College Hockey Expansion

[Rebel_Sioux]

14 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

100% chance they announce it this spring, IMO.  With the amount of work they have put into the new arena project and the outspokenness of their AD or President since the NHL sponsored study, I can't see this not happening.  And the more teams the better.  Tons of parity in college hockey, and maybe more teams can help UND separate themselves from the pack again, as talent gets diluted across more teams.

The writing is certainly on the wall. As an IL resident though I dont know how they can justify the costs. 

[nodak651]

1 hour ago, Rebel_Sioux said:

The writing is certainly on the wall. As an IL resident though I dont know how they can justify the costs. 

It's other peoples money!

At least hockey does have the potential to be profitable.  Penn State has booked a profit every year since their programs inception http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-hockey-with-five-years-at-pegula-on-the-books-program-continues-to-turn-profit,1479245/.  Don't know much about Champaign, but it seems like the arena complex will be good for downtown, and the general community will benefit from 2 additional ice sheets and a hotel and anything else that is included in the plans.  That said, I don't have any idea how much money taxpayers would be pumping into this.  I think probably have a similar line of thought when it comes to funding projects like this with taxpayer money. 

[mikejm]

5 hours ago, nodak651 said:

At least hockey does have the potential to be profitable.  Penn State has booked a profit every year since their programs inception 

But...Penn State got a rink for free. And, iirc, an endowment to pay the ongoing costs.

[SiouxVolley]

U Penn is having its old arena upgraded to have youth teams play year round, courtesy of the Flyers owners.

https://www.philly.com/business/snider-hockey-partners-upenn-grow-youth-program-rink-million-20190222.html

The Ivy League doesn’t officially offer hockey now, as the ECAC does instead, but Penn restarting a program would be feasible with their massive endowment of nearly $14 billion.

[HockeyFan31]

On 2/15/2019 at 3:48 PM, nodak651 said:

It's other peoples money!

At least hockey does have the potential to be profitable.  Penn State has booked a profit every year since their programs inception http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-hockey-with-five-years-at-pegula-on-the-books-program-continues-to-turn-profit,1479245/.  Don't know much about Champaign, but it seems like the arena complex will be good for downtown, and the general community will benefit from 2 additional ice sheets and a hotel and anything else that is included in the plans.  That said, I don't have any idea how much money taxpayers would be pumping into this.  I think probably have a similar line of thought when it comes to funding projects like this with taxpayer money. 

I could be wrong on this take, but Penn St also has a football program that can darn near finance the rest of their athletic department. Illinois does not have that and their basketball program being down doesn't help either.

I still think there is a good chance it happens for Illinois, but I'm not sure it's as much of a slam dunk as Penn St was.

[Yote 53]

On ‎2‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 9:10 AM, HockeyFan31 said:

I could be wrong on this take, but Penn St also has a football program that can darn near finance the rest of their athletic department. Illinois does not have that and their basketball program being down doesn't help either.

I still think there is a good chance it happens for Illinois, but I'm not sure it's as much of a slam dunk as Penn St was.

Pfft.  The check the Big Ten cuts Illinois is for the same amount as the one they cut Penn State.  The media rights check from the conference office is over $50 million per Big Ten team now.  There isn't a single BIG athletic program who can use the "we can't afford it" excuse when it comes to hockey.  They can ALL afford it, it's whether they want to do it or not.

Somebody get all over Iowa's butt next.  There is a brand new 7,000 seat ice arena going up in Coralville/IC.  No excuse for Iowa to not have a program too.  

Nebraska as well.  Pinnacle Bank Arena is ice ready.

[cberkas]

1 hour ago, Yote 53 said:

Pfft.  The check the Big Ten cuts Illinois is for the same amount as the one they cut Penn State.  The media rights check from the conference office is over $50 million per Big Ten team now.  There isn't a single BIG athletic program who can use the "we can't afford it" excuse when it comes to hockey.  They can ALL afford it, it's whether they want to do it or not.

Somebody get all over Iowa's butt next.  There is a brand new 7,000 seat ice arena going up in Coralville/IC.  No excuse for Iowa to not have a program too.  

Nebraska as well.  Pinnacle Bank Arena is ice ready.

They also have a practice sheet right there too.

[Siouxperfan7]

The more B1G schools (and PAC12 down the road) that have a D1 college hockey program, the better.

[HockeyFan31]

18 hours ago, Yote 53 said:

Pfft.  The check the Big Ten cuts Illinois is for the same amount as the one they cut Penn State.  The media rights check from the conference office is over $50 million per Big Ten team now.  There isn't a single BIG athletic program who can use the "we can't afford it" excuse when it comes to hockey.  They can ALL afford it, it's whether they want to do it or not.

Somebody get all over Iowa's butt next.  There is a brand new 7,000 seat ice arena going up in Coralville/IC.  No excuse for Iowa to not have a program too.  

Nebraska as well.  Pinnacle Bank Arena is ice ready.

Fair points.

I have also always thought Nebraska would be one of the next from the B1G to make the hockey jump with their arena situation and, again, a football program that can basically fund their entire athletic department.

[cberkas]

The ACHA National Tournament in going on at the Dallas Stars practice facility. It would be perfect of TCU, SMU, or North Texas if they added hockey.

[Langster019]

On 3/6/2019 at 4:30 PM, Yote 53 said:

Pfft.  The check the Big Ten cuts Illinois is for the same amount as the one they cut Penn State.  The media rights check from the conference office is over $50 million per Big Ten team now.  There isn't a single BIG athletic program who can use the "we can't afford it" excuse when it comes to hockey.  They can ALL afford it, it's whether they want to do it or not.

Somebody get all over Iowa's butt next.  There is a brand new 7,000 seat ice arena going up in Coralville/IC.  No excuse for Iowa to not have a program too.  

Nebraska as well.  Pinnacle Bank Arena is ice ready.

This. 

They are in a hot bed of recruiting, as Nebraska would be too, with the USHL. And with so many kids from “Chicago” at Iowa, that’d be a prime spot for them too. 

Another thing about the building in Coralville is that the initial plan is the intention to also house other lower tier indoor sports (volleyball, women’s basketball perhaps) so that would help in the money aspect. Although as stated money shouldn’t be an issue with what they bring in with TV and football/basketball/wrestling. 

[SiouxVolley]

The Anaheim Ducks have opened their practice facility in Irvine.  The main arena seats 2500,which is small for college hockey but could be doable.  UC-Irvine is nearby and Cal State-Fullerton is just up the freeway.

http://www.cityofirvine.org/orange-county-great-park/great-park-ice

A number of NHL practice facilities could host new college teams, like in St Louis for Lindenwood, Islanders in a Nassau County for Long island U, and others like the Ducks and Stars,

[SiouxVolley]

CHN interviewed Ariz St’s AD Ray Anderson, who stated some PAC12 teams in the Northwest, close to Canada, might be next to take the plunge.

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2019/04/01_QA-With--Arizona-State.php

Thought of Washington and Oregon. Is the Seattle NHL team building a practice facility near UW?  Nike gives Oregon money?

Thought Utah and one of the LA schools would have been next.

 

Edit: Seattle NHL does plan on building a three rink facility with the largest seating being 1000.  Not big enough.  Maybe practice with the Everett rink as a possibility.

https://arenadigest.com/2018/10/08/nhl-seattle-ice-centre-plan-unveiled/

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

59 minutes ago, SiouxVolley said:

CHN interviewed Ariz St’s AD Ray Anderson, who stated some PAC12 teams in the Northwest, close to Canada, might be next to take the plunge.

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2019/04/01_QA-With--Arizona-State.php

Thought of Washington and Oregon. Is the Seattle NHL team building a practice facility near UW?  Nike gives Oregon money?

Thought Utah and one of the LA schools would have been next.

 

Edit: Seattle NHL does plan on building a three rink facility with the largest seating being 1000.  Not big enough.  Maybe practice with the Everett rink as a possibility.

https://arenadigest.com/2018/10/08/nhl-seattle-ice-centre-plan-unveiled/

https://nhlpdx.net/2019/02/22/pac-12-hockey-not-if-but-when/

This lists Colorado as the best PAC-12 candidate to add D1 since their ACHA team is a top club team and they have an arena on campus.

[Yote 53]

Problem with the PAC 12 schools is that they are falling far behind the other P5 conferences in funding.  If not for geographical isolationism the conference would have been picked apart by now.  The PAC 12 Network has been a failure so far and they have now resorted to selling off part of the network for immediate funding in a bid to keep up with other conferences.  None of this hints of any sort of extra cash lying around to start hockey programs.  Of course, the PAC 12 has always treated its non-revenue and Olympic sports much differently than, say, the SEC schools who offer minimal sports offerings and pump all their money into football.  The PAC 12 would be a conference more open to another sport offering, given their history in supporting the Olympic sports.  Hockey could be revenue neutral to revenue positive for them as well, along with providing more content for programming.

The Big Ten is the obvious candidate for a conference to add programs.  The BTHC needs more programs, BTN needs content, the conference is swimming in money, the conference is located in hockey friendly states in the Midwest and Northeast.  It's almost morally wrong that every school in the conference doesn't have a program.

[The Sicatoka]

1 hour ago, Yote 53 said:

The Big Ten is the obvious candidate for a conference to add programs.  ...  It's almost morally wrong that every school in the conference doesn't have a program.

The phrases "Big Ten" and "morally wrong" just seem to fit together.  

[SiouxVolley]

Minot St won another ACHA title, this time over Iowa St.  This has been talked about before, but Minot St seems like a natural replacement for the WCHA if it loses Mankato.  They also have women’s club program to complement an impending No Mich program, so it seems like a perfect fit.

http://www.minotdailynews.com/sports/local-sports/2019/03/minot-state-mens-hockey-tops-iowa-state-for-a-second-national-title/

Of course, money would be a problem, but DII never made sense for them if DI hockey wasn’t a possibility. 

If Bemidji can take their DII hockey program DI, why not Minot?

[dmksioux]

25 minutes ago, SiouxVolley said:

Minot St won another ACHA title, this time over Iowa St.  This has been talked about before, but Minot St seems like a natural replacement for the WCHA if it loses Mankato.  They also have women’s club program to complement an impending No Mich program, so it seems like a perfect fit.

http://www.minotdailynews.com/sports/local-sports/2019/03/minot-state-mens-hockey-tops-iowa-state-for-a-second-national-title/

Of course, money would be a problem, but DII never made sense for them if DI hockey wasn’t a possibility. 

If Bemidji can take their DII hockey program DI, why not Minot?

Freezin’s the reason...wait nevermind, hockey works in cold climates.

[SiouxVolley]

UAH may build a new multipurpose arena on campus.  If that happens, look for UAH to move all sports to DI (don’t have fb ).

https://www.al.com/news/2019/04/uah-proposes-campus-expansion-new-hockey-facility.html

The Von Braun Center is downtown.

[southpaw]

Would love to see CU and CSU both go D1. That would put 5 D1 schools in Colorado.  Unfortunately, they don't both have a place to go. CU and ASU would be good adds to the NCHC after a few years but I don't think that conference should go above 10 or you risk DU and CC leaving for a western conference. 

That would actually be really good for college hockey but not so great for the NCHC. 

Miami and Western aren't leaving, otherwise you could drop those two, add CU, CSU, ASU and another southwest school. AF would never join because they'll get pounded due to lack of resources. 

[northernraider]

21 hours ago, SiouxVolley said:

UAH may build a new multipurpose arena on campus.  If that happens, look for UAH to move all sports to DI (don’t have fb ).

https://www.al.com/news/2019/04/uah-proposes-campus-expansion-new-hockey-facility.html

The Von Braun Center is downtown.

I grew up 90 minutes from Huntsville, have a few friends that went to UAH, and a couple that live in the area now. The city is booming and expected to be the largest one in Alabama by 2024, mostly driven by the aerospace and the automotive industry. UAH is more of a commuter campus so hopefully, this will get more students to stick around for events such as hockey. 

[SiouxVolley]

Apparently, Oakland U has given up on taking over The Palace of Auburn Hills.  Presumably, hockey would have been played there, but The Palace is huge.

https://www.theoaklandpress.com/news/local/livonia-developer-in-talks-to-buy-palace-of-auburn-hills/article_33b2060a-5c8b-11e9-ba3c-af58a6b71025.html

[MafiaMan]

On 4/18/2019 at 10:10 PM, SiouxVolley said:

Apparently, Oakland U has given up on taking over The Palace of Auburn Hills.  Presumably, hockey would have been played there, but The Palace is huge.

https://www.theoaklandpress.com/news/local/livonia-developer-in-talks-to-buy-palace-of-auburn-hills/article_33b2060a-5c8b-11e9-ba3c-af58a6b71025.html

Anyone with half a brain knew that this was a pipe dream from the get-go.

[SiouxVolley]

12 hours ago, MafiaMan said:

Anyone with half a brain knew that this was a pipe dream from the get-go.

Apparently, you thought erroneously that Oakland wanted 22,000 seats.  

They were looking at using the lower bowl and renovating the whole upper bowl complex and part of the parking lot for another college use.  The Palace is close to OU.

The whole Seattle Key Center renovation will cost $900 million.

[MafiaMan]

1 hour ago, SiouxVolley said:

Apparently, you thought erroneously that Oakland wanted 22,000 seats.  

They were looking at using the lower bowl and renovating the whole upper bowl complex and part of the parking lot for another college use.  The Palace is close to OU.

I’m quite familiar with Auburn Hills and its proximity to Oakland U.  This was all a pie-in-the-sky dream, no matter how much you thought it was bound to happen.