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BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, citing

gfmorris said:
It must be nice to roll through life with the budgetary understanding of a second-semester sophomore marketing major.

GFM
Click to expand...
Pretty snide, uncalled for comment, but I understand your frustration with this situation and I am very unhappy with this outcome of the UAH program.
 
JohnsonsJerseys said:
Yes, HC not traveling to AZ this season is on them. It's not the first time in the history of hockey games had to be moved to another season. And it's not like missing two home games against HC is going to destroy your budget for the year. Ticket sales is not what is paying the bills for ASU's hockey program. Get on the phone with LIU. I'm sure they are available.

As for the rest of the games and where they are played, you guys make your own schedule. If you don't want 20 road games, don't schedule 20 road games. It's the dream scenario. Just sit back and wait for teams to sign up for games in AZ. Some teams in the WCHA just lost four games on their schedule with UAH's departure (Tech included in that list). But since they are in a conference, the league steps in and fixes the problem. As an independent you control your own destiny but you also have to solve your own problems. Gotta take the bad with the good. If you want a stable, balanced slate of home/road games every season, tell your staff to use the now open weekend to fill out and submit conference applications.
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You are correct & right on. I am looking forward to the passionate MTU - ASU series, God willing this season happens.
 
Patman said:
you have no idea how this all works, please spend some time learning
Click to expand...

Great snide comment. I know how it works, & it's not growing beyond organically. If we want college hockey to grow then get out of the box. If we don't care then keep doing same old same old. But regardless, I believe we can agree we are passionate fans!
 
Sean Pickett said:
What rule? What I read is that teams are limited to a 34 game limit, except for stated exemptions. I don't see anything that states teams can't play games against Canadian schools if they are counted against the 34 game limit.

Sean
Click to expand...

ASU played 36 D1 games plus 5 exhibition games in China last year.
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Sol Diablo said:
Never asked for favors, just equal treatment, which it appears the Alaska teams & UAH didn't get. So show me the conference standards for arenas. I see NCAA standards which have been met. But I definitely agree the dismal arena needs massive improvement which is underway.
Click to expand...

Many conferences, not just hockey, have minimum attendance numbers for arenas/stadiums.
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Sol Diablo said:
ASU played 36 D1 games plus 5 exhibition games in China last year.
Click to expand...

You're allowed a foreign trip once every four (or is it five) years where multiple games can be played outside your limit. Oswego went to Italy last year.
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

The go fund me is currently at $325k. It started Monday night and the deadline is by the end of the business day on Friday. It’ll come down to the wire but that’s not a terrible pace if it can be maintained.
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

slowe said:
The go fund me is currently at $325k. It started Monday night and the deadline is by the end of the business day on Friday. It’ll come down to the wire but that’s not a terrible pace if it can be maintained.
Click to expand...

It was at $275K a couple of hours ago. It seems to be gaining some momentum. Let's hope that this program, and all of the others, can be saved
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Sol Diablo said:
Great snide comment. I know how it works, & it's not growing beyond organically. If we want college hockey to grow then get out of the box. If we don't care then keep doing same old same old. But regardless, I believe we can agree we are passionate fans!
Click to expand...

Patman hasn't seen that you are from Minnesota. ;)
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Donations just broke the 400k mark. The deadline is tomorrow end of the business day. This could just happen.
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Why UAH hockey needs more than money to save program

https://www.al.com/news/2020/05/why-uah-hockey-needs-more-than-money-to-save-program.html

Just a few select paragraphs from a pretty good article:

“The fundraising push this week is essentially a temporary test of financial support for the program. Dawson told Wolitski and his former UAH teammate Taso Sofikitis that if the private sector would raise $750,000 by Friday – roughly 50 percent of a hockey season budget – that the school would bring back the sport canceled because, according to a statement from the president and athletic director Cade Smith, of the financial strain it puts on the school now fighting through the coronavirus pandemic.

As of Thursday morning, a GoFundMe account for hockey had received pledges for more than $270,000. Wolitski said he and Sofikitis would together make a donation of $300,000.

At this point, Wolitski said the money is to "keep the lights on" in the program. If supporters can buy another season of hockey and -- more importantly – time, there would be a chance to rehabilitate the hockey program culture that has suffered in recent years with poor results on the ice and dwindling support in the stands.“

"They're not hockey people," Wolitski said. "They're academics. They're not really businesspeople, either. You need a lot of really smart people in order to make things world class. It's no offense to the administration. They've got other things they need to focus on. Let people who have some skin in the game, some passion, let us focus on that. And I appreciated him doing that because we really need a lot of strong minds together to really turn this into what we all want it to be, what it used to be."

To achieve that objective, mountainous challenges await. Private funding will be needed beyond this week to help sustain the program. The Chargers do not have a conference at this point after the Western Collegiate Hockey Association essentially dropped them last summer. The Chargers do not have an on-campus arena and must compete with the professional Huntsville Havoc for prime schedule spots at the Von Braun Center.

And there is the fact that the hockey program has been canceled twice in nine years, a bruise that won't easily heal.”
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

slowe said:
Why UAH hockey needs more than money to save program

https://www.al.com/news/2020/05/why-uah-hockey-needs-more-than-money-to-save-program.html

Just a few select paragraphs from a pretty good article:

“The fundraising push this week is essentially a temporary test of financial support for the program. Dawson told Wolitski and his former UAH teammate Taso Sofikitis that if the private sector would raise $750,000 by Friday – roughly 50 percent of a hockey season budget – that the school would bring back the sport canceled because, according to a statement from the president and athletic director Cade Smith, of the financial strain it puts on the school now fighting through the coronavirus pandemic.

As of Thursday morning, a GoFundMe account for hockey had received pledges for more than $270,000. Wolitski said he and Sofikitis would together make a donation of $300,000.

At this point, Wolitski said the money is to "keep the lights on" in the program. If supporters can buy another season of hockey and -- more importantly – time, there would be a chance to rehabilitate the hockey program culture that has suffered in recent years with poor results on the ice and dwindling support in the stands.“

"They're not hockey people," Wolitski said. "They're academics. They're not really businesspeople, either. You need a lot of really smart people in order to make things world class. It's no offense to the administration. They've got other things they need to focus on. Let people who have some skin in the game, some passion, let us focus on that. And I appreciated him doing that because we really need a lot of strong minds together to really turn this into what we all want it to be, what it used to be."

To achieve that objective, mountainous challenges await. Private funding will be needed beyond this week to help sustain the program. The Chargers do not have a conference at this point after the Western Collegiate Hockey Association essentially dropped them last summer. The Chargers do not have an on-campus arena and must compete with the professional Huntsville Havoc for prime schedule spots at the Von Braun Center.

And there is the fact that the hockey program has been canceled twice in nine years, a bruise that won't easily heal.”
Click to expand...

"I said if we could put together an advisory council of UAH alumni, business leaders, business people, community leaders and we advise UAH of what we need to do to turn this program around, and he said, '100 percent, we will give you that,'" Wolitski said. "That gave me some excitement. I just feel like we can't continue doing what we're doing and expect to produce great results."

This advisory council is the critical aspect of the whole deal, and the big difference from last time. I've likened it to the program basically having its own board of trustees to help UAH run the program, establishing long-term goals, utilizing the alumni network and working to identify revenue streams such as corporate sponsorship.
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

UAHStatman said:
"I said if we could put together an advisory council of UAH alumni, business leaders, business people, community leaders and we advise UAH of what we need to do to turn this program around, and he said, '100 percent, we will give you that,'" Wolitski said. "That gave me some excitement. I just feel like we can't continue doing what we're doing and expect to produce great results."

This advisory council is the critical aspect of the whole deal, and the big difference from last time. I've likened it to the program basically having its own board of trustees to help UAH run the program, establishing long-term goals, utilizing the alumni network and working to identify revenue streams such as corporate sponsorship.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised you guys hadn't done that... UMass Lowell basically did that but it helped our chancellor was a former congressman. You guys might want to reach out to UML and see who might be able to give things a slight lookover... I know things like that sometimes involve $$$ and I don't know who would speak for free... but that sounds like the type of thing you need.
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

slowe said:
Why UAH hockey needs more than money to save program
https://www.al.com/news/2020/05/why-uah-hockey-needs-more-than-money-to-save-program.html
Just a few select paragraphs from a pretty good article:
To achieve that objective, mountainous challenges await... The Chargers do not have a conference at this point after the Western Collegiate Hockey Association essentially dropped them last summer...”
Click to expand...
Some facts need to be corrected here. UAH notified the WCHA last year that they would withdraw from the conference following the 2020-21 season. They were not dropped by the WCHA. Assuming they can get things fixed this week, they will be playing in the WCHA this season with the other nine current member teams.

That being said, UAH likely decided to withdraw from the WCHA because shortly before, the seven Midwest teams had done the same. This would leave UAH in a conference with UAA and UAF for the 2021-22 season (not a great option). They filed their paperwork last season to provide the necessary two year notice to the conference which would allow them to avoid paying any financial exit penalties. This would also leave all their options open by not being contractually stuck in a conference with three teams. I'm sure they didn't want to remove themselves from the conference after they worked so hard to get in, but they also didn't want to be painted into a corner and be stuck in the WCHA, not being able to have discussions with other conferences and join immediately should the opportunity arise.
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Sol Diablo said:
Pretty snide, uncalled for comment, but I understand your frustration with this situation and I am very unhappy with this outcome of the UAH program.
Click to expand...

Frustration with my alma mater doesn't mean that my BS meter is broken. My BS meter is highly tuned from what I do for work — I was never a marketing major, and my sophomore year is a good 24 years in my rear view (right back there with that last D-II championship).

Do some **** homework on NCAA rules, etc. Knock the attitude off. Show some humility — you're getting your face washed here because you act like a punk. :)

In other news, I feel very good about the program being resurrected at this point. I'm hopeful that this is the last whiplash I get from this for a while.

GFM
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Sixty grand to go...

<img width=600 src=https://urbanaffairsreview.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/spielberg.jpg>
 
Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Beyond money and institutional commitment, UAH needs conference opponents located within reasonable travel distances. Not a likely prospect in SEC country, even in the best of times. Compounding the travel issue is the fact that Huntsville (HSV) is a relatively expensive airport to fly into or out of.
 
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