fans to generate revenue for their teams and conferences without much travel expenses.

Far flung hockey leagues don't work well for fan attendance. Ariz St and UNLV might be exceptions, as those have cheap airfares for northerners wanting a winter respite. I see UND, Omaha, Denver, and CC wanting western teams badly. But that could cause an NCHC breakup.

With a new CCHA, it may be possible not to take a plane trip all year for a Ohio or Michigan or western PA school.

I can see UND, Omaha, Denver, and CC fans flying to Las Vegas for the NCHC tournament.

Duluth and St Cloud rejoin Mankato and Bemidji in the WCHA, Miami and W Michigan can look at restarting CCHA.

(09-10-2016 12:00 PM)MplsBison Wrote:  I can see UND, Omaha, Denver, and CC fans flying to Las Vegas for the NCHC tournament.

Duluth and St Cloud rejoin Mankato and Bemidji in the WCHA, Miami and W Michigan can look at restarting CCHA.

The complicating thing for UND is that a large fraction of fans live in MSP, so we want our conference to have a presence there. With the conference tournament at the Target Center, and with St Cloud St located in the MSP periphery, we have that. Ideally, if St Thomas went DI in hockey and teamed with us, that would be best.

MSP fans can just as easily fly to Vegas. Granted, not difficult for Denver, CC, Omaha or Vegas/PHX fans to fly to MSP. But that's going the wrong way in winter.

UND fans living in the Cities most certainly are not served in any sense of the word by "only" having to travel to St Cloud to watch the Hawks. That's a small arena too. Maybe 500-1000 Hawks fans can get tickets?? And some of those will be traveling down from Grand Forks. Nice try, but no.


NCHC - tournament in Vegas
UND/Omaha
Denver/CC
AZ St/UNLV

WCHA - tournament in Mpls or St Paul
St Cloud/Mankato
Duluth/Bemidji
Alaska (combined)/Mich Tech

CCHA - tournament in G Rapids or Detroit
W Mich/Ferris
Miami/Bowling Green
Lake Superior/N Mich


Big Ten tournament goes between St Paul, Detroit, and maybe New York one day.

(09-10-2016 12:23 PM)MplsBison Wrote:  MSP fans can just as easily fly to Vegas. Granted, not difficult for Denver, CC, Omaha or Vegas/PHX fans to fly to MSP. But that's going the wrong way in winter.

UND fans living in the Cities most certainly are not served in any sense of the word by "only" having to travel to St Cloud to watch the Hawks. That's a small arena too. Maybe 500-1000 Hawks fans can get tickets?? And some of those will be traveling down from Grand Forks. Nice try, but no.

UND fans fill up a significant minority of opponents rinks. St Cloud, Duluth, Denver, Omaha and CC all sell out their arenas when UND is the opponent. Denver tried to institute a plan where to buy UND game ticket, one has to buy three other non-UND games, as Denver doesnt like to play away games at home. Omaha sold half of their tickets for the hockey series outside at TD AmerItrade Ballpark to UND fans, otherwise it wouldnt have turned out well. Mankato longs to have UND games again, so it can inflate that series price and sell them out. Madison Square Garden agreed to a UND-BC game this December as it knew that UND would sell tickets. The UND half is sold out, so I'll be forced to buy tickets among BC fans if we go.

The NCHC's Target Center tournament is 75% UND fans, even though Duluth and St Cloud are so much closer. That tournament would be a financial disaster if UND didn't make it. Seems like half of the fans on our board live in the Cities, with a significant fraction in the Denver and Phoenix metro areas.

The last time I was at a Frozen Four was in Denver, some BC fans asked how close UND was to Denver, as if UND was just an hour away, because there was so many of us. That Frozen Four was a hard ticket to come by, and UND fans were inflating the tickets even more. After UND lost, prices for the BC-Michigan final nosedived. The BC fans knowledge of geography seems atrocious once you get an hour from a coast.

It's obvious you also are not very knowledgeable on the subject. Many UND fans are Minnesota residents who didn't go to UND but love the style that UND plays, much to the disdain of Gopher fans.

So in other words ... UND will have no problem with a tourney in Vegas. Thanks for confirming that.

(09-10-2016 03:22 PM)MplsBison Wrote:  So in other words ... UND will have no problem with a tourney in Vegas. Thanks for confirming that.

Apparently you are unaware also that Minnesota hockey wants a Las Vegas game with UND. That game is scheduled in two season.

(09-09-2016 10:57 PM)NoDak Wrote:  Not directly related to Minnesota St, but Atlantic Hockey has announced that it will allow the full DI scholarships (18 instead of 14). That change could give Bowling Green an alternative to the WCHA and may be the reason they didn't apply to the NCHC.

I did not read it this way. I'm no expert at all, but my initial take was that Atlantic Hockey went ahead and upped the number of scholarships schools could award in order to block schools from leaving Atlantic Hockey for a new CCHA.

Quote:Wouldn't be surprised if BGSU, Mercy Hurst, Robert Morris, Canisius, Niagara and RIT start a new CCHA and invite Miami and W Mich, who probably don't want PAC12 teams in the NCHC. Whats left of AHA can invite Liberty, Navy, URI and others to become a true eastern seaboard league with the exception of Air Force.

This would be a nice league, but I'm not sure I see that coming. Maybe I'm wrong.

(09-12-2016 02:39 PM)Schadenfreude Wrote:  

(09-09-2016 10:57 PM)NoDak Wrote:  Not directly related to Minnesota St, but Atlantic Hockey has announced that it will allow the full DI scholarships (18 instead of 14). That change could give Bowling Green an alternative to the WCHA and may be the reason they didn't apply to the NCHC.

I did not read it this way. I'm no expert at all, but my initial take was that Atlantic Hockey went ahead and upped the number of scholarships schools could award in order to block schools from leaving Atlantic Hockey for a new CCHA.

Quote:Wouldn't be surprised if BGSU, Mercy Hurst, Robert Morris, Canisius, Niagara and RIT start a new CCHA and invite Miami and W Mich, who probably don't want PAC12 teams in the NCHC. Whats left of AHA can invite Liberty, Navy, URI and others to become a true eastern seaboard league with the exception of Air Force.

This would be a nice league, but I'm not sure I see that coming. Maybe I'm wrong.

Six members breaking away will get a new autobid. Even if it goes to 8 with expansion, that is still better odds of an NCAA bid than 11 with the AHA or 10 with the WCHA.

With Bentley building a new rink, and even American International renting Springfield Big arena, the formerly low budget AHA schools are almost all upgrading.

BGSU should have major issues with the WCHA, as it is the only fully DI school in it. If western NY and PA teams are going full scholarship, seemingly the only objection to those schools is gone.