College Hockey Expansion

[cberkas]

From the State of the Game press conference:

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"In the NHL, the more players that can come from NCAA hockey directly to the NHL is a good thing for them because the more you can tie their sport, especially in the U.S., to college fanbases, that's an outstanding opportunity for the NHL to grow the game," said Sean Hogan, Executive Director of College Hockey, Inc.

"The more teams we can create, the more fanbases we can create, the more players that come through our pipeline on the road to the NHL is a good thing for everybody. Might not be as the two paths as it used to be. You're going to be 16, 17, 18 years old, play junior hockey wherever you want. When a college hockey team recruits you, they're ready for you, you should be ready for college hockey because that's going to be the next step on the development path to the NHL on the men's side."

There are currently 63 Division I men's college hockey teams. The hope is for there to be more.

"It's my own personal goal, I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to do it, but I'd love to see us grow up to maybe 75 programs," said Tim Troville, Chair of the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Committee. "The player pool is growing."

On Arizona:

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"If I see a rink being built suitable for Division I by a university, there is one is Tuscon, I called the University of Arizona," Hogan added. "It was a hard no. Doesn't mean we didn't try to do it. That's one thing we're out there doing, beating the bushes trying to create more teams. We're doing it too for men's and women's."