Re: McLeod to Retire; What to Make of His Reign
Now that he is leaving, I just have a feeling that the WCHA's social media presence will be much better.
I will always wonder how he acted like he didn't know that the NCHC was forming when Schlossman had a report (and other people reported his report about a new super league). Did he talk to people and they lied to him? Or did he sit pat and thought nothing would happen?
He obviously led the league through its best days but no doubt his legacy will have a large "but" at the end of it.
I disagree, I don't see any reason to slap an asterisk next to Bruce McLeod's legacy. Most will remember him as a dedicated individual and leader in the sport who made significant contributions to the expansion of the college hockey during his notable and successful 20 year tenure as
WCHA commissioner.
This subject has been discussed ad infinitum/ad nauseam, but I think it's important to reiterate the facts here. It's not as if McLeod acted as if he didn't know about the potential formation of a new league. In actual fact, UND AD Brian Faison and Gwoz who were the prime movers in initiating the breakup, made absolutely no attempt to contact him, negotiate nor include him in the information loop whatsoever! Keep in mind, WCHA member schools had already discussed the possibility of adding additional members to bolster the league's profile and add a recruiting edge in their annual meeting that year to offset the imminent departure of Mn and Wis.
“I’m not sure why or whatever; I’m not privy to those conversations. I’ve never had a conversation with North Dakota or Denver about their plans that they’re pushing,” McLeod said. “At this point, I haven’t thought about Plan B at all. I’m still working on the assumption that we’re together as 10 [teams after Minnesota and Wisconsin leave for the Big Ten] and, as unanimously directed by the group in Florida [at league meetings in April], can consider extending an invitation to anybody that could strengthen the league. And that’s our plan.”
It's clear McLeod is not to be blamed for the defection of current NCHC teams from the WCHA. Mn and Wis had no choice but to affirm their allegiance to the Big Ten...that's a no brainer. But what UND and Denver (primarily Faison and their UND boosters) did was nothing more than a power grab to become more competitive financially and in recruiting by choosing the "six cutest girls at the prom" that would ultimately compete with the BTHC in recruiting and TV revenue by inking a big media package comparable to BTN thus providing national exposure and equally profitable dividends (NBCSN). How self absorbed were they? When Notre Dame, after a long deliberation, finally decided their preference was to join the NCHC with their NBCSN media package in tow, UND said "sorry we don't want you" because ND had more executive clout with NBCSN than UND and of course UND was far too self absorbed to acquiesce to anyone at that point. The onus in the end was they signed a relatively insignificant media deal with CBS Sports.
Faison said the new conference enables UND to take care of two big concerns. "From a scheduling standpoint and recruiting standpoint," he said, "we knew we had to compete with the Big Ten Conference. A group coalesced with the same perspectives, issues and concerns."
Then in an untimely and presumptuous manner with fervent speculation looming large throughout the ranks of college hockey, jack***** egomaniac Faison hints to the press that he has "concerns" about the administration of the WCHA, which essentially deflected the blame for the breakup on Bruce McLeod. What a crock of ****.
Faison told the Herald that he has concerns with “the administrative side of the WCHA.”
North Dakota athletic director Brian Faison told the Herald. “At the end of the day we have to do what’s in the best interest of UND hockey, and that’s what we’re going to do. It’s an emotional decision. It’s a business decision.”
I thought it was comical that when the decisive moment finally arrived to announce the NCHC to the world, a 20-minute press conference was held to unveil the big plan for the league to challenge the Big Ten, but it was spent mostly discussing the historical tradition of the room the meeting was held in, not the earth shaking impact that the NCHC "super conference" was hoping to create.
In retrospect, despite their grandiose expectations and agenda for self preservation, most would agree there's
NOTHING "super" at all about the so-called "super conference", it was pure greedy BS. Merry Christmas.
