More teams will equal more money for the league as a whole. I also believe in the end UAH will be able to find a home in the CCHA so we don't bleed anymore NCAA division one hockey teams. I do think UAH coach Danton Cole will be able to put a competitive team on the ice in the CCHA. Personally, I don't want to see the NCAA go down the road of pulling bids due to a dwindling number of college hockey teams.
The only surprise about UNO leaving the CCHA for the WCHA is that the entire deal was completed today. Before today, it seemed that it was going to be a process that would take a few weeks, but once the parameters of an agreement between UNO and the WCHA were complete, there probably was little reason to drag the process out. In fact, perhaps Trev Alberts pushed to get the whole deal completed immediately so that there were no opportunities for "surprises" down the line.
The winners in this deal are obvious: college hockey gains by keeping Bemidji State's program alive. The WCHA gets bigger, and probably will earn more revenue with more rounds of playoff hockey. UNO reduces their travel costs and gets to share in the larger pool of revenue that the WCHA affords.
The loser? The CCHA loses UNO and the playoff revenue that is generated in Omaha. The CCHA will likely get the consolation prize of Alabama-Huntsville, but the unhappiness of the CCHA is clear from their terse news release.
So what, is it the Final Six now?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it'll be something along the lines of a Super Six like the cup cake tournament has in Detroit. Remember though, UNO and BSU won't be in the WCHA until at least sometime in 2010, so the Final Five will probably be the Final Five for at least one more season. Hey goon, have you been watching the draft at all? The Wild finally decided to pick a local, home-grown boy, and it just happened to be one of the two I recommended: Nick Leddy from Eden Prairie high school.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm graduating a year before all this crap happens, I get to experience the last year of the real tWCHA :D
ReplyDeleteGoon, what type of road trip crowd will make its way down from NoDak to Omaha? I am thinking the caravan from NoDak and the surrounding areas will be pretty high. I mapped out Omaha from various places - GF, Twin Cities, Madison, Denver, etc and the distance to Omaha is practically the same. Maybe an hour(-ish) difference depending these cities, but basically the same type of trip - 7 to 8 hours. The Chamber of Commerce folks in Omaha have to be excited about the possibilities.
ReplyDeleteBoosh where you are looking to live after you graduate from MTU?
ReplyDeleteWCHA, I don't know what they are going to do with the playoffs, I think there will probably be a super 6.