NCHC Hockey: Jim Scherr Accepts COO Position with European Games

Colorado Springs, CO (Friday, May 31, 2013) – The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) announced today that NCHC Commissioner Jim Scherr has resigned effective immediately in order to accept the position of Chief Operation Officer for the inaugural European Games.

Scherr, who has served as NCHC Commissioner since January 2012, will oversee the operation of the 49-nation Games in Baku, Azerbaijan -- which will feature up to 10,000 athletes -- in June 2015.

“We knew when we hired Jim that there would come a time when there would be competing bids for his services,” said NCHC Chairman of the Board and University of North Dakota Director of Athletics Brian Faison. “We are grateful for what Jim has done in his time with the NCHC and we are very happy that he has the opportunity to return to the Olympic sports world with the European Games in Baku. We know his expertise will greatly benefit their event.”

Prior to his appointment with the NCHC, Scherr served as the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Chief Executive Officer. During his tenure in that role, he oversaw the U.S. contingent at the 2004 Summer Olympics (Athens), 2006 Winter Olympics (Turin), and the 2008 Summer Olympics (Beijing), while managing a budget in excess of $150 million. Scherr was appointed USOC CEO after having served for 10 years as the Executive Director of USA Wrestling. A former wrestling standout himself, Scherr was a three-time national champion and a 1988 Olympian.

“Jim was presented with what is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Ken Ralph, NCHC Treasurer and Colorado College Director of Athletics. “While it is difficult to see him go, we understand his decision. With what has already been done with our bylaws, operating manuals, office setup and personnel, officiating program, and championship site, we are in a great position for our inaugural season.”

“Serving as commissioner of the NCHC has been a tremendous experience and it is a difficult position to leave behind,” said Scherr. “I want to express my sincere appreciation to the Board for understanding the opportunity presented to me, and for working with me to make it a reality. I regret that I will not be there to lead the conference through its inaugural season, but I have full confidence in the coaches, administrators and conference staff that the NCHC will set the standard for excellence in college hockey.”

Faison said that a search for a new commissioner would begin immediately.

The NCHC, which begins its inaugural season in 2013-14, includes member institutions Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota Duluth, Nebraska Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, and Western Michigan. 

[Link to official press release]

NCAA Hockey: The more things change, the more they won't be the same

Photo from Brian Sullivan, USCHO

This morning, I was reading the Grand Forks Herald, when I came across another great article; Change may-or may not-be coming for college hockey, written by Hall of Fame sports writer Virg Foss. Check it out.

Virg Foss, Grand Forks Herald — Of course more change is already upon us as the Western Collegiate Hockey Association as we’ve known it all our lives breaks apart.

As Minnesota and Wisconsin head to the Big Ten and North Dakota, Duluth, St. Cloud State, Colorado College and Denver land in the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference, more change is coming, like it or not.

We’re already seen that college hockey’s most intense rivalry, that of North Dakota and Minnesota, won’t continue on a yearly basis, at least as long as Don Lucia is coaching the Gophers.

It’s Lucia’s decision to limit that rivalry, against the expressed wishes of past and current UND and Gopher players and fans of all ages. It’s a decision I do not understand and for reasons given by Lucia that are questionable at best.

I am with Virg, I’ve never really understood, why one team would kill a very popular and lucrative college hockey rivalry, but maybe college hockey will go on without it. I am sure that Ohio State and Penn State will fill the void though. Yeah right!  This past spring, when it seemed like there might be a chance to have a mulligan on this historic series, the hockey God’s didn’t allow the rivalry to happen, so maybe it wasn’t meant to be.

Maybe it’s time that we embrace change?

I am almost certain, that Miami and Western Michigan fans will soon hate the team from the University of North Dakota with no-name. Probably, after the second time, the two teams play on the ice.

Moving forward.

After watching 2012-13 college hockey season, nothing really made sense this season. The traditional “sexy” teams (Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, North Dakota, Boston College, Boston University) weren’t in the Frozen Four.  ECAC teams Yale and Quinnipiac proved that you don’t have to have a roster full of NHL first round draft choices to win the NCAA title either.

That doesn’t mean that these teams didn’t have talent, because they had some great talent. Yale had talented guys that bought into a system and played a great team game. Yale was a miserable team to play against, defensively. Yale also got hot at the right time and was the best team for the last four games of the season, when it mattered the most.

The list of teams the Yale Bulldogs beat was impressive, because they beat some of the best teams in the country, to win the NCAA title, erasing any doubts who the best team in the country was.

During that time frame, the Yale Bulldogs took down Minnesota no. 1 seed, North Dakota no. 2 seed, UMass-Lowell no. 1 seed and Quinnipiac no. 1 overall seed. That’s a pretty good hockey resume, it also proved that their season wasn’t a fluke.  If you’re still not a believer, Yale also went 4-0 against the WCHA, a league that sent six teams to the NCAA tourney.

What has happened is the college hockey world has changed, the other schools have found a way to persevere and they overcome some of the self-perceived advantages that the bigger schools thought they had. Apparently  big television contracts and cathedrals  posing as hockey arena’s doesn’t always equate to wins and NCAA titles.

Maybe these teams flew under the radar a bit, while other teams were patting themselves on the back. That being said, the rest of the college hockey world was put back on notice last weekend. There are no gimmes in college hockey, not any more.

Finally, I think what also caught people’s eye, was Yale head coach Keith Allain celebrating a win with his team and enjoying the moment.

KFAN talks about the UND vs. UMN rivalry

Today, KFAN host Paul Allen had former Gophers Nate Miller and Pat Micheletti on the nine to noon show to day and had some interesting things to say about the North Dakota vs. Minnesota rivalry. It was really a good show and if you haven't heard it, it's worth a listen.

At Bucky's Fifth Quarter, Andy Johnson aka Chuck Schwartz has a great post on the UND and UW rivalry and how Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves thought it was a priority to continue the rivalry.

The series also carries historical significance, as it's the last time these two programs will meet in the regular season as members of the WCHA. At the conclusion of the season, Wisconsin will head to the Big Ten Hockey conference, while North Dakota will join the newly formed National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).

After 161 meetings -- UW leads the series, 86-64-11 -- it would be a shame for the rivalry to end with the upcoming conference realignment. That's why, according to Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves, it was a priority to ensure the two teams had a non-conference scheduling agreement in the future.

"A great rivalry, great history," Eaves said. "Both programs wanted to do that and keep it going. It actually was a conversation that wasn't very long with (Dave) Hakstol, their head coach, and we both reached out and both said, 'Let's get this done,' and we were able to do so."

I have to say that I am very happy about UW and UND continuing the historic rivalry.

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WCHA Grants Full-Time Membership to University of Alabama in Huntsville

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

MADISON, Wis. – The Western Collegiate Hockey Association men’s membership voted today (January 17) to admit the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) as a full-time men’s conference member. 

The vote of approval was taken after UAH submitted an application for membership and made a formal presentation to a WCHA group of member-team Presidents and Athletic Directors at a meeting held in conjunction with the NCAA Convention in Dallas, Tex.

The addition of University of Alabama in Huntsville into college hockey’s most historic and successful conference will bring future men’s league membership to 10 teams. Their membership will be effective as soon as 2013-14.

WCHA men’s membership in 2013-14 currently consists of University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Bemidji State University, Bowling Green State University, Ferris State University, Lake Superior State University, Michigan Technological University, Minnesota State University, Mankato and Northern Michigan University.

In issuing a joint statement on behalf of the Association, Dr. Richard Davenport, President of Minnesota State University, Mankato and Chair of the WCHA President’s Group, and Bruce McLeod, Commissioner of the WCHA, said “The WCHA is delighted to have reached in principle an agreement to officially welcome University of Alabama in Huntsville into the Association family as a full-time men’s member. This is a significant day for the Chargers, the community of Huntsville, the conference itself, and college hockey in general. Growing the game and assisting developing programs however possible has always been a charge of the WCHA and this is another positive evolution in our history.

“Each of our member institutions are 100% committed to keeping the WCHA among the premier conferences in all of collegiate athletics and our respective ice hockey programs both strong and vibrant. The University of Alabama in Huntsville is a dynamic, top-quality institution with an excellent academic and athletic reputation and without question the Chargers are going to be a great fit and a successful, contributing member. 

“Just as the entire UAH campus and the Huntsville community are exhilarated to now have a welcoming home for their men’s hockey program, the WCHA is also extremely proud and gratified to be providing that home.”

Said University of Alabama in Huntsville President Robert Altenkirch, “We’re pleased that our ice hockey team is going to have the opportunity to compete and grow in a NCAA Division 1 conference. We believe that our affiliation with the Western Collegiate Hockey Association will be a tremendous boost to our recruiting, scheduling and our ability to be competitive on the ice.

“We want to thank the WCHA and its member institutions for their confidence in allowing us to be a part of their conference. Their affirmative vote will invigorate our ability to maintain our great hockey tradition.”

UAH Director of Athletics Dr. E.J. Brophy said, “All athletic programs experience special defining moments, and our hockey program’s acceptance today into the Western Collegiate Hockey Association is certainly one of those moments. The WCHA is a preeminent hockey conference in America, and I know that our student-athletes, coaches, fans, friends, alums and the people of Huntsville are ecstatic and proud of this giant step for our ice hockey program.

“The last time we were in a conference, we won the conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament, which will be our immediate and ambitious goal when we begin play in the WCHA. It is a banner day for the Chargers.”

The men’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association, home to a record 37 national championships teams since it’s founding in 1951, has been operating as a 12-team conference for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. Current members are University of Alaska Anchorage, Bemidji State University, Colorado College, University of Denver, Michigan Technological University, University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State University, University of Nebraska Omaha, University of North Dakota, St. Cloud State University and University of Wisconsin.

On March 21, 2011, the Big Ten Conference announced the formation of a new Division 1 men’s college hockey league that would include current WCHA-members Minnesota and Wisconsin and begin play in 2013-14. On July 13, 2012, Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota Duluth, Nebraska Omaha and North Dakota announced they would be leaving the WCHA following the 2012-13 season to form another new league, known as the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, which also begins play in 2013-14. Then on Sept. 22, 2011, St. Cloud State announced they were leaving the WCHA for the NCHC.

Putting the final touches on this past weekend.

I never said UND wasn't good. I said they were wrong. That still stands.
— Brandon Veale (@redveale) December 16, 2012

During the summer of 2011 the college hockey world blew up with announcement of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, this was a response to the formation of the Big Ten Hockey Conference.  These new leagues will begin play in the 2013-14 season.

There are a lot of fans that are unhappy with what has transpired.

This is the last season, before the CCHA disbands and teams leave for the Big Ten Hockey Conference and the NCHC. I expect, as the season winds down that there will be more articles like “Last Minute of hate in this period/The Red Line” which was written by Brandon Veale Sports Editor of the Mining Gazette.

In retrospect, I wonder if Veale regrets writing that article or not. I think all he did was fire up the UND hockey team even more. In the post-game of last night’s game head coach Dave Hakstol said that the team was aware of the article and some of the chatter on twitter as well.

I understand why the fans of the Anchorage, Michigan Tech, Bemidji State, Northern Michigan, Lake State, Bowling Green State University, Mankato State and Fairbanks are mad. I think they have every right to be mad.

I attended BSU for two years before I transferred to UND; I even have a BSU Beaver tattooed to my right calf. So I feel a lot of empathy towards that school.

I wasn’t a big fan of splitting up existing leagues, I would have rather seen PSU join the CCHA and everything would have been alright.

Or would it?  Some of these money issues probably existed before the realignment issue came to bear.

I also think that some of this anger is misdirected. Someone was chirping me on twitter for the realignment, the first thing I said was don’t blame the fans of the various teams that are moving on, blame the school’s athletic directors.

Some teams in the WCHA saw an opportunity to start an old league and break away from the WCHA and it’s leadership.

What I do think is funny; is that DU and UND are the ones that are getting the majority of the blame in this matter; they’re seen by many fans as the two schools that blew up college hockey. PSU and the B1G schools get no blame what-so- ever. I don’t see Veale writing articles slamming Michigan or Michigan State, maybe he will later.

More power to PSU for starting a Division I college hockey team. Maybe just maybe, this will get the ball rolling so other schools will throw their hats in the ring and start college hockey teams. I am all for letting the CIS schools join the NCAA Division I ranks.

If you really think about it, the B1G and the NCHC schools are no different, they’re doing the same thing, but only one conference is getting the majority of the flak. While the other is getting a free pass. We can argue to were blue in the face but this is all about trying to make a buck, it's the American way.

College hockey is not immune to the issues that have driven realignment in division I basketball and football. I just hope the nWCHA doesn't end up being college hockey's Big East.

I think it’s going to be an interesting to see what transpires moving forward. I am not convinced that all of the realignment is totally finished. A lot can happen in 5-10 years.

@redveale How that your team was beaten 6-1 and 4-1 do you regret writing that drive by hit piece?
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) December 16, 2012

College Hockey to fill the void left by the NHL

s/t Fargo Sioux from Sioux Sports. 

The NHLPA and the NHL owners have not scheduled any more negotiations and there appears to have been little progress made during the recent CBA talks this past week.

As each week goes by, I get the feeling that NHL hockey fans are in for a long winter with no hockey. 

No NHL Hockey – no worries – hockey fans have some great options tonight. 

So what would have been the opening week of hockey in the NHL – hockey fans can turn their attention to a pretty nice schedule of Division I college hockey on the television screen tonight.  

Here are the channels these games are all times are Central Standard Time and the games are on Directv. 

603 (6:00 pm) - Maine @ Notre Dame – NBC Sports Net

603 (9:00 pm) - Army @ Nebraska-Omaha– NBC Sports Net

623 (6:30 pm) - St. Cloud @ New Hampshire – Fox College Sports

626 (7:30 pm) - USA U18 @ North Dakota– Fox College Sports

668 (6:00 pm) - Michigan State @ Minnesota – Fox Sports North

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NHL Hockey fans you have options

This post was originally posted at the Hockey Writers.

Due to the impending and inevitable NHL lockout this season a lot of hockey fans of the National Hockey league are going to be looking for other options to fill their NHL hockey void.

May I suggest, giving college hockey a try to fill your NHL hockey void.  

For the college hockey fans this is going to be a very exciting season. First time fans are also going to find out that this is going to be very historic season in the college hockey world as well.

Let me get you up to speed on what is happening in the college hockey world.

Historic Season

The landscape has changed drastically since the summer of 2011 – this was due to a very generous donation from Penn State University alumnus Terry Pegula in September of 2010  – that very large and generous donation allowed Penn State University to start a men’s and women’s division I college hockey team.    

With Terry Pegula, who is the founder and chief executive of East Resources Inc., opened his “rather large” wallet and wrote Penn State a check for $88 million to help the Nittany Lions build Pegula Ice arena.  None the less, that donation rocked the college hockey world, now that the Big Ten “will have” six teams that play college hockey – the B1G by conference rules is required to have a B1G hockey conference – with this generous donation by Pegula – this new conference will begin play during the 2012-13 season. 

With the addition of one University joining college hockey – a tidal wave of change came to college hockey landscape that set the ball in motion for what ended up being a very chaotic summer. With a swipe of a pen – the big name/money schools from the Big Ten Schools that were in both the WCHA and the CCHA dedided to leave the WCHA and CCHA conferences and form the Big Ten Hockey Conference.

On the outside, it would “appear” that the transition for the B1G schools was for the most part seamless.

Not to be out done and in response to the Big Ten hockey conference formation; Miami University from the CCHA decided to join North Dakota, Denver University, Colorado College, and University of Nebraska Omaha to form the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

The NCHC transition was seen as a little rockier as the NCHC schools made what some in the media perceived as a few unimpressive stumbles out of the starting blocks. One of these perceived blunders was in the NCHC’s attempt to lure Notre Dame to become a member of the six team super conference.

That effort fell short when the NCHC leadership didn’t wasn’t too keen on the idea of Notre Dame having their own television deal – the NCHC was looking at inking their national television deal with a sports network.

Hockey East had no problem with Notre Dame having their own television deal and Notre Dame decided to join Hockey East in October of 2011.  

While some fans were perplexed with why the NCHC didn’t look past Notre Dames TV deal the NCHC decided to move on and signed a television deal of their own with CBS Sports Network in the February of 2012. League fans of the NCHC weren’t happy with this deal because many of them thought an exclusivity deal with the NCHC that guarantees at least 18 games was as step down from their current television deals.

In some cases it was.

While the NCHC lost the Fighting Irish, they gained Western Michigan University of the CCHA and Saint Cloud State University of the WCHA.  

If your head is still spinning you’re not alone, the college hockey world wasn’t done changing – the remaining schools from the WCHA and CCHA merged into the WCHA – the CCHA which has been in existence for almost 40 seasons the league will disband after the 2012-13 season.

The new WCHA which will begin play during the 2013-14 season will have the following schools; Bemidji State University, Bowling Green University, Ferris State University, Lake Superior State University, Minnesota State University Mankato, Michigan Tech University, Northern Michigan University, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, University of Alaska Anchorage.

If you thought the movement was over, it wasn’t.  Hockey East with the addition of Notre Dame was sitting at an unattractive and uneven number of 11 schools which makes conference scheduling more difficult. On June 21^st, 2012 Hockey East solved that scheduling issue and accepted the University of Connecticut Huskies of the Atlantic Hockey Association. The UCONN Huskies will begin Hockey East play during the 2014-15 season.

With what has happened the last few summers – this season could shape up to be an exciting season of college hockey – especially with a long term labor dispute – college hockey could take center stage.

The CCHA will play it’s final conference tourney of their history at the Joe Louis Arena on March 21-23 in Detroit and the WCHA will play their final conference tourney the same weekend at the Xcel Energy Center under the current WCHA. Old rivalries will have one more opportunity to renew themselves before teams go their separate ways.

There will be many opportunities to watch college hockey on television, if the NHL gets involved a long term lockout and ends up losing the whole season.

No one knows how long the NHL work stoppage will be if the NHL owners lock the players out.

That being said, an NHL lockout is bound to benefit of Division I college hockey. As we get closer to the season a full television schedule will come out and this is especially handy if you have the sports pack on DirecTV where you  can watch numerous games in three time zones.

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2012-13 UND Hockey Roster is up

The 2012-13 UND Hockey roster is up - as you can see Taylor Dickin is no longer on the team he is now a member of the University of Manitoba.

NCHC selects more of their staff

According to Joe Paisley of USCHO the NCHC picked more of their staff yesterday - it will be interesting to see who else is added to the NCHC staff as the year progresses.

Joe Paisley, USCHO.COM --- The administration for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference continues to develop this summer with new additions to the league office staff.

Verna Toller was hired recently as business operations manager while Mike Moran, a former longtime spokesman for the United States Olympic Committee, signed a short-term contract as a media relations consultant, commissioner Jim Scherr said on Wednesday.

“We’re real excited to bring Verna on board,” Scherr said. “Mike’s a good friend who is just down the hall and has extensive experience in media relations.”

Toller was hired in July after spending nine months with the City of Colorado Springs in the real estate services division. From May 2008 to December 2010, she worked for CB Richard Ellis, an international commercial real estate company, first as the real estate services administrator and later as the assistant real estate manager.

Before taking seven years off to raise her three children, she helped start the Grubb and Ellis/Quantum Commercial Group, a Colorado Springs-based affiliate of Grubb & Ellis Company. In her 10 years there, she advanced from receptionist to office manager and to business operations manager.

Is the NCHC lacking name-recognition?

Chris Peters of the United States of Hockey has this little blurb on his blog today – it’s worth a look. I sure there will be NCHC fans will take issue with some of the things that he said. Or not!

In all honesty, the league didn’t have to do terribly much to seemingly come out ahead on realignment. By just letting things play out and adding Notre Dame, largely due to the league thanks to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s (seriously, that’s as hard to type as it is to say) lack of foresight and possibly arrogance, Hockey East took another significant step forward by attracting UConn.

Meanwhile the NCHC has very little name-recognition, and therefore a second-rate TV deal, a second-rate tournament venue, but a high level of on-ice competition. From a hockey standpoint, it’s a fantastic league, but that’s where it ends. That might be enough for you as a fan, but it’s not enough to lead me or anyone else to believe it’s going to be a great business long term.

The Big Ten Hockey Conference will have good exposure on the Big Ten Network, but it’s still merely a six-team league. Until a few more Big Ten schools step up for hockey, and there’s nothing to indicate that will happen anytime soon, the conference’s size doesn’t make for a lot of variety and excitement, though the rivalries should remain intense. Still, the exposure and brand recognition resonates with the casual fan.

First off, is Chris Right? For disclosure – Chris was not a big fan of the re-alignment that took place last summer, he isn’t alone there are a lot of people that weren’t fans of last summer's re-alignment plan as well. It's not like we had a choice in the matter, said schools pursued this venture without any input from the fans.

That being said, do you agree with what he said? Right now, I am more concerned with what NCHC fans think than the B1G fans. It's obvious that the B1G has name-recognition.

Does the new NCHC has very little name-recognition? In my opinion; no! I am also not so sure how you can say that there is little name recognition with the teams that make up the NCHC. Teams like UND, DU, C.C. UMD have all won NCAA titles and have storied histories.

Add to the mix up and coming teams like Miami University and Western Michigan from the soon to be defunct CCHA and UNO and SCSU and you have the making of a very well balanced hockey league. The NCHC brings to the table 16 NCAA titles, only the B1G will have more NCAA titles (20), so were not talking about a second rate bunch of pathetic cupcakes here. We already know the title counts of all three leagues involved.

Let's take a look at the financials. Historically, the NCHC teams have been successful on the ice as well as financially; if you look you will see that five of the future NCHC teams make about 3.2 million off of their Division I hockey programs as opposed to the reconfigured Hockey East which loses about $395,000 a year of their hockey programs. Only Denver and Western Michigan have lost money with their hockey programs.

I am not here to disrespect Hockey East or (Chris for that matter) because Hockey East is a very good hockey league and has piled up an impressive four NCAA titles during the 2000’s, however, it’s only been two teams that have won the NCAA titles during that time period ( BU and B.C.) – besides the three power schools currently in the Hockey East no other really stands out in that conference, except maybe the University of New Hampshire.

If anything I think that the two leagues are on equal footing as far as name recognition goes in college hockey.

I think historically speaking people are just as familiar with BU and B.C. as they are with DU, UND when it comes to college hockey.

Adding Notre Dame to the Hockey East was a good move but what exactly have they accomplished during their hockey existence? Yep! You will be able to watch your team play Notre Dame when they play their Hockey East foes, but the rest of the league is not going to benefit financially from that television deal.

Breaking it down further – outside of the power schools Boston College, Boston University, Maine and UNH who else in the current Hockey East stands out and packs fans in the stands? Maybe Notre Dame when they get to Hockey East in 2013-14.

Are University of Connecticut hockey fans going to suddenly realize that they have a college hockey team and fill the XL center when it’s 30 miles from their campus? This isn’t the UCONN Men’s or Women’s Basketball teams.

This is a very different animal, the UCONN Huskies hockey team with very little history that is currently a member of the AHA conference, that’s not to say that they can’t evolve into a power house hockey team. Let’s call UCONN a work in progress.

Here is the part that I do agree with Chris with. If the Target Center which is exclusively a Basketball venue doesn’t improve after the 100-150 million dollars improvements Target Center is going to be a second rate tournament venue. That’s really not debatable; the Target Center has its work cut out for it.

The central location of the Target Center does make it an attractive venue and the majority of the fans that have the most rabid fan bases are all driving distance away.

Finally, I am not so sure we can call the deal with CBS Sports a second-rate TV deal, before we even see how it turns out.

Besides the Notre Dame TV deal with NBC Sports Net, how is the rest of Hockey East doing when it comes to games being televised? I have watched a few of the games on NESN via my DirecTV Satellite Dish but I don’t see a lot of UMASS Lowell or Amherst games on the dish.

There are a lot of unknowns going forward – no one knows how this deal is going to shake out – I would say at least give the NCHC a chance before we bury them and kick dirt on a conference that hasn’t even played a collegiate hockey game as of yet.

I also think that it’s too early to declare winners and losers – with college athletics none of this stuff stays static – things change constantly. Who knows, maybe there are more moves in the re-alignment phase before the 2013-14 season kicks off.

Lastly, I know there are a lot of unhappy people with the NCHC Television deal, I gathered this by reading the reactions of the fans over on Brad Schlossman’s blog. Due to the size of UND’s fan base there are a lot of fans that live outside of the Midco.net foot print and watch UND hockey on DirecTV or FTA Satellite dishes. After the upcoming season, many of them are worried that they will no longer be able to watch all of UND’s home games. I too wonder if I need to re-subscribe to Midco.net myself?

In conclusion, there is also no reason to panic just yet because there is a whole year left to work out the details. As we get closer to the kickoff of the NCHC more details will emerge and we will get a better idea what is going to transpire. I also don't think that the NCHC will lack name-recognition.