Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
Akron and Buffalo are two other rumors that have been floated within the past year.
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Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
- Thread starter jdmaxim23
- Start date
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
Of the teams that were likely rumored, if they didn't leave with all the realignment, they probably will not be leaving because there is no real place for them to go without starting their own conference.
No one said anything about accepting 4 teams. One would be picked to replace UConn. I've also heard rumors that other teams may drop from AHA in the near future. I really doubt the conference would go over 12 teams.
Of the teams that were likely rumored, if they didn't leave with all the realignment, they probably will not be leaving because there is no real place for them to go without starting their own conference.
sideshowbob
New member
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
In theory, could Bowling Green back out of the WCHA and stay in the CCHA with bringing in breakaway AHA teams? Not that I think it's remotely going to happen, but could the CCHA be saved if a current member wanted to keep it going? I mean, it's not dead... yet.
Of the teams that were likely rumored, if they didn't leave with all the realignment, they probably will not be leaving because there is no real place for them to go without starting their own conference.
In theory, could Bowling Green back out of the WCHA and stay in the CCHA with bringing in breakaway AHA teams? Not that I think it's remotely going to happen, but could the CCHA be saved if a current member wanted to keep it going? I mean, it's not dead... yet.
In theory, could Bowling Green back out of the WCHA and stay in the CCHA with bringing in breakaway AHA teams? Not that I think it's remotely going to happen, but could the CCHA be saved if a current member wanted to keep it going? I mean, it's not dead... yet.
I believe last year's conversation included Bowling Green and Ferris State plus 4 western pod AHA teams(ex RIT, AFA) They wanted a at least one more team to join them. I don't think UAH was in the mix. The two CCHA teams are closer to WNY than Minnesota
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
As a UMKC alum, and UNO season ticket holder, I'll weigh in on this one. I moved from Kansas City, where I grew up, to Omaha in 1990.
I, too, have contemplated this as a possibility ever since K.C. built the Sprint Center, which was a complete and total knee-jerk reaction by the City of Kansas City to Omaha building what was then known as the Qwest Center, now the Centurylink Center (The "Clink"). I even found an blog article on the topic from the Lawrence, KS area few months back done by somebody who professed to be "in the know" who said it was being discussed in Kansas City by the school and the city as well with the thought being that they might play in the Sprint Center. Alas, after being asked about posting this link in another thread after mentioning this topic, there (Big 10 hockey thread?), I can't find the darn thing, now.
The City of Kansas City has a problem that does not look like it's going away. They have "built it" and nobody has come. The Penguins used Kansas City and it's new arena to hold Pittsburgh hostage a few years ago and Kansas City does not look to be in the offing anytime soon, if at all, for either the NHL or NBA. The Sprint Center has no tenant(s).
The problems with UMKC and hockey, besides whatever Title 9 implications there might be, are similar to the issues UNO currently has. I am basing my assertions on the possibility of UMKC playing at the Sprint Center, although, I suppose that Kemper Arena is another possibility.
UNO is the only hockey tenant in a large building (capacity 16,680 for hockey), by college hockey standards, where the ONLY revenue stream they have is from ticket sales. Further, because of seat license arrangements the City of Omaha's arena operating entity, MECA, has with individual seat license holders (read: well to-do people), UNO does not even own the revenue rights to all the seats in their "own" arena. I don't know to what extent UMKC might or might not be saddled with that problem, but, it is difficult to imagine that the City of Kansas City would extend a deal to UMKC that is altogether much different than what UNO has, currently, in the Clink. That means NO concession revenue. NO parking revenue. NO luxury box revenue. And the potential for not being able to sell premium seats to either the general public or season ticket holders. In Omaha, the seat license seats are some of the most desirable in the building. I want better season tickets than what I have, but, they are NOT available to me.
Not being in your own building means that you will have ice availability issues for practice time. This is a huge issue in Omaha, now. UNO practices in 3 different arenas in Omaha besides the Clink and with the opening of the Ralston Arena two weeks ago, where the Omaha Lancers (USHL) and UNO's own men's basketball team now play, a 5th practice venue is now on the table for them. This cannot continue and Coach Blais says this wastes an enormous amount of player and staff time, schlepping equipment and players all over town depending on where they can get ice time. Unless UMKC builds it's own arena, on campus, for hockey, they are going to be faced with this same issue and I don't know what alternative(s) exist in Kansas City for practice time in other venues. This issue, and the revenue issues, are the reason that UNO just announced plans for their new on-campus arena.
Further, Kansas City lacks any sort of real hockey legacy like the City of Omaha has and, thus, the interest level in it is nowhere near what it is in Omaha in the sport. If you were to ask me what was the single most surprising thing I've seen since I moved to Omaha in 1990, out of ALL the possible answers to that question, I'd honestly say that the level of interest in hockey in this city has utterly amazed me. UNO has the OLD Omaha Knights (Gordie Howe's first team) to thank for that as well as the Omaha Lancers, who are literally the "Montreal Canadiens" of Junior Hockey in the United States. A serious argument can be made that the very existence of the USHL, in it's current incarnation since the late '80's, owes it's very existence to the success the Omaha Lancers enjoyed once they joined the league. The Lancers are one of the most successful amateur sports franchises in the United States, in any sport. UMKC is going to have nothing like what Omaha has had to offer to build on from a hockey awareness/legacy standpoint.
The Icebreaker tournament, which was just held in Kansas City (which I attended), was a complete and utter joke and an embarrassment to the City of Kansas City, by the way. I heard that it was something of an "audition" for college hockey there. If so, the city should be ashamed of the event they put on. Absolutely appalling. If it was an audition of any sort, it had to have set things back a lot.
FYI, UNO and UMKC are in the same Division 1 conference in all sports (except for hockey which UMKC does not field), the Summit Conference. UNO is the only team in the Summit that fields D-1 hockey.
UMKC is a great candidate for D-1 hockey because of the reasons you mentioned, but, I don't see them playing at the Sprint Center or at Kemper because of their respective sizes and the fact that they don't own either of them. They'd need their own arena right out of the box, I think. Otherwise, they'd have a captive audience in Kansas City (such as it is for hockey) in the winter time. Even more so than UNO, who also has to compete with Nebraska winter sports (basketball and volleyball, which is much, much different than UMKC potentially having to compete with KU, MU, or KSU in winter sports) and Creighton basketball. UMKC also would likely benefit from just the sheer numbers game. The Omaha metro is just about 875,000 people. Kansas City is 2.035 million.
By the way, are we REALLY ready to have a D-1 hockey team called the "Kangaroos"?
As an aside, Bowling Green leaving for the AHA instead of the nWCHA would bode very poorly, I think, for UAH.
I think a school would have a better shot if they were the only game in town. Someone like UMKC could duplicate UNO's success in a major metropolitan area with no NHL presence.
As a UMKC alum, and UNO season ticket holder, I'll weigh in on this one. I moved from Kansas City, where I grew up, to Omaha in 1990.
I, too, have contemplated this as a possibility ever since K.C. built the Sprint Center, which was a complete and total knee-jerk reaction by the City of Kansas City to Omaha building what was then known as the Qwest Center, now the Centurylink Center (The "Clink"). I even found an blog article on the topic from the Lawrence, KS area few months back done by somebody who professed to be "in the know" who said it was being discussed in Kansas City by the school and the city as well with the thought being that they might play in the Sprint Center. Alas, after being asked about posting this link in another thread after mentioning this topic, there (Big 10 hockey thread?), I can't find the darn thing, now.
The City of Kansas City has a problem that does not look like it's going away. They have "built it" and nobody has come. The Penguins used Kansas City and it's new arena to hold Pittsburgh hostage a few years ago and Kansas City does not look to be in the offing anytime soon, if at all, for either the NHL or NBA. The Sprint Center has no tenant(s).
The problems with UMKC and hockey, besides whatever Title 9 implications there might be, are similar to the issues UNO currently has. I am basing my assertions on the possibility of UMKC playing at the Sprint Center, although, I suppose that Kemper Arena is another possibility.
UNO is the only hockey tenant in a large building (capacity 16,680 for hockey), by college hockey standards, where the ONLY revenue stream they have is from ticket sales. Further, because of seat license arrangements the City of Omaha's arena operating entity, MECA, has with individual seat license holders (read: well to-do people), UNO does not even own the revenue rights to all the seats in their "own" arena. I don't know to what extent UMKC might or might not be saddled with that problem, but, it is difficult to imagine that the City of Kansas City would extend a deal to UMKC that is altogether much different than what UNO has, currently, in the Clink. That means NO concession revenue. NO parking revenue. NO luxury box revenue. And the potential for not being able to sell premium seats to either the general public or season ticket holders. In Omaha, the seat license seats are some of the most desirable in the building. I want better season tickets than what I have, but, they are NOT available to me.
Not being in your own building means that you will have ice availability issues for practice time. This is a huge issue in Omaha, now. UNO practices in 3 different arenas in Omaha besides the Clink and with the opening of the Ralston Arena two weeks ago, where the Omaha Lancers (USHL) and UNO's own men's basketball team now play, a 5th practice venue is now on the table for them. This cannot continue and Coach Blais says this wastes an enormous amount of player and staff time, schlepping equipment and players all over town depending on where they can get ice time. Unless UMKC builds it's own arena, on campus, for hockey, they are going to be faced with this same issue and I don't know what alternative(s) exist in Kansas City for practice time in other venues. This issue, and the revenue issues, are the reason that UNO just announced plans for their new on-campus arena.
Further, Kansas City lacks any sort of real hockey legacy like the City of Omaha has and, thus, the interest level in it is nowhere near what it is in Omaha in the sport. If you were to ask me what was the single most surprising thing I've seen since I moved to Omaha in 1990, out of ALL the possible answers to that question, I'd honestly say that the level of interest in hockey in this city has utterly amazed me. UNO has the OLD Omaha Knights (Gordie Howe's first team) to thank for that as well as the Omaha Lancers, who are literally the "Montreal Canadiens" of Junior Hockey in the United States. A serious argument can be made that the very existence of the USHL, in it's current incarnation since the late '80's, owes it's very existence to the success the Omaha Lancers enjoyed once they joined the league. The Lancers are one of the most successful amateur sports franchises in the United States, in any sport. UMKC is going to have nothing like what Omaha has had to offer to build on from a hockey awareness/legacy standpoint.
The Icebreaker tournament, which was just held in Kansas City (which I attended), was a complete and utter joke and an embarrassment to the City of Kansas City, by the way. I heard that it was something of an "audition" for college hockey there. If so, the city should be ashamed of the event they put on. Absolutely appalling. If it was an audition of any sort, it had to have set things back a lot.
FYI, UNO and UMKC are in the same Division 1 conference in all sports (except for hockey which UMKC does not field), the Summit Conference. UNO is the only team in the Summit that fields D-1 hockey.
UMKC is a great candidate for D-1 hockey because of the reasons you mentioned, but, I don't see them playing at the Sprint Center or at Kemper because of their respective sizes and the fact that they don't own either of them. They'd need their own arena right out of the box, I think. Otherwise, they'd have a captive audience in Kansas City (such as it is for hockey) in the winter time. Even more so than UNO, who also has to compete with Nebraska winter sports (basketball and volleyball, which is much, much different than UMKC potentially having to compete with KU, MU, or KSU in winter sports) and Creighton basketball. UMKC also would likely benefit from just the sheer numbers game. The Omaha metro is just about 875,000 people. Kansas City is 2.035 million.
By the way, are we REALLY ready to have a D-1 hockey team called the "Kangaroos"?
As an aside, Bowling Green leaving for the AHA instead of the nWCHA would bode very poorly, I think, for UAH.
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Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
That ship has sailed. The CCHA is a proverbial dead-man-walking. BG tried to pull something together as the 11th hour (we kept hearing Metcyhurst, Robert Morris, Niagara and Canisius) were interested...and that might have made a nice conference if Northern Michigan, Lake Superior and Ferris hadn't decided so quickly to accecpt the WCHA offer.
In theory, could Bowling Green back out of the WCHA and stay in the CCHA with bringing in breakaway AHA teams? Not that I think it's remotely going to happen, but could the CCHA be saved if a current member wanted to keep it going? I mean, it's not dead... yet.
That ship has sailed. The CCHA is a proverbial dead-man-walking. BG tried to pull something together as the 11th hour (we kept hearing Metcyhurst, Robert Morris, Niagara and Canisius) were interested...and that might have made a nice conference if Northern Michigan, Lake Superior and Ferris hadn't decided so quickly to accecpt the WCHA offer.
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
I'm curious to hear that a few teams are exploring joining Atlantic. UAH has at least inquired I'm sure, even if nWCHA is the real target. It wouldn't surprise me if Bowling Green has at least had talks. Yes reviving the CCHA for now is not likely, but I remember at the time their AD wanted to get more schools together to talk collaboratively. I can imagine them at least talking. The other two schools are what I'd be really curious about. Just kicking the tires or school serious about moving up?
I can still see teams breaking away from Atlantic to form a new league, or Atlantic west even. Keep in mind a big goal of a new league is an autobid. What's the rule? Schools have to play together in the same league for two years to be eligible for an AQ? I say let any team that wants to join Atlantic should be able to. Let it get up to 14 or 16 if that many schools are actually serious about hockey. But only for the SHORT TERM. The goal should be to grow the Atlantic, then have it split into two leagues. How that's done would depend largely on what schools are thinking about joining I guess.
This move would be best in the long term. No room for growth in the east.
I'm curious to hear that a few teams are exploring joining Atlantic. UAH has at least inquired I'm sure, even if nWCHA is the real target. It wouldn't surprise me if Bowling Green has at least had talks. Yes reviving the CCHA for now is not likely, but I remember at the time their AD wanted to get more schools together to talk collaboratively. I can imagine them at least talking. The other two schools are what I'd be really curious about. Just kicking the tires or school serious about moving up?
I can still see teams breaking away from Atlantic to form a new league, or Atlantic west even. Keep in mind a big goal of a new league is an autobid. What's the rule? Schools have to play together in the same league for two years to be eligible for an AQ? I say let any team that wants to join Atlantic should be able to. Let it get up to 14 or 16 if that many schools are actually serious about hockey. But only for the SHORT TERM. The goal should be to grow the Atlantic, then have it split into two leagues. How that's done would depend largely on what schools are thinking about joining I guess.
This move would be best in the long term. No room for growth in the east.
ChargerPowerPlay
New member
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
This is my thought also. I mentioned this on the UAH thread, BG creates the 'odd number of teams' problem for the nWCHA which UAH can solve. If the problem does not exist, since BG goes to the AHA, then the solution (UAH to the nWCHA) may not be desirable (from a nWCHA perspective) any longer.
The *really* frustrating thing is that BG hasn't figured out what they are going to do and UAH is stuck until they do. Are they going with the plan from last year to move to the nWCHA or do they have a new plan to go to the AHA. Either way, UAH can not wait to see the landscape develop and determine which conference to approach. They had the 'impress nWCHA weekend' earlier this season against Mankato. It would be unfortunate if that event should have been directed toward the AHA instead. (Of course, no AHA teams agreed to come to Huntsville this season after the schedule got flushed and then patched back together with only a single D1 opponent visiting Huntsville this season. So it would be trying to impress the AHA reps while playing a non-AHA team).
Skate on.
cpp
As an aside, Bowling Green leaving for the AHA instead of the nWCHA would bode very poorly, I think, for UAH.
This is my thought also. I mentioned this on the UAH thread, BG creates the 'odd number of teams' problem for the nWCHA which UAH can solve. If the problem does not exist, since BG goes to the AHA, then the solution (UAH to the nWCHA) may not be desirable (from a nWCHA perspective) any longer.
The *really* frustrating thing is that BG hasn't figured out what they are going to do and UAH is stuck until they do. Are they going with the plan from last year to move to the nWCHA or do they have a new plan to go to the AHA. Either way, UAH can not wait to see the landscape develop and determine which conference to approach. They had the 'impress nWCHA weekend' earlier this season against Mankato. It would be unfortunate if that event should have been directed toward the AHA instead. (Of course, no AHA teams agreed to come to Huntsville this season after the schedule got flushed and then patched back together with only a single D1 opponent visiting Huntsville this season. So it would be trying to impress the AHA reps while playing a non-AHA team).
Skate on.
cpp
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Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
How is this in the best interest of the Atlantic Hockey Association?
I say let any team that wants to join Atlantic should be able to. Let it get up to 14 or 16 if that many schools are actually serious about hockey. But only for the SHORT TERM. The goal should be to grow the Atlantic, then have it split into two leagues. How that's done would depend largely on what schools are thinking about joining I guess.
This move would be best in the long term. No room for growth in the east.
How is this in the best interest of the Atlantic Hockey Association?
How is this in the best interest of the Atlantic Hockey Association?
The point is, it's about the member schools of the AHA; not the AHA. In the past year six or half of the 12 AHA schools have taken action to leave the conference. UConn has left, RIT is building a new area to build their program and four other western pod schools exploded joining the CCHA. That leaves the two service academies, Holy Cross and three schools that have to rent ice time left. Two of the last three draw less than 200 paid attendees per game. Just how long do you think they can last at the D-1 level. When you consider the west pod schools dominate the conference anyway why do the "poorer" schools care how many scholarships they give anyway. If the conference didn't play an uneven schedule (3 games in your pod, 2 in the other) the dominance would be even greater. Wouldn't the eastern teams benefit if a top 20 team from their conference came to their rink for a couple of games. Instead they want to bring the entire conference down to their level. If you want to save the AHA then remember successful conferences are build around mutual strength not weakness.
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
The short answer is that it might not be. It depends on how many and who of is expressing an interest in joining. THEMICK made some good points. Some schools want to grow the conference and make it more competitive and others want cost containment. I'm sure those more familiar with the league can speak to who falls into which camp. Some where along the line that will have to get sorted out. If Atlantic can do it in a planned, controlled way, then great. What I'd hate to see is the western pod just up and leave the eastern pod as a tiny conference. That leaves both halves in a precarious spot with the current number of schools.
That's why it depends on who wants to join and why. If they are small eastern schools, they might want to stay in a cost containment mode. There may be larger eastern schools that want to compete but have no conference to compete in. Hockey East is established and elite. ECAC and new Atlantic league breakoff could be competitive mid majors with room for growth. Atlantic for smaller or cost containment focused schools with room for growth. If the Atlantic were to split into two today, I'd say they aren't big enough and that wouldn't work well. If there are 4 legitimate schools who want to step up (highly unlikely I know), then maybe a split makes sense.
All this is implausible, as when was the last time there were a large number of schools looking to add hockey? But I'd hate for a school to not consider it just because there's no room.
How is this in the best interest of the Atlantic Hockey Association?
The short answer is that it might not be. It depends on how many and who of is expressing an interest in joining. THEMICK made some good points. Some schools want to grow the conference and make it more competitive and others want cost containment. I'm sure those more familiar with the league can speak to who falls into which camp. Some where along the line that will have to get sorted out. If Atlantic can do it in a planned, controlled way, then great. What I'd hate to see is the western pod just up and leave the eastern pod as a tiny conference. That leaves both halves in a precarious spot with the current number of schools.
That's why it depends on who wants to join and why. If they are small eastern schools, they might want to stay in a cost containment mode. There may be larger eastern schools that want to compete but have no conference to compete in. Hockey East is established and elite. ECAC and new Atlantic league breakoff could be competitive mid majors with room for growth. Atlantic for smaller or cost containment focused schools with room for growth. If the Atlantic were to split into two today, I'd say they aren't big enough and that wouldn't work well. If there are 4 legitimate schools who want to step up (highly unlikely I know), then maybe a split makes sense.
All this is implausible, as when was the last time there were a large number of schools looking to add hockey? But I'd hate for a school to not consider it just because there's no room.
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
I still ask this question: This is not a new formula for AHA. It existed in the MAAC, existed when they reorganized under the AHA, and existed when Niagara et al joined the conference. If this was all known and understood (and if they didn't, well....), then why did they join? Why didn't they just stay in the CHA with this Mercyhurst program that everyone claims is busting to leave the conference. If adding scholarships is such a magical solution, why don't the western schools just break off and resurect the CHA flag, along with UAH (which if you look at what you're talking about, is basically what you will have, ex AFA and BSU, add Mercyhurst).
Logic says there's a reason they haven't. And maybe that reason is, its been tried, failed, and no one wants to take that risk again.
Thirteen years...and counting.Just how long do you think they can last at the D-1 level.
If the ceiling is raised, and you can't even reach the existing ceiling, you become even less competitive ex post facto. That adds to the incentive for programs to throw in the towel, and drop the sport, shrinking hockey. Think it can't happen? Ask Fairfield and Iona.When you consider the west pod schools dominate the conference anyway why do the "poorer" schools care how many scholarships they give anyway.
I still ask this question: This is not a new formula for AHA. It existed in the MAAC, existed when they reorganized under the AHA, and existed when Niagara et al joined the conference. If this was all known and understood (and if they didn't, well....), then why did they join? Why didn't they just stay in the CHA with this Mercyhurst program that everyone claims is busting to leave the conference. If adding scholarships is such a magical solution, why don't the western schools just break off and resurect the CHA flag, along with UAH (which if you look at what you're talking about, is basically what you will have, ex AFA and BSU, add Mercyhurst).
Logic says there's a reason they haven't. And maybe that reason is, its been tried, failed, and no one wants to take that risk again.
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
Chris Lerch confirmed the 4 schools are Rhode Island, St. Anselm, Navy, and Alabama-Huntsville in his post today: http://www.uscho.com/2012/11/15/atl...ools-interested-in-joining-commissioner-says/
Chris Lerch confirmed the 4 schools are Rhode Island, St. Anselm, Navy, and Alabama-Huntsville in his post today: http://www.uscho.com/2012/11/15/atl...ools-interested-in-joining-commissioner-says/
AFHockeyFan
Registered User
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
Thanks for the background--really interesting stuff. I know the Mavericks have done really well with attendance the past few years and thought that might translate for a good school looking to improve its visibility. I graduated from KU in 2011 but never made it to a club game--the rink was in Bonner Springs or Olathe somewhere and I never bothered to find out where. I think a lot of fans would have the same problem. And I don't think Lawrence is big enough to support D-1 hockey, epsecially competing head-to-head with hoops. On the other hand, if KU and UConn, among others, really want a B1G invite, having D1 hockey would be a nice selling point.
I knew Omaha had rink issues but didn't realize it was that bad. I would LOVE to see UNO and AF play non-conference, especially with the large AF population in Omaha/Bellevue. Heck, the CHA even had its tourney in Kearney one year.
And, yes, we are ready for the 'Roos. (Although the NCAA might find it offensive to Australian-Americans!) Too many Falcons and Eagles and other boring mascots already. I promise to buy a jersey when they make the jump!
As a UMKC alum, and UNO season ticket holder, I'll weigh in on this one. I moved from Kansas City, where I grew up, to Omaha in 1990.
Thanks for the background--really interesting stuff. I know the Mavericks have done really well with attendance the past few years and thought that might translate for a good school looking to improve its visibility. I graduated from KU in 2011 but never made it to a club game--the rink was in Bonner Springs or Olathe somewhere and I never bothered to find out where. I think a lot of fans would have the same problem. And I don't think Lawrence is big enough to support D-1 hockey, epsecially competing head-to-head with hoops. On the other hand, if KU and UConn, among others, really want a B1G invite, having D1 hockey would be a nice selling point.
I knew Omaha had rink issues but didn't realize it was that bad. I would LOVE to see UNO and AF play non-conference, especially with the large AF population in Omaha/Bellevue. Heck, the CHA even had its tourney in Kearney one year.
And, yes, we are ready for the 'Roos. (Although the NCAA might find it offensive to Australian-Americans!) Too many Falcons and Eagles and other boring mascots already. I promise to buy a jersey when they make the jump!
AFHockeyFan
Registered User
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
So, three outta four aint bad. Where the hell is St. Anselm anyway?
Chris Lerch confirmed the 4 schools are Rhode Island, St. Anselm, Navy, and Alabama-Huntsville in his post today: http://www.uscho.com/2012/11/15/atl...ools-interested-in-joining-commissioner-says/
So, three outta four aint bad. Where the hell is St. Anselm anyway?
UAH seems like the most likely candidate to keep it at 12. Navy is a reasonable guess. URI has been thrown around (although it's hard to believe that Rhode Island could support three D-1 programs). Would be nice to see another western team in the conference, but I don't know if anyone is serious about starting a D-1 program west of the Mississippi. Smaller schools in hockey hotbeds (MA, NY, MI, MN) seem like reasonable guesses, but why would anyone go see Wayne State when Ann Arbor is right there. I think a school would have a better shot if they were the only game in town. Someone like UMKC could duplicate UNO's success in a major metropolitan area with no NHL presence.
Jonny Milkman
New member
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
St Anselm is in Manchester, NH. They have a newer rink that is built for D1. Womens program has been really successful as well. They are the best fit location wise and facility wise however officials there would have to figure out if they would want to spend the money to support the program. It's a small catholic school.
St Anselm is in Manchester, NH. They have a newer rink that is built for D1. Womens program has been really successful as well. They are the best fit location wise and facility wise however officials there would have to figure out if they would want to spend the money to support the program. It's a small catholic school.
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
Manchester, NH.
So, three outta four aint bad. Where the hell is St. Anselm anyway?
Manchester, NH.
thetruthhurts
New member
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
AFHockeyFan
You seem to have a pretty good ready on the AHA possibilities. Question for you regarding you Falcons, will they move to the NHC? It not secret the new conferecence wants to get bigger. The commish is a former AF AD. CC and DU are already playing AF on a regular basis and I've heard that this will be expanding to annual home-home with boths teams. Your point with UNO games makes a lot of sense. AF also seems to get annual non conf games other teams in the NHC, ND last year, another big fan AF presenace at Grand Forks. You see them ever year in Minnesota vs someone. Just seems like a good fit for everyone
Your thoughts?
AFHockeyFan
You seem to have a pretty good ready on the AHA possibilities. Question for you regarding you Falcons, will they move to the NHC? It not secret the new conferecence wants to get bigger. The commish is a former AF AD. CC and DU are already playing AF on a regular basis and I've heard that this will be expanding to annual home-home with boths teams. Your point with UNO games makes a lot of sense. AF also seems to get annual non conf games other teams in the NHC, ND last year, another big fan AF presenace at Grand Forks. You see them ever year in Minnesota vs someone. Just seems like a good fit for everyone
Your thoughts?
RIT Winters
Hey, you SUCK!
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
I'm not AFHockeyFan, but I would guess that Air Force is not keen on leaving a conference that has their fellow service academy, Army. That becomes even more true if/when Navy joins.
AFHockeyFan
You seem to have a pretty good ready on the AHA possibilities. Question for you regarding you Falcons, will they move to the NHC? It not secret the new conferecence wants to get bigger. The commish is a former AF AD. CC and DU are already playing AF on a regular basis and I've heard that this will be expanding to annual home-home with boths teams. Your point with UNO games makes a lot of sense. AF also seems to get annual non conf games other teams in the NHC, ND last year, another big fan AF presenace at Grand Forks. You see them ever year in Minnesota vs someone. Just seems like a good fit for everyone
Your thoughts?
I'm not AFHockeyFan, but I would guess that Air Force is not keen on leaving a conference that has their fellow service academy, Army. That becomes even more true if/when Navy joins.
AFHockeyFan
Registered User
Re: Atlantic Hockey Expansion?
Ah, yes, the patron saint of penalty-killing. All makes sense now.
St Anselm is in Manchester, NH. They have a newer rink that is built for D1. Womens program has been really successful as well. They are the best fit location wise and facility wise however officials there would have to figure out if they would want to spend the money to support the program. It's a small catholic school.
Ah, yes, the patron saint of penalty-killing. All makes sense now.