Save Uah Hockey!

[RSTuthill]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

Hockey East is saving a spot for Harvard, not UConn...

In the recent words of Barney Frank, "What planet do you spend most of your time on?"

[SCSU Euro]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

My money says the CCHA is hoping for a team (Bowling Green, Ferris, Western or Lake State) to drop hockey, a team (Penn State or Iowa State) to add hockey, a good chunk of their schools to jump ship into a new conference, or some combination. Either way, we're at unstable equilibrium, and sooner or later the dominoes will start falling again.

If Iowa State starts a hockey program, the WCHA will take them, and then CCHA can have UNO back.

[Larch]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

Because the Ivy League Conference has about as much of a shot as the Big Ten Conference in the happening ever department- 0.001%. So I figured I'd burst that bubble before people brought it up again.

This probably been answered before, but why doesn't the Ivy League go on their own? As a fan of the western teams, I haven't seen or read anything about it.

[PUBand09]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

why doesn't the Ivy League go on their own?

Only 6 of the Ivy League's 8 schools play varsity ice hockey. If the League split from the ECAC, you'd have two 6-team conferences, which is pretty small for a sports conference, especially in college hockey. Sure worked out well for the CHA.

I also think the Ivy League is against sponsoring sports that all its schools don't participate in. Columbia has never had a varsity team, and thus probably has no plans or desire to, and Penn probably doesn't want to resurrect theirs after 30 years, especially since they're having a hard time doing well at the sports they already have.

[alslammerz]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

Only 6 of the Ivy League's 8 schools play varsity ice hockey. If the League split from the ECAC, you'd have two 6-team conferences, which is pretty small for a sports conference, especially in college hockey. Sure worked out well for the CHA.

I also think the Ivy League is against sponsoring sports that all its schools don't participate in. Columbia has never had a varsity team, and thus probably has no plans or desire to, and Penn probably doesn't want to resurrect theirs after 30 years, especially since they're having a hard time doing well at the sports they already have.

Not to mention it would leave the ECAC with six teams so I'm sure the NCAA would love that, plus the fact that the ECAC has a hard enough time being a major conference as it is- dividing it would only make it harder for teams to play competitive schedules.

[BoomGoestheDynamite]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

I also think the Ivy League is against sponsoring sports that all its schools don't participate in. Columbia has never had a varsity team, and thus probably has no plans or desire to, and Penn probably doesn't want to resurrect theirs after 30 years, especially since they're having a hard time doing well at the sports they already have.

For the most part, although there is an ivy league in lacrosse without Columbia.

[joecct]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

Liberty League:
Clarkson
St. Lawrence
RPI
Union
RIT
and for your 6th team.... Colgate!!!
Throw in Niagara and Canisius and you get the perfect 8 team league all within NY State...

What this has to do with UAH is absolutely nothing, but does give AHA better numbers.

When you add it all up, it's all about the Benjamins. Only if it makes economic sense will anything happen in college sports.

[alslammerz]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

Liberty League:
Clarkson
St. Lawrence
RPI
Union
RIT
and for your 6th team.... Colgate!!!
Throw in Niagara and Canisius and you get the perfect 8 team league all within NY State...

What this has to do with UAH is absolutely nothing, but does give AHA better numbers.

When you add it all up, it's all about the Benjamins. Only if it makes economic sense will anything happen in college sports.

So basically the ECAC should split in half and the non-ivies should add Niagara and Canisius?

I stated that Ivy League rumor because I've seen it before and it makes about as much sense as this.... it wasn't serious. And it won't save UAH.

I'm not sure if you're trying to be sarcastic, witty, or 100% serious, so I'll tread lightly, but this is one of the more ridiculous things I've seen if you're trying to be serious.

Which all brings me back to the point I made in my first post in this topic. Saving UAH will not come from some mysterious and radical conference realignment, or from the SEC and ACC schools deciding to add hockey in the next year (or any other D-I teams for that matter) but by the one and only realistic option- the CCHA accepting UAH for admission.

And that has a better chance of happening if nationally televised games, even without UAH playing, have save UAH shirts and banners make it on tv. That happens if UAH fans rally behind the team and sellout every game. That happens if other fans that want to save UAH plus UAH alumni in other cities come out to road games to show UAH is a valuable draw, particularly at a road game like Notre Dame in the CCHA. It may come delayed, because of a scheduling agreement. And it may even require that UAH pull a Bemidji and make a Cinderella run to the Frozen Four to open people's eyes that UAH can and will be a talented program in a major conference.

That's how UAH gets saved, there's no other way. So dream all you want of changing the landscape of NCAA hockey and changing reality, but if everybody is dreaming this, then the nightmare is going to happen. If there are a good number of realists, then UAH has a fighting chance.

[gfmorris]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

Which all brings me back to the point I made in my first post in this topic. Saving UAH will not come from some mysterious and radical conference realignment, or from the SEC and ACC schools deciding to add hockey in the next year (or any other D-I teams for that matter) but by the one and only realistic option- the CCHA accepting UAH for admission.

And that has a better chance of happening if nationally televised games, even without UAH playing, have save UAH shirts and banners make it on tv. That happens if UAH fans rally behind the team and sellout every game. That happens if other fans that want to save UAH plus UAH alumni in other cities come out to road games to show UAH is a valuable draw, particularly at a road game like Notre Dame in the CCHA. It may come delayed, because of a scheduling agreement. And it may even require that UAH pull a Bemidji and make a Cinderella run to the Frozen Four to open people's eyes that UAH can and will be a talented program in a major conference.

That's how UAH gets saved, there's no other way. So dream all you want of changing the landscape of NCAA hockey and changing reality, but if everybody is dreaming this, then the nightmare is going to happen. If there are a good number of realists, then UAH has a fighting chance.

Thanks for giving me the perfect segue to note that we now have Save UAH Hockey merchandise available.

GFM

[true2BSU]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

very cool! SAVE UAH! Don't forget to support!

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

As has been said: ECAC is too dependent on the Ivies to survive without them. (More so than the D-II members of the WCHA and CCHA are on the Big Televen schools? Perhaps) And a seperate Ivy conference is too dependent on Penn and Columbia actually wanting to stick around (assuming that they actually want to show up in the first place). Sure, they'd only need the current six, technically, but a six team conference isn't a very comfortable one- even if the Ivies are well established.

If schools like Syracuse, Temple, Villanova, Rutgers, Rhode Island etc. ever look at starting up programs, then we can talk the ECAC splitting (again). The non-Ivies in the ECAC will care a lot less about the loss of a bunch of Ivies if they get to make money off of BCS level schools.

Thanks for giving me the perfect segue to note that we now have Save UAH Hockey merchandise available.

GFM

Biscuits?

[gfmorris]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

I can't remember which topic this was posted in, but I posted earlier that I didn't think that UAH was at 18 schollies. I have been corrected---we have been at 18 for the entire Danton Cole era.

I regret the error.

GFM

[Ralph Baer]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

As has been said: ECAC is too dependent on the Ivies to survive without them. (More so than the D-II members of the WCHA and CCHA are on the Big Televen schools? Perhaps) And a seperate Ivy conference is too dependent on Penn and Columbia actually wanting to stick around (assuming that they actually want to show up in the first place). Sure, they'd only need the current six, technically, but a six team conference isn't a very comfortable one- even if the Ivies are well established.

If schools like Syracuse, Temple, Villanova, Rutgers, Rhode Island etc. ever look at starting up programs, then we can talk the ECAC splitting (again). The non-Ivies in the ECAC will care a lot less about the loss of a bunch of Ivies if they get to make money off of BCS level schools.

Biscuits?

I have always thought that being associated with the Ivies keeps the D-III ECAC admins pacified with having a D-I sport. Although currently the Ivies have, on average, better hockey teams than the non-Ivy ECAC schools, historically, besides for Cornnell and Harvard, that has not been the case. I have doubts that the ECAC non-Ivy admins would be as thrilled with being associated with the eastern D-I teams that you listed.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

I have doubts that the ECAC non-Ivy admins would be as thrilled with being associated with the eastern D-I teams that you listed.

For any particular reason? If other eastern schools can bring enough money to the table, will that still make such a big difference to them?

[Ralph Baer]

Re: Save Uah Hockey!

For any particular reason? If other eastern schools can bring enough money to the table, will that still make such a big difference to them?

I guess that I wasn't clear. It isn't the monetary aspect, it's the academic clout that the Ivies have. The RPI administation, for example, likes being mentioned in the same sentence as Harvard, Yale et al.