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Hockey East Realignment

TonyTheTiger20

TonyTheTiger20

#SOAR
With Notre Dame bouncing for the BTHC (WOOOOO!), Hockey East has an opening and all signs point toward making a big push to get Quinnipiac.

That would obviously be a huge deal for WHEA, rounding out at 10 teams and giving a significant boost in league quality.

Any thoughts on this -- any of it really?
 
Re: Hockey East Realignment

The only thing I can come up with is:
Big Ten Hockey Conference

B10 is also acceptable.
 
TonyTheTiger20 said:
With Notre Dame bouncing for the BTHC (WOOOOO!), Hockey East has an opening and all signs point toward making a big push to get Quinnipiac.

That would obviously be a huge deal for WHEA, rounding out at 10 teams and giving a significant boost in league quality.

Any thoughts on this -- any of it really?
Click to expand...

You should push for OSU, bring a little of the West home without a lot of travel costs.
 
Re: Hockey East Realignment

Strictly from the women's side this is the break that Holy Cross has been hoping for and probably their best chance at becoming a real D1 program. I am sure that if they could get Hockey East acceptance for both men's and women's teams that they would upgrade the rink immediately to the required Hockey East specs (too small now) as they are already in process of upgrading the rest of the fieldhouse facilities. I would be surprised if they don't push hard to get Notre Dame's spot. But I agree that a couple of the ECAC schools would be strong candidates as well: Quinnipiac and Rensselaer (not sure if they would be interested) would seem the most likely....

If Quinn or RPI went to the Hockey East, then I would suggest that the ECAC would strongly consider Holy Cross or Sacred Heart for admission. The ECAC is the only league that has all members with both men's and women's teams and that seems to matter to them. Either of these teams could upgrade their women's program to real D1 status with fairly minimal effort.
 
HockeyEast33 said:
Strictly from the women's side this is the break that Holy Cross has been hoping for and probably their best chance at becoming a real D1 program. I am sure that if they could get Hockey East acceptance for both men's and women's teams that they would upgrade the rink immediately to the required Hockey East specs (too small now) as they are already in process of upgrading the rest of the fieldhouse facilities. I would be surprised if they don't push hard to get Notre Dame's spot. But I agree that a couple of the ECAC schools would be strong candidates as well: Quinnipiac and Rensselaer (not sure if they would be interested) would seem the most likely....

If Quinn or RPI went to the Hockey East, then I would suggest that the ECAC would strongly consider Holy Cross or Sacred Heart for admission. The ECAC is the only league that has all members with both men's and women's teams and that seems to matter to them. Either of these teams could upgrade their women's program to real D1 status with fairly minimal effort.
Click to expand...
Holy Cross to the ECAC is an interesting thought. RIT was the conventional wisdom but as Eeyore noted on Facebook that would take away the CHA autobid (for better or for worse).
 
Re: Hockey East Realignment

HockeyEast33 said:
Strictly from the women's side this is the break that Holy Cross has been hoping for and probably their best chance at becoming a real D1 program. I am sure that if they could get Hockey East acceptance for both men's and women's teams that they would upgrade the rink immediately to the required Hockey East specs (too small now) as they are already in process of upgrading the rest of the fieldhouse facilities. I would be surprised if they don't push hard to get Notre Dame's spot. But I agree that a couple of the ECAC schools would be strong candidates as well: Quinnipiac and Rensselaer (not sure if they would be interested) would seem the most likely....

If Quinn or RPI went to the Hockey East, then I would suggest that the ECAC would strongly consider Holy Cross or Sacred Heart for admission. The ECAC is the only league that has all members with both men's and women's teams and that seems to matter to them. Either of these teams could upgrade their women's program to real D1 status with fairly minimal effort.
Click to expand...

As an HC alum, I find it doubtful. HC has always shied from pushing its athletics. About a decade ago, after the men's team upset Minnesota, there were talks about HC joining the ECAC, but my understanding is that the ECAC said HC needed to upgrade its women's team to D-I, and they were unwilling to. I also remember that 30 some odd years ago, Holy Cross basketball was offered a slot in the Big East, and declined.

Trust me, I would love to see the HC women play a true D-I schedule, instead of playing the ECAC Open/D-III that they play now, and join Hockey East. Also, there was a push a couple of years ago from some alumni to get HC to join HE when they took Notre Dame and maybe have the team play at the DCU, but the school declined to pursue it.
 
Re: Hockey East Realignment

I've been hoping they would give up on the B10 and go back to the WCHA alignment. I'm fine with replacing the Alaska teams with Michigan and MSU though. As much as I dislike NoDak, I miss those games. Just can't get excited about OSU and PS yet. Maybe they'll grow on me.
 
Re: Hockey East Realignment

BCAlum said:
I have been hearing for about 6 months that Holy Cross women to D1 is a When, not an If.
Click to expand...

Where have you been hearing that? Not that it wouldn't be great, just that with HC's history, I'm a little skeptical.
 
Re: Hockey East Realignment

HockeyEast33 said:
Strictly from the women's side this is the break that Holy Cross has been hoping for and probably their best chance at becoming a real D1 program. I am sure that if they could get Hockey East acceptance for both men's and women's teams that they would upgrade the rink immediately to the required Hockey East specs (too small now) as they are already in process of upgrading the rest of the fieldhouse facilities. I would be surprised if they don't push hard to get Notre Dame's spot. But I agree that a couple of the ECAC schools would be strong candidates as well: Quinnipiac and Rensselaer (not sure if they would be interested) would seem the most likely....

If Quinn or RPI went to the Hockey East, then I would suggest that the ECAC would strongly consider Holy Cross or Sacred Heart for admission. The ECAC is the only league that has all members with both men's and women's teams and that seems to matter to them. Either of these teams could upgrade their women's program to real D1 status with fairly minimal effort.
Click to expand...

RPI shouldn't even be a part of this conversation.
 
BCAlum said:
I have heard from parents of girls who are going there, as well as other reliable sources. I am not saying it is 100%, but I have heard it more than a few times, which leads me to believe there is some truth to it.
Click to expand...

I've been hearing the same from HC parents for 6 years. Means nothing wishful thinking. The ND thing gives an opening though so we'll see.
 
Re: Hockey East Realignment

TonyTheTiger20 said:
With Notre Dame bouncing for the BTHC (WOOOOO!), Hockey East has an opening and all signs point toward making a big push to get Quinnipiac.

That would obviously be a huge deal for WHEA, rounding out at 10 teams and giving a significant boost in league quality.

Any thoughts on this -- any of it really?
Click to expand...

I think Quinnipiac makes sense. They have the rink, the alumni backing, the school administration loves hockey and it gets them out of Yale's shadow. Staying in the ECAC pretty much assures the men of an NCAA bid every year but I would guess that they would welcome the competition. On the women's side, other than Clarkson and Harvard, the Lady Bobcats don't really get pushed all that much. I think they would love the TV exposure and expanded schedule opportunities.
 
Re: Hockey East Realignment

Skate79 said:
I think Quinnipiac makes sense. They have the rink, the alumni backing, the school administration loves hockey and it gets them out of Yale's shadow. Staying in the ECAC pretty much assures the men of an NCAA bid every year but I would guess that they would welcome the competition. On the women's side, other than Clarkson and Harvard, the Lady Bobcats don't really get pushed all that much. I think they would love the TV exposure and expanded schedule opportunities.
Click to expand...

QU has had a good run in the ECAC men's but I don't think they would be "assured of an NCAA bid every year". There have been programs in the ECAC that have had better runs than QU and have fallen off the map for periods as well.

On the women's side, the Lady Bobcats were an also ran until a couple of years ago. They have had a couple of good years thanks to a good recruiting coach that is now gone. Cornell, SLU, and Harvard all have significantly stronger women's hockey histories and one would be foolish to think that they won't return to prominence in the league. Clarkson is all-in on women's hockey as well, so at least a third of the conference should be expected to be top contenders in the long-term.
 
Re: Hockey East Realignment

FireKnight said:
QU has had a good run in the ECAC men's but I don't think they would be "assured of an NCAA bid every year". There have been programs in the ECAC that have had better runs than QU and have fallen off the map for periods as well.

On the women's side, the Lady Bobcats were an also ran until a couple of years ago. They have had a couple of good years thanks to a good recruiting coach that is now gone. Cornell, SLU, and Harvard all have significantly stronger women's hockey histories and one would be foolish to think that they won't return to prominence in the league. Clarkson is all-in on women's hockey as well, so at least a third of the conference should be expected to be top contenders in the long-term.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree about Harvard, Cornell and SLU (heck, you could add Dartmouth to that list until a few seasons ago). I was merely saying that if one school were to leave the ECAC for HE, it would make sense for the Bobcats to be that school for the reasons I listed. I'm sure the men would welcome the chance to compete in a conference that gets greater exposure nationally. Recruiting in women's hockey is getting tougher for the Ivies and I don't expect Harvard to bounce back any time soon.
 
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