(04-19-2022 02:10 PM)nodak651 Wrote:  

(04-19-2022 01:28 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  I’m getting the feeling that, unless the existing conferences decide to open up and expand, that we’re soon going to reach the threshold where we have enough odd ball programs to band together as an additional autobid conference:

Alaska
Alaska Fairbanks
Augustana
Lindenwood
UAH
Stonehill
LIU
Union

Maybe even Arizona St jumps in bed with this motley crew simply for the autobid access.

Union is in the ECAC. But a new conference would make sense if things shake out the right way. It will be interesting to see if the CCHA looks at Augustana and Lindenwood.

Atlantic Hockey was formerly MAAC Hockey until schools began dropping hockey or moving other conferences. The only reason AFA is in the AHA is because Army is, and the only reason for Army in the AHA is that West Point is in New York.

But AFA might prefer to play Arizona State and the Alaska schools rather than repeated visits to small schools in New York New England.

Add UAH, Lindenwood, and Augustana which are reasonably possible to get to.

AFA
Arizona State
Alaska
Alaska Anchorage
Augustana
Lindenwood
UAH
Army

That open up spots in AHA for Utica, Stonehill, and LIU in AHA.

Or they could convince the NE-10 to play for the national championship. The CCHA is mostly DII schools. At worst they get an AQ who loses in a regional.

(04-19-2022 08:04 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  If we look at club hockey? There are programs that could turned them to varsity at any second. Who would take a dip in Oklahoma to make the leap?

The only ACHA programs that I think could go D1 "at any second" are Illinois, Liberty, Navy, Arizona, and UNLV, imo. But I'm not sure exactly how you would define that...

In regard to Oklahoma, are you referring to ACHA power Central Oklahoma? Looks like a new arena will be built at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds, about 20 minutes from campus. Being near downtown, that could help with drawing casual fans, but they would need an on campus practice facility still. Total longshot, but conceivable at least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idRCNe8mTnE

(04-21-2022 05:35 PM)nodak651 Wrote:  

(04-19-2022 08:04 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  If we look at club hockey? There are programs that could turned them to varsity at any second. Who would take a dip in Oklahoma to make the leap?

The only ACHA programs that I think could go D1 "at any second" are Illinois, Liberty, Navy, Arizona, and UNLV, imo. But I'm not sure exactly how you would define that...

In regard to Oklahoma, are you referring to ACHA power Central Oklahoma? Looks like a new arena will be built at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds, about 20 minutes from campus. Being near downtown, that could help with drawing casual fans, but they would need an on campus practice facility still. Total longshot, but conceivable at least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idRCNe8mTnE

That new arena at the OKC fairgrounds is going to be nice. But it's primary uses will be for rodeo and the state high school basketball tournament. No word on hockey there.

UAH Update.... One of the guys funding UAH hockey was on the radio yesterday and it's an interesting listen.  He says UAH currently has $17 million lined up and the program would have an annual budget of 1.8 million, and they still plan to restart hockey if they can get into or create a conference. Sounds like the coaches of all of the independent schools got together on a conference call to discuss the potential of a new D1 conference, and UAH was included as well. He doesn't say that anything is imminent, but it is proof of actual discussions in regard to the creation of a new conference.
 https://977espn.com/assets/podcaster/176...mp3#t=1765

(04-27-2022 11:35 AM)nodak651 Wrote:  UAH Update.... One of the guys funding UAH hockey was on the radio yesterday and it's an interesting listen.  He says UAH currently has $17 million lined up and the program would have an annual budget of 1.8 million, and they still plan to restart hockey if they can get into or create a conference. Sounds like the coaches of all of the independent schools got together on a conference call to discuss the potential of a new D1 conference, and UAH was included as well. He doesn't say that anything is imminent, but it is proof of actual discussions in regard to the creation of a new conference.
 https://977espn.com/assets/podcaster/176...mp3#t=1765

I don't know how to imbed a tweet on this forum so I copy and pasted it below...

@weloveuahhockey
Biggest takeaway: It appears the independents, led by the Alaska schools, are exploring the creation of a new conference. Sheldon mentioned Anchorage, Fairbanks, Arizona State, Utica, Lindenwood, and Long Island.
11:53 AM · Apr 27, 2022·TweetDeck

(04-27-2022 11:59 AM)nodak651 Wrote:  I don't know how to imbed a tweet on this forum so I copy and pasted it below...

@weloveuahhockey
Biggest takeaway: It appears the independents, led by the Alaska schools, are exploring the creation of a new conference. Sheldon mentioned Anchorage, Fairbanks, Arizona State, Utica, Lindenwood, and Long Island.
11:53 AM · Apr 27, 2022·TweetDeck

Augustana in talks with CCHA?

(04-27-2022 12:11 PM)OhioBoilermaker Wrote:  

(04-27-2022 11:59 AM)nodak651 Wrote:  I don't know how to imbed a tweet on this forum so I copy and pasted it below...

@weloveuahhockey
Biggest takeaway: It appears the independents, led by the Alaska schools, are exploring the creation of a new conference. Sheldon mentioned Anchorage, Fairbanks, Arizona State, Utica, Lindenwood, and Long Island.
11:53 AM · Apr 27, 2022·TweetDeck

Augustana in talks with CCHA?

Probably, but given that they never invited UAH, I don't know how receptive the CCHA will be to Augi, especially since Augi didn't announce or leak anything about CCHA affiliation when they broke ground on their new arena this past fall.

During the interview, the guy mentioned those schools, specifically, by name, but he also said that all of the independent schools were on the conference call, even though he didn't mention anything about Stone Hill either, which recently announced that they will move to D1 as an Independent. I think there are two possibilities: either the named schools were the only ones on the call, or they were just the schools that he could name quickly off the top of his head. It's interesting that Utica is mentioned, however, being that they announced they would only be moving up to D1 if they received an invite from Atlantic Hockey (perhaps any conference invite would work, similar to UAH). It will be interesting to see if Atlantic Hockey invites anyone in addition to Robert Morris. Who knows, maybe Augi will be getting a CCHA invite and Stone Hill will be getting an Atlantic Hockey invite (with the promise of their new arena).

Anyone know when Atlantic Hockey has it's next meeting?

(04-27-2022 12:43 PM)nodak651 Wrote:  

(04-27-2022 12:11 PM)OhioBoilermaker Wrote:  

(04-27-2022 11:59 AM)nodak651 Wrote:  I don't know how to imbed a tweet on this forum so I copy and pasted it below...

@weloveuahhockey
Biggest takeaway: It appears the independents, led by the Alaska schools, are exploring the creation of a new conference. Sheldon mentioned Anchorage, Fairbanks, Arizona State, Utica, Lindenwood, and Long Island.
11:53 AM · Apr 27, 2022·TweetDeck

Augustana in talks with CCHA?

Probably, but given that they never invited UAH, I don't know how receptive the CCHA will be to Augi, especially since Augi didn't announce or leak anything about CCHA affiliation when they broke ground on their new arena this past fall.

During the interview, the guy mentioned those schools, specifically, by name, but he also said that all of the independent schools were on the conference call, even though he didn't mention anything about Stone Hill either, which recently announced that they will move to D1 as an Independent. I think there are two possibilities: either the named schools were the only ones on the call, or they were just the schools that he could name quickly off the top of his head. It's interesting that Utica is mentioned, however, being that they announced they would only be moving up to D1 if they received an invite from Atlantic Hockey (perhaps any conference invite would work, similar to UAH). It will be interesting to see if Atlantic Hockey invites anyone in addition to Robert Morris. Who knows, maybe Augi will be getting a CCHA invite and Stone Hill will be getting an Atlantic Hockey invite (with the promise of their new arena).

Anyone know when Atlantic Hockey has it's next meeting?

Utica has its heart set on Atlantic Hockey. They are in the perfect location and hosted the AHA tournament at the Utica arena. But they've also said they would need to find a hockey conference before looking for a DII all sports conference. Oddly enough the only conference that really fits is the NE-10 which does sponsor DII hockey. The ECC is basically the DII equivalent of the DI ECC/TRAA/WAC/Mid-Continent.

The UAH booster said that the Alaska schools had organized the call. The Alaska schools really need a conference. It is hard to get other schools to fly up to Alaska for an OOC series. I think one reason the two Alaska schools were in different conferences was so that the other league teams might only have to make one trip to Alaska each season.

Arizona State had a scheduling alliance with the B1G one season. They may have hoped to affiliate. LIU had a scheduling alliance with AHA one season, and have applied for membership - but the league has no acted.

Arizona State has announced their schedule for 2022-2024. The last five series of the season are against: Alaska-Fairbanks (twice), Alaska-Anchorage, Lindenwood, and LIU. So the Alaska schools knows who has been calling about matches at the end of season.

They know UAH has said they won't restart hockey until they have a conference. The UAH booster suggested that they were invited to listen in. Augustana has just begun building of their arena. Stonehill already has a hockey program. Utica said they would not announce a DII conference until they had a hockey invitation to DI.

It would not surprise me if AFA (and maybe Army) have been contacted.

Augustana is in the Northern Sun. Two conference teams are in the NCHC, and two in the CCHA, so they may be hoping to join one of those. But Duluth and St. Cloud probably block Minnesota State from getting into the NCHC, and Minnesota State may block Augustana.

Augustana to the NCHC is dead on arrival.

(04-28-2022 12:02 PM)OhioBoilermaker Wrote:  Augustana to the NCHC is dead on arrival.

Yep. That's not even a 0.01% possibility if you follow college hockey.

So given the current state of realignment for DI schools in the Northeast, it looks like a DII programs Bentley and Mercyhurst, both of whom have DI hockey teams, could be potential candidates to move up to the NEC.

Assuming they moved up, there's a possibility the NEC could start its own hockey conference among its members with the following teams:

• Bentley (Atlantic Hockey)
• LIU (Independent)
• Mercyhurst (Atlantic Hockey)
• Merrimack (Hockey East)
• Sacred Heart (Atlantic Hockey)
• Stonehill College (from DII NE-10)
  

If you are a niche sport you should do what you can to grow the sport. Blackballing schools is a jerk move.

(04-28-2022 12:20 PM)Cruhawk Wrote:  So given the current state of realignment for DI schools in the Northeast, it looks like a DII programs Bentley and Mercyhurst, both of whom have DI hockey teams, could be potential candidates to move up to the NEC.

Assuming they moved up, there's a possibility the NEC could start its own hockey conference among its members with the following teams:

• Bentley (Atlantic Hockey)
• LIU (Independent)
• Mercyhurst (Atlantic Hockey)
• Merrimack (Hockey East)
• Sacred Heart (Atlantic Hockey)
• Stonehill College (from DII NE-10)
  

Would Merrimack be on board with this? Possibly an easier path to the tournament as the AQ, but leaving Hockey East feels like a big ask.

(04-28-2022 12:56 PM)Mister Consistency Wrote:  

(04-28-2022 12:20 PM)Cruhawk Wrote:  So given the current state of realignment for DI schools in the Northeast, it looks like a DII programs Bentley and Mercyhurst, both of whom have DI hockey teams, could be potential candidates to move up to the NEC.

Assuming they moved up, there's a possibility the NEC could start its own hockey conference among its members with the following teams:

• Bentley (Atlantic Hockey)
• LIU (Independent)
• Mercyhurst (Atlantic Hockey)
• Merrimack (Hockey East)
• Sacred Heart (Atlantic Hockey)
• Stonehill College (from DII NE-10)
  

Would Merrimack be on board with this? Possibly an easier path to the tournament as the AQ, but leaving Hockey East feels like a big ask.

I wouldn't miss them.

But yeah, I mean Hockey East gets actual publicity in New England and has games throughout the season on NESN (the sports network owned by the Red Sox and Bruins). The banner is hanging at the Garden in Boston with all the universities on display there. Hard to beat that kind of publicity in your region. If they feel like having an easier path to the tournament is worth the tradeoff there, maybe...but I kind of doubt it.

(04-27-2022 12:43 PM)nodak651 Wrote:  Anyone know when Atlantic Hockey has it's next meeting?

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2...lantic.php

Met at the coaches' convention, no action taken, no consensus around Utica particularly among the coaches.

The presidents will vote on Utica in mid-May.

That article also discusses a lot of the roadblocks to an AHA split- basically who goes where, and the fact that it is a huge risk for some schools, and no one is going to take the first steps.

So, assuming we’re going on geographic lines and AFA stays with Army:

A:
Bentley
Holy Cross
American International
Sacred Heart
Army
Air Force
LIU*
Stonehill*

B:
RIT
Niagara
Canisius
Mercyhurst
Robert Morris
Utica*

That leaves the B league a little thin unless they are going to go shopping for geographic outliers.

(04-28-2022 12:56 PM)Mister Consistency Wrote:  

(04-28-2022 12:20 PM)Cruhawk Wrote:  So given the current state of realignment for DI schools in the Northeast, it looks like a DII programs Bentley and Mercyhurst, both of whom have DI hockey teams, could be potential candidates to move up to the NEC.

Assuming they moved up, there's a possibility the NEC could start its own hockey conference among its members with the following teams:

• Bentley (Atlantic Hockey)
• LIU (Independent)
• Mercyhurst (Atlantic Hockey)
• Merrimack (Hockey East)
• Sacred Heart (Atlantic Hockey)
• Stonehill College (from DII NE-10)
  

Would Merrimack be on board with this? Possibly an easier path to the tournament as the AQ, but leaving Hockey East feels like a big ask.

They would not. Leaving a top conference like Hockey East - and the associations with BC, BU, etc. - for a start-up league is a non-starter. Hockey East is very visible in a region where hockey's very popular.

(04-28-2022 01:40 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  So, assuming we’re going on geographic lines and AFA stays with Army:

A:
Bentley
Holy Cross
American International
Sacred Heart
Army
Air Force
LIU*
Stonehill*

B:
RIT
Niagara
Canisius
Mercyhurst
Robert Morris
Utica*

That leaves the B league a little thin unless they are going to go shopping for geographic outliers.

I think the problem is that if you are, say, RIT, would you bet your program's existance on all five of their "B League" conference mates having division I varsity ice hockey in six years?

That's the same problem with any "Western AHA" starting. How much money would you put on Alaska-Anchorage existing in five years? Or Alaska. UAH has dropped the sport three times already! Lindenwood and Augustana seem like they will create decent programs, but they are yet to play a game! Is Arizona State going to align with those schools and give up some scheduling flexibility and stop holding out hope for the NCHC? No, none of the Western "others" would be leaving a stable league for that uncertainty, but it is still uncertainty.

(04-28-2022 02:06 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

(04-28-2022 12:56 PM)Mister Consistency Wrote:  Would Merrimack be on board with this? Possibly an easier path to the tournament as the AQ, but leaving Hockey East feels like a big ask.

They would not. Leaving a top conference like Hockey East - and the associations with BC, BU, etc. - for a start-up league is a non-starter. Hockey East is very visible in a region where hockey's very popular.

Merrimack's inclusion in Hockey East is akin to John Chaney's, err, "the powers that be's" addition of La Salle to the A-10.

A relatively harmless decision at the time, but one that seems more pointless with each passing year.

If Hockey People weren't Hockey People, the conference leadership would probably be helping Merrimack find another league by now.

Any of our College Hockey experts here willing to make an educated guess, percentage-wise, on the following conference moves happening within the next 5 years?

1) Minnesota State to the NCHC

2) Arizona State to the NCHC

3) Illinois to the B1G

4) Navy to Atlantic Hockey

5a) Penn to the Ivy League

5b) An Ivy League and ECAC Hockey split

6) A heretofore non-existent DI hockey conference forming

7) Bonus question: The NCAA tournament expanding from to 16 to 24 teams