To me, this is huge! Because of their apparent disrespect for the US D1 college seasons it is very difficult for me to have any respect for USA Hockey.
If these D1 conferences don't make up the best league in women's hockey (taking numerous factors into account) it's high up on the list. I think the national teams should have respect for this and for the integrity of their seasons. I understand the European countries distance from here is an obstacle, and team Canada is also a different country. But if people care about the health and growth of women's hockey, US collegiate is a big element.
Not only that, there is the financial contributions the Universities make to the development of players for the national teams.
Once again, who knows what the Europeans taking players away from UMD did to our current season. Not only damaging one of the best series of the year, but who's to say the post season wouldn't have turned out differently if UMD would have had their real roster together to get battle tested against Wisconsin second to last weekend of the season.