JohnsonsJerseys
Michigan Tech Fan
Re: UAH Hockey 2012-13: Still breathing
Well if it were up to those who post on message boards, UAH has a "Yes" vote from Tech as well. Unfortuantely we don't get to vote so you'll have to convince Suzanne and Mel.
I really don't see BGSU jumping to Atlantic Hockey for one simple reason - Scholarships. The only big D-I school in the nWCHA going from 18 down to 12 just doesn't make sense. I could see BGSU creating their own league before they would downgrade their program to fit into the AH template.
I also don't see the odd number of nWCHA teams being a problem. No one jumped off bridges in the 1990s when we had an odd number for half of the decade. I think it is much better for the future health of D-I hockey to have a few open slots rather than the gridlock we had prior to this Western mess and will likely have again shortly.
For example, does Mankato get into the WCHA if there was a even number of teams in the late 1990s? I don't think so. They used the odd number of teams to offer themselves as a solution to the league. Clearly the WCHA didn't want Bemidji without a partner even though they were an obvious fit from a school type and geography stand point. If you keep playing this "even numbers or death" game, you make it tough for new program to get into a league because they not only have to field a team, but they have to find a partner to join with them, or you end up like UAH with a great program but no one wants them simply because they create an odd number of teams in a conference. I think travel cost is just an excuse to cover for "we don't want an odd number".
Just for this reason, I would have been happy to see the WCHA and CCHA stay on their own and leave room for new teams and encourage more teams to be formed or play up from lower divisions. When you have conference gridlock and no open spots, teams are going to look at what UAH has battled and say "If we don't have a conference slot waiting, it isn't worth trying..." Independent is a slow death in college D-I hockey.
Ryan J
WCHA league members 1971 to Date
1971-81 Even number (10)
1981-84 Even number (6) Delete MTU, MSU, Michigan, Notre Dame
1984-90 Even number (8) Add MTU, MNU
1990-93 Odd number (9) Add SCSU
1993-97 Even number (10) Add UAA
1997-99 Odd number (9) Delete NMU
1999-10 Even number (10) Add Mankato
2010-13 Even number (12) Add BSU, UNO
2013-?? Odd number (9) Too much to list, you know what happened...
Well if it were up to those who post on message boards, UAH has a "Yes" vote from Tech as well. Unfortuantely we don't get to vote so you'll have to convince Suzanne and Mel.
I really don't see BGSU jumping to Atlantic Hockey for one simple reason - Scholarships. The only big D-I school in the nWCHA going from 18 down to 12 just doesn't make sense. I could see BGSU creating their own league before they would downgrade their program to fit into the AH template.
I also don't see the odd number of nWCHA teams being a problem. No one jumped off bridges in the 1990s when we had an odd number for half of the decade. I think it is much better for the future health of D-I hockey to have a few open slots rather than the gridlock we had prior to this Western mess and will likely have again shortly.
For example, does Mankato get into the WCHA if there was a even number of teams in the late 1990s? I don't think so. They used the odd number of teams to offer themselves as a solution to the league. Clearly the WCHA didn't want Bemidji without a partner even though they were an obvious fit from a school type and geography stand point. If you keep playing this "even numbers or death" game, you make it tough for new program to get into a league because they not only have to field a team, but they have to find a partner to join with them, or you end up like UAH with a great program but no one wants them simply because they create an odd number of teams in a conference. I think travel cost is just an excuse to cover for "we don't want an odd number".
Just for this reason, I would have been happy to see the WCHA and CCHA stay on their own and leave room for new teams and encourage more teams to be formed or play up from lower divisions. When you have conference gridlock and no open spots, teams are going to look at what UAH has battled and say "If we don't have a conference slot waiting, it isn't worth trying..." Independent is a slow death in college D-I hockey.
Ryan J
WCHA league members 1971 to Date
1971-81 Even number (10)
1981-84 Even number (6) Delete MTU, MSU, Michigan, Notre Dame
1984-90 Even number (8) Add MTU, MNU
1990-93 Odd number (9) Add SCSU
1993-97 Even number (10) Add UAA
1997-99 Odd number (9) Delete NMU
1999-10 Even number (10) Add Mankato
2010-13 Even number (12) Add BSU, UNO
2013-?? Odd number (9) Too much to list, you know what happened...
Nah, Johnny Griggs has those kinds of games in his bag, too.