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WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

NUProf said:
Not if there aren't any ... there will be time spent on hockey that could/would require either more full time staff or more hours spent by part time staff. Somebody's time is going to be spent writing press releases, maintaining the hockey pages on the conference web site, etc. This time is not going to come out of thin air.
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Sure it is. It's called unpaid overtime. Ever talk to an SID about their job?

Besides, the WIAC can make money on the conference playoffs to offset any extra costs, especially for hockey. Hockey brings in the most amount of money for the SUNYAC than any other sport (though that stat was before they went to a single game elimination playoff format).
 
Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

Russell Jaslow said:
Sure it is. It's called unpaid overtime. Ever talk to an SID about their job?

Besides, the WIAC can make money on the conference playoffs to offset any extra costs, especially for hockey. Hockey brings in the most amount of money for the SUNYAC than any other sport (though that stat was before they went to a single game elimination playoff format).
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There's a reason SIDs are salaried employees... If they paid us hourly we'd bankrupt the school. :)
 
Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

PrezdeJohnson09 said:
There's a reason SIDs are salaried employees... If they paid us hourly we'd bankrupt the school. :)
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Of course some beancounter would figure out an algorithm as to how much time gets wasted by SIDs in here and then we'd all be back to 40 hours a week anyway.
 
Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

jerrynu26 said:
Because they USED to be able to beat SNC and CSS..................:rolleyes:
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It's been awhile, though. It seems SNC has been dominating the NCHA for about 10 years and all of D3 for about 5 years. So the reason why WIAC didn't make this move, say, two or three years ago apparently has nothing to do with results on the ice. More likely, the recent budget crunch made NCHA membership a luxury the UW schools can no longer afford.
 
Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

Raidineer said:
Earlier you mentioned that you thought Marian and Finlandia would jump at the chance to join the WIAC. Do you think there's any chance MSOE could also?
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It's hard for me to imagine any set of events that lead to MSOE in the WIAC. If cutting costs is a major reason for this change, and all of the WIAC hockey schools are located roughly in the NW quadrant of the state, why would they want to add all those long trips to Milwaukee? Also, MSOE does not have a women's team in NCHA, so there's no current connection between MSOE and the UW schools, other than perhaps some OOC games. And if the WIAC were interested in inviting schools without women's hockey, Northland and Lawrence would be much closer.
 
Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

Raidineer said:
Earlier you mentioned that you thought Marian and Finlandia would jump at the chance to join the WIAC. Do you think there's any chance MSOE could also?
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Sure, why not? The WIAC would love to have the smaller private schools like Finlandia and Marian added to cushion the bottom of their conference. Problem is if MSOE joins the WIAC, and continues to get the quality recruits that they're getting from Alberta, CA., the WIAC will be back to square one. MSOE could just replace SNC and CSS as the Alpha leaving the UWs out of the NCAA playoffs.:p

Now, for your further entertainment revisit other earlier WIAC invitation speculations.
-What if SNC and CSS are invited back to the WIAC? With that and the 3 previously mentioned MCHA teams, would a UW school ever finish higher than 4th in the WIAC? :eek:
-What if they ask Northland into the WIAC , because of their geographical convenience, or to be CSS's travel partner, or they just add to the cushion?
-What if Concordia (WI) gets an invite to the WIAC to give MSOE a travel partner, and a strong conference presence in the Milwaukee area?

Now for those MCHA teams that have received no 'speculative' invite to the WIAC.
-Adrian.... should they go independent, get the ECAC West to change their By-laws, or go DI ? Adrian is a long trip for the WIACs to take just to get handed an "L". :D
-Lawrence... for some reason the only Wisconsin school, smack dab in the middle of the WI hockey universe, with no speculative invite.:confused: Would they go independent or what?
-Lake Forest... an Illinois school that left the NCHA due to excessive travel costs and level of competition. Another independent or do they close up shop?:(

This speculation bonanza should keep you busy until the air clears or the pucks drop in the Fall. However, don't be surprised if nothing changes except the name of a conference.:)
 
Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

Dennis4896 said:
It's hard for me to imagine any set of events that lead to MSOE in the WIAC. If cutting costs is a major reason for this change, and all of the WIAC hockey schools are located roughly in the NW quadrant of the state, why would they want to add all those long trips to Milwaukee? Also, MSOE does not have a women's team in NCHA, so there's no current connection between MSOE and the UW schools, other than perhaps some OOC games. And if the WIAC were interested in inviting schools without women's hockey, Northland and Lawrence would be much closer.
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Ok thanks. Aside from the women's part, why wouldn't all that apply to Marian also then? Milwaukee and Fond du Lac aren't that far apart so why would Marian be real eager to join but MSOE not? Also, are you saying the WIAC is only looking to accept other teams who have both men's and women's teams or are they willing to take whatever they can get?
 
Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

Now for those MCHA teams that have received no 'speculative' invite to the WIAC.
-Adrian.... should they go independent, get the ECAC West to change their By-laws, or go DI ? Adrian is a long trip for the WIACs to take just to get handed an "L". :D

Actually Adrian has been a pretty friendly place for the WIAC so far and the Blugold's have the trophies to prove it ;-).
 
Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

Blugold Hockey said:
Now for those MCHA teams that have received no 'speculative' invite to the WIAC.
-Adrian.... should they go independent, get the ECAC West to change their By-laws, or go DI ? Adrian is a long trip for the WIACs to take just to get handed an "L". :D

Actually Adrian has been a pretty friendly place for the WIAC so far and the Blugold's have the trophies to prove it ;-).
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Adrian would have to reclassify the entire athletic program to D-II then petition the WCHA (the D-II playup league) for entry. Then they could play D-I. BUT, Kimosabe, where would they play? IIRC, Arrington is not a D-I facility.

The MCHA is better because of Adrian and Adrian is better because of the MCHA. Let's not ruin a good thing.
 
Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

Raidineer said:
Ok thanks. Aside from the women's part, why wouldn't all that apply to Marian also then? Milwaukee and Fond du Lac aren't that far apart so why would Marian be real eager to join but MSOE not? Also, are you saying the WIAC is only looking to accept other teams who have both men's and women's teams or are they willing to take whatever they can get?
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Whoa. I didn't say MSOE either would or wouldn't be eager to join WIAC. I just don't think they'll get invited. At the time of the original announcement, WIAC indicated that all remaining NCHA teams had been invited to join as associate members. I think the most reasonable outcome is for all of those teams to accept, leaving WIAC with the same membership as NCHA currently has. MCHA would remain unchanged in that case.

The Finlandia/Marian discussion was in response to a suggestion that if all remaining NCHA teams merged with the MCHA, WIAC could be left with only 5 men's teams and 4 women's teams (still a possibility, of course). I was just pointing out that WIAC would have some options available.
 
Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

This WIAC article, while not about hockey does give an example of travel savings though controlling scheduling. And maybe some retrospective "writting on the wall". :eek:
 
Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

If I'm Norbert, I'm bolting for the MCHA. It is an up-and-coming league, and you're almost a lock to play in the Conference Finals for the next couple of years atleast. Travel costs would be cut with Lawrence and Marian within an hour's drive. Not to mention the St. Norbert ties in the MCHA could make for some interesting competition between coaches and teams. Scholastica should join the MIAC as it appears it would be a perfect fit for that conference. Also, I'm kicking out Northland to bring out the welcome mat for Norbert, keeping the league at 8 teams strong. Northland is just not a solid enough program or school to warrant the travel expenses. In the end, the WIAC would be left to plead for an at-large bid until they could convince other schools in the conference to add hockey programs. Game, Set, and Match for Norbert and the MCHA
 
Re: WIAC schools to pull out a year earlier than originally planned

pepperbrooks said:
If I'm Norbert, I'm bolting for the MCHA. It is an up-and-coming league, and you're almost a lock to play in the Conference Finals for the next couple of years atleast............ . Game, Set, and Match for Norbert and the MCHA
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I believe Coach Coughlin has stated his preference would be to play in a conference that will provide the highest level of competition.
The MCHA doesn't fit that description today.

I also think Coach Coughlin would rather not put his program in a situation where Tournament participation was dependent on an at large bid.
The MCHA becomes a much more attractive alternative.

If SNC join the WIAC, I'd wager it will be with the complete confidence/assurance that the conference will have the requisite numbers for an AQ.
 
NorthernLite said:
I believe Coach Coughlin has stated his preference would be to play in a conference that will provide the highest level of competition.
The MCHA doesn't fit that description today.

I also think Coach Coughlin would rather not put his program in a situation where Tournament participation was dependent on an at large bid.
The MCHA becomes a much more attractive alternative.

If SNC join the WIAC, I'd wager it will be with the complete confidence/assurance that the conference will have the requisite numbers for an AQ.
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That's the thing - the NCHA currently has no truly weak teams. Any team can beat any team on any given night. That kind of competition week in week out has been a major contributor in SNC 's recent NCAAs success. The MCHA isn't quite there yet, but it sure is improving.

I really believe SNC and CSS are going to stick together wherever they end up, and I think its gonna be the WIAC. However, if CSS ends up in the MIAC (unlikely, but I'm not sure why) I believe SNC will take a long hard look at the MCHA.
 
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