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Starting D1 Hockey Program

Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

Nothing too exciting. For those keeping track, the NCAA was supposed to decide in April whether they would allow St Thomas to move directly from D3 straight to D1. Under the current circumstances with the pandemic, they have delayed that decision until June at the earliest.


NCAA postpones St. Thomas’ Division I decision

https://www.tommiemedia.com/news/bre...on-i-decision/
 
Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

So, if I’m reading all the tea leaves correctly:

Illinois was ****ed close to announcing their program. Economic uncertainty due to COVID 19 has delayed that. For how long depends on how much funding is impacted.

CHN columnists are basically confirming the exact same story for Navy.

St Thomas… some unknowns there but as far as we know they would’ve been approved to transition to D-I by now (and that may still happen soon).

And LIU just decided “**** it, were doing it in four months with almost no budget or plan”.

This could’ve been one of the most bonkers off seasons we’ve seen outside of The Great Realignment.
 
Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
So, if I’m reading all the tea leaves correctly:

Illinois was ****ed close to announcing their program. Economic uncertainty due to COVID 19 has delayed that. For how long depends on how much funding is impacted.

CHN columnists are basically confirming the exact same story for Navy.

St Thomas… some unknowns there but as far as we know they would’ve been approved to transition to D-I by now (and that may still happen soon).

And LIU just decided “**** it, were doing it in four months with almost no budget or plan”.

This could’ve been one of the most bonkers off seasons we’ve seen outside of The Great Realignment.
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**** lT! WE’LL DO IT LIVE!!!
 
Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

Just speculating (or engaging in a flight of fancy) and not considering $$$$, Title IX, and COVID implications:

--If Navy makes the jump, does it bring its B1G neighbor (Maryland) along with it?
--And if Maryland makes the jump, does it bring Rutgers along with it to give the B1G an eastern anchor?
--And how about Delaware, which--like Navy--has a well-established ACHA club program?
--And if Delaware makes the jump, how about Penn/Villanova/Temple in a city where pro hockey has long been established?

Hope nobody holds their breath waiting for any of this (except maybe Navy) but good fodder for off-season banter.
 
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Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

Long-term, Navy and LIU to AH makes sense. If everything goes well with Sacred Heart's new rink, they have to be the best option for Hockey East unless Holy Cross can come up with a rink. SH to Hockey East down the line and all three eastern leagues would have 12 teams.
 
Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

It's no secret that HE wants to add a 12th team. Given that Quinnipiac doesn't seem interested I don't think it's crazy to project Sacred Heart. It's all about that new rink. Ideally I think Holy Cross would be the better addition but they aren't making the commitment SH is. Maybe that will change, who knows.
 
Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

Split-N said:
Just speculating (or engaging in a flight of fancy) and not considering $$$$, Title IX, and COVID implications:

--If Navy makes the jump, does it bring its B1G neighbor (Maryland) along with it?
--And if Maryland makes the jump, does it bring Rutgers along with it to give the B1G an eastern anchor?
--And how about Delaware, which--like Navy--has a well-established ACHA club program?
--And if Delaware makes the jump, how about Penn/Villanova/Temple in a city where pro hockey has long been established?

Hope nobody holds their breath waiting for any of this (except maybe Navy) but good fodder for off-season banter.
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Do you have anything besides wild speculation that Maryland has any interest in D1 hockey?
 
Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

buoldtimer said:
Do you have anything besides wild speculation that Maryland has any interest in D1 hockey?
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There was some level of interest years ago but whatever interest there might have been went by the boards when Maryland built its Comcast Center arena without including an ice-making capability. Maryland always has been and always will be a basketball school. Basketball is the moneymaker; football is a money loser. So it came as no surprise that the powers that be passed on the prospect of its golden goose sharing a venue with another in-season revenue-producing sport. Too bad. IMO, a Maryland varsity hockey program would mirror the success of wildly popular Washington Capitals. And maybe that's the problem.

So no, nothing other than wild speculation.
 
Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

The one thing I would say is that the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) region collectively has the highest “USA hockey registrations to non-NHL hockey attendance” ratios (a thing I started looking at when I was bored a few months back).

The Capitols may well take up all of that demand, but theoretically there’s plenty of demand for hockey out there.

Again, that’s probably the only reason to suspect anything for any school out there. It’s not like Navy, where we’ve had years of rumors and talk of arenas, etc.
 
ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
So, if I’m reading all the tea leaves correctly:

Illinois was ****ed close to announcing their program. Economic uncertainty due to COVID 19 has delayed that. For how long depends on how much funding is impacted.

CHN columnists are basically confirming the exact same story for Navy.

St Thomas… some unknowns there but as far as we know they would’ve been approved to transition to D-I by now (and that may still happen soon).

And LIU just decided “**** it, were doing it in four months with almost no budget or plan”.

This could’ve been one of the most bonkers off seasons we’ve seen outside of The Great Realignment.
Click to expand...

Going to be interesting if Oakland University takes the plunge soon too after their feasibility study. The other wildcard is High Point University in NC announced they’re building a D1 hockey facility in their 10 year, $1 billion dollar growth plan essentially saying they’re going D1 too.

Also, totally agree with everyone on Sacred Heart joining the Hockey East. I think it’s essentially a done deal when the arena is built. After getting burned by UConn stating they’d build a 4,000 seat on campus hockey arena “within time” after joining the conference, hockey East isn’t taking anyone’s word for it until it’s done. Who knows, with all the delays UConn’s arena planning and feasibility studies have resulted in, Sacred Heart May have a 4,000 seat on campus arena before UConn even starts construction on their 2,500 seat arena.

Would love to see Penn land a big donor and start up the program again. Ivy League going out on their own would cause massive massive chaos on the landscape.
 
sigx15 said:
Would love to see Penn land a big donor and start up the program again. Ivy League going out on their own would cause massive massive chaos on the landscape.
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They already got that big endowment grant during the past season to update their rink (which, other than being old and lacking amenities, is suitable enough from a capacity standpoint).

But, and an ECAC poster can clarify better than I, as fun as it would be to see an Ivy-ECAC split, I don’t think there’s any desire on the schools’ part.
 
Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
The one thing I would say is that the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) region collectively has the highest “USA hockey registrations to non-NHL hockey attendance” ratios (a thing I started looking at when I was bored a few months back)...The Capitols may well take up all of that demand, but theoretically there’s plenty of demand for hockey out there.
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Copied from the Illinois thread: "...the Washington Caps are wildly popular in the DMV and youth hockey in this part of the world is stronger than it has ever been. So D1 college hockey at places like Navy, Maryland, and George Mason would likely have success. As noted, Navy already has a rink and George Mason has an ice-making capability at its Patriot Center arena. Georgetown and George Washington would very much be longshots as they would need to build arenas and have precious little available land on which to build anything."

In the Baltimore area, Johns Hopkins, Towson, Loyola, and Maryland-Baltimore County all have long-established ACHA programs but all except Hopkins are short on resources. Interestingly, Johns Hopkins is already a B1G associate member for lacrosse.

Then there's Delaware, which also has a well-established ACHA program and an on-campus rink. D1 college hockey would work well there.

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
They [Penn] already got that big endowment grant during the past season to update their rink (which, other than being old and lacking amenities, is suitable enough from a capacity standpoint).....fun as it would be to see an Ivy-ECAC split, I don’t think there’s any desire on the schools’ part.
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Penn had a competitive ECAC team from the mid-'60s thru 1977-78 when the Penn administration suddenly pulled the plug. I was at the first game they played after the announcement (vs Northeastern in Boston). The "PENN" logo on the jerseys was covered over, NU fans applauded them during player intros, and then they played like they were pixxed off at the world. Lots of penalties that night, IIRC. Penn won.

There was no move by the Ivies to go it alone at that time and I don't think there would be now if Penn were to miraculously resurrect.
 
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Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

Split-N said:
In the Baltimore area, Johns Hopkins ...
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Johns Hopkins is D-III in everything except men's and women's lacrosse, which are grandfathered (and grandmothered I guess?). They could have a D-III varsity program but the NCAA's moratorium on playing up to D-I would prevent them from adding hockey unless they take everything D-I.
 
Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

Ed Trefzger said:
Johns Hopkins is D-III in everything except men's and women's lacrosse, which are grandfathered (and grandmothered I guess?). They could have a D-III varsity program but the NCAA's moratorium on playing up to D-I would prevent them from adding hockey unless they take everything D-I.
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Point taken. Thanx.
 
sigx15 said:
Who knows, with all the delays UConn’s arena planning and feasibility studies have resulted in, Sacred Heart May have a 4,000 seat on campus arena before UConn even starts construction on their 2,500 seat arena.
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Given the crowds they get in Hartford, UConn would be insane to build only a 2,500 seat rink. I am not sure what goes on behind the scenes but has UConn playing in Hartford caused Hockey East a lot of headaches?
 
J.D. said:
Given the crowds they get in Hartford, UConn would be insane to build only a 2,500 seat rink. I am not sure what goes on behind the scenes but has UConn playing in Hartford caused Hockey East a lot of headaches?
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Headaches no, but it’s been...kind of a feeling like we aren’t living up to our end of the bargain with the delays and redesigns and proposing an undersized rink when they KNEW there was a minimum standard* to meet.

I don’t know how much of this is FAN disappointment versus league or constituent member disappointment though.

EDIT to add: people aren’t really fans of midweek and Saturday afternoon games either, but that’s what happens when you’re fourth banana behind two basketball teams and an AHL club.

And I think 3000 or 3500 makes more sense for us, especially if we can build in a couple hundred more in SRO capacity, but built right and promoted well with students and statewide hockey fans to get them to think its worth going all the way to Cow Town, alongside a winning team, 2.5K can be plenty intimidating.

*Whether it makes sense for us to build bigger in this current environment of steadily declining attendance across the board and a feeling that many recent new arena projects were overbuilt, not for any fault of the teams in question, is a different story.
 
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Re: Starting D1 Hockey Program

Just seems like building a 2,500 seat on campus rink just so it can be on campus is backwards thinking when you look at the Hartford crowds. Is the fear that if they do build a rink in Storrs, crowds wouldn't be as good as in Hartford? Or is 2,500 on the table because it's cheaper?
 
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