The old neutral-site format made a lot of sense in the old WCHA. That tournament was a destination, knowing that the Sioux, the Gophers, and the Badgers were all (likely) going to be there. For a period of time, it was arguably a better tournament than the NCAA tournament.
But the old WCHA is gone. The mystique of its conference tournament is gone too. Now the reality is *likely* this: if UND doesn’t make it to the conference championship game, the NCHC loses money because not enough fans show up. So moving the tournament to campus sites is the only reasonable alternative.