Interesting Tweets about the NCHC TV Deal

@MiamiO_Fan Not sure where you got that, but that's not accurate. We'll be announcing TV next week
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) September 10, 2014

You have to love some of the fans from the NCHC. I wonder if there's a black helicopter landing in that fan's back yard. That being said, I really like the fact that the league engages the fans in a respectful and prompt manner. You can't say that about all of the leagues in college hockey.

@MiamiO_Fan Okay, he's just guessing. We'll have full TV schedule for release next week. Haven't announced anything yet...
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) September 10, 2014

@gmonteith Only road games not included are non-conference road games
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) September 11, 2014

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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.

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NCHC Hockey: Shootouts in the NCHC?

Overtime Power Play Face Off (Photo credit: clydeorama)

I was out all weekend mowing grass at the hunting shack, so this isn’t as new as it could be. It still should add to the debate and feel free to chime in if you like. Or not! Perusing Brad Elliot Schlossman’s blog last week I see that he had this blurb on this media blog.

The NCHC has not finalized anything on shootouts yet, but I’m hearing that it is very, very likely that they will be used for Year 1. Official word on that could come fairly soon.

The point system would be sort of similar to the one used in the CCHA – 3 points for a regulation or OT win, 2 points for a shootout win, 1 point for a shootout loss, 0 points for a regulation loss. The one twist the NCHC is considering is giving a point for an OT loss like the NHL.

The games will still officially go down as a tie for NCAA tournament purposes. So, when I write game stories about a shootout, I will say the game ended in a time and Team A got an extra point for winning the shootout (as I do with WCHA women’s games now).

I think this is an awesome idea. If the NCAA is going to be looked at as developmental hockey league for the professional ranks, why not have a league that more closely resembles NHL play? Wouldn’t that make more sense? Of course it does. Sure, it sucks for the beat writers working on a dead line. Thoughts on the NCHC using shootouts to breaks ties during NCHC play? Also, I like the points system. Just for the record, I have never seen anyone ever leave a game because they went to a shootout. I don’t care what some say.

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ND and Miami Scrum at the end of the game

Here was the end of the first game of the Hockey City Classic. I watched this scrum numerous times on my television, and it looks like, Notre Dame forward Jeff Costello spears some random Miami RedHawk at the end of the game. There were no penalties called on the play. It will be interesting to see if the CCHA officials review the video from the end of the game, to see if there is anything else that warrants additional supplemental discipline.

Tech goal that was waved off.

[1:10 mark of video] With about 4 seconds remaining in the second period of Tuesday's game between MTU and NMU, it appeared that Michigan Tech forward Tanner Kero had scored a legitimate goal for the Michigan Tech Huskies... After further review by the CCHA officials, the goal by was waved off.

The ruling on the ice, the officials decided that Kero had interfered with the Northern Michigan goalie Jared Coreau. In looking at this video, I disagree, I this is a bad call. In my opinion, there is no reason this goal wasn't counted, albeit the video wasn't very good, I see no reason this was a goal on the score sheet.

In watching this video a dozen times, I don't see the goalie interference and if anything the goalie took a blatant dive. There is no reason that goalie should be flopping on the ice, in my opinion.  If the MTU forward touched the goaltender Coreau it was very minimal and not worthy of goalie interference, that's going hard to the net. I think that Mel Pearson has every right to be upset with this call.

Tuesday Night Tilt (by Sioux 7)

In a rare Tuesday night game, this year, two old rivals go out.  So, here is an early week prediction.

Michigan Tech (4-7-1 overall) @ Northern Michigan (5-8-3 overall) (Tuesday)

Last weekend the Huskies got a point (3-7, 4-4ot) from the Bulldogs in Houghton and the Wildcats were swept (4-2, 1-0) on the road, by their CCHA foe Western Michigan.

This will be the first meeting this season between these two Upper Peninsula hockey teams.  It is the battle of the Cats and Dogs in Marquette on Tuesday evening.  Next year this will be a conference games as NMU will re-join the WCHA after a twelve year absence.  I’m going with MTU in this Yopper tilt, since they were at home this past weekend.  HUSKIES WIN

Jacob Trouba destroys NMU's Reed Secke

[click to view video] Ouch!!! Check out this hit by Michigan Defenseman Jacob Trouba as he absolutely destroyed Northern Michigan’s sophomore Reed Secke with a monster hit. Trouba was given a five minute major and a game misconduct and the CCHA gave Trouba an extra game suspension. Secke was cleared by the NMU medical staff but you can tell by the picture that Secke was absolutely lit up.
Originally posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine.

NHL Hockey fans you have options

This post was originally posted at the Hockey Writers.

Due to the impending and inevitable NHL lockout this season a lot of hockey fans of the National Hockey league are going to be looking for other options to fill their NHL hockey void.

May I suggest, giving college hockey a try to fill your NHL hockey void.  

For the college hockey fans this is going to be a very exciting season. First time fans are also going to find out that this is going to be very historic season in the college hockey world as well.

Let me get you up to speed on what is happening in the college hockey world.

Historic Season

The landscape has changed drastically since the summer of 2011 – this was due to a very generous donation from Penn State University alumnus Terry Pegula in September of 2010  – that very large and generous donation allowed Penn State University to start a men’s and women’s division I college hockey team.    

With Terry Pegula, who is the founder and chief executive of East Resources Inc., opened his “rather large” wallet and wrote Penn State a check for $88 million to help the Nittany Lions build Pegula Ice arena.  None the less, that donation rocked the college hockey world, now that the Big Ten “will have” six teams that play college hockey – the B1G by conference rules is required to have a B1G hockey conference – with this generous donation by Pegula – this new conference will begin play during the 2012-13 season. 

With the addition of one University joining college hockey – a tidal wave of change came to college hockey landscape that set the ball in motion for what ended up being a very chaotic summer. With a swipe of a pen – the big name/money schools from the Big Ten Schools that were in both the WCHA and the CCHA dedided to leave the WCHA and CCHA conferences and form the Big Ten Hockey Conference.

On the outside, it would “appear” that the transition for the B1G schools was for the most part seamless.

Not to be out done and in response to the Big Ten hockey conference formation; Miami University from the CCHA decided to join North Dakota, Denver University, Colorado College, and University of Nebraska Omaha to form the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

The NCHC transition was seen as a little rockier as the NCHC schools made what some in the media perceived as a few unimpressive stumbles out of the starting blocks. One of these perceived blunders was in the NCHC’s attempt to lure Notre Dame to become a member of the six team super conference.

That effort fell short when the NCHC leadership didn’t wasn’t too keen on the idea of Notre Dame having their own television deal – the NCHC was looking at inking their national television deal with a sports network.

Hockey East had no problem with Notre Dame having their own television deal and Notre Dame decided to join Hockey East in October of 2011.  

While some fans were perplexed with why the NCHC didn’t look past Notre Dames TV deal the NCHC decided to move on and signed a television deal of their own with CBS Sports Network in the February of 2012. League fans of the NCHC weren’t happy with this deal because many of them thought an exclusivity deal with the NCHC that guarantees at least 18 games was as step down from their current television deals.

In some cases it was.

While the NCHC lost the Fighting Irish, they gained Western Michigan University of the CCHA and Saint Cloud State University of the WCHA.  

If your head is still spinning you’re not alone, the college hockey world wasn’t done changing – the remaining schools from the WCHA and CCHA merged into the WCHA – the CCHA which has been in existence for almost 40 seasons the league will disband after the 2012-13 season.

The new WCHA which will begin play during the 2013-14 season will have the following schools; Bemidji State University, Bowling Green University, Ferris State University, Lake Superior State University, Minnesota State University Mankato, Michigan Tech University, Northern Michigan University, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, University of Alaska Anchorage.

If you thought the movement was over, it wasn’t.  Hockey East with the addition of Notre Dame was sitting at an unattractive and uneven number of 11 schools which makes conference scheduling more difficult. On June 21^st, 2012 Hockey East solved that scheduling issue and accepted the University of Connecticut Huskies of the Atlantic Hockey Association. The UCONN Huskies will begin Hockey East play during the 2014-15 season.

With what has happened the last few summers – this season could shape up to be an exciting season of college hockey – especially with a long term labor dispute – college hockey could take center stage.

The CCHA will play it’s final conference tourney of their history at the Joe Louis Arena on March 21-23 in Detroit and the WCHA will play their final conference tourney the same weekend at the Xcel Energy Center under the current WCHA. Old rivalries will have one more opportunity to renew themselves before teams go their separate ways.

There will be many opportunities to watch college hockey on television, if the NHL gets involved a long term lockout and ends up losing the whole season.

No one knows how long the NHL work stoppage will be if the NHL owners lock the players out.

That being said, an NHL lockout is bound to benefit of Division I college hockey. As we get closer to the season a full television schedule will come out and this is especially handy if you have the sports pack on DirecTV where you  can watch numerous games in three time zones.

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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.

UND 5th in final INCH Power Rankings

1. Boston College 33-10-1 (19-7-1 Hockey East, 1st)
2. Ferris State 26-12-5 (16-7-5 CCHA, 1st)
3. Minnesota 28-14-1 (20-8-0 WCHA, 1st)
4. Union 26-8-7 (14-4-4 ECAC Hockey, 1st)
5. North Dakota 26-13-3 (16-11-1 WCHA, 4th)
6. Minnesota Duluth 25-10-6 (16-7-5 WCHA, 2nd)
7. Michigan 24-13-4 (15-9-4 CCHA, 2nd)
8. Denver 24-15-2 (15-11-2 WCHA, 4th)
9. Miami 24-15-2 (15-11-2 CCHA, 4th)
10. Western Michigan 21-14-6 (14-10-4 CCHA, 3rd)
11. Cornell 19-9-7 (12-4-6 ECAC Hockey, 2nd)
12. UMass Lowell 24-13-1 (17-9-1 Hockey East, t-2nd)
13. Air Force 21-11-7 (15-6-6 Atlantic Hockey, 1st)
14. Boston University 23-15-1 (17-9-1 Hockey East, t-2nd)
15. Maine 23-14-3 (15-10-2 Hockey East, 4th)
16. Harvard 13-10-11 (8-5-9 ECAC Hockey, 3rd)
17. Michigan State 19-16-4 (14-11-3 CCHA, 5th)
18. Colgate 19-17-3 (11-10-1 ECAC Hockey, 4th)
19. Merrimack 18-12-7 (13-9-5 Hockey East, 5th)
20. RIT 20-13-6 (14-7-6 Atlantic Hockey, t-3rd)

One more final time this season; as always I include the INCH Power Rankings, because I find them amusing.  In the final INCH Power Rankings, nothing really jumps out here as being really controversial.

On a side note, some fans like to bag on the guys from INCH and personally, I think INCH does a good job covering college hockey. I have had the pleasure of meeting Jess Myers the last couple of years at the Final Five and Jess is one of the funniest and also one of the nicest guys that I have ever met, he is a class act as well.

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Woe's... (by Sioux 7)

Horrible and pathetic, that is the best way I can describe the attendance at the NCAA regional’s last weekend. I watched about half of the games and noticed a significant amount of seats with no bodies in them. Ugh. These teams play a long season and these kids work hard to achieve success in athletics as well as their academics. And “fans” of these great schools, don’t or can’t attend their biggest game(s) of the year. Before I completely go off, let me share a few of the attendance numbers with you,

Union v UMass-Lowell -----------------– East Final – 5,238
Ferris State v Cornell –-------------- Midwest Final – 3,108
Minn-Duluth v Boston College –-- Northeast Final – 4,470
North Dakota v Minnesota –------------------- West--10,974

That’s a TOTAL of 23,880 fans that watched a regional final. I’m stunned, again at the lack of attendance at these fine arenas. I wonder what causes this, is it a lack of interest? Are fans watching basketball instead of hockey (I hope that isn’t the case)? Are the college kids broke, because they spent all their (or Mom and Dad’s) money on spring break a week or two ago? Is it a combination of things?

Looking at the numbers for conference tournament championship games and we have the following info:

Atlantic ----– Air Force v RIT ------–---- 2,433
ECAC –----- Union v Harvard –---------- 4,131
CCHA –----- Michigan v W. Mich ----– 10,421
Hockey East --–---- BC v Maine –------ 13,079
WCHA –----- N.Dakota v Denver –---- 16,838

That’s a TOTAL of 46,902 fans watching conference championship games. More fans attend conference tournament games than NCAA regionals.

I have an idea that would/should boost attendance at NCAA regionals. How about we don’t pick regional locations years in advance, but we have the top seeds host them? That would have meant last weekend that BC (7,549 – 96%), Union (2,009 – 90%), Michigan (5,997 – 90%), and UND (11,155 – 96%), would have hosted the games at their home rinks. The numbers behind each team was their average home attendance and percent capacity this season.

I know, many will say that by doing that the top seeds have an unfair advantage. I say they’re right, but it is also gives them that reward of earning a top seed. I also firmly believe that attendance would improve. Honestly, attendance couldn’t get any worse, could it?

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A Miami Redhawks goal or not?

I just finished watching the Miami and Michigan game on my DVR and wow what a game. Also, if you think WCHA officials are bad, you should go back and watch game if you have it at your disposal, the officials Keith Sergott and Brian Hill were brutal in this game, but they did appear to get this call right. Check out the video at the 02:00 minute mark. That was close.

Redskin Warriors --- There are two things you’ll notice after the 2:00 minute mark of the highlight video posted above. First of all, take a look at the goal/no-goal that Rico was rather furious about. From just about every vantage point I’ve seen – on the replays in the arena (I’m amazed the arena staff kept replaying it on the video boards) and afterwards on the DVR – the puck doesn’t appear to cross the line.

That being said, when the NCHC starts it's league play they have to decide if they want to use WCHA and CCHA officials. There are so many poor officials in both of those leagues that I would caution the NCHC leadership to think long and hard before they decide to use these officials. There needs to be some transparency, the refs need to ref the game the way its meant to be officiated.

CBS SPORTS NETWORK SIGNS MULTI-YEAR DEAL WITH NCHC

Image via WikipediaOfficial Press Release 

CBS Sports Network has agreed to a multi-year agreement with the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference, beginning in the 2013-2014 season. CBS Sports Network will be the exclusive national television partner for the conference, which will feature eight of the nation’s top college hockey programs. The announcement was made today by Dan Weinberg, Senior Vice President, Programming, CBS Sports Network, and Jim Scherr, Commissioner of the National.

The agreement calls for a minimum of 18 conference games, including the National’s semifinal and championship contests. Currently six teams that will be in the new conference are ranked in the USCHO.com Top 20 poll.

“With top teams and passionate fan bases, the National is poised to be an elite college hockey conference, and we’re thrilled to be the national television partner,” said Weinberg. “College hockey has been a staple of our programming and we’re pleased to expand our coverage and further serve fans with compelling and competitive conference action.”

“We are delighted to be associated with the preeminent national broadcaster of college hockey,” said Scherr. “It is our goal to be the premier single-sport conference in intercollegiate athletics and the unmatched exposure and production quality that will be provided by CBS Sports Network will contribute significantly to realizing that vision.”

Currently, CBS Sports Network’s comprehensive college hockey coverage includes action from Hockey East, ECAC, CCHA, WCHA and Atlantic Hockey.

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This is why I complain about the WCHA officials...

First off, I am not a Golden Gopher hockey apologist by any stretch of the imagination but after watching this video replay of this penalty call about five times; forget who the team is that just got called for a minor penalty, this is a horse bleep call.

This is why fans of WCHA teams complain about the on ice referees in the WCHA. Seriously, what did Ben Marshal do to get the gate? In my opinion, that is a horrible call and this is the reason I hack on the officials in the WCHA. I also pray that the NCHC doesn't use WCHA officials or hire Greg Shepherd to be the head of officials for the NCHC.

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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UAH to end College Hockey

Image via WikipediaCross Posted at Inside Hockey.
The University of Alabama Huntsville’s Interim President Malcolm Portera announced today that following the 2011-12 hockey season, the University of Alabama Huntsville Chargers will cease to exist as a Division I college hockey program.

This announcement means that there will no longer be a Division I college hockey program south of the Mason Dixon line.

This announcement officially ends 33 years of NCAA college hockey history for UAH. No other program that’s ever won an NCAA title has ever disbanded.

According to USCHO, UAH Chargers head coach Chris Luongo informed his team of the president’s decision on Sunday night.

There are many factors that have led to this decision; one the major factor is that UAH doesn’t have a conference to call home. After the 2008-09 season, the College Hockey American Conference disbanded and the UAH Chargers were left without a conference.

The Chargers applied for membership in the CCHA during 2009. On August 11^th, 2009 the Chargers were informed that their bid for membership to the CCHA was denied.   Without a conference to call home, the Chargers have had to play as an Division I independent, which put their program in further jeopardy. It’s very hard to get teams to travel to Huntsville to play hockey if they are not in a conference.

The Chargers also have don’t have a building of their own, they share the Von Braun Center with the Huntsville Havoc of the SPHL and are not the primary tenet, meaning the Chargers have had to play their games  at odd times, which further complicates things for the Chargers.

Here is the official announcement from of the UAH interim president Malcolm Portera.

I want to share with you a decision that has been made following months of careful study. As a result of a financial analysis of our athletic program, and numerous conversations I have had with athletic directors, university presidents and commissioners of Division I ice hockey programs, it has become obvious that, for the best interest of this university, our athletic department and the ice hockey program, we move the team from the Division I level back to its original classification as a club sport at the end of the 2011-2012 season.

In conclusion, this is a sad day for college hockey and for the University of Alabama Huntsville Chargers hockey team and their fans. This story makes me physically sick to my stomach that in one swoop of a pen, a college administrator can kill a college hockey program with a rich hockey history.

Finally, I have been told by a source close to the UAH program that there is a businessman from Nashville Tennesee that has stepped forward to bankroll the operating expenses for the Chargers. All we know is that he is a top executive of a large corporation.

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Badgers in overtime Since 2002-03

Image via WikipediaOne thing that has become very apparent is that the Badgers under head coach Mike Eaves has had a dismal record in overtime, the Badgers have lost three games this season already in overtime. This is the Badgers record in overime since the 2002-03 season. s/t Madison.com If my math is right the Badgers own a record of 12-21-45

2011-12 -- 0-3-0 overall, 0-2-0 WCHA
2010-11 -- 1-3-4 overall, 0-3-3 WCHA
2009-10 -- 0-0-4 overall, 0-0-3 WCHA
2008-09 -- 0-3-4 overall, 0-2-3 WCHA
2007-08 -- 0-3-7 overall, 0-2-5 WCHA
2006-07 -- 2-3-4 overall, 2-3-3 WCHA
2005-06 -- 2-1-3 overall, 0-0-3 WCHA
2004-05 -- 0-1-4 overall, 0-1-3 WCHA
2003-04 -- 5-1-8 overall, 1-0-7 WCHA
2002-03 -- 2-3-4 overall, 2-2-4 WCHA

Wisconsin loses to Tech on questionable goal

First off props to Michigan Tech Guide for the video. What a horrible way to lose a hockey game and you have to feel for the Wisconsin Badgers. In looking at this video, I don't know how this goal counted for the Huskies. There looks like there is definite contact behind the Wisconsin goal. I am not sure what the WCHA officials saw there?

This is a perfect example of why fans in the WCHA hold the on ice officials in contempt, this was a horrible call and this goal should have never counted and the blown call could end up causing Wisconsin home ice or a a spot in the NCAA tourney.

Apparently the Badgers were unamused by the call as well. Andy Baggot had to say about the incident.

Replays showed Pietila skated into Ramage and drove the UW captain into Peterson, who was trying to play the puck behind the net. The cage was empty when center Brett Olson fed Baker alone in the slot for the controversial winner.

It seemed that a penalty was warranted on the sequence, but referees C.J. Beaurline and Pat Britt had a different view.

"If nothing else, interference," UW coach Mike Eaves said after jawing angrily with the two officials before leaving the bench. "Judging by the sheepishness of the two young referees, they had no command of the play."

This is why the WCHA officials are looked at as a bunch of bumbling buffoons and have no respect. This also one of the reason that you will see fans of the teams that are going to the NCHC not wanting the WCHA officials reffing their games in the future. I am just hoping that the NCHC leadership will not allow WCHA officials to ref games in the new league. I would be willing to bet that the B1G isn't going to want these refs in their league as well.  

BGSU Hockey To Join WCHA Beginning In 2013-14

Image via WikipediaHere is the official press release from Bowling Green State University. It's a good pick up for the WCHA because they now get a school that is Division I in all sports.

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio— The Bowling Green State University Department of Athletics has accepted an invitation to join the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) for the 2013-2014 season.

“I’d like to thank the presidents of the institutions in the WCHA for extending this invitation,” BGSU President Dr. Mary Ellen Mazey said. “Our University and our hockey program has many similarities to the current WCHA members and we are excited to join with these schools in two years.”

The offer came on behalf of the presidents representing the WCHA teams that will comprise the Western Collegiate Hockey Association membership following the 2012-13 season. Offers were also extended to fellow Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) institutions Alaska Fairbanks, Ferris State University, Lake Superior State University and Western Michigan University. Alaska Fairbanks, Ferris State and Lake Superior State announced their intentions to accept the invitation.

Along with its CCHA brethren, Bowling Green will join Alaska-Anchorage, Bemidji State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State, and Northern Michigan in the WCHA.

“The WCHA is a great fit for BGSU,” Director of Athletics Greg Christopher said. “WCHA teams are committed to the highest level of college hockey and competing for championships, just as we are at Bowling Green."

Bowling Green has played in the CCHA since its creation in 1971, and is the only founding institution to never leave the
conference.

The CCHA has yielded national collegiate champions, Hobey Baker award winners, and Stanley Cup champions in roughly 40 years of existence. CCHA players have combined for 174 All-American honors, including 88 First-Team selections. Bowling Green defenseman Ken Morrow was the CCHA's first First-Team All-American in 1978.

As a member of the CCHA, Bowling Green has produced seven conference regular season championships, five conference tournament championships, nine NCAA tournament appearances, two frozen four appearances, and one national championship (1984).

The Falcons have also yielded two Hobey Baker Award winners (George McPhee and Brian Holzinger) as members of the CCHA.

“We’re building our program to compete for championships,” Head Coach Chris Bergeron said. “I’m excited about the
direction our program is headed and the league we are moving towards because of the opportunities it provides for us to continue to develop BGSU hockey.”

The shift in the hockey landscape started in March when the Big Ten announced that it would form a new conference for the 2013-14 season. Along with Minnesota, Wisconsin, and newly formed Penn State, the new conference will include current CCHA members Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State.

The creation of a second conference in July marked even more change for the CCHA, as reigning tournament champion Miami announced it would depart for the newly formed National Collegiate Hockey Conference in 2013. The rest of the conference will be made up of former WCHA schools including North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth, Denver, Colorado College, St. Cloud State, and Nebraska-Omaha.

“We are committed to two more years in the CCHA,” Christopher said. “As one of the founding institutions of the league, Bowling Green hockey and the CCHA have been synonymous with each other. We will continue to build this program over the next two years to reach our goals when we begin play in the WCHA.”

Like the CCHA, the WCHA has been synonymous with college hockey success for decades. Since its inception in 1951, teams representing the WCHA have earned a record 37 NCAA championships, finished as the national runner-up 27 times, and qualified for at least one berth in the NCAA Men's Frozen Four in 55 of 59 seasons overall.

My new gig

This season I will be writing for Inside Hockey as one of the WCHA writers. You can find my articles at this link [Inside Hockey]. I look forward to the challenge.

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