LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

[giwan]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

It looks like Western Michigan made a great hire. WMU is very serious about hockey now and I really think the NCHC will accept them, even if Notre Dame goes to Hockey East. As for our Lakers, I think it's going to be a few months before we know out fate in 2013-2014. I hope it's not that long though.

I'm not sure how good or bad a hire it is, believe it remains to be seen. The recruiting, NHL experience, etc all has an angle. I believe if the CCHA can not get some AHA teams it will most likely fall and the WCHA will bring in LSSU

 

[Bill]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Interesting to note that in the article on the front page about the CCHA and AHA meeting they mentioned who was in attendance and they did not list anyone from LSSU.

Unless the LSSU athletic department has been given some firm assurances from the WCHA that they will be accepted as a member, Dunbar should definitely have attended the CCHA/AHA meeting.

 

[PerkyforPrez]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Unless the LSSU athletic department has been given some firm assurances from the WCHA that they will be accepted as a member, Dunbar should definitely have attended the CCHA/AHA meeting.

Bill, I agree with you and I am also suprised that UAH was not invited to the meeting. Beggers can not be choosers and at this point i would have to say the leftover ccha conference and schools look to be beggers.

 

[PerkyforPrez]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Hopefully their not being present at the meeting is a good sign.

 

[bigmrg74]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Bill, I agree with you and I am also suprised that UAH was not invited to the meeting. Beggers can not be choosers and at this point i would have to say the leftover ccha conference and schools look to be beggers.

Yeah, but the one thing that the remaining CCHA schools would have going for them is that they should be able to keep an autobid as long as it looks like they can keep 6 teams together by 2015. The NCHA won't have that going for it as they'll be a totally new league.

 

[3dognight]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

I don't see the NCHA champion having any issues getting into the Tourney. I also see the # 2 team routinely being in the mix. With some Big Ten/ WHCA out of conference wins their pair-wise should be great. I only see one team coming out of the "new" CCHA most years.

The "new" CCHA must keep the auto bid or it is game over. They will already lose all TV, and any big market presence.

 

[Lakerblue]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

The "old" CCHA already forbade TV and big marketplace presence for any school not already affiliated with the Big Ten. So life in the new CCHA should be par for the course.

And if big marketplace presence means Detroit, well, lets face it -- that is not a college hockey town. Nor is Columbus. Nor is Chicago. Nor is even Grand Rapids. Nor is Lansing except the sub-sect of Spartan fans who prefer hockey.

As for the auto-bid, I guess that worries me very little. First and foremost, because I am optimistic that LSSU will escape the hell of Quasi-II hockey in the constituted CCHA. (Note to the readers -- Quasi-II does not mean the hockey programs are D-II. Rather, it means that the programs will be funded and supported at the D-II level. Quasi.). Secondly, if LSSU is to be shackled to the shot-gun geographic nightmare of the "new" CCHA, I do not doubt for a moment that the AHA schools, especially those schools with larger ambition like Niagara and Robert Morris) will happily join the CCHA. And if things get sticky, a life-line should be thrown to UAH.

Lastly -- anyone heard the rumor about LSSU heading to the National? My neither -- but I would love to hear that rumor. What does WMU have that LSSU doesn't?

 

[MUhawks628]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Lastly -- anyone heard the rumor about LSSU heading to the National? My neither -- but I would love to hear that rumor. What does WMU have that LSSU doesn't?

A terrible website?

I would take LSSU and UA_ not sending representatives as a strong indication of what the future CCHA will look like. Like you guys said, it just seems too important to miss if the future of your program is in the CCHA.

 

[Bill]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

What does WMU have that LSSU doesn't?

More money, and lets face it, it's almost all about money nowadays.

 

[jnacc]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

More money, and lets face it, it's almost all about money nowadays.

Not to mention almost ten times the student population size and a much more affluent alumni base.....I'm sure the Laker coaching salary is one of the lowest in the current CCHA and no where near the 250k Western is paying Murray.

 

[laker_one]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

nyone heard the rumor about LSSU heading to the National? My neither -- but I would love to hear that rumor. What does WMU have that LSSU doesn't?

I'm not really sure I even want to hear that rumor. I mean - sure - it would be great for people to think Lake Superior was a 1st-tier program or whatever, but - right now - we're not. But anyway, I would rather be playing UP and Minnesota schools on a regular basis than UNO and Colorado schools. Ok, obviously UMD is a Minnesota school and one that LSSU should play, and it's too bad we won't play Miami much anymore, but overall we are a better fit with the schools in the WCHA than the schools in the National. This National conference strikes me as an awkward collection of schools with not much else in common except for the fact that last year they happened to place in the top-half of their respective leagues. I really wonder if it will last long-term as a league. The remaining WCHA schools plus NMU, Alaska, and LSSU as a league actually makes much more sense.

 

[3dognight]

Not to mention almost ten times the student population size and a much more affluent alumni base.....I'm sure the Laker coaching salary is one of the lowest in the current CCHA and no where near the 250k Western is paying Murray.

The Hockey budget at LSSU has been at the bottom of the CCHA, ditto with attendance, and donor activity. Kalamazoo has a solid hockey culture split between the K Wings and Broncos,. D1 in all sports, and as stated a MUCH more active donor base. Now that they have the commitment to push resources into hockey WMU will compete in the NHC. Lawson is not Taffy, but they have a solid student section. They don't have the tradition, but they are making all of the right moves to be a team of the future.

 

[jnacc]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

The Hockey budget at LSSU has been at the bottom of the CCHA,

I wonder what the impact of next year's 15% cut in state aid will have on athletics? I'm sure that Laker Hockey is hanging by a very precarious thread and that is why I feel that a move to a lesser conference like the "new" CCHA may be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

 

[3dognight]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

The LSSU hockey budget remains solid moving forward, as outlined in their commitment to the Norris Center Project.

I do not believe any CCHA ADs were at the meeting. It was Fred and some CCHA league staff members pitching the new ADs from the AHA schools.
It was designed to be more of a information Mtg than a Q/A between ADs

 

[RMUColonials]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

The LSSU hockey budget remains solid moving forward, as outlined in their commitment to the Norris Center Project.

I do not believe any CCHA ADs were at the meeting. It was Fred and some CCHA league staff members pitching the new ADs from the AHA schools.
It was designed to be more of a information Mtg than a Q/A between ADs

Canisius, Mercyhurst, Niagara and Robert Morris sent officials to the meeting with CCHA commissioner Fred Pletsch, Ferris State athletic director Perk Weisenburger and Bowling Green associate athletic director Jim Elsasser.

There were CCHA AD's present

 

[PerkyforPrez]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

There were CCHA AD's present

RMU, you beat me to it.

 

[Lakerblue]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Having watched game at Western's arena, it would be a sad, far distant last-place facility compared to every WCHA school, every National school, and only seems superior to Ferris and equal to BSGU's buildings. I hear the words coming out of Kzoo that Western is serious about hockey. I see the website. I see the Andy Murray hiring. But Western is hoping to compete with North Dakota and Denver and CC and Omaha and Duluth -- each of which has new, large, well funded and well equipted facilities. Western's rink is like adding a second side to Ferris' rink. Furthermore, Kzoo is a relatively insignificant hockey town, in general. The deveopment programs in Kzoo are low-level. The population support for hockey is low. The population support in Kzoo for Western hockey is even lower. And Western values basketball and football significantly more than hockey.

And I hear statements regarding each school's athletic budget, as applied to hockey. Anyone ahve numbers to back this up? Western may have more alumni and students, in general. But how many of those alumni and students care about college hockey? Western does not sell out their modest barn unless Michigan is in town. And what huge alumni donations have been bestowed recently upon the hockey program?

I think LSSU's hockey team is on very sound financial footing, and I have not seen any numbers to dispute that. I believe there is too much negative momentum in LSSU circles regarding our program. Much of that can be traced to the W-L record. Some of that can be laid at the feet of the coach. Some more can be laid at the feet of the AD. But we need to stop beating on ourselves as soem poor red-headed step child of college hockey. We are not. Three years ago Western hockey was folding. Last year BGSU hockey was folding. This year, there is real concern that Ferris and UAH may die. And yet, LSSU rolls along. We need to take a serious look at how good we have it, vis-a-vis LSSU hockey, and stop smacking ourselves. Stop wriinging our hands about budgets and travel times. Demand better, expect better -- because we indeed HAVE better.

 

[MeridianStreet]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Unless the LSSU athletic department has been given some firm assurances from the WCHA that they will be accepted as a member, Dunbar should definitely have attended the CCHA/AHA meeting.

Each school was not expected to attend. Article said it was Fred P and two league representatives...........Ferris and BG I think.

 

[MeridianStreet]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Not to mention almost ten times the student population size and a much more affluent alumni base.....I'm sure the Laker coaching salary is one of the lowest in the current CCHA and no where near the 250k Western is paying Murray.

It is amazing to me the comments I see about Laker hockey where it seems the writer has no clue about the economic realities. LSSU will not be joining the new league. How many flights would that mean? Als, some have commented about Ron Rolston coming here. He's going to take a $30-50,000 pay cut to coach the Lakers? His next move, whatever it turns out to be, will likely put him over the $200k mark.

If LSSU does replace the coach, the dollars available will be a limiting factor. We will be offering less than many league assistants make. I would think that the salary deals in Kalamazoo with Blashill and Murray would have made that point clear.

 

[Bill]

Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2011-12

Each school was not expected to attend. Article said it was Fred P and two league representatives...........Ferris and BG I think.

OK, but if Alaska Fairbanks is serious about joining the WCHA, and assuming Note Dame and WMU are also leaving the CCHA, that leaves only LSSU. It would seem common courtesy that we would have attended the meeting unless we had some really positive feedback about being accepted into the WCHA. Maybe I'm old school, but if we're not accepted into the WCHA, I think LSSU not attending the meeting with Atlantic Hockey makes us look pretty bad. At least Alaska had the excuse of being a long way to travel.