(01-22-2024 04:56 PM)darkdragon99 Wrote:  I looked at Augustana's roster and there's no local players from SD. I cant really get excited over that. I dont know how Sioux Falls's youth hockey and high school hockey is but is it good enough to produce local players for D1 ? Even the Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL) doesnt have anyone from SD. Why start a D1 program in a youth hockey wasteland ? Arizona St is a bit different since AZ is home to many transplants from hockey areas.

1. High school hockey outside of Minnesota and Massachusetts is not good enough to produce D1 players. Everyone else needs to go to prep school or junior hockey.

2. It isn't unusual for smaller population states to have to go out of state to find players. Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont will have very few locals, if any. Heck, even "bigger" schools in "bigger" markets are the same- Ohio State has one Ohioan. Kids good enough to play college hockey in large numbers are concentrated in a few places in the country, or they are from Canada.

3. There's a bit of an "if you build it" idea. North Dakota produces way more college hockey players than it should, demographically. But, UND has been a power forever. The idea is that if you start college hockey in Arizona or South Dakota, more kids will see hockey, and more kids will play hockey.

4. There aren't exactly a ton of South Dakotans on the basketball roster for the D-I Dakota programs, either. Small states just don't produce athletes.

5. This is also a bit of a loss-leader, in a sense. Augustana wants to go D-1 in everything. They need the Summit to admit them to do so. The hope seems to be that if they can prove an irresistible force in hockey, the Summit's hand will be forced.