U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

[4four4]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Because no schools have added D1 hockey lately....

Exactly, it's why I'm not talking smack here.

[MissThundercat]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Exactly, it's why I'm not talking smack here.

Illinois really needs to hustle if they want to be 2022 National Champions.

[Slap Shot]

Illinois really needs to hustle if they want to be 2022 National Champions.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee....

[John J. MacInnes]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

There's a great trivia question.

Who was the last school to add D-1 hockey to make the national championship game in just 4 years?

[RaceBoarder]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

There's a great trivia question.

Who was the last school to add D-1 hockey to make the national championship game in just 4 years?

For a second I thought you were referencing NMU, but that was only a semi-final and happened in 1981

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

For a second I thought you were referencing NMU, but that was only a semi-final and happened in 1981

[looks around]

[hides previous season’s record books]

[aparch]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

[looks around]

[hides previous season’s record books]

Dartmouth. D1 1947, Championship Game 1948 (Loss)
Michigan. D1 1947, Championship Game 1948 (Win)
Boston College. D1 1947, Championship Game 1949 (Won)
Boston University. D1 1947, Championship Game 1950 (Loss)
Colorado College. D1 1947, Championship Game 1950 (Win)
Brown. D1 1947, Championship Game 1951 (Loss)
Northern Michigan. D1 1976, Championship Game 1980 (Loss)

[Split-N]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Illinois really needs to hustle if they want to be 2022 National Champions.

Can Illinois at least be a host institution for the other tournament?

[John J. MacInnes]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Dartmouth. D1 1947, Championship Game 1948 (Loss)
Michigan. D1 1947, Championship Game 1948 (Win)
Boston College. D1 1947, Championship Game 1949 (Won)
Boston University. D1 1947, Championship Game 1950 (Loss)
Colorado College. D1 1947, Championship Game 1950 (Win)
Brown. D1 1947, Championship Game 1951 (Loss)
Northern Michigan. D1 1976, Championship Game 1980 (Loss)

The first six are technically true, but each of those schools at least had a team before there was an NCAA championship.

Dartmouth played their first season in 1906-07, UM in 1920-21, BC and BU in 1917-18, CC in 1939-40, and Brown way back in 1897-98.

NMU is the correct answer regardless as the most recent to accomplish the feat.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Dartmouth. D1 1947, Championship Game 1948 (Loss)
Michigan. D1 1947, Championship Game 1948 (Win)
Boston College. D1 1947, Championship Game 1949 (Won)
Boston University. D1 1947, Championship Game 1950 (Loss)
Colorado College. D1 1947, Championship Game 1950 (Win)
Brown. D1 1947, Championship Game 1951 (Loss)
Northern Michigan. D1 1976, Championship Game 1980 (Loss)

Yep, I'm an idiot... I knew NMU was around there, but I couldn't remember... Went to the Googles and pulled up the 1981 tournament and saw us losing to MTU in the 3rd place game and completely blanked on the back-to-back F4 aspect...

[aparch]

NMU is the correct answer regardless as the most recent to accomplish the feat.

Yes, I am aware those schools didn't magically all spontaniously start programs for the 1947-48 season, but the way it was worded I thought an old WCHA team (St. Cloud, UAA) might have snuck in there. And the growth of D1 the the turn of the Millenium got buried by the "Power" schools steamrolling everyone in the early 2000's.

Deducting the formation of the NCAA D1 era (1947-ish), NMU is the only school to go from nothing to National Championship game in four years.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

… and back to nothing

[aparch]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

… and back to nothing

That hurts. A lot.

[slowe]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Whitman, Illini reshaping athletics campus: 'Always more to do'

https://247sports.com/college/illino...144219560/Amp/

But the biggest, most complicated project Whitman is attempting has faced some hurdles. Whitman announced in 2017 that Illinois would pursue adding a Division-I hockey program. In 2018, he said during a media roundtable that he hoped to green-light the program by the end of that calendar year.

But two years later, the project — which is expected to cost $100 million for a multi-sport facility that would also house the men’s and women’s gymnastics programs, volleyball and wrestling — still remains a concept.

To complete a project that would transform downtown Champaign — which includes a hotel and conference center and expanded mass transit hub — the Illinois athletics department is working with many entities: the city of Champaign, the mass transit district, developers and investors. That has slowed the process, to the Illini's dismay. But Whitman still remains optimistic the project will become a reality — eventually.

“I would say largely the same,” Whitman said on Monday when asked for the umpteenth time for an update on the project. “All the same things you’ve heard from me many times. It’s complicated. It’s hard. I think it’s incredibly exciting. I will say here in the last couple months there had been a little bit of a lull sort of in the middle to late 2019. But here in late 2019 and early 2020, we’ve made some really nice progress. We’ve had a few significant pieces fall into place. We’re as optimistic as we’ve ever been that we’ll be able to get it done. It’s just a question of time.”

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Whitman, Illini reshaping athletics campus: 'Always more to do'
https://247sports.com/college/illino...144219560/Amp/

Whitman announced in 2017 that Illinois would pursue adding a Division-I hockey program.
In 2018, he said during a media roundtable that he hoped to green-light the program by the end of that calendar year.
But two years later, the project — which is expected to cost $100 million...still remains a concept.
...in late 2019 and early 2020, we’ve made some really nice progress...We’re as optimistic as we’ve ever been that we’ll be able to get it done. It’s just a question of time.”

...and finding someone to give us $100M to get it done (like every other school that wants D-I hockey).