Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

[reggiedunlop]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

Now that the holiday weekend is over, recruiting should be in full force this week. Has anyone heard from any recruits about conference configurations next year? If anyone bumps into a coach, the simple question to ask is what are they telling recruits?

 

[logger44444]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

In my world, I would make Skidmore an associate member of the SUNYAC to create a balanced 10 team league and supply a travel partner for Morrisville (NCAA Mileage: 117 miles - 29 more than Plattsburgh-Potsdam).

A side benefit to this proposal would be the opportunity for current SUNYAC teams to pad their stats when the Morrisville/Skidmore gravytrain comes to town! (although Morrisville was significantly more improved last season)

 

[jerrynu26]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

A side benefit to this proposal would be the opportunity for current SUNYAC teams to pad their stats when the Morrisville/Skidmore gravytrain comes to town! (although Morrisville was significantly more improved last season)

That doesn;t always work so well. (like this)

 

[jcr]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

Well now that the NESCAC has voted to do away with the interlock, it's time for someone in the ECAC East to lead the way and form a supper league. I like Norwich, NEC, USM, Babson, Castleton, Neuman, Manhattanville, Skidmore, Curry, and Wentworth.

This is a terrific idea. Lots of strong teams. I like having three Boston area teams along with a mix of teams from NY and the rest of New England.

 

[scoopnroll]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

[
QUOTE=jcr;4813477]This is a terrific idea. Lots of strong teams. I like having three Boston area teams along with a mix of teams from NY and the rest of New England. [/QUOTE]

They need to restructure the ECAC conferences and these conferences need have to understand how important the DII's are at this point and moment of DIII hockey. If the various leagues were restructured all eastern conferences would have aq. But it only works if D2's r in the picture. Which means 9 AQ's and 6 from the east if you call the SUNYAC and ECAC West Eastern. But if the conferences went by dual state regions.

1 conference NH/ME schools or ECAC North
NEC
Plymouth
FPU
Southern Maine
UNE
St.A's
SNHU

2nd new Confrence or ECAC Northwest
VT/NY
Norwich
Castleton
St. Mikes
Elmira
Hobart
Manhattanville
Utica
Neumann
Skidmore

Mascac
Fitchburg
Framingham
Umass Dartmouth
Umass Boston
Salem st.
Westfield
Worcester

MA/RI Privates or ECAC South
Babson
Becker
Curry
Nichols
Suffolk
Wentworth
WNEC
Stonehill
Johnson&Wales
Salve Regina

If ECAC could help with getting DII's eligible to play DIII then I would be interested in seeing them offer a restructure like this I am sure that most AD's would be happy with length of travel the VT/NY league would be the most travel but it could be done.

 

[norm1909]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

... They need to restructure the ECAC conferences and these conferences need have to understand how important the DII's are at this point and moment of DIII hockey. If the various leagues were restructured all eastern conferences would have aq. But it only works if D2's r in the picture. Which means 9 AQ's and 6 from the east if you call the SUNYAC and ECAC West Eastern. But if the conferences went by dual state regions...

If ECAC could help with getting DII's eligible to play DIII then I would be interested in seeing them offer a restructure like this I am sure that most AD's would be happy with length of travel the VT/NY league would be the most travel but it could be done.

I too believe that the DII teams can play an important role in the future of DIII hockey, primarily by expanding the "countable" playing field. That said, beyond publishing an official stance on the matter (IMO, it should simply state that the DII programs want to participate with DIII programs, they are to fully follow the DIII rules and regulations to the fullest extant possible within a DII athletic department – and might even contain some distinct DII “benefits” that the hockey programs must strive to avoid), there is nothing else that DIII should do. Yes, there are benefits for DIII, but the DII problem belongs to - and must be solved by - the DII teams, DIII can no longer be an “enabler” that allows the DII to continue to ignore the issue.

IMO, DIII does NOT need DII, they can accommodate and if implemented properly, potentially benefit from the DII's participation, but the DIII will be fine without them.

 

[logger44444]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

That doesn;t always work so well. (like this)

Yet, sometimes it does work!

http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/mpltskd1.j12

 

[hawkhockey]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

Ok,if the DII's agree to play by the same rules as the DIII's(which some of them do now),if they agree to travel to the ECACW to play games, if they also agree to travel to the West to play games, if they agree to NO scholarships,if they agree NOT to provide any services above an acceptable level to any hockey players,and agree not to win their league or National championship would that be enough to allow the games to count so they could put together a reasonable schedule?
This whole agrument is getting a little tiresome, and almost not worth the discussion.Besides just being a DII school, what is the major issue/argument against having the games count?Or is it that because of some stupid NCAA regulation that will lead schools to make some very difficult choices as it relates to varsity hockey.
Remember, the earliest a school can petition to play up to DI is after this season and the DIII moratorium is still in place to prohibit them from playing down.

 

[3rdLiner]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

Bottom line is this ECAC NE has made changes and needs some help, ECAC West has been in trouble for about 5 years with the # of teams that it has, it has been looking for help. ECAC East has always been fine the teams in the East should look to the NE and West as reasons to maintain their league as it is so they do not have more problems down the line. That includes SME and Boston. The D-II thing is tough but having one good, solid ECAC league is better than none.

 

[CARDS_rule_the_Burgh]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

Bottom line is this ECAC NE has made changes and needs some help, ECAC West has been in trouble for about 5 years with the # of teams that it has, it has been looking for help. ECAC East has always been fine the teams in the East should look to the NE and West as reasons to maintain their league as it is so they do not have more problems down the line. That includes SME and Boston. The D-II thing is tough but having one good, solid ECAC league is better than none.

This is true. The ECAC-East as a whole has a lot of incentive to remain unchanged. But USM and UMB have plenty of incentive to jump to the MASCAC, and puts the East below the AQ threshold (the DIIs don't count for THAT either), meaning the ECAC-East is in the same boat as the ECAC-West. The conference can't control the departure of individual teams.

At that point, the ECAC-East has more incentive to actually do something, and no incentive to remain unchanged. The joining of the East and West leagues then makes arguably the most sense, although it would then leave a school like UNE with no choice but to leave for the ECAC-NE. Everybody would have an AQ, all the conferences would appear to be relatively stable at that point. To me, it just makes the most sense at this point in time. We'll see how this all shakes out. It's gonna be an interesting 11/12 season

 

[hawk]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

Some have talked about the potential travel commitements for UNE but the way I look at it they would only have only 2 long trips out West each year to play Neumann, Elmira, Hobart, and Utica. Manattanville is in the greater NYC metro area and not much farther then some of the NESCAC. What people forget is the ECAC E already travels to Hamilton every other year and Hamilton is about as far away as most of the ECAC West teams. Also I may be wrong but the people I have talked to from the Biddford area are very excited about the team and the college may want to play in a very competitive league like the super league.

Just wondering if anyone has an idea on how the restrucuture of the leagues is going to be announced. It would also be great to get the official NESCAC announcement but for some reason that is being delayed.

 

[hockeyfan77]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

I hate to burst everybody's bubble but I heard that the ECAC EAST is staying the same (without the DII's)...I know they are looking for a 4 year commitment from each school...UMB is not leaving the EAST...USM is, from all the info I can gather, not leaving either... USM does not want the men's and woman's teams playing in different conferences...We will know for sure by AUG 1..That's pretty much all the info I can give out now at the moment...Other than each team would play each other twice: once on the road and once at home...Would leave a ton of room for Non conference game(s)...

 

[3rdLiner]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

Besides some closer games, can someone tell me why the MASCAC is more appealing than the East?

I think the East has better teams, better facilities and better appeal to parents and players than a MA state league.

I think the Fri - Sat is better than the Random MASCAC schedule, and if the East plays everyone twice play each D-II school once and start on Oct 15, then they are looking at 9 non-conference games and their proximity to NE and West schools will allow them a good choice of Non Conference games. I think it is easier simpler and better to stay in the East unless I am missing something about the MASCAC.

If SME and Boston stay in the East they are not changing anything unless other schools approach them about joining like Manhattanville, Utica, Curry or Wentworth.

 

[joecct]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

I hate to burst everybody's bubble but I heard that the ECAC EAST is staying the same (without the DII's)...I know they are looking for a 4 year commitment from each school...UMB is not leaving the EAST...USM is, from all the info I can gather, not leaving either... USM does not want the men's and woman's teams playing in different conferences...We will know for sure by AUG 1..That's pretty much all the info I can give out now at the moment...Other than each team would play each other twice: once on the road and once at home...Would leave a ton of room for Non conference game(s)...

Well if that's the case, then the ECAC-W better start scrambling because another season like last season in 11/12 will leave them all out of the tournament.

 

[jerrynu26]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

I hate to burst everybody's bubble but I heard that the ECAC EAST is staying the same (without the DII's)...I know they are looking for a 4 year commitment from each school...UMB is not leaving the EAST...USM is, from all the info I can gather, not leaving either... USM does not want the men's and woman's teams playing in different conferences...We will know for sure by AUG 1..That's pretty much all the info I can give out now at the moment...Other than each team would play each other twice: once on the road and once at home...Would leave a ton of room for Non conference game(s)...

Doesn't burst my bubble.

Well if that's the case, then the ECAC-W better start scrambling because another season like last season in 11/12 will leave them all out of the tournament.

You might see someone like Manhattanville looking to join the East still.

 

[hockeyfan77]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

Doesn't burst my bubble.



You might see someone like Manhattanville looking to join the East still.

I wasn't really implying that is would bust any Norwich fan's bubble...Why would they want to join another league???.They have hosted the finals all but one year and had at least one home playoff game in every year...It also frees them up to play a lot more Non conference games keeping the Norwich-Middlebury or put just about any team here alive...I think your last point is valid, Manhattanville is in the ECAC EAST in women's hockey and it would probably be a good fit for them( there is a date they have to decided by though: Sept 1): I think that is probably around the time you will hear official releases and the such...I am not much of a geography person though, not sure if they have a logical travel partner??? That could hold the East back in not wanting them to join...

 

[Dyce]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

Besides some closer games, can someone tell me why the MASCAC is more appealing than the East?

I think the East has better teams, better facilities and better appeal to parents and players than a MA state league.

I think the Fri - Sat is better than the Random MASCAC schedule, and if the East plays everyone twice play each D-II school once and start on Oct 15, then they are looking at 9 non-conference games and their proximity to NE and West schools will allow them a good choice of Non Conference games. I think it is easier simpler and better to stay in the East unless I am missing something about the MASCAC.

If SME and Boston stay in the East they are not changing anything unless other schools approach them about joining like Manhattanville, Utica, Curry or Wentworth.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, the primary draw of the MASCAC is its status as a multi-sport conference with far more intrinsic stability than the single-sport, hands-off ECAC conferences. Inasmuch as that ECAC instabiilty has been the driving force behind any number of conversations over the course of this 20ish-page (and counting) thread, one can see where such concerns might bear some serious consideration within athletic departments. You'll note, for example, that easily the least-discussed conference in this thread is the SUNYAC: a multi-sport, close-knit group of schools unaffected (well, perhaps in terms of non-con scheduling, but certainly not DIRECTLY affected) by any turmoil elsewhere in the region. The MASCAC provides schools a chance, with some improvement and perhaps a return to form by one or two programs like Salem State, the opportunity to create a very similar situation.

 

[jerrynu26]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

I think your last point is valid, Manhattanville is in the ECAC EAST in women's hockey and it would probably be a good fit for them( there is a date they have to decided by though: Sept 1): I think that is probably around the time you will hear official releases and the such...I am not much of a geography person though, not sure if they have a logical travel partner??? That could hold the East back in not wanting them to join...

I think it would take a defection of UNE to the NE to get Manhattanville in.

In that case though, the travel partners would likely be:
Manhattanville-Skidmore
Castleton-Norwich
NEC-Babson
UMB-USM

 

[The Real Georgia Peach]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

Jerry- That looks good, however, if UNE stays E would M'ville be able to schedule around a nine team format w/o a travel partner? Or would they just have to stay in the ECAC-W?....BTW I don't know where hockeyfan77 gets his info, but I, for one, hope it's right.

 

[hockeyfan77]

Re: Eastern D-III hockey -- where do we go from here???

....BTW I don't know where hockeyfan77 gets his info, but I, for one, hope it's right.

I wouldn't post anything if I didn't have a reliable source... I am not a speculation type of guy...