I posted this on another hockey Forum and didn't get any response. Thought I might have more luck here.
Over the last year and a half or so, two schools, Post University and Western Connecticut State University both announced they would be starting varsity men's (and women's in Post's case) hockey programs and joining the ranks of the NCAA. Post University, as a DII school, announced that it would become the 7th member of the DII Northeast-10 Conference. WCSU, as a DIII school, announced it would be joining the MASCAC. Both of these programs were supposed to start play during the 2015-16 season. Problem is, since making these announcements, pretty much nothing more has been heard from either school. Neither school is playing in the NCAA (according to both USCHO.com and the NCAA website) and neither school has joined either of the aforementioned conferences. The thing is, according to the ACHA website, neither school is a member of the ACHA either. At least one of them does have some sort of team this year. Post University lists hockey amongst their other varsity sports on their official school athletics website. They are playing a short schedule which includes a mixture of ACHA teams from various divisions and at least 2 NCAA DIII teams. I haven't been able to find any info about WCSU's team and can't even confirm that they have one in any form. So my questions are 1.) What is the status of these two programs? Are they still planning on joining the NCAA, or have those plans been put on hold? And 2.) What competition (if any) are they playing in now? Are they true independent programs, operating outside of any governing body? If so that would make them pretty unique in the world of college hockey.
Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.
Over the last year and a half or so, two schools, Post University and Western Connecticut State University both announced they would be starting varsity men's (and women's in Post's case) hockey programs and joining the ranks of the NCAA. Post University, as a DII school, announced that it would become the 7th member of the DII Northeast-10 Conference. WCSU, as a DIII school, announced it would be joining the MASCAC. Both of these programs were supposed to start play during the 2015-16 season. Problem is, since making these announcements, pretty much nothing more has been heard from either school. Neither school is playing in the NCAA (according to both USCHO.com and the NCAA website) and neither school has joined either of the aforementioned conferences. The thing is, according to the ACHA website, neither school is a member of the ACHA either. At least one of them does have some sort of team this year. Post University lists hockey amongst their other varsity sports on their official school athletics website. They are playing a short schedule which includes a mixture of ACHA teams from various divisions and at least 2 NCAA DIII teams. I haven't been able to find any info about WCSU's team and can't even confirm that they have one in any form. So my questions are 1.) What is the status of these two programs? Are they still planning on joining the NCAA, or have those plans been put on hold? And 2.) What competition (if any) are they playing in now? Are they true independent programs, operating outside of any governing body? If so that would make them pretty unique in the world of college hockey.
Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.