League realignment?

It looks like realignment is coming to Division one hockey according to DU hockey blogger Mike Chambers. I don't doubt Mike Chambers because of his reputation and Mike has been pretty accurate in the past. Seriously, you have to be accurate if you are going to be employed very long as a journalist. It doesn’t do Chambers any good to release information that is inaccurate and false. Think about it, Chambers is from Denver, Colorado, the league office at Denver University.

In the past I have said that realignment will come to the WCHA, there is a lot of people that said it wouldn’t’ happen. I have also said that the NCAA could come down at any time and tell the established leagues (CCHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC AHA) that if they don't absorb these CHA teams that the NCAA could start pulling at large bids.

Personally if this realignment does happen it’s good for me because that means I can spend two more weekends a winter drinking beer with my buddies from Bemidji. Also, now we can go from a final five to final six. It works in the CCHA so it can work in the WCHA as well.

College hockey conference realignment
by Mike Chambers on November 8, 2008

Conference expansion is on its way, folks. Because of the looming demise of College Hockey America, don’t be surprised if the WCHA and the AHA go from 10 to 12 teams, with Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha joining the WCHA and Robert Morris and Niagara going to the AHA.

This isn’t just opinon. I can’t divulge my sources, but this is what is being discussed by conference commissioners. And it makes sense.

The CHA currently has Robert Morris, Alabama-Huntsville, Niagara and Bemidji State. It’s a joke, because the four-team conference gets an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. That’s going to change. Robert Morris and Niagara have applied for entrance to the AHA. If they are accepted, the AHA will go from 10 to 12 teams.

What we need next is for Nebraska-Omaha to apply to the WCHA, and get accepted along with Bemidji State, which previously has applied. UNO, which currently plays in the CCHA, will be replaced by Alabama-Huntsville.

UNO is a natural fit for the WCHA, with strong state rivalries with Colorado and Minnesota. Alabama-Huntsville isn’t a fit for anyone, but … if UAH goes to the CCHA, we would have five conferences with a near equal amount of teams.

The WCHA, CCHA, AHA and ECAC would have 12 teams, and Hockey East 10. Under this plan, there would be five automatic bids to the 16-team national tournament for winning conference titles.

Bemidji Election Update:

You will be happy to know that Richard Lehmann defeated challenger Nancy Erickson, the current Ward 5 representative, by roughly 900 votes as he gathered 3,512 votes to her 2,625 (57 percent to 43 percent). So now we know the Bemidji events center will go a head as planned. Now lets get the damn thing built, enough with the stalling and grand standing by politicians with personal agendas. Thank God the pro-event center people won.