Sunday, August 07, 2011

WCHA commissioner has a busy couple of weeks

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logoImage via WikipediaWCHA fans do you feel confident when you read that Bruce McLeod is going to Fairbanks, Alaska to talk to the Fairbanks administration? If my team was going to be in the WCHA after the 2013-2014 season, I would be concerned.
Mick Hatton; SC Times --- McLeod was in Chicago on Tuesday and met with Central Collegiate Hockey Association officials. On Monday, McLeod leaves to meet with officials at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

McLeod would not characterize the talks he had with the CCHA as about a possible merger between the two conferences.

“We had a good discussion with the CCHA, agreed to some common ground and talked about some things that could be on the table when we get the whole group together to meet in the future,” McLeod said. “I wouldn’t read too much into the meeting one way or another. It was good and positive and we have a lot of hurdles to overcome.

“It always gets back to do we worry about ourselves and get back to eight (WCHA) members or do we think of the greater good of college hockey? I think more than anything, we’re just trying to keep as nimble as we can possibly be. Gradually, we’ll get ourselves to making a decision.”

McLeod is heading to Alaska after being asked to visit the CCHA school by a committee of athletic directors of the five WCHA schools (St. Cloud State, Alaska-Anchorage, Bemidji State, Michigan Tech and Minnesota State-Mankato) that plan to remain in the conference in 2013-14. St. Cloud State is being represented on that committee by Gino Gasparini, who is a special adviser to St. Cloud State President Earl H. Potter III for athletics. That committee is being headed by Michigan Tech.

Alaska-Anchorage, obviously, has an interest in having Alaska-Fairbanks in the same conference.

“I haven’t been up there for a long time ... and I’m going to get a sense of the program commitment. They’ve been fairly aggressive up there,” McLeod said of being in contact with the WCHA. “I can understand why it’s best for those two (Alaska) schools, but I’m not sure I’m convinced it’s the best for everybody.

“They need to convince me why it’s best for the
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