College Hockey Expansion

[fightingsioux4life]

2 minutes ago, Yote 53 said:

Is NCAA hockey on the verge of an explosion in teams starting programs?  Seems with the massive amount of TV money these ADs are pulling in they need somewhere to park it.  Plus NCAA hockey is actually revenue positive for many programs, so maybe some are looking to build another profit center for their athletic departments.

The volume of players is out there for expansion.  There is some good hockey being played all the way down to the ACHA D2 ranks.  That clip earlier from Adrian, that kid isn't even on the Adrian NCAA D3 team.  The Adrian D3 team is filled with D1 transfers and NAHL players.  There are a lot of good Junior players that are stacked up in cue looking for places to land for next season.  My oldest being one of them!  But an explosion of NCAA teams would be great news for my Mite aged youngest!

You could add another 10 to 15 schools to Division I hockey and it wouldn't water down the product very much. The available talent in the United States has exploded over the past couple of decades.

[cberkas]

 

[brianvf]

White breezers.  Not a good look. 

[cberkas]

9 minutes ago, brianvf said:

White breezers.  Not a good look. 

I actually like it. There is one or two NHL teams that have done it. ASU does gold all the time.

[cberkas]

Not bad for a ACHA outdoor game 

[cberkas]

 

[nodak651]

Thats amazing!  Speaking of North Carolina, High Point added a women's rowing team a few days ago.  Their 10 year master plan supposedly includes a D1 hockey arena...  could be a sign. 

Because people are debbie downers when any information in regard to expansion is brought forth, I'm qualifying that by saying they are a long shot, pipe dream, yada yada, etc...

[cberkas]

49 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

Thats amazing!  Speaking of North Carolina, High Point added a women's rowing team a few days ago.  Their 10 year master plan supposedly includes a D1 hockey arena...  could be a sign. 

Because people are debbie downers when any information in regard to expansion is brought forth, I'm qualifying that by saying they are a long shot, pipe dream, yada yada, etc...

I think most gave up on High Point adding hockey

[nodak651]

15 minutes ago, cberkas said:

I think most gave up on High Point adding hockey

Yes.  I did too.  It's still worth noting.

[nodak651]

Looks like the city of Niagra is desperately trying to build a new events center, which would include a 6-7K seat arena.  https://cjsarchitects.com/work/project:city-of-niagara-falls-centennial-park/

Would Niagra look to play there or would they rather stay on campus?  Their current arena would make for a nice practice rink.

Could make Niagra a great good fit for my new pipe dream conference with a core of Binghampton, Utica, RIT, Sacred Heart.  Add Maybe Miami, BG, and the Service Academies.  Maybe Robert Morris if they ever renovate their rink (if they built up a recruiting network when they saved the program).

[cberkas]

1 hour ago, nodak651 said:

Yes.  I did too.  It's still worth noting.

I look once and awhile to see if anything has come up on them. 

[nodak651]

11 hours ago, cberkas said:

I look once and awhile to see if anything has come up on them. 

Same.  Not making any predictions, but they continue to have the potential to be a surprise addition.  Rowing would cover title IX, and in regard to fundraising, I noticed that they have a relationship with Steve Wozniak, who is apparently a big hockey fan?  (bonus is they are only 2 hours from Liberty)  https://abc7news.com/san-jose-sharks-st-louis-western-conference-finals-game-2/5298627/   

 

[cberkas]

 

[Yote 53]

On 2/20/2023 at 8:36 PM, cberkas said:

 

I see things like this and then I see the NCAA getting taken to the woodshed in the courtroom over student-athletes being "employees" and the conclusion I draw is that someday soon all college sports will be club based sports.  ACHA hockey is providing a blueprint for all sports to follow.  

[nodak651]

This is an interesting article from 2016 about Stony Brook.  It highlights the headwinds that face college hockey and expansion.  Presidents and AD's just don't want to take a risk or upset existing boosters to other programs, imo. https://stonybrookhockey.com/stony-brook-press-discusses-rink-on-campus-possibilities-with-the-university/  

Excerpts: 

“I don’t want to add a sport just to add a sport,” Heilbron (AD) said. “It has to make sense for our program as a whole. We have to have a facility for them, but we also have to be able to win and be competitive.”

Hall (former player) said that the idea of building an ice rink on the campus has been floating around since the 1980s. “I did a lot of research at one point and someone offered to build a rink on campus and it got turned back late in the 70s, early 80s.”

“I would be reluctant to do that in this point and time,” Stanley (president) said. “From an economic standpoint, I don’t see [an ice rink] happening.”  (article from 2016 mentioned $20M estimate for 4K arena)

"In order to determine whether an on-campus ice rink would be economically beneficial, the school would have to conduct a research study."
“To my knowledge, there hasn’t been a formal study done on hockey,” Heilbron (AD) said. “I know it’s something that’s always out there as a question, so I think to say it’ll never happen would be very shortsighted on my part.”

“We’ve had people identify themselves and say they can raise the money,” Heilbron (AD) said. “It comes back to President Stanley and what his vision is for the university.”

"Heilbron (AD) has concerns that if the school were to enter the NCAA, it would have trouble finding competition in the northeast." (not anymore, if ever)
“There’s a limited number of schools throughout the country that play [hockey],” he said. 
"The northeast region of the United States is a hockey hotbed, however. In the Atlantic Hockey Division of Men’s Division one Hockey, there are currently 11 teams that Stony Brook could play whose schools are accessible by bus. Those include Holy Cross, Mercyhurst, Canisius, Sacred Heart and more. “In the northeast, the popularity of hockey is tremendous,” Heilbron (AD) said."

 

 

 

 

[nodak651]

On 2/4/2023 at 12:39 PM, nodak651 said:

Not sure if this (below) is a new plan or old and abandoned project.  http://www.coliseums.com/consulting-projects.html

 

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2018/07/10/university-louisville-ice-hockey-campus/769693002/

Ok, this article from 2018 makes me even more curious as to how old this rendering is.

[nodak651]

It's common knowledge that the NHL did 5 NHL feasibility studies, correct?  

Meke Snee, the Director of College Hockey Inc who helps to arrange these studies, was on a podcast recently.  He sated the specific number of NHL feasability sudies that have been conducted since the program started in 2014.  That number was 11.  That's way more then pretty much everyone was thinking, isn't it?  

https://thecoachessite.com/beyond-the-xs-and-os-podcast-minnesota-hockey-development-model-mike-snee/

[cberkas]

1 hour ago, nodak651 said:

It's common knowledge that the NHL did 5 NHL feasibility studies, correct?  

Meke Snee, the Director of College Hockey Inc who helps to arrange these studies, was on a podcast recently.  He sated the specific number of NHL feasability sudies that have been conducted since the program started in 2014.  That number was 11.  That's way more then pretty much everyone was thinking, isn't it?  

https://thecoachessite.com/beyond-the-xs-and-os-podcast-minnesota-hockey-development-model-mike-snee/

I figured the first batch was 5 or at least they offer to do 5 a year.

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

Interesting item here: https://msubeavers.com/news/2023/3/1/mens-hockey-minot-state-hockey-to-clash-with-ncaa-national-champion-denver-pioneers.aspx

[Clark17]

1 hour ago, andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!! said:

Interesting item here: https://msubeavers.com/news/2023/3/1/mens-hockey-minot-state-hockey-to-clash-with-ncaa-national-champion-denver-pioneers.aspx

Just saw that myself 

[cberkas]

17 hours ago, andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!! said:

Interesting item here: https://msubeavers.com/news/2023/3/1/mens-hockey-minot-state-hockey-to-clash-with-ncaa-national-champion-denver-pioneers.aspx

There are NCAA D1 schools that don't want to play Canadian University teams anymore, good for the ACHA that are looking to move up to have the opportunity.

[ArchyAlum11]

On 3/3/2023 at 12:42 AM, cberkas said:

There are NCAA D1 schools that don't want to play Canadian University teams anymore, good for the ACHA that are looking to move up to have the opportunity.

Honestly the Canadian College teams have too many goons, not all the teams mind you, some teams actually come down and play a competitive game, but not many. The ACHA teams look at these games as a chance to show what they are made of, to show they are ready to hang with NCAA hockey, frankly given that choice I would say playing ACHA squads or D-3 squads makes more sense, allows the D-1 Schools to test out lines and players and helps new programs get exposure they need to work toward moving up.

[brianvf]

27 minutes ago, ArchyAlum11 said:

Honestly the Canadian College teams have too many goons, not all the teams mind you, some teams actually come down and play a competitive game, but not many. The ACHA teams look at these games as a chance to show what they are made of, to show they are ready to hang with NCAA hockey, frankly given that choice I would say playing ACHA squads or D-3 squads makes more sense, allows the D-1 Schools to test out lines and players and helps new programs get exposure they need to work toward moving up.

Yeah, I'd much rather play Minot State in a preseason exhibition than our constant Manitoba Bisons.  Would be good exposure for a fellow ND school as well.

[ArchyAlum11]

44 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Yeah, I'd much rather play Minot State in a preseason exhibition than our constant Manitoba Bisons.  Would be good exposure for a fellow ND school as well.

Who knows there might even be the potential for a Governors Cup in the future, Also I would bet you see some teams in the CCHA express interest in playing them as well, Minot State would be a good potential add for the CCHA's 10th team.

[cberkas]

1 hour ago, ArchyAlum11 said:

Honestly the Canadian College teams have too many goons, not all the teams mind you, some teams actually come down and play a competitive game, but not many. The ACHA teams look at these games as a chance to show what they are made of, to show they are ready to hang with NCAA hockey, frankly given that choice I would say playing ACHA squads or D-3 squads makes more sense, allows the D-1 Schools to test out lines and players and helps new programs get exposure they need to work toward moving up.

I think UMary will be ACHA D1 next year