I do want to make it clear that I congratulate St.Thomas on this wonderful development. I look forward to visiting the soon-to-be venue.
Thanks for clarifying your position; I feel I better understand it now.
When looking at the St. Thomas situation, I think that the plan for the new facility to be on campus, or at least how we think of campus for a metropolitan university where the city and the campus can intermingle, that would be a significant benefit to the student athletes, particularly if it will also be their practice facility. There is also benefit to the greater student population, as it makes attending events easier.
Most of the WCHA has already worked through this issue at some point after the league was founded:
BSU built the Sanford Center to replace John Glass (sp?), which was a move off campus;
UM built Ridder Arena and moved next door;
UMD built AMSOIL Arena to replace the DECC -- both off campus in the harbor;
Minnesota State moved from All Seasons (close to campus) to the downdown/riverfront Mayo Clinic Event Center (apparently, the wireless business isn't what it was earlier in the naming history);
North Dakota "solved" any remaining financial problems from building REA by taking its puck and going home;
SCSU renovated the on-campus Herb Brooks National Hockey (Concrete) Center;
Wisconsin built LaBahn (on-campus) to replace the adjoining Kohl Center and various smaller arenas scattered across the region that helped alleviate the multi-use conflicts.
Coach Muzerall was part of Laura Halldorson's first recruiting class at Minnesota. One of the things that Halldorson did at Minnesota was not just create a team but establish a program, one that included donors and a booster club. And yes, a new arena was built under her watch. My guess is that Muzerall wants to have a similar legacy in Columbus.
