College Hockey Expansion

[Yote 53]

I'd argue UMary could compete with and beat most of the teams in D1 this year.  ACHA Is a weird animal where the D1 and D2 labels are not the same as the NCAA label.  When it comes to D1 vs D2 there are D2 programs that are better than D1 programs, better funded, better coached, more serious, etc.

My oldest is in his final year of Juniors this year.  He's talked with his share of D3 and ACHA D1 and D2 programs.  Hoping for NCAA D3 but, when you know you're not playing hockey to go pro, going to a larger school that offers ACHA D1 or D2 and takes it seriously is a good option that I never thought about in the past.  We're finding out that some of these schools take it seriously and get great school and fan support.  D1 or D2, the label doesn't matter because there are schools at each level that give the program great support and schools at each level that just kind of field a team.  Forget the labels and find the right program.

He's played with and against some UMary players so have an idea the caliber of that program.  It's pretty solid.

[nodak651]

Pretty sure a change was made by the NCAA that finally allowed the ACHA teams to play NCAA D1 teams - may have been a result of the Canadian border being closed due to Covid.  As such, I think we will see more ACHA/NCAA matchups moving forward, and the programs that that can show they are competitive will be the ones that get more games.

In regard to ACHA programs and expansion, a name to keep an eye on is Roosevelt, which is an NAIA school located in downtown Chicago that apparently is moving up to D2 NCAA.  They currently have ACHA D1 and D2 teams listed on their official athletics website (U Mary does this as well).  There isn't any evidence to suggest that they currently plan to move hockey up to NCAA D1, and they have a bunch of other Men's sports it looks like, but I figured I would mention them since they are in the perfect location for the CCHA and their arena is somewhat passable - it's off campus, but it apparently seats 3,000, is the former Blackhawks practice rink, and the Chicago Steel played their until 2015.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_Ice_Arena   https://www.roosevelt.edu/stories/news/roosevelt-exploring-ncaa-division-ii-membership#:~:text=Upon application and acceptance as,league competition in 2024-25.

Their president has spent time at St. Cloud State, Northeastern, and Denver, so he has some exposure to D1 hockey, as well. https://theorg.com/org/roosevelt-university/org-chart/ali-malekzadeh

[cberkas]

 

[Lobo]

Not sure how true this is but it's interesting for sure.

[SWSiouxMN]

So this whole Summit/NCHC tweet, would this mean the following:

1) The league would be renamed Summit Hockey?

2) Fenton would be the commish again?

3) St. Thomas joining the league?

4) Who would be the 10th?

[Kab]

Time to form a conference for football and basketball and get away from the summit 

all of a sudden you add a basketball school and their hockey club gets to follow with it or the other way too

not a fan of this idea 

does ndsu club hockey get in too 

[The Sicatoka]

2 minutes ago, Kab said:

Time to form a conference for football and basketball and get away from the summit 

all of a sudden you add a basketball school and their hockey club gets to follow with it or the other way too

not a fan of this idea 

does ndsu club hockey get in too 

Club hockey follows as club hockey unless they elevate the status of the program to NCAA competition standards. 

[FSSD]

2 hours ago, SWSiouxMN said:

So this whole Summit/NCHC tweet, would this mean the following:

1) The league would be renamed Summit Hockey?

2) Fenton would be the commish again?

3) St. Thomas joining the league?

4) Who would be the 10th?

Kick SCSU out!!!

[SIOUXFAN97]

28 minutes ago, FSSD said:

Kick SCSU out!!!

they were added late when the other und turned down the nchc invite...so they were then added to kinda grab the minny market...so now that St Thomas is in do we even need those losers?  nope! c ya and say hi to roy saigo on the way out

[ArchyAlum11]

On 3/7/2023 at 10:31 AM, Yote 53 said:

I'd argue UMary could compete with and beat most of the teams in D1 this year.  ACHA Is a weird animal where the D1 and D2 labels are not the same as the NCAA label.  When it comes to D1 vs D2 there are D2 programs that are better than D1 programs, better funded, better coached, more serious, etc.

My oldest is in his final year of Juniors this year.  He's talked with his share of D3 and ACHA D1 and D2 programs.  Hoping for NCAA D3 but, when you know you're not playing hockey to go pro, going to a larger school that offers ACHA D1 or D2 and takes it seriously is a good option that I never thought about in the past.  We're finding out that some of these schools take it seriously and get great school and fan support.  D1 or D2, the label doesn't matter because there are schools at each level that give the program great support and schools at each level that just kind of field a team.  Forget the labels and find the right program.

He's played with and against some UMary players so have an idea the caliber of that program.  It's pretty solid.

Biggest problem for U Mary would be the start up cost, Capitol Arena in Bismark seats less than 500 people, too small for any Midwestern league though it may be acceptable temporary,while Malaysian arena in Minot isn't going to win any major accolades its similar in size to Ferris States arena... and arguably nicer, meaning while I am sure Minot state would be under pressure to upgrade its facilities, it wouldn't need new digs right away to get started. Though if both Minot and U Mary added hockey everyone is going to be looking at NDSU like "Well whats your excuse?"

[nodakvindy]

17 hours ago, SWSiouxMN said:

So this whole Summit/NCHC tweet, would this mean the following:

1) The league would be renamed Summit Hockey?

2) Fenton would be the commish again?

3) St. Thomas joining the league?

4) Who would be the 10th?

I wonder who is driving this. I sure hope it's not a school that isn't even a full DI yet. Summit football with st thomas moving up makes more sense than ruining the NCHC. 

If st thomas does join, I'd expect ASU to join as well and Western and Miami to leave

If the MAC schools leave I could see another reshuffling among CCHA, Atlantic Hockey, Lindenwood and Long Island into 3 leagues, with a possible resurrection of the WCHA name for the third league. 

[The Sicatoka]

6 hours ago, nodakvindy said:

I wonder who is driving this.

First, is it a thing or did some random Twitter see a speculative thread on a site like this (and run with it for clicks). 

Next, Fenton was NCHC commish and is Summit commish. This could be a move to consolidate administrative costs of both and essentially nothing more. I'd think UND, DU, and Omaha would be questioning why they are paying two commissioners when one (Fenton) has the experience to run all of it. 

If there was a reshuffle of the NCHC Summit hockey line-up I'd run with 'vindy's supposition: WMU and Miami move out; StT and ASU move in. (What WMU and Miami trigger beyond that is pure guess.)

[FSSD]

22 hours ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

they were added late when the other und turned down the nchc invite...so they were then added to kinda grab the minny market...so now that St Thomas is in do we even need those losers?  nope! c ya and say hi to roy saigo on the way out

Exactly, if you don't know who roy saigo is then you don't understand.  SCSU made their bed, they got to go.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

UMKC was mentioned as exploring hockey a while back, wonder if that is still a possibility.

[nodak651]

17 minutes ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

UMKC was mentioned as exploring hockey a while back, wonder if that is still a possibility.

There were two arena projects in Kansas City that were in the 3-5K seat range.  I believe both got scaled way back after covid, but I think someone may have reached out to UMKC to see if they were interested in starting a team and playing at either of those rinks.  Only think that really makes sense to me because I think the article you were referring to classified UMKC starting hockey as just barely beyond a rumor.

I think both of the plans below got scaled back far enough that they now look more like a typical high school arena or they aren't even being built.   For the record, I'm completely guess that this is where the rumor of UMKC potentially adding hockey came from.

https://arenadigest.com/2019/01/30/overland-park-olathe-arena-proposals-pitched/

[The Sicatoka]

If Tennessee State would "poop or get off the potty" on a decision an "Almost Appalachia" conference could be spliced together. A look at a map ... 

Miami, Lindenwood, TnSU, UA Huntsville ... they'd probably lure Bowling Green and when you look at a map ... Omaha might be interested in staying south more in winter. 

[SIOUXFAN97]

4 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

If Tennessee State would "poop or get off the potty" on a decision an "Almost Appalachia" conference could be spliced together. A look at a map ... 

Miami, Lindenwood, TnSU, UA Huntsville ... they'd probably lure Bowling Green and when you look at a map ... Omaha might be interested in staying south more in winter. 

but if fenton keeps of georgy bushes "your either with us or against us" mentality...if omaha tries that ...boom your calling the southland forthe oly sports...LOCK IT UP FENTON

[The Sicatoka]

5 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

but if fenton keeps of georgy bushes "your either with us or against us" mentality...if omaha tries that ...boom your calling the southland forthe oly sports...LOCK IT UP FENTON

Was that English? (And no politics, please.) 

[nodak651]

10 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

If Tennessee State would "poop or get off the potty" on a decision an "Almost Appalachia" conference could be spliced together. A look at a map ... 

Miami, Lindenwood, TnSU, UA Huntsville ... they'd probably lure Bowling Green and when you look at a map ... Omaha might be interested in staying south more in winter. 

If we are looking at a pipe dream conference, you gotta include Georgia and Liberty, with High Point situated between.  Add Tenn State, UAH, and Lindenwood, and you have a decent geographic footprint!

[The Sicatoka]

17 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

If we are looking at a pipe dream conference, you gotta include Georgia and Liberty, with High Point situated between.  Add Tenn State, UAH, and Lindenwood, and you have a decent geographic footprint!

< gets pipe passed to him >

Dude, you brought up KC ... them too ...

< long hit > 

[nodak651]

1 hour ago, The Sicatoka said:

< gets pipe passed to him >

Dude, you brought up KC ... them too ...

< long hit > 

[The Sicatoka]

C'mon @nodak651they're all just ...

[nodak651]

7 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

C'mon @nodak651they're all just ...

Agree, Kansas City would be great.  I'm just saying I didn't bring them up!

[The Sicatoka]

1 minute ago, nodak651 said:

Agree, Kansas City would be great.  I'm just saying I didn't bring them up!

OK, @AlphaMikeFoxtrotbrought up KC, but you had cool architectural images!