UCONN to Hockey East

Hockey East Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It would appear that the Huskies of the University of Connecticut will probably be leaving the AHA and moving to Hockey East, it has been thrown around a bit the past couple of months. One of the interesting things that I found in this article was that Hockey East actually wanted to add the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Miami University Redhawks. It almost appears that the UCONN Huskies were the third choice of Hockey East. 

Allen Lessels, New Hampshire Union Leader --- Talks between Hockey East and UConn officials have heated up in recent months and both sides have been studying the feasibility of teaming up. While no formal invitation has been extended to the Huskies yet, it's clear that — barring any last-minute hitches — it's only a matter of time before one will be.

“Right now, we're looking very closely at UConn,” said Marty Scarano, the director of athletics at UNH. “I think it's safe to say that it's very close to being consummated.”

Hockey East started out as a seven-team league for the 1984-85 season and added Merrimack for the 1989-90 season, Massachusetts (1994-95) and Vermont brought it to 10 teams in 2006-07.

A major overhaul of the college hockey landscape — including the creation of Big 10 hockey for 2013-14 that will include Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin — led to Notre Dame coming to Hockey East.

“Once we made the move to 11, we had to make the move to 12,” Scarano said. “We knew that. We had talked to Notre Dame and Miami of Ohio and when Miami elected not to join us, we had to cast our attention elsewhere.”

So with an extra spot in AHA Hockey - there's an open slot as well in the WCHA - does one of these two  conferences step up and offer the University of Alabama Huntsville Chargers a spot in their conference? The Chargers still need a conference to call home. I get the feeling that all of the movement we have seen the last two summers might not entirely be over yet. Or is it?  

Related articles

• UCONN exploring move to Hockey East

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• UCONN exploring move to Hockey East

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• Hockey East Focusing On Recruiting UConn To Join Conference

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• Hockey East Commissioner Says Conference Is Targeting University of Connecticut in Expansion

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UND 5th in final INCH Power Rankings

1. Boston College 33-10-1 (19-7-1 Hockey East, 1st)
2. Ferris State 26-12-5 (16-7-5 CCHA, 1st)
3. Minnesota 28-14-1 (20-8-0 WCHA, 1st)
4. Union 26-8-7 (14-4-4 ECAC Hockey, 1st)
5. North Dakota 26-13-3 (16-11-1 WCHA, 4th)
6. Minnesota Duluth 25-10-6 (16-7-5 WCHA, 2nd)
7. Michigan 24-13-4 (15-9-4 CCHA, 2nd)
8. Denver 24-15-2 (15-11-2 WCHA, 4th)
9. Miami 24-15-2 (15-11-2 CCHA, 4th)
10. Western Michigan 21-14-6 (14-10-4 CCHA, 3rd)
11. Cornell 19-9-7 (12-4-6 ECAC Hockey, 2nd)
12. UMass Lowell 24-13-1 (17-9-1 Hockey East, t-2nd)
13. Air Force 21-11-7 (15-6-6 Atlantic Hockey, 1st)
14. Boston University 23-15-1 (17-9-1 Hockey East, t-2nd)
15. Maine 23-14-3 (15-10-2 Hockey East, 4th)
16. Harvard 13-10-11 (8-5-9 ECAC Hockey, 3rd)
17. Michigan State 19-16-4 (14-11-3 CCHA, 5th)
18. Colgate 19-17-3 (11-10-1 ECAC Hockey, 4th)
19. Merrimack 18-12-7 (13-9-5 Hockey East, 5th)
20. RIT 20-13-6 (14-7-6 Atlantic Hockey, t-3rd)

One more final time this season; as always I include the INCH Power Rankings, because I find them amusing.  In the final INCH Power Rankings, nothing really jumps out here as being really controversial.

On a side note, some fans like to bag on the guys from INCH and personally, I think INCH does a good job covering college hockey. I have had the pleasure of meeting Jess Myers the last couple of years at the Final Five and Jess is one of the funniest and also one of the nicest guys that I have ever met, he is a class act as well.

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CBS SPORTS NETWORK SIGNS MULTI-YEAR DEAL WITH NCHC

Image via WikipediaOfficial Press Release 

CBS Sports Network has agreed to a multi-year agreement with the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference, beginning in the 2013-2014 season. CBS Sports Network will be the exclusive national television partner for the conference, which will feature eight of the nation’s top college hockey programs. The announcement was made today by Dan Weinberg, Senior Vice President, Programming, CBS Sports Network, and Jim Scherr, Commissioner of the National.

The agreement calls for a minimum of 18 conference games, including the National’s semifinal and championship contests. Currently six teams that will be in the new conference are ranked in the USCHO.com Top 20 poll.

“With top teams and passionate fan bases, the National is poised to be an elite college hockey conference, and we’re thrilled to be the national television partner,” said Weinberg. “College hockey has been a staple of our programming and we’re pleased to expand our coverage and further serve fans with compelling and competitive conference action.”

“We are delighted to be associated with the preeminent national broadcaster of college hockey,” said Scherr. “It is our goal to be the premier single-sport conference in intercollegiate athletics and the unmatched exposure and production quality that will be provided by CBS Sports Network will contribute significantly to realizing that vision.”

Currently, CBS Sports Network’s comprehensive college hockey coverage includes action from Hockey East, ECAC, CCHA, WCHA and Atlantic Hockey.

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Some from Hockey East not embracing Fighting Irish Move.

I found this article in the Lowell Sun to be interesting and also a bit over the top, I guess not everyone is excited about having the Fighting Irish in Hockey East. I also agree with Mike Machnik because there will be more opportunities for non conference games with the formation of the Big Ten and NCHC conferences.

Chaz Scoggins; Lowell Sun --- If you're one of Hockey East's elite programs, like BC, Boston University, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, that shouldn't be much of a problem. Those schools have wanted to have the latitude to play more than seven non-league games for awhile now, and those are teams every other school in the country wants to play.

But if you're not one of the elite programs, if you're UMass Lowell, UMass Amherst, Providence, Merrimack, and Northeastern, trying to find 14 worthy non-league opponents is going to be a major headache.

Sure, those schools could schedule a flock of games against Atlantic Hockey teams like UConn, Bentley, Holy Cross, and Sacred Heart. But scheduling and beating those teams only hurts you if you're trying to earn an at-large berth for the NCAA Tournament.

The notorious pairwise rankings are a major factor in determining at least 12 of the 16 NCAA berths, and a big part of the pairwise formula is strength of schedule. It doesn't do the River Hawks much good if they win 25 games but nine or ten of those victories are against ACHA schools, while Vermont might have won only 21 games but had a handful of wins over perennial national powers like North Dakota, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

LSSU Lakers face crucial decisions...

Image via WikipediaPeter Pietrangelo; Sault Ste. Marie Evening News has this article in today's newspaper. This is definitely a doom and gloom scenario. There is time for a solution, there are two years before the Big Ten and NCHC start play.

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. — If Lake Superior finds its place in the rapidly shifting world of college hockey, in five years it will be competitive for a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 15 years.

But if LSSU gets it wrong, it will be the end of Laker hockey. There is no middle ground.

The WCHA has no interest in taking the CCHA's leftovers — LSSU, Ferris St. and Bowling Green — and without a conference with an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the Lakers will find it almost impossible to schedule enough home games to fund the program.

LSSU is never going to be competitive on a yearly basis with the Michigans, Notre Dames and North Dakotas of the world; it has neither the money nor the cachet to keep up with the sport's big spenders like the Big Ten or the newly-formed National Collegiate Hockey Conference. While LSSU has enjoyed a relatively problem-free ride with the CCHA for nearly 40 years, those days are numbered. Going forward, here are LSSU's choices:

• Attempt to join the WCHA. This solution would be good for LSSU athletically, but neither competitively nor financially. And the WCHA doesn't seem to be open to a school that isn't a good geographic fit. This will not happen.

• Attempt to join an already-established conference. Atlantic Hockey already has 12 teams — and the Lakers would have to drop six scholarships to join. The NCHC, ECAC and Hockey East are also out of the question. Again, not going to happen.
• Go on as an independent. The only current independent team is Alabama-Huntsville. The Chargers played just 10 home games last year and have 12 home games this year (two are against the U.S. U-18 program). LSSU couldn't make enough money in this arrangement and would have even more difficulty drawing recruits.

• Attempt to salvage the CCHA. If Alaska stays, the CCHA could get Alabama-Huntsville on board to make a five-team conference. Then just one more team would have to be recruited. Mercyhurst, Niagara, Canisius, Robert Morris and Rochester Institute of Technology could be viable candidates, both geographically and competitively. If Alaska bolts for the WCHA, then two teams would have to be recruited to join.

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