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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

Bale said:
There's also the added factor that SCSU almost dropped their football program over the last couple years due to funding issues.

As for MSU's admin not caring about hockey, that's not exactly true. No, they haven't done the same things that other schools have done, but they did what they had to do to get to D1 and now their hands are tied due to some of the agreements they had to make (ie the financial package they accepted to have VWC built). They probably place more emphasis on women's sports than a lot of people would like, but that's the direction that MSU has chosen to make. It doesn't sit well with a lot of hockey supporters.
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Lots of schools have almost dropped their football programs. See Michigan Tech for an example of a school whose program dramatically improved (and has stayed at .500+) after football was canceled, then reinstated with generous alumni support.
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

Beer Pong Horn said:
Lots of schools have almost dropped their football programs. See Michigan Tech for an example of a school whose program dramatically improved (and has stayed at .500+) after football was canceled, then reinstated with generous alumni support.
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I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it. It's just the reality that they almost dropped it. I'm just contrasting the two schools. I think financially, MSU's athletic department is a little bit healthier, but there is an argument to be made that it's at the expense of the hockey program getting the funding it needs/wants.
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

Bale said:
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it. It's just the reality that they almost dropped it. I'm just contrasting the two schools. I think financially, MSU's athletic department is a little bit healthier, but there is an argument to be made that it's at the expense of the hockey program getting the funding it needs/wants.
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I'm not either, just mentioning another school that had the same problem and came up with a solution to fund both hockey and football. Your mileage may vary, and I can't say whether there are rich Mankato alums willing to do the same here. :)

Not to dump on MSU-Mankato - you guys have been respectable in the WCHA, and I think you will do better when out of the shadow of the U, UMD and SCSU - but I'm looking forward to the day when there are enough D-I hockey schools to make a D-II league and championship feasible again. Preferably, it would have a fair amount of mobility between it and D-I to allow D-II schools to play up and fall back as their program needs dictate, without having to outright drop the program like many CHA and CCHA schools.
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

aparch said:
Don't forget that SCSU's AD told the NCHC to go pound sand when they broke away from the WCHA. Then when they get their invite, they start singing a whole different tune.

SCSU was invited to be a bottom in the NCHC. Hope they like it...
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You must have missed this article back in December. It appears his telling the NCHC to "pound sand" was never sincere, and contradicted by lots of behind the scenes emails lobbying for entry into the NCHC. Ah, the joys of being a public school - the media (in this case, the St. Cloud Times) can request to read all of your emails.

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111204/NEWS01/112040001/Emails-detail-SCSU-hockey-shake-up
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

aparch said:
Don't forget that SCSU's AD told the NCHC to go pound sand when they broke away from the WCHA. Then when they get their invite, they start singing a whole different tune.

SCSU was invited to be a bottom in the NCHC. Hope they like it...
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You have it mixed up. The President told them to go pound sand. The AD and coach wanted to get in very badly. I along with other SCSU supporters were e-mailing the AD and he was telling us hold on I think we will still get in right after Potter opened his big yap. I have been told boosters pretty much put Potter in his place after he did that. Potter made a fool out of himself and our University with how he delt with this situation and the cancelling of homecoming. It is my opnion he should be removed due to his lack of leadership. Of course nobody cares what I think.....
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

bunt_q said:
You must have missed this article back in December. It appears his telling the NCHC to "pound sand" was never sincere, and contradicted by lots of behind the scenes emails lobbying for entry into the NCHC. Ah, the joys of being a public school - the media (in this case, the St. Cloud Times) can request to read all of your emails.

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111204/NEWS01/112040001/Emails-detail-SCSU-hockey-shake-up
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Actually if you read all the e-mails he really did mean it. they were trying to save the WCHA and never knew about the NCHC. Once they knew than yes it was a bunch of backdoor meetings to get in. He is an idiot because his own consultant and AD knew they still had a shot to get in and he opened his big mouth because he was mad. Then in turn he looks like an idiot because there was no way Gino or Motzko was going to stand for them not getting in.
 
ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
I'll quote Rob Demovsky (who covers UWGB for the GB Press Gazette), who had this to say when I emailed him after that Fairbanks story got out (I also asked about the rumors of the Resch Center for the WCHA tourney):
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Confirmed: not happening. Makes you wonder where some people get their information.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201202080407/GPG020101/202080537
 
UMD21 said:
Where did you get 168k for St. Cloud? 120 at most, but I don't understand what exactly they call the St. Cloud area. If you can count St. Cloud as a suburb of MSP, then you might as well call Brainerd a suburb of St. Cloud.. or Cheyenne a suburb of Denver

irrelevant, but I always go crazy driving from MSP to St. Cloud. It's anything but a suburb, an economy on its own.
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Official MSAs go by county, so the 168k figure is merely the population of Stearns and Benton counties (even though part of St. Cloud is in Sherburne County, its population is not included because it is officially part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul MSA). The population for St. Cloud, Sartell, Sauk Rapids, Waite Park, St. Joseph, St. Augusta and immediately surrounding areas is about 110k. The 91k figure for Mankato is also the counties, the more immediate area is around 55k.
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

Do you think WCHA is forcing Moorhead to "put or shut up" by the end of February to allow a March decision for the 10th member? My guess is that this all hinges around the Frozen Four. If UAH is "out", WCHA announces earlier in March so as not to detract from the Frozen Four and prevent awkwardness for the host school. If UAH is "in", you announce it in Tampa while the rest of the hockey world and ESPN are present.

If Moorhead has been kicking this around doing something for several years, my guess is that from a political standpoint, the other Minn schools are having to give them an opportunity to be in. Throwing a list of school names is common in coaching searches to give the impression that there is much wider search going on when in reality they know who they want. I would think this is the same situation and just trying to mask the real politics going on. we will see shortly.....................
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

I don't know why the decision would be either Moorhead OR UAH though. If I were the WCHA, I'd definitely take both and go to 11. Sure 10 is a nice round number for scheduling, but let's think about this. One of the larger concerns now is having a bunch of smaller schools and the possibility of two trips up to Alaska. Alaska teams subsidize travel, so it's seems the primary concern is more just the hassle of the long and frequent travel. Why not add all the schools that you can into the mix so you are less likely to have to go up there frequently? Sure 11 is a little more difficult to schedule, but the CCHA has been doing it. You can't always have a round number. Let in UAH. If Moorhead comes up with the funding, let them in too. Travel to UAH can't be that bad. And if they also help subsidize travel, it takes away a major reason not to let them in. UAH has to demonstrate they are serious to the program and will committ financially, but if they can do that I see no reason to not let them in.
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

In my opinion having 10, 11 or 12 teams in the WCHA is really not that important. Everyone blows a gasket about having an even number of teams to schedule your season, but with 10 or more teams it's not that big of a deal. ANY team that wants to get into the WHCA should be evaluated on their own merit, not just rush someone in to get a certain number. There will be some growing pains starting in 2013 anyway so the first few years are bound to be a bit rough until things smooth out. Whether 1 or 2 more teams join before the 2013 season is set up does not really matter. The only real "rush" to get the teams set is so that a schedule can be created. How many teams you are scheduling for doesn't really matter.

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

gochargers said:
Do you think WCHA is forcing Moorhead to "put or shut up" by the end of February to allow a March decision for the 10th member? My guess is that this all hinges around the Frozen Four. If UAH is "out", WCHA announces earlier in March so as not to detract from the Frozen Four and prevent awkwardness for the host school. If UAH is "in", you announce it in Tampa while the rest of the hockey world and ESPN are present.

If Moorhead has been kicking this around doing something for several years, my guess is that from a political standpoint, the other Minn schools are having to give them an opportunity to be in. Throwing a list of school names is common in coaching searches to give the impression that there is much wider search going on when in reality they know who they want. I would think this is the same situation and just trying to mask the real politics going on. we will see shortly.....................
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I thought it was the other way around, that Moorhead wouldn't start the program if they aren't assured of joining the WCHA. At least, that's what I understand the case being in years prior. I certainly don't blame them for not pulling the trigger if they had to be an independent for the foreseeable future.
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

Maybe they will blow all our minds and add 3 teams to the W ;-)
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

If there are enough colleges looking to add hockey, there will be another conference realignment out west. Maybe it'll be a Pacific conference including the Alaskas, maybe it will be a Great Plains conference with DU, CC, UNO and a few more, or maybe it'll be centered around the eastern Great Lakes. I do hope that all of the teams listed (or UW-M instead of UW-GB, at least) decide to add hockey, but that's unlikely.

Failing a realignment, the WCHA or a similar conference (WIHL take two?) is here to stay, and a group of schools will stay with a NCHC-like league.
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

Beer Pong Horn said:
I'm discounting UW-GB for now, since they don't appear to be interested.

If Iowa State did create a hockey program, as much as I'd want them to go to the WCHA, I'd expect them to go to the NCHC despite their upstart status. They're closer to UNO geographically than to MSU-Mankato, and closer in size to UNO, SCSU, WMU, Miami, et al than to MTU, Mankato, Ferris, Bemidji, et al. ISU also has more name recognition than most of the WCHA schools, more comparable to NCHC schools.

So, let's hope the WCHA is beating the bushes at the UW satellite schools, NDSU and SDSU, and any other D-I/II schools in the Upper Midwest.
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Another school that has at least discussed the possibility of D-1 hockey is the University of Missouri-Kansas City. As far as I know, this hasn't gone past pure media conjecture and questioning by them and by the City of Kansas City of some school officials there.

The thinking down there has been thus:

1. UMKC is a member of the Summit League with UNO.

2. There would be a potential natural rivalry with their new Summit Conference mates in another sport.

3. The City of Kansas City, in a complete knee jerk reaction to Omaha's construction of the Centurylink Center, ran around yelling "the sky is falling" and built the Sprint Center with absolutely no tenant to put in it other than some vague hope of getting an NHL team.

There has been some notice of the success of UNO hockey in Kansas City, particularly by city officials who have a white elephant building, and some sentiment has been developed down there that "hey, maybe we can do this, too". The story I read led me to believe that this is more city than school driven.

Side bar of note is that the next season's Ice Breaker Tournament is being held at the Sprint Center in KC, featuring Army, Notre Dame, Maine, and none other than UNO. Another thing that got city fathers to thinking about this. As a UMKC alum myself, I must say I would enjoy seeing the addition of the "Kangaroo" moniker to college hockey. It would be great just on comedic value alone.

The "Fighting Sioux versus the Kangaroos" just has some sort odd allure to it. Sounds like some sort of bizzaro wrestling tag-team match.

The Sprint Center seats 17,544 for hockey, by the way. In that regard, its a tad bigger than the Centurylink Center here in Omaha.
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

Also, anyone want to call up Ohio University, University of Illinois-Chicago and Saint Louis University and convince them to get back into D-1 men's hockey?
 
Re: MN State-Moorhead, AL-Huntsville, WI-GB and Iowa State looking at the WCHA

davyd83 said:
Air Force may have access to a bit more reasonably priced air travel. Anyone who thinks geography has nothing to do with hopefully doesn't have to undergo random screening at work.
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I wasn't aware that the Air Force paid all the teams in the Atlantic Hockey to fly there. Or that any CCHA or WCHA teams going to Alaska got their airfare covered by any means other than their own either.
 
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