MICZamboni
Mr. Know It All
From the Erie Times News today:
CCHA membership a foggy possibility for Mercyhurst
Men's hockey program explores league switch
By RON LEONARDI
ron.leonardi@timesnews.com
Is the Central Collegiate Hockey Association part of Mercyhurst College's future?
School administrators are exploring the possibility of applying to the 12-team CCHA, one of the top NCAA Division I men's hockey conferences.
The CCHA will be reduced to 11 teams after this season when Nebraska-Omaha leaves to join the Western Collegiate Hockey Association for the 2010-11 season.
The CCHA has no plans for immediate expansion.
"We have no plans to add a new member for 2010-11,'' CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos said in an e-mail interview. "We are currently trying to finalize a new schedule with 11 teams for 2010-11. At this time, we have not addressed our future plans specifically related to our membership make-up.''
Mercyhurst athletic director Joe Kimball said the school has had preliminary discussions with CCHA officials, but has not applied to the conference.
He said Mercyhurst remains committed to its Atlantic Hockey Association membership.
"Right now, this is just a thought,'' Kimball said. "We're just thinking out loud and asking some questions and kind of sniffing around a little bit to see what the CCHA is all about.''
The CCHA consists of Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Miami (Ohio), Alaska Fairbanks, Nebraska-Omaha, Lake Superior, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Northern Michigan and Western Michigan.
"We don't know if the CCHA wants to expand to 12 teams or if they want to stay at 11,'' Kimball said.
"My job right now is to find out as much as I can about the league, and that's why I am waiting to have additional talks with Tom Anastos, so we can get a better idea of whether this would be a good move for us not only as a hockey program, but as a college.''
Kimball said he and Anastos have had two discussions in the past two weeks.
Anastos said the CCHA entry fee for a new member is $250,000, which includes a $10,000 application fee. If a school is not accepted, the $10,000 application fee is non-refundable.
"Administrators from Mercyhurst have contacted me to find out about our league, our future plans and the process for membership application,'' Anastos said. "They are doing some fact-finding.''
Mercyhurst has been a member of the 10-team Atlantic Hockey Association since 2003.
The AHA will expand to 12 teams for the 2010-11 season with the addition of Niagara and Robert Morris.
"Geographically, Mercyhurst College and Erie fit in wonderfully into the CCHA footprint,'' Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin said. "But no one has told us they want to add a 12th team. We're just assuming they would like to, because 11 seems like an odd number.''
Besides playing some of the nation's best teams, a move to the CCHA likely would allow the Mercyhurst men's program to fund the maximum 18 NCAA Division I scholarships per season.
The AHA schools enforce a 12-scholarship limit.
"You'd have to look at that,'' Kimball said. "Is that feasible for us, because that's what that league entails.''
There would be other advantages to a CCHA move.
"The two positives about this conference is the travel being less than it is in the AHA, and the quality of teams,'' Kimball said.
The CCHA denied Alabama-Huntsville's membership application this past summer largely because of its proximity to the rest of the league.
"Say what you want, but I believe, geographically, we're the closest team to CCHA country,'' Gotkin said.
"The CCHA wants to stay where they can take buses to 95 percent of their games,'' Kimball said. "They want it to be and they pride themselves on being a bus league. It would be cheaper for us travel-wise. Other than an every-other-year trip to Alaska, the longest trip is probably Northern Michigan. After that, the longest trip would probably be Notre Dame or Lake Superior.''
If Mercyhurst chose to apply to the CCHA, the application process could take as long as a year, meaning any new member likely wouldn't join the league until the 2011-12 season at the earliest.
"We have a lot of questions,'' Gotkin said. "The key here is we don't want to waste anyone's time, and we certainly don't want to waste anybody's money, so before we even take that next step, which would be to apply, there are some big questions that have to be answered by CCHA officials.''
Gotkin cautioned that those talks are in a preliminary stage.
"There really isn't a lot to say other than we don't want to mislead and we don't want to lie,'' Gotkin said. "There is some dialogue here on campus, and it is exciting from the hockey coach's standpoint of the potential and possibility. Does that mean it's ever going to come to a reality? Who knows. I can't speak for our college administration, but me, personally, I would love to see that happen.''
Does Gotkin think the application will materialize?
"I think it depends on how the dialogue goes between Joe Kimball and Tom Anastos,'' he said. "If it's a positive and encouraging dialogue, and there is some information that's shared and some questions answered, maybe it will go forward to our president and the provost, and maybe they'll say, 'Hey, this sounds exciting. Maybe we should apply.' ''
Gotkin said no one should be surprised by the school's decision to explore CCHA membership.
"Mercyhurst is always looking to improve all its resources, in this case, athletics and hockey,'' Gotkin said. "I don't think any decisions are made easily or lightly or without a lot of insight, and this is another example of this."
CCHA membership a foggy possibility for Mercyhurst
Men's hockey program explores league switch
By RON LEONARDI
ron.leonardi@timesnews.com
Is the Central Collegiate Hockey Association part of Mercyhurst College's future?
School administrators are exploring the possibility of applying to the 12-team CCHA, one of the top NCAA Division I men's hockey conferences.
The CCHA will be reduced to 11 teams after this season when Nebraska-Omaha leaves to join the Western Collegiate Hockey Association for the 2010-11 season.
The CCHA has no plans for immediate expansion.
"We have no plans to add a new member for 2010-11,'' CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos said in an e-mail interview. "We are currently trying to finalize a new schedule with 11 teams for 2010-11. At this time, we have not addressed our future plans specifically related to our membership make-up.''
Mercyhurst athletic director Joe Kimball said the school has had preliminary discussions with CCHA officials, but has not applied to the conference.
He said Mercyhurst remains committed to its Atlantic Hockey Association membership.
"Right now, this is just a thought,'' Kimball said. "We're just thinking out loud and asking some questions and kind of sniffing around a little bit to see what the CCHA is all about.''
The CCHA consists of Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Miami (Ohio), Alaska Fairbanks, Nebraska-Omaha, Lake Superior, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Northern Michigan and Western Michigan.
"We don't know if the CCHA wants to expand to 12 teams or if they want to stay at 11,'' Kimball said.
"My job right now is to find out as much as I can about the league, and that's why I am waiting to have additional talks with Tom Anastos, so we can get a better idea of whether this would be a good move for us not only as a hockey program, but as a college.''
Kimball said he and Anastos have had two discussions in the past two weeks.
Anastos said the CCHA entry fee for a new member is $250,000, which includes a $10,000 application fee. If a school is not accepted, the $10,000 application fee is non-refundable.
"Administrators from Mercyhurst have contacted me to find out about our league, our future plans and the process for membership application,'' Anastos said. "They are doing some fact-finding.''
Mercyhurst has been a member of the 10-team Atlantic Hockey Association since 2003.
The AHA will expand to 12 teams for the 2010-11 season with the addition of Niagara and Robert Morris.
"Geographically, Mercyhurst College and Erie fit in wonderfully into the CCHA footprint,'' Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin said. "But no one has told us they want to add a 12th team. We're just assuming they would like to, because 11 seems like an odd number.''
Besides playing some of the nation's best teams, a move to the CCHA likely would allow the Mercyhurst men's program to fund the maximum 18 NCAA Division I scholarships per season.
The AHA schools enforce a 12-scholarship limit.
"You'd have to look at that,'' Kimball said. "Is that feasible for us, because that's what that league entails.''
There would be other advantages to a CCHA move.
"The two positives about this conference is the travel being less than it is in the AHA, and the quality of teams,'' Kimball said.
The CCHA denied Alabama-Huntsville's membership application this past summer largely because of its proximity to the rest of the league.
"Say what you want, but I believe, geographically, we're the closest team to CCHA country,'' Gotkin said.
"The CCHA wants to stay where they can take buses to 95 percent of their games,'' Kimball said. "They want it to be and they pride themselves on being a bus league. It would be cheaper for us travel-wise. Other than an every-other-year trip to Alaska, the longest trip is probably Northern Michigan. After that, the longest trip would probably be Notre Dame or Lake Superior.''
If Mercyhurst chose to apply to the CCHA, the application process could take as long as a year, meaning any new member likely wouldn't join the league until the 2011-12 season at the earliest.
"We have a lot of questions,'' Gotkin said. "The key here is we don't want to waste anyone's time, and we certainly don't want to waste anybody's money, so before we even take that next step, which would be to apply, there are some big questions that have to be answered by CCHA officials.''
Gotkin cautioned that those talks are in a preliminary stage.
"There really isn't a lot to say other than we don't want to mislead and we don't want to lie,'' Gotkin said. "There is some dialogue here on campus, and it is exciting from the hockey coach's standpoint of the potential and possibility. Does that mean it's ever going to come to a reality? Who knows. I can't speak for our college administration, but me, personally, I would love to see that happen.''
Does Gotkin think the application will materialize?
"I think it depends on how the dialogue goes between Joe Kimball and Tom Anastos,'' he said. "If it's a positive and encouraging dialogue, and there is some information that's shared and some questions answered, maybe it will go forward to our president and the provost, and maybe they'll say, 'Hey, this sounds exciting. Maybe we should apply.' ''
Gotkin said no one should be surprised by the school's decision to explore CCHA membership.
"Mercyhurst is always looking to improve all its resources, in this case, athletics and hockey,'' Gotkin said. "I don't think any decisions are made easily or lightly or without a lot of insight, and this is another example of this."
