CCHA membership a foggy possibility for Mercyhurst

Here is an interesting Article about Mercyhurst College and their interest in pursuing membership in the CCHA. It would appear from the article that Mercyhurst is actually interested in joining the CCHA but also in the CCHA's geographical footprint as well. It would also appear that Mercyhurst might actually be a better fit in the CCHA than UAH.

I think the other issue is number of scholarships awarded to players. The AHA only allows their teams to gives out 12 scholarships as opposed to the CCHA being able give out eighteen scholarships. So in theory I could see how a college hockey program might want to up grade their program and be able to increase the number of scholarships they can award.

Lastly, it would also seem logical that if Mercyhurst College moved to the CCHA, UAH might be able to slide into the AHA and solve the conference issues. Also, as a college hockey fan I wouldn't want UAH to have to hang out there too long without conference affiliation.

Is the Central Collegiate Hockey Association part of Mercyhurst College's future?

School administrators are exploring the possibility of applying to the 12-team CCHA, one of the top NCAA Division I men's hockey conferences.

The CCHA will be reduced to 11 teams after this season when Nebraska-Omaha leaves to join the Western Collegiate Hockey Association for the 2010-11 season.

The CCHA has no plans for immediate expansion.

"We have no plans to add a new member for 2010-11,'' CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos said in an e-mail interview. "We are currently trying to finalize a new schedule with 11 teams for 2010-11. At this time, we have not addressed our future plans specifically related to our membership make-up.''

Mercyhurst athletic director Joe Kimball said the school has had preliminary discussions with CCHA officials, but has not applied to the conference.

He said Mercyhurst remains committed to its Atlantic Hockey Association membership.

"Right now, this is just a thought,'' Kimball said. "We're just thinking out loud and asking some questions and kind of sniffing around a little bit to see what the CCHA is all about.''

The CCHA consists of Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Miami (Ohio), Alaska Fairbanks, Nebraska-Omaha, Lake Superior, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Northern Michigan and Western Michigan.

"We don't know if the CCHA wants to expand to 12 teams or if they want to stay at 11,'' Kimball said.

"My job right now is to find out as much as I can about the league, and that's why I am waiting to have additional talks with Tom Anastos, so we can get a better idea of whether this would be a good move for us not only as a hockey program, but as a college.''

Kimball said he and Anastos have had two discussions in the past two weeks.

Anastos said the CCHA entry fee for a new member is $250,000, which includes a $10,000 application fee. If a school is not accepted, the $10,000 application fee is non-refundable.

"Administrators from Mercyhurst have contacted me to find out about our league, our future plans and the process for membership application,'' Anastos said. "They are doing some fact-finding.''

Mercyhurst has been a member of the 10-team Atlantic Hockey Association since 2003.

The AHA will expand to 12 teams for the 2010-11 season with the addition of Niagara and Robert Morris.

"Geographically, Mercyhurst College and Erie fit in wonderfully into the CCHA footprint,'' Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin said. "But no one has told us they want to add a 12th team. We're just assuming they would like to, because 11 seems like an odd number.''

Besides playing some of the nation's best teams, a move to the CCHA likely would allow the Mercyhurst men's program to fund the maximum 18 NCAA Division I scholarships per season.

The AHA schools enforce a 12-scholarship limit.

"You'd have to look at that,'' Kimball said. "Is that feasible for us, because that's what that league entails.''

There would be other advantages to a CCHA move.

"The two positives about this conference is the travel being less than it is in the AHA, and the quality of teams,'' Kimball said.

The CCHA denied Alabama-Huntsville's membership application this past summer largely because of its proximity to the rest of the league.

"Say what you want, but I believe, geographically, we're the closest team to CCHA country,'' Gotkin said.
[Go Erie]

It would appear that the distances for Mercyhurst are as far as the UAH distances.

Central Collegiate Hockey Team Miles
Alaska 3,939
Bowling Green 190
Ferris State 294
Lake Superior State 368
Miami (Ohio) 356
Michigan 269
Michigan State 333
Northern Michigan 474
Notre Dame 318
Ohio State 212
Western Michigan 283

Here was the UAH distances that were outlined from before.

UM - UAH 651 miles
BGSU - UAH 585 miles
OSU - UAH 510 miles
MSU - UAH 672 miles
NMU - UAH 990 miles
ND - UAH 560 miles
LSSU - UAH 951 miles
NMU - UAH 657 miles
MU - UAH 442 miles
UAF - UAH 4137 miles
FSU - UAH 768 miles
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