CCHA and WCHA merging?

S/T to my buddy Mike Swainey for giving me a heads up on this article. It would appear that the CCHA and the WCHA have had preliminary discussions about merging the remaining teams from the CCHA and the WCHA. I believe that this move would make a lot of sense and would form a pretty decent Division I college hockey conference.

Kevin Gordon Sentinel-Tribune - Discussions regarding a merger of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association were held Tuesday in Chicago. Representatives of the two leagues met for "exploratory talks" about a merged 10-team league, CCHA commissioner Fred Pletsch said Tuesday.
Pletsch said the league commissioners will go back to their respective athletic directors to determine if further talks will take place. Bowling Green was represented at the meeting by Jim Elsasser, associate athletics director for internal affairs.

The 11-team CCHA already has lost five members in the last five months during its sport's realignment, while the 12-team WCHA has lost seven members during the same time span. All of the realignment becomes effective after the 2012-13 season.

Most likely, a merged league from the CCHA and the WCHA would consist of BG, Ferris State, Lake Superior and Alaska (Fairbanks) of the CCHA; and Alaska-Anchorage, Bemidji State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State (Mankato), Northern Michigan and St. Cloud.

Northern recently left the CCHA for the WCHA, also effective after the 2012-13 season. BG still is exploring its options for league membership starting with the 2013-14 season. University officials already have had discussions with the WCHA, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and four members of the Atlantic Hockey Association.

Jason Knavel, BG's assistant athletics director for athletic communications, said Tuesday the school has not made any decision in regards to what league it will join and no options have been ruled out.
The other remaining CCHA schools are Notre Dame and Western Michigan.

But Notre Dame is not expected to remain in the CCHA once all of the realignment is complete. The Fighting Irish are considering a move to the fledgling NCHC or Hockey East, or scrapping league membership entirely and playing as an independent.

ND will inform the CCHA of its decision at the league's annual summer meetings Aug. 15-16 in Dearborn, Mich., ND associate media relations director Tim Connor said. Once the Fighting Irish announce their decision, the rest of college hockey's realignment is expected to be completed quickly.
Western AD Kathy Beauregard has said all along her school would like to follow ND to whatever league it joins, if the Fighting Irish decide to join a league.

"In our conversations with Notre Dame, they have been waiting for some television information," Beauregard told the Kalamazoo Gazette about ND's decision not to announce its decision so far. One rumored proposal has the newly-formed Versus/NBC partnership airing college hockey games, including those from the NCHC.