Bowling Green Unhappy with Travel in WCHA?

Central Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here's a rumor that's was floated by the BGSU Hockey beat writer.

First off, I see no way the members of the current NCHC would ever let Bruce McLeod run a league that they're part of.  So, if there was movement, it would be under the terms of the NCHC schools. Also, Western Michigan was offered an invitation to the WCHA, that they turned down. This was also the same school that was very interested in getting into the NCHC. So, to suggest that they would just up and leave the NCHC, I would question that was one, right away. That does sends up a big flag. Also, Miami has one of their own guys as Commissioners of the NCHC.  It will be interesting to see what else comes out of this. Remember BGSU is the only Division I school in the WCHA. Also, they were the last school to join the new WCHA. I see little chance of WMU and Miami leaving the NCHC to be in a league with BGSU.

CHANGES?: Bowling Green could be headed back to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

Or at least the Falcons could be returning to some form of their old league.

Rumors are circulating throughout college hockey that the next round of realignment could be coming to the sport - even though the latest realignment just took effect this fall.

With the increased travel costs and leagues no longer geographically aligned, schools already are looking at even more realignment - and they're not waiting to see how the current setup works.

Depending on the rumor of the day, there's talk more league changing will take place in the next 3-5 years.

BG appears to be well on its way to contending for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association championship.

And the program is finally on a solid foundation financially, and has the backing of present school and athletics department administrators.

That puts the Falcon program in better position for next round of realignment.

The most popular rumor regarding BG and the other CCHA leftovers which joined the WCHA leftovers in a new WCHA has some or all of the CCHA schools getting back together.

They could be joined by former CCHA members Western Michigan and Miami of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference; or even Canisius, Mercyhurst, Niagara or Robert Morris of Atlantic Hockey.

BG, Miami and Western are members of the Mid-American Conference in all other sports. The four Atlantic Hockey Schools discussed CCHA membership in the past.

The other NCHC members are Denver, Colorado College, Miami, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota and St. Cloud.

The other members of the WCHA are CCHA leftovers Ferris State, Alaska, Lake Superior and Northern Michigan; WCHA leftovers Alaska-Anchorage, Bemidji State, Michigan Tech and Minnesota State; and former NCAA Division I independent Alabama-Huntsville

Now, in his weekly chat, SCSU Husky beat writer Mick Hatton did suggest that BSU and MSU-M could be added to the NCHC. Actually, I had heard a rumor similar to this more than once, from two different people, but that rumor has since died off. Brad Schlossman also said that he thinks that the league will add two teams in the next 3-5 years as well.

Related articles

• College Hockey's Brave New World (insidehockey.com)
• Name the NCHC tourney. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Weekend Match-Ups (by Donn) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

WCHA Promoting B1G Hockey Tourney

I touched on this subject back in March, after the Press Conference,  before the championship game of the Final Five. Looks like the WCHA marketing plan is coming to fruition. Here's a screen shot of the WCHA's webpage. 

Rachel Blount asked, “Can you explain exactly how the Big Ten and the WCHA will be working together and what kinds of things you will be working together on and how you will be partnered?”

Jennifer Heppel responded back with this, “What we have done so far is again the WCHA and the Xcel Energy Center since the time the facility has opened has really built a tradition with the fan base here. We recognize the support the fans in this area have given to college hockey. We have for the last month made available the opportunity to purchase tickets in advance for those fans in this area that supported the WCHA tournament. Tickets for the general public go on sale on Monday. We wanted to extend that opportunity. We worked out some initial joint marketing efforts and we will continue to do that. Again, this community has a lot of fans of specific schools, but you also have just incredible support for hockey and college hockey.  The WCHA and the Big Ten want it to be a seamless transition from year-to-year for those that support college hockey and the “X” has been on that same page, and they don’t want there to be any drop-off in the tradition that has been created.”

So after Jennifer Heppel gave us her canned answer, WCHA Commissioner Bruce McLeod jumped in and said this.

“Rachel… we set a record this year in our packages [tickets]," McLeod said . "We sold pre-tournament wise, I would have to check, almost 13,000 [tickets]. I think. That was a record for us. All of those ticket bases; those email addresses have been shared with the Big Ten people, and hopefully as Jen said the end result is, everyone benefits.  We’re working on the same, you know, kind of the same [fan] base, and sharing all of those names, and I think the basic idea of what Jen says if we can provide, I don’t know what you’re going to call it eventually, the collegiate hockey weekend, or something like that. One year it’s the Big Ten Hockey weekend, the next year it’s the WCHA. The more we can get that across, the better off we’re going to be.”

You got that? Those people that bought tickets to the Red Baron Final Five will get a first crack at next year’s Big Ten Hockey tourney.  So the Big Ten is hoping that you will decide to not go to the WCHA conference tourney in Grand Rapids and instead go the Xcel next season.

That’s absolutely brilliant.

Related articles

• UND Hockey: Remembering the 'Old Ralph' Engelstad Arena (thehockeywriters.com)
• NCAA Hockey: Dog Days of Summer (thehockeywriters.com)

WCHA unveils questionable marketing strategy

Yesterday, I attended the WCHA press conference that was held in the basement of the Xcel Energy Center before the Broadmoor Championship game, and one of the interesting participants at the press conference was Jennifer Heppel, Associate Commissioner, Big Ten Conference.

I am not sure if I am the only one I found it odd that she would be in attendance at the WCHA press conference. Apparently, WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod and Ms. Heppel are pushing a partnership between the Big Ten Hockey Conference, and the WCHA. Which I found odd, since two of the Big Ten Schools are leaving the WCHA for another conference.  Why would you invite them to your press conference?

What you’re going to find odder, is their brilliant new marketing strategy.

You have to give Rachel Blount beat writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune a lot of credit, when they opened the press conference up for questions, the first thing  MS. Blount did was ask a great follow up question of Jennifer Heppel of the Big Ten. In what I would classify as an awkward moment, it went kind of like this.

Rachel Blount asked, “Can you explain exactly how the Big Ten and the WCHA will be working together and what kinds of things you will be working together on and how you will be partnered?”

Jennifer Heppel responded back with this, “What we have done so far is again the WCHA and the Xcel Energy Center since the time the facility has opened has really built a tradition with the fan base here. We recognize the support the fans in this area have given to college hockey. We have for the last month made available the opportunity to purchase tickets in advance for those fans in this area that supported the WCHA tournament. Tickets for the general public go on sale on Monday. We wanted to extend that opportunity. We worked out some initial joint marketing efforts and we will continue to do that. Again, this community has a lot of fans of specific schools, but you also have just incredible support for hockey and college hockey.  The WCHA and the Big Ten want it to be a seamless transition from year-to-year for those that support college hockey and the “X” has been on that same page, and they don’t want there to be any drop-off in the tradition that has been created.”

So after Jennifer Heppel gave us her canned answer, WCHA Commissioner Bruce McLeod jumped in and said this.

“Rachel… we set a record this year in our packages [tickets]. We sold pre-tournament wise, I would have to check, almost 13,000 [tickets]. I think. That was a record for us. All of those ticket bases; those email addresses have been shared with the Big Ten people, and hopefully as Jen said the end result is, everyone benefits.  We’re working on the same, you know, kind of the same [fan] base, and sharing all of those names, and I think the basic idea of what Jen says if we can provide, I don’t know what you’re going to call it eventually, the collegiate hockey weekend, or something like that. One year it’s the Big Ten Hockey weekend, the next year it’s the WCHA. The more we can get that across, the better off we’re going to be.”

You got that? Those people that bought tickets to the Red Baron Final Five will get a first crack at next year’s Big Ten Hockey tourney.  So the Big Ten is hoping that you will decide to not go to the WCHA conference tourney in Grand Rapids and instead go the Xcel next season.

That’s absolutely brilliant.

First off, shouldn't the WCHA be marketing it’s conference tourney in Grand Rapids, Michigan next season? The Big Ten will be in better shape than the WCHA and they really don’t need the WCHA to share it’s email addresses and names with the Big Ten.

Cross-posted at the Hockey Writers Combine. 

Related articles

• WCHA Hockey: What are we doing here? (getrealhockey.com)
• WCHA Hockey: What are we doing here? (thehockeywriters.com)

WCHA News breaking this afternoon at 4:30

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is a big WCHA news conference this afternoon at 4:30 and you can watch it live from this web link. Word has it that there is announcement about the Minnesota Cup, the World Junior Coach and the WCHA’s conference tourney next year. 

What: Joint Press Conference featuring Special Announcements from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, USA Hockey, Inc., and University of Minnesota

and  Bruce McLeod, WCHA Commissioner, Richard MacKeigan, Regional General Manager, DeVos Place & Van Andel Arena, Katy Tigchelaar, Events Manager, West Michigan Sports Commissioner, Jack Larson, Vice-President & General Manager, Xcel Energy Center, Jake Spano, Marketing Director, City of Saint Paul Jennifer Heppel, Associate Commissioner, Big 10 Conference, Dave Fischer, Senior Director of Communications, USA Hockey, Inc. Tom McGinnis, Associate Athletic Director, University of Minnesota.

Saturday, March 23 4:30 pm CT

Press Interview Room, Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, MN

Video Stream link:

http://www.foxsportsnorth.com/livestream

Tweets of interest - WCHA Hockey

I'm sure Bruce McLeod is thrilled at the possibility of doing 3 MacNaughton Cup celebrations at schools who won't be in the league next year
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) March 9, 2013

Zane Gothberg has lost just one of his 11 WCHA starts this season, going 7-1-3. His .773 conference winning percentage leads the WCHA.
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) March 9, 2013

Make me proud again!!! @jocelamoureux17 @moniquelam7 @ashleyfuria91 @megangilbert15 #kickass #gosioux #rolltribe
— Margot Miller (@MargotMiller19) March 9, 2013

Good luck to the UND Women's team @und_wih as they Face the undefeated Gophers 37-0-0 #rolltribe Last team to beat them.
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) March 9, 2013

Less than 24 hours remain in Vote For Hobey fan voting. Be sure to cast your vote for Corban Knight: bit.ly/eNsAOH
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDMHockey) March 9, 2013

Breaking down Minnesota State's tiebreakers. Mavs can finish 4th to 7th in the WCHA: bit.ly/1UiGmx
— Shane Frederick (@puckato) March 9, 2013

Final Score: Gophers pick up a 4-3 win over Bemidji State behind a two-goal night from Nick Bjugstad.
— Gopher Hockey (@GopherHockey) March 9, 2013

Big night tonight. First-time champs could win 4 of college hockey's 5 conference titles (reg-season, Miami could be the lone exception).
— College Hockey, Inc. (@collegehockey) March 9, 2013

Update: WCHA referee Peter Friesema arrested for making bomb threat at Ted Stevens International Airport

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The first thing that I have to say that I hope that the court slaps Friesema with a very heavy fine. There is no excuse for this type of moronic behavior.

According to the TSA guide lines it looks like Friesema can expect a fine, but the fact that the airport was evacuated and commerical flights were delayed could cost him even more.

Ricahard Mauer and Lisa Demer, ADN.COM --- The breach began when a man trying to check in for an Alaska Airlines flight "made a statement about a bomb in a bag," Parrott said.

"That caused us and the airlines, the TSA, the airport police, to have to evacuate the building, the terminal," he said. "That all started shortly after midnight."

The FBI interviewed the passenger, and the threat was determined to be "non-credible," Parrott said. The man's bag was found and removed.

FBI spokesman Eric Gonzalez identified the passenger as Peter Friesema and said airport police arrested him. Friesema was scheduled to appear in state court Sunday afternoon.

The passenger may have just been trying to get attention, Parrott said.

Maybe a half dozen flights involving hundreds of passengers were affected, Parrott said. Some planes arriving early Sunday pulled up at the North Terminal or their passengers were directed to go there, and other planes scheduled to take off around 1 a.m. departed late, causing passengers to miss connections in other cities. A number of airlines were affected, including Alaska, Delta, U.S. Airways and United, he said.

It will be interesting to see how the WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod and head of WCHA officials Greg Shepherd respond to this incident, you can not make these kind of statements at an airport post 9/11.

Here is more details to this story, and looks like Friesema was put in Jail as well.

Airport manager John Parrott says Friesema was jailed at the Anchorage Correctional Complex with bail set at $5,000. [mysanantonio.com]

I sent an email to Doug Spencer Associate Commissioner for Public Relations for the WCHA to see if the Commissioner or the WCHA head of officials had a comment on the matter. "No Comment, Spencer said.

Related articles

• Bad joke prompts Alaska airport evacuation (mysanantonio.com)
• Alaska airport terminal evacuated following bomb threat (foxnews.com)
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My take on the Don Adam hiring by the NCHC

Like I said on twitter today – the NCHC is going to end up being the most discussed league in hockey before they ever play a period of hockey.  Some of the discussion will be positive and some of the discussion will not be so positive. 

@mnstate0fhockey Just think the NCHC is going to be the most discussed hockey league before they ever play a period of hockey @bruceciskie
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) September 20, 2012

Today’s announcement from the NCHC isn't going to sit well with UND hockey fans base.

Earlier this morning, the NCHC, which is set to begin play for the 2013-14 season – added more to the discussion as the league announced that they had hired the much maligned WCHA on ice official Don Adam to be the leagues' first Director of Officiating. Fans of the newly founded NCHC, are luke warm to the leagues' newest personnel move. 

Of course there was grumblings… 

It’s not an understatement to say that this hire is not playing well with the fans – especially UND hockey fans who have watched Don Adam officiate many crucial but also controversial hockey games involving their favorite hockey team over the past 10 years. 

While some will not be happy that I brought this up –  for the most part UND hockey fans do not look favorably on Don Adam and why should they? 

Adam is remembered infamously for being the on ice official when UND Hockey players Robbie Bina and Chay Genoway were injured on the ice while Adam looked on. 

During the 2005 WCHA Final Five semifinal game – Adam incorrectly gave Geoff Paukovich a two minute minor after he drove UND defenseman Robbie Bina from behind head first into the boards breaking his neck.

Adam incorrectly gave Paukovich a two minute minor penalty for the hit. The call was later changed to a five minute major and a game suspension by the WCHA tournament officials. Denver University head coach George Gwozdecky would later give Paukovich an additional game causing Paukovich to miss DU’s first game during the 2005 NCAA playoffs.  

So after that incident UND fans were not so enamored by Don Adam or his officiating skills. Let’s also not forget that Don Adam was one of the officials that was on the ice for the Aaron Marvin hit on Chay Genoway.  

Of course neither on ice referees Tim Walsh and Don Adam saw the play. 

After the play in question  – head official Don Adam conferred with the linesmen – at first the officiating crew incorrectly penalized SCSU defenseman Chris Hepp and he was originally incorrectly given a five minute major  a game misconduct – the mistake was later corrected between periods and Hepp who had taken off his equipment and taken a shower, had to put his equipment back on and rejoin the game.  

Let me just say that UND hockey fans have long memories, but this is not a popular choice among the fans of the NCHC. 

Perusing the fan message boards – there’s a lot of angst and anger over this selection.

Like many other fans, I am am also frustrated with this move, because I thought the NCHC was formed by likeminded schools that wanted to get away from the lack of transparency that has surrounded the WCHA under the leadership of Bruce McLeod. When you think of WCHA on ice officials Don Adam's name is one of the first that pops into your head when discussion of officials occurs. 

At first glimpse, this would appear to be a bad decision at least from my perspective – obviously I am just one person, but why do you bring in an official that is the face of the old WCHA? Why not start out new and hire a respected official from the USHL or another hockey league that doesn’t come with the baggage of the good ole boy WCHA? 

Many fans like me, are concerned that we will now see a conga line of officials from the WCHA.

Not all WCHA members are thrilled about the new Mystery Alaska plan

The WCHA leadership has been in full spin mode since the league announced their “Mystery Alaska” plan. It’s been interesting to watch as the WCHA commissioner spins this unattractive playoff plan. This would be a text book definition of a “gong show” – there is no way to explain this – it is what it is.

Today we have found out that the new format might only be around for a two year rotation – to me this suggests that the league has taken an idea and thrown it up against the wall to see if it sticks, but to also see how the nWCHA’s fan base responds to the new playoff format.

Todd D. Milewski, USCHO.COM --- The plan was born from financial and geographical issues related to Alaska and Alaska-Anchorage being in the same conference for the first time when conferences reshuffle in 2013, McLeod said.

But the league committed to it for only two seasons, possibly further illustrating the trepidation WCHA members felt about making an outside-the-box change to postseason seeding.

“Some years if they both finish in the lower half, that’s not going to taste very good,” McLeod said. “But if they both finish in the upper half, it’s going to be not good for them. They might have been able to get two in [to the Final Five] otherwise and they’re only going to get one. That’s why we did it on a two-year rotation to see how things shake out and how people feel about it. It’s not a very long commitment.”

Including all nine teams in the postseason wasn’t a foregone conclusion, McLeod said. Eight- and six-team plans were also discussed at the meeting in Detroit before the full field was approved.

Perusing the fan message boards - I have seen a mixed response from the nWCHA fans about the new “Mystery Alaska” playoff format.

It would also appear that a big number of the nWCHA fans are siding more with the ‘we don’t like the new playoff format’ or they have just basically blamed the NCHC for the nWCHA’s fortunes.

Based on what we have seen transpire in the last week in Detroit. I believe is one of the major reasons that UND, SCSU, UMD, DU, C.C. and UNO decided to leave the WCHA and go out on their own to form a new league.

There seems to be a major divide between the schools that are strapped for cash and the schools that aren’t as strapped for cash; especially in the present economy. Schools are experiencing financial constraints and reduced budgets and this is not new to college sports or to college hockey.

Let’s also not forget there there’s always going to be the “haves” and “have nots, ” this was true even in the old North Central Conference and will be true in the Big Sky Conference as well. The present WCHA schools are never really going to be able to compete financially with the schools in the NCHC, B1G or even a majority of the Hockey East schools.

The question I pose is; is it the big school’s responsibility to prop up the small schools in Division I athletics?

Also, does the nWCHA hold the moral high ground?

Another school in their geographic template UAH (BGSU is 629 miles from UAH - it's rougly 4000 from BGSU to UAA) needs to find a conference home and it would appear from the side lines that the nWCHA is basically stalling or dawdling, almost hoping that the Chargers go away.

The UAH Chargers basically have one viable option, conference membership in the WCHA where they would be able to be with other schools (except BGSU who is DI); who outside of hockey are also Division II in all their other sports.

But I digress.

Lastly, Division I college hockey is currently resembling the other major Division I college sports right now with all their conference re-alignment. It has been really ugly with the other sports changing conferences leaving teams to scramble to find a new conference home. It’s almost like natural selection, or a survival of the fittest.

I also don’t know if there are any answers or quick fixes to what ails college sports – there doesn’t seem to be any magic pill that could just fix everything. Some say that the WCHA would have been fine if the schools that left had stayed. The CCHA still might have been a conference in shambles, Miami and Notre Dame still probably would have wanted out. There would still be other issues out there that would still be unresolved.

There is also another elephant sitting in the room – the commissioner of the WCHA Bruce McLeod – no one seem to want to talk about it right now. Eventually, I believe the WCHA is going to have to cut ties with McLeod and go a different direction. Keeping him on board past the 2013-14 season is detrimental to the WCHA going forward. The WCHA needs an infusion of new blood.

A Rant on the future of NCHC Officiating (RW77)

With the recent post on Don "The Imagineer" Adam and his life as a police officer (which, as an aside, I would have thought would have made him an excellent official since police officers know the value of rules and enforcement therein but I digress) I thought I would chime in (again) on officials and what the NCHC should be looking for (but they probably will not listen to me anyways).

The NCHC should start fresh

There is nothing saying that the current officials in the WCHA and soon-to-be-defunct CCHA wouldn't want to be in the NCHC... especially the CCHA officials as they would undoubtedly be out of work otherwise.  However, I think the NCHC did something wise:  They hired outside the established officiating infrastructure.  Though Novak has experience with college hockey, he hasn't been mired in the beaurocacy that bogs down the WCHA and whatnot that hiring someone like Greg Shepherd or Steve Piotrowski does.  The Big 10 hired Steve Piotrowski to run their officiating.  Despite mixed reviews lately (which I believe those negative reviews were erroneous thanks to the WCHA's dire ideal of what makes a good officiating system), Piotrwoski will be a great leader in that field but...I believe Novak will be able to see what the entire officiating "world" really is like and hire accordingly.

Therefore, the NCHC can pick and choose and there is no obligation otherwise.

The Silver Lining of the Transferring Official

What if the NCHC does hire the buffoons in black and white that call themselves WCHA on ice officials?  Well, they may not entirely be buffoons, they may merely be products of the King Buffoon himself:  King Idiot Greg Shepherd. 

Here's a case in point:  I remember when Jon Campion came to the WCHA.  I watched him call a game at the REA and said to myself "This guy gets it."  He called it pretty evenly and when he did call a penalty, it was clearly a penalty.  He was as consistent as you can reasonably expect from an on-ice official (especially since at that time there was only 1 official and 2 ARs).  But as he spent more and more time around the beaurocracy and "Old Boy's Network" Greg Shepherd set up in the WCHA (with the blessing of Bruce McLeod), he started to "buy in" to Shepherd's system and his "game" deteriorated gradually until it reached the cliff:  That fateful night at the REA where Campion went awkwardly into the boards and tore his ACL.  When he returned he was a half step slow and his judgment became skewed such that it was hard to differentiate Campion from Anderson and Randy Schmidt (now fired thanks to his idiocy being caught on tape and garnering almost national attention). 

So, the official may not be all that bad, just a warped cog in a defective machine. 

So what do I think the NCHC should do (in summation)?

Hire the right guys.  Do not give excessive weight to pre-existing college hockey experience but do not turn them away.  The NCHC should mold itself more in the fashion of the NHL and USA hockey while embedding the NCAA mandate.  They should endeavour to uphold all NCAA crackdowns consistently and equally throughout the season regardless of whether or not it is a problem specific to the NCHC or otherwise.  Likewise, they should endevour to NOT be the reason behind a crackdown (such as the Don Adam Rule otherwise known as the mandatory major for CFB).  In the end, we do not want to become complacent like the WCHA as that has been the undoing to quite a few NCAA Regional trips by WCHA teams as of late. 

I am curous though:  Do American officials officiate in foreign leagues such as the Finnish Elite League or the Swedish Elite League or even the KHL?  If so, would it be feasible to try to attract those American officials back to the States?

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir or whatnot but I'd love to know what you'd like to see in the running of the NCHC officiating corps.

Update on “Mystery Alaska” playoff plan

My last blog post was to an older link that was updated last night. So basically this story even gets better - this story seems to evolve more by the minute. I almost think that the WCHA needs a P.R. person that is media savvy because the WCHA seems to be shooting themselves in the foot right now.

Here is another thought, maybe the WCHA should have not released their playoff format till they had all of the bugs ironed out of it. What's the rush? The nWCHA doesn't start play until the 2013-14 season so why do you have to release the plans to your conference tourney, especially if the format is still in the planning stage and there is a good possibility that it might change even more in the next couple of days or months. 

Matt Wellens, Mining Journal --- UPDATE: Information provided by WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod may not have been accurate concerning the league playoff structure. According to a source, Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage would receive a first-round bye if either wins the WCHA regular season title. McLeod told The Mining Journal otherwise, that both will meet in the first round no matter what and that the next highest seed not from Alaska would receive a bye. Here is how McLeod explained it: McLeod: "Let's just say Anchorage and Fairbanks are 1 and 2. Well they're going to play. You know what I mean? So who gets the bye? We got to take a closer look at it. Right now, it would be No. 3. You know what I mean?" The source asked not to be named because the league told all coaches, athletic directors and presidents to let the league office handle inquiries.

This latest revelation is even worse - why play the regular season? Also, if two teams finish one and two, the top bid would deserved it's playoff bye and the second place team should be afforded the opportunity to play the eight place team on their home ice. It's doesn't matter if they have to play a few more dollars to fly that team to Alaska, the integrity of the tourney should not be sacrificed.

“Mystery Alaska” playoff plan revealed by WCHA

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is some more on the WCHA new playoff format, Matt Wellens from the Mining Journal interviewed Bruce McLeod and here is a what the WCHA Commissioner had to say about their new controversial playoff format.

“There was definitely an uneasy feeling about it,” McLeod said. “Certainly something out of the box, out of the norm, I would say. There was just an uneasy feeling about the whole thing.”

McLeod said the decision was made based on financial concerns the league had with possibly sending two teams to Alaska in a moment’s notice or the league playoffs.

While the “Alaska Plan” was approved by the league, McLeod said there are other proposals on the table from the athletic directors. The league will be revisiting the plan, possibly as soon as next week during a conference call among the ADs.

“It’s not set in stone. Although it was voted upon and passed, there were a couple other scenarios that were definitely talked about. I’m not quite sure,” McLeod said. [Mining Journal]

When a person looks at this league playoff format one must scratch their head and think that it's poorly concocted and not real well thought out. I would not be surprised if this scenario is revisited and possibly scrapped.

UAH to the WCHA?

150px px (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The University of Alabama Huntsville Chargers need a home - the WCHA  appears to be their only option -   the Chargers are in dire need of a league  - the WCHA is currently sitting at nine teams and would like to expand to 10 teams so they would have an even number of teams. I think UAH would fit in nicely in the nWCHA and is a natural rival with BSU.

Adam Wodon, College Hockey News --- Meanwhile, Alabama-Huntsville, a program pulled from the grave recently but still in need of help, will be the only independent and needs a home.

The WCHA is lining up as UAH's only option, and getting a 10th team is appealing to the league. But UAH faces the usual hurdles — questions over facility, commitment and distance.

"We're not making any bones about it — we're committed to Division I hockey and trying to get in a hockey conference," UAH athletic director E.J. Brophy said.

Brophy and other officials from Alabama-Huntsville had meetings with numerous interested parties at the April coaches convention in Naples, Fla., and the recent Frozen Four. Brophy believes the lobbying efforts were successful to a point, but no one has committed to bringing in UAH yet.

"We are discussing things with them. I'd put it as unofficial," WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod said. "I've met with (coach) Chris (Luongo), their president, E.J. (Brophy). We've discussed the process and what it would take. They did not officially apply, and we didn't ask them to. We wanted to find out how we learn more about one another, and how do we get a good feel for their commitment, where they're at with their building, and so on."

This tweet just came across Twitter as I was posting this blog post.

Lucia, "referees made the right call"

Image via WikipediaThis was on Roman Augustoviz blog today.

Lucia said he felt the referees made the right call when they gave Kyle Rau a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct for his hit on Denver forward Jason Zucker in Friday's game.

WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod called Lucia that night, the Gophers coach said, to tell him the league was going to review the play. He watched it on video that night after not seeing it live.

The next morning Lucia said he talked to McLeod again and was told Rau would probably be suspended.

"At that time, we had the right to appeal the suspension, which would have allowed Kyle the right to play Saturday night," Lucia said. "But 99.9 [percent of the time] we probably would have lost the appeal and he would not have been allowed to play the next Friday night against Bemidji."

Lucia decided the best option was not to appeal, so he could prepare his lines better for the Beavers.

He said the difficult part of the situation was the supplemental discipline. "There were a couple of other major penalties on the weekend," Lucia said. "You can go back to incidents -- what deserves extra and what doesn't?"

After seeing the video of the Kyle Rau hit on Jason Zucker, it's good to see coach Lucia support the league decision on that Rau hit. Lucia does also make a good point, "You can go back to incidents -- what deserves extra and what doesn't?” I think that’s the question a lot of the fans are wondering as well.

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• Lucia, "referees made the right call" (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Controversial non call in St Cloud (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Did Lucia give his players an out. Did he lower expectations? (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• WCHA unlikely to punish coaches for Saturday's dust up. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

We are North Dakota...

Well it’s official the University of North Dakota, UND athletic teams will no longer be called the Fighting Sioux. For the next three + years the University of North Dakota sports teams will simply be referred to as the University of North Dakota.

Chuck Haga, Grand Forks Herald --- “As of that date, please only refer to our athletic teams as the University of North Dakota and please use the interlocking ND logo as the official logo of the UND Athletics Department,” Sean Johnson, senior associate athletics director, wrote in the email, which was circulated early this morning.

“If you could pass this along to all conference membership, it would be greatly appreciated,” he wrote.

The email went to Bruce McLeod, commissioner of the WCHA, as well as leaders of the Great West, Big Sky and Western Athletic conferences, in which one or more UNDS teams compete.

Johnson was not immediately available for comment on the email or the decision to make Jan. 1 the effective date for asking other schools to stop referring to UND teams as the Fighting Sioux

Here is the official release that UND is sending out to the different conferences. The UND hockey team will continue to wear the uniform with the Fighting Sioux warrior logo on it till sometime in February until new uniforms arrive. s/t to Kevin Pates of Rink and Run.

FROM: Sean M. Johnson
Senior Associate Athletics Director
University of North Dakota

I would like to give you an update on University of North Dakota athletics and the continued use of the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.

As of January 1, 2012, UND will no longer use either the Fighting Sioux nickname or logo.

As of that date, please only refer to our athletic teams as the University of North Dakota and please use the interlocking ND logo as the official logo of the UND Athletics Department.

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Something stinks in Huntsville...

After reading this newspaper article it also appears that there is an out of control university administrator running the UAH.

Also, university president Dr. Malcolm Portera, had no other intentions but to kill the UAH Chargers and there was no other plan. If I was a fan of UAH hockey program I would be very upset.

Shanon Lampton; Madison County Record --- Portera said that the hockey team, which has been independent since the CHA conference folded, cannot continue to exist as without a conference affiliation. According Portera, he was told that it would cost $1.5 million to join a conference and this is money the university just doesn’t have.

Western Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Bruce McLeod, disagrees. He said that the conference has no minimum budgetary requirements, and none were given to Portera. Portera also shared a concern that because of the distance from other conference schools UAH would be required to subsidize other teams’ travel expenses. McCleod again disagreed. He says Portera asked him about it and was told it was not a requirement.

Nathan Bowen, who played hockey at UAH from 1996-2000, and coached at the school, wants to know how the numbers break down, and why offers of help were turned away. “We haven’t been given a lot of information. Just give us the breakdown of the figures.” He and other hockey alums and supporters pledged almost $600,000 in funding to be disbursed over the next three years. He knows it is not enough but thinks, given time, they could get there. “I think we could ramp up to the figures we need.”

People wonder why some have so little respect for the people that run institutions of higher education, these highly educated people seem to lack reality or are so out of touch with the "real world". Some of these people  have never had a real job in their life and yet have the power to affect so many people with their decisions.

My heart goes out to the people that are fans of the UAH hockey program.  There has been a group of people working their tails off to save their favorite hockey program and this administrator disregarded the will of the people. Also, it appears that the president lied about the WCHA having budgetary requirements and Bruce McLeod even refuted that claim.  

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• Alabama-Huntsville Dropping Men's Ice Hockey as NCAA Sport (bleacherreport.com)
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That's one way to put it...

Image via WikipediaHere is an interesting take on this past summer's realignment, I guess it's one man's opinion. I am not ready to put Andy Baggot in the it's all UND and DU's fault category just yet but he seems to be leaning that way.

Andy Baggot; Madison.com --- Six other WCHA schools — Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota and St. Cloud State — subsequently relocated in the new eight-team National Collegiate Hockey Conference and in the process hurled WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod under a moving Greyhound.

McLeod apparently had no clue the exodus was being planned — good God, his office is located on the Denver campus — which doesn't speak well of his instincts or the character of those involved in the clandestine operation.

The unspoken narrative is that the renegades — led by Denver and North Dakota, which have won seven NCAA titles apiece, in cahoots with CC and Omaha — were disenchanted with McLeod's guidance and were worried that the new Big Ten monolith would soon dominate the landscape.

UAH program on the brink part II

Image via WikipediaWow, just when it couldn't get anymore crazy there is still all kinds of college hockey news breaking, this past summer has been a proverbial whirl wind. I have been out of the pocket for a few days, no internet connection at the hunting shack and I come back to find out this news nugget. While the leadership at UAH is considering killing college hockey there is a chance that the Chargers could end up in the WCHA, John Turner interviewed Bruce McLeod about the possibility of UAH joining the WCHA, you can read the interview here.

John Turner; Huntsville Times --- The creation of the Big Ten and National Collegiate Hockey Conference have rocked the foundation of the sport, creating an opportunity for the Chargers to file into an existing conference.

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association remains the most logical landing place for the Chargers. With nine teams and counting to date - invites extended to Bowling Green State University and another school McLeod wouldn't name have so far gone unanswered - the WCHA's growing pains could be UAH's gain.

"The perfect number for me is eight (teams), but we're way past that," WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod said. "It's a little different world for us, waiting on these dominoes to fall. Our feet are planted firmly in midair right now, but we are making progress. Sometimes it seems slow, but it's just a matter of who falls and when they fall."

McLeod said he has not yet received an application for membership from UAH as of last week, nor has an invite for membership been extended.

However, McLeod noted that he has spoken with Portera and felt that he was interested in finding Charger hockey a home. Whether or not that opportunity presents itself is anyone's guess.

Related articles

• WCHA commish has no guarantees for MSU Moorhead (mvn.com)
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WCHA and CCHA league meet in Chicago

Image via WikipediaHere is the official release from today's meeting. Absent from the meeting was Notre Dame.

CHICAGO, Ill. – Members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) met jointly today (Aug. 23) in Chicago, working from an agenda that included sharing information about each other, engaging in productive discussions about the challenges that each institution and each conference face, and seeking common ground to work together for the betterment of the parties involved and of college hockey in general.

In issuing a joint statement, WCHA Commissioner Bruce McLeod and CCHA Commissioner Fred Pletsch said, “This was an important and productive meeting, for all involved parties. We asked everyone in attendance to be open, honest and frank in discussing their concerns, hopes and visions for the future of their respective programs. We recognize that where there is change there is also opportunity. We plan to continue our discussions in the future and to continue to explore all options.

“One crucial thing that came out of the joint meeting today was the word ‘commitment’. All of these institutions are totally committed to fielding the most competitive and successful programs possible and to provide the best possible experience for their student-athletes.”

Topics discussed in the joint meeting agenda included sharing of institutional and hockey program information (including financial, facilities, community support, staffing and travel), scheduling and championship scenarios, and membership and league affiliation (including league size, automatic qualifiers, etc).

In attendance at the joint meeting were administrators from the 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, Northern Michigan University, St. Cloud State University and Western Michigan University.
[UAA Sports Information]

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WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod visits Fairbanks.

Image via WikipediaHere is as story from the Fairbanks Daily News Miner but it doesn't really say a lot other than Bruce McLeod visited the University of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, McLeod liked what he saw on his visit to the campus, yadda, yadda, yadda... It will be interesting to see where these talks lead.

FAIRBANKS — Western Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Bruce McLeod was impressed with the community support for the Alaska Nanooks. He also had high regards for the Carlson Center, the Olympic-size ice arena of the Nanooks of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

However, McLeod’s visit on Tuesday to the University of Alaska Fairbanks and around Fairbanks was to get a sense of the Nanooks as a possible WCHA menber in 2013-14, when NCAA Division I hockey experiences realignment.

Current CCHA programs Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State are joining WCHA schools Wisconsin and Minnesota and college hockey newcomer Penn State in the Big Ten Conference in 2013-14.

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WCHA commissioner has a busy couple of weeks

Image via WikipediaWCHA fans do you feel confident when you read that Bruce McLeod is going to Fairbanks, Alaska to talk to the Fairbanks administration? If my team was going to be in the WCHA after the 2013-2014 season, I would be concerned.

Mick Hatton; SC Times --- McLeod was in Chicago on Tuesday and met with Central Collegiate Hockey Association officials. On Monday, McLeod leaves to meet with officials at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

McLeod would not characterize the talks he had with the CCHA as about a possible merger between the two conferences.

“We had a good discussion with the CCHA, agreed to some common ground and talked about some things that could be on the table when we get the whole group together to meet in the future,” McLeod said. “I wouldn’t read too much into the meeting one way or another. It was good and positive and we have a lot of hurdles to overcome.

“It always gets back to do we worry about ourselves and get back to eight (WCHA) members or do we think of the greater good of college hockey? I think more than anything, we’re just trying to keep as nimble as we can possibly be. Gradually, we’ll get ourselves to making a decision.”

McLeod is heading to Alaska after being asked to visit the CCHA school by a committee of athletic directors of the five WCHA schools (St. Cloud State, Alaska-Anchorage, Bemidji State, Michigan Tech and Minnesota State-Mankato) that plan to remain in the conference in 2013-14. St. Cloud State is being represented on that committee by Gino Gasparini, who is a special adviser to St. Cloud State President Earl H. Potter III for athletics. That committee is being headed by Michigan Tech.

Alaska-Anchorage, obviously, has an interest in having Alaska-Fairbanks in the same conference.

“I haven’t been up there for a long time ... and I’m going to get a sense of the program commitment. They’ve been fairly aggressive up there,” McLeod said of being in contact with the WCHA. “I can understand why it’s best for those two (Alaska) schools, but I’m not sure I’m convinced it’s the best for everybody.

“They need to convince me why it’s best for the

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