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MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

Flashy Man said:
I thought this part was interesting.
In addition to the financial implications of adding a premier sport, the decision was influenced by upcoming changes in conference affiliations. Membership shakeups from the formation of the Big 10 Hockey Conference and the National Collegiate Hockey Conference won't take effect until 2013-14, but the changes created a limited window of opportunity. To me it seems the WCHA may have decided on a 10th member.
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Seems to me conference changes were the reason they prematurely announced they were bringing in Div 1 hockey. Why announce when so far from the goal? Hoping it will bring in further funds?
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

I wonder what would have happened if our economy wasn't as bad. What if we had the economy of the 1990's when all this conference change was occurring?
 
Biddco said:
I wonder what would have happened if our economy wasn't as bad. What if we had the economy of the 1990's when all this conference change was occurring?
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Probably (maybe?) we'd have more than 58 teams right now, but there would also certainly have been more Fairfields, Findlays and Wayne States.
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

Beer Pong Horn said:
Let me take a crack at it.

Hypothesis: College X, within the WCHA's footprint, has a big donor willing to fund a men's D-I hockey team. College X approaches the WCHA and says, "Daddy Warbucks says he will fund our new hockey team, and we would like to join your conference starting in Fall 2013. See, we've already started to gather players and a coach, and we're breaking ground on an arena in July!" The WCHA leaps at the opportunity and saves the tenth spot for College X, despite UAH's pleas.

Fast forward to Fall 2013. Daddy Warbucks' stock value fell, and now he can only give $15 million to College X. College X can't scrape up the rest, so they tell the WCHA, "Give us one more year." Meanwhile, Chris Luongo puts together a .350 season in Huntsville.

Fast forward to late Spring 2014. Daddy Warbucks goes to prison for tax evasion, and College X is stuck with half a stadium and an overpaid gym instructor. The WCHA tells College X to screw off and immediately offers a conference spot to UAH the week before the university plans to announce the hockey program's cancellation. UAH takes the spot, but Luongo's miracle season has already gotten him a job in the ECAC. They promote an assistant and go ahead regardless.

Fast forward to Spring 2015. UAH finishes dead last in the WCHA with 2 conference points (a 1-1 tie and a 0-0 tie), two forfeits (since they couldn't afford to go to UAF) and an average attendance of 325 people per game. The university decides, "We can't keep embarrassing ourselves," and pulls the plug. Geof Morris cries in his beer for three months.
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:chuckle: I don't think UAH makes it to 2014-15 without a conference, and I know that our conference preference is the WCHA.

Crying in my beer is not fun at all. Mack Portera got me there for about four days before someone told me that we weren't done fighting. "So you're saying there's a chance?"

Squarebanks said:
Considering the WCHA really, really wants to be at 10 or 12 teams, the door for Huntsville is about as wide open as its ever going to be.
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I have the truck backed up to the loading dock. Let's do dis.

GFM
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

Biddco said:
I wonder what would have happened if our economy wasn't as bad. What if we had the economy of the 1990's when all this conference change was occurring?
Click to expand...

We would be cheering against MSU-Moorhead.
 
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