Re: Atlantic Hockey Future
A lot of this talk about AIC, Bentley and Sacred Heart all being doormats of the AHA is nonsense too. In 9 years Sacred Heart has finished in the top half 6 times including 2 second place finishes. Only AIC has consistently been at or near the bottom yet recently they became much more competitive in league games. I think the biggest problem for the AHA is getting fans in the seats and even getting students in for free is a problem. The schools have got to promote the fact that they are playing at a high level with only about 50 other colleges. These games should be major athletic events at these schools. Do giveaways, run promotions and make them something that the locals and students want to be a part of. Putting some effort and money into this would more than pay for itself with pride and activity greatly increased and the possibility of greater revenue as well. If they don't desire to do this as part of the Division 1 landscape then they should consider giving it up.
In regards to my earlier post about RIT, I see them dipping here and there simply because the AHA overall is getting better while they are clearly going to get worse next year. They lose too many key parts, while Niagara, Bentley, and Holy Cross all retain their key parts and will get better. Even Air Force dipped down and finished 4th one year, and that came after dominating the league when they came in. There was that one year when Air Force had all their CHA parts, were clearly a strong western team, opened up the year 16-0-0, and were ranked until the flat lined midseason that year.
In terms of the conference right now, as I mentioned before, Bentley, AIC, and SHU get bad raps because of simply their rink and inability to put people in the seats. AIC and SHU are clearly in a bad boat of this, given their rinks location and general blase attitude. But SHU drew very well to Bentley for Game 3 of teh playoffs, including their pep band. AIC has an issue, but they've been getting more competitive the last few years in AHA games, and even though attendance isn't there, they've consistently been a D1 program. I think their first season was in 1948-1949, and they've been a D1 program the whole team. Does this mean they'll ever bee (hehe...get it? "bee") good? I don't hold that crystal ball, but the school has been committed to them as a D1 program in the past. Their coach is a great guy, and he's been building the program for a while. They haven't hit double-digit wins in 10 years, but they're ALWAYS going to steal games. I wouldn't put it past them, with the right recruiting, to become a lot better.
As for those who insinuate Bentley isn't committed, remember the following. 1) Bentley is a D2 program, as previously noted. 2) Bentley was extremely committed to their D1 status and program, but the bottom fell out on the level of their commitment due to the economy crashing. The school endowment took a beating, as most did, when the economy went to the toilet, and they were forced to divert funding usually earmarked for their D1 program to other, more academically essential programs. It was also on the heels of a massive renovation of their football field and basketball/multi-purpose center, which arguably was more essential to student life (if you see it, you'll know it's a student center with cafe, offices, and fitness center.
Bentley needed to keep the hockey team at a state where 4-5 years ago, they were ready to truly commit to the program and couldn't. They needed to remain that way until the school's finances rebounded. As of 2011-2012, they were rebounding, and the commitment is showing. Attendance at Bentley isn't going to match RIT or Air Force; we simply don't have the capacity. But Bentley sold out games down the stretch against Holy Cross, and they sold out their game against Clarkson. They've built a loyal, rabid fan base on campus thanks, in no small part, to a guerilla marketing scheme by the coach, players, and team affiliates. They've come miles from where they were in 2009 when they last made the AHA Semifinals. They get fan buses to games, and they're starting to draw. They've made the commitment to market the team and run promotions to get people to the rink. Does that translate to the same numbers as other schools? Not even remotely, especially during the semester break when students are home; Bentley is not drawing the same numbers on name/rink/draw alone like BC/BU will on semester breaks. But it's hard to face the reality that Bentley is growing, slowly but surely, and as long as the economy doesn't completely crap the bed again, they'll be able to commit like they were intending five years ago.
As I mentioned before, before the league can commit to bringing in UAH or others, they need to commit to themselves. And I think they'll always have the numbers to do that in the east, with SHU (D1 program), Holy Cross (D1 program), Army, Bentley, and, yes, even AIC.
We've all forgotten about HC, who is a lucrative D1 athletics program committed to marketing their team properly. They've done a great job becoming a strong mid-major contender in all their sports. They legitimately don't need Hockey East in order to be successful, and I think they're perfectly happy in AHA, even though they were, indeed, investigating leaving. Happy where they are.....but they'd be remissed if they didn't at least look.
