UND's New Hockey Conference

[star2city]

You have some interesting opinions, and your entitled to them, so I guess we will have to agree to disagree on that Minnesota had control of McLeod and the rest of the WCHA.

Never said Minnesota had absolute control over McLeod, just that McLeod's seemingly disinterest in gaining a WCHA TV contract very much pleased Minnesota. Any other commissioner worth half his salt would have been fighting for a WCHA TV contract that would have benefited the entire league, but McLeod chose not to pursue that, as it would have meant that McLeod would have to do battle with Goldie.

too bad for Alabama Huntsville they are really going to have a tough time now

What's really sad out of all this realignment is that the east will likely have three 12-team leagues, so all of them would be "full".

It might still be possible that some of the AHA teams would move to the WCHA, which might allow UAH to move into that league.

Another possibility is if RPI move to Hockey East, then RIT probably moves to the ECAC, so someone - like UAH - needs to backfill into the AHA.

But if Buffalo really is pursuing a new program, Buffalo likely gets the AHA spot, not UAH.

[star2city]

Q&A with Bowling Green AD, Greg Christopher

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2011/10/04_qa_with__bowling_green.php

Sounds as if Bowling Green would have been a part of the NCHC if Notre Dame had said "yes", giving the NCHC an even number of teams for playoff purposes.

CHN: How much of an option was the NCHC?

Christopher: I don't want to get into any specifics of conversations with other athletic directors or commissioners. Obviously we've had a lot of phone calls over the last several week. But the NCHC was part of the conversation. Clearly at the end of the day, they had their parameters.

Maybe there is a chance a new league can still form:

CHN: Are we done, or can we expect more?

Christopher: Well, Huntsville is still out there, and there will be a resolution with (University at) Buffalo. Those are the obvious ones. Maybe there's some other things. The WCHA — we've already talked internally about whether we want to be at nine or some other number. It's more a long-term conversation.

CHN: Does Huntsville have hope in that regard?

Christopher: I don't know what the plan is yet with the other WCHA members, or commissioner Bruce McLeod. I know we supported Huntsville being part of the CCHA when that came up a couple of years ago.

One thing we're excited about going forward is that we've been selected to host an NCAA Regional in 2013. We'll co-host in a new arena in downtown Toledo. So that's another reason we're excited about the future of our program.

[Blackheart]

Great for BGSU, glad they found a home!

[UND92,96]

Jody Norstedt just tweeted this:

Fmr Gophers play-by-play guy Frank Mazzocco on @1500ESPNjust referred to the #NCHC as a mid-major or 2nd tier conference. Your thoughts?

[mikejm]

^Methinks Frank has been raiding Doug's liquor cabinet.

[ScottM]

Meh. the Wooger is infinitely more entertaining than Frank anyway.

[USA Hockey]

He must have forgot that only one Big Ten team made the national tournament last year, while seven NCHC teams did.

[hrkac]

Jody Norstedt just tweeted this:

As USA Hockey just reminded me, 7 NCHC teams made the national tournament last year. In the Big Ten it was...Wisco, Minnesota, Penn State, Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan.

[Blackheart]

Jody Norstedt just tweeted this:

Rug-boy wishes he was a second tier announcer...

[Let'sGoHawks!]

Frank knows how to push our buttons and get us to talk about him. Let's not talk about him and his crap.

[Blackheart]

Frank knows how to push our buttons and get us to talk about him. Let's not talk about him and his crap.

When you say his 'crap', are you referring to that dead squirrel on top of his head?

[buckysieve]

I didnt read Franks quote, but maybe he was just talking about name recognition in comparison to the Big Ten. Every typical college sports fan across the country knows all 12 Big Ten schools. You list off the schools in the NCHC to your typical college fan and they'll look at you confused with a blank stare.

[Goon]

^Methinks Frank has been raiding Doug's liquor cabinet.

That was my first thought as well or he was trying to get UND fans to respond.

[Jheria]

I didnt read Franks quote, but maybe he was just talking about name recognition in comparison to the Big Ten. Every typical college sports fan across the country knows all 12 Big Ten schools. You list off the schools in the NCHC to your typical college fan and they'll look at you confused with a blank stare.

If you're a college hockey fan you know about the NCHC and the schools in them. Typical hockey fans as you call them know what's going on in the hockey world. As for Frank, he's an idiot.

[row5seat5]

Frank has always been an idiot. He's tortured us with his broadcasts for years - the Gopher-nation set the bar pretty low when they hooked Bert and Ernie up the first time, but to do it twice??

[star2city]

http://articles.bost...ollege-hockey/2

UConn's AD doesn't squelch the idea of moving to Hockey East

Should the league expand, Connecticut would appear a natural choice since its women’s team already plays in Hockey East, where fellow New England state schools Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts already are members. But that would require the Huskies, who play in Atlantic Hockey, to make an estimated $2 million commitment, including scholarships, and either expand their 2,000-seat rink or play their bigger games at Hartford’s XL Center.

“We’re monitoring the hockey landscape,’’ says UConn athletic department spokesman Mike Enright. “We know what the financial implications are of going to a major hockey conference. It’s something we have to evaluate as we go.’’

Even with the Atlantic Hockey commish inferring that Navy would join, the Navy AD denies that. But the Navy AD has also denies that Navy is moving to the Big East in football, when many media sources report that Navy is close to moving.

If UConn or another Atlantic team were to leave - Canisius, Mercyhurst, Robert Morris, and Niagara all were approached by the CCHA last summer - commissioner Bob DeGregorio already has a replacement in mind. “I have Air Force and Army,’’ he says. “Who do you think I’m thinking about?’’

But Navy has no plans to change course. “Right now our future is club,’’ says athletic director Chet Gladchuk. “We don’t have any game plan in place to move to varsity. The hockey program right now is in a niche that makes sense for us.’’

[PhillySioux]

http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/218151/

In addition to the risk of losing affiliation with the Big Sky and potential scheduling and recruitment problems, Shaft said he believes that Notre Dame’s recent decision to affiliate with Hockey East — and not the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference that includes UND — was due in part to the ongoing nickname fight.

“To what degree, I don’t know, but I believe it impacted Notre Dame’s decision,” he said.

Anyone buy this? I dont.

[mikejm]

I blame my hair loss on the nickname thing.

Just sayin'

[Let'sGoHawks!]

http://www.grandfork...icle/id/218151/

Anyone buy this? I dont.

Oh, Grant Shaft, you were doing just fine regurgitating all of those bullet points that you and others came up with, and then you went "off script" and delivered that statement. True or not, not a wise choice to bring that up as it is speculation and will be labeled as anti-nicknamer propaganda by some.

[ScottM]

http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/218151/ Anyone buy this? I dont.

I doubt the Sioux name/logo fight even resonates in South Bend. ND went where they thought they could get the most bang for their hockey buck.

[zonadub]

Yup, sure, the Fighting Irish of ND are offended by the Fighting Sioux of ND. I'll buy that one along with that oceanfront property in Larimore.

Kelley in the same story:

[Attention paid to the nickname issue]... has created a perception at the national level that UND’s campus environment may not be as welcoming to all students as we would like for it to be perceived.

Huh? Most (not all) of the national stuff I have seen has been sympathetic to continuing as the Fighting Sioux.

Unfortunately, a poor choice of words, but we still have to go back to the Big Sky conforming to the NCAA's hard line.

[Rick]

http://www.grandfork...icle/id/218151/

Anyone buy this? I dont.

I'm not sure what area of law Grant specializes in, but if that was his closing statement, he'd have a hard time convincing a jury of twelve 3rd graders that he's right.

Tomorrow he'll toss out the statement "if the goves don't fit, you must acquit."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy7Fb5oB9Ac

[Chewey]

Well, for starters, the article about ND going to HE was in College Hockey News. Curiously, no mention of the nickname was made. What was addressed was ND's TV contracts and how they're going to get more $$$$ in HE than in the NCHC. HE caved to their demands, I guess. Shaft really stepped in it with this. Pretty easy to show that he does not know what he's talking about and is just throwing this out there for effect. How's that gonna look, Grant?

[IrishSiouxFan]

Shaft is ridiculous if he believes Notre Dame's decision to go HE had anything to do with the Sioux logo. I love the logo and can't stand the thought of being called something else, but I also love UND and I hate how much attention this issue is bringing to the institution. I can't go to a (professional) conference without the logo being referenced by colleagues from other universities. It doesn't matter what the schools id doing or what breakthroughs in research have been made, the logo issue always overshadows the accomplishments of the university. Sometimes I wish I was just a fan of the sports teams at UND and had no real affiliation with the school, it would be so easy for me to not care how this issue effects the institution on an academic level and I could say things like "fie Kelley and Faision" and "they won't see a dime from me if they change the logo". I believe that the legislature will repeal the law and UND will retire our proud nickname, it will be a sad time in our schools history, but truth be told I look forward to the closure it will bring. I'm sure the majority of you who'll read this will strongly disagree with my sentiments and question my loyalty, but it will be nice to finally talk about something else.

[siouxkid12]

I heard that Notre Dame want more of the TV revenue than the new conference was going to offer, if that's true let them go to Hockey East, we don't need them in the NCHC!