^NHC renovations were to begin this week, but have been delayed because of the MN state government shutdown.
That being said, St. Cloud has always been a second-tier program, even with the headstart it received when Herb Brooks came on board to help it move to D-I in 1987 and get the NHC built. It has always been in the shadow of the UoM, leading to the Jan Brady State sobriquet. And JBSU is in serious financial trouble: they just announced they are shutting down their aviation program, and their football program barely survived an execution. I frankly, don't want to see the seismic changes in college hockey cause any programs to fold, but karma's a b*tch sometimes.
It is a lot more likely that a program like Mankato will fold, which would really be a shame. How many of you know Mankato is actually a one-time NCAA Hockey Champion (winning the DIII title in 1980)? They are geographically disadvantaged in Minnesota, and as Chewey has pointed out have an off-campus, city-owned rink.
Bemidji State is in a real pickle: big dough spent (and pledged to be donated) to build a really nice barn, and now the big-draw opponents are going to be playing elsewhere. There are probably some folks in Bemidji who are getting pretty nervous about how they are going to pay off the bonds used to build that nice new arena. And this is another former NCAA Championship team, winning one DIII title and five DII crowns.
Michigan Tech can likely survive, probably in a new conference (or a reconfigured CCHA), playing closer to home with similarly-sized schools, allowing them to cut their travel and operations budget. They'll take their beautiful, storied MacNaughton Cup with them to a new home.
Alaska-Anchorage is the odd-man out here: I think they have to look at either pulling Fairbanks into the WCHA with them, or try to jump into the CCHA. But travel costs are going to be crushing to them, to the point where we might see both Alaska schools quietly fade away or move into some sort of alliance with Canadian Universities.
The net for the schools, for the teams, and for college hockey is not positive from my view. The "raptured" teams are taking a lot more than just prestige and history with them to the new "super" conference: UND, DU et al put a lot of butts in the stands at these weaker sister arenas. Without that ticket revenue, there is likely a slow, painful-to-watch death to the teams left behind. I hope none of this comes to pass; that somehow the smaller, cheaper LBWCHA will attract new programs and give college hockey more teams. I doubt that, though.
The poetic justice that allows a small smile to spread across my face is that the buffoons in the WCHA's ivory palace in Denver — McLeod and Shepherd — will be left sitting at their desks wondering what the h*ll happened to them. Without really scrambling, the LBWCHA will be without an NCAA auto-bid, an embarrassing end to what has long been the very heart and soul of college hockey.
Don't get me wrong, I am happy that UND hockey has found a conference where it can play against similarly-motivated programs. I feared that the smaller schools left behind when the BTHC was announced would begin to exert their influence on the league, rotting the WCHA from within with scholarship cuts and other cost-cutting moves. This new raptured league should ensure a solid home for UND hockey for a long time to come. I just hope that it hasn't pulled the plug from the bottom of the pond: it is great to be a powerhouse, but if the sport of college hockey is further diminished in number, I wonder if there will come a day when we rue the rapture we are witnessing today.
