Park Ridge, Ill. - The directors of athletics of Big Ten institutions which sponsor men's ice hockey unanimously announce their intention to recommend to the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors in June the establishment of men's ice hockey as an official conference sport for the 2013-14 academic year with participation by Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin. Above opening paragraph from B!G TEN web site
It's offical, Big 10 Hockey League. I wonder what will happen to the CCHA and WCHA now that they have both lost teams?
Terry, I think the two leagues will survive. CCHA has been involved in discussions about the new league for several months. With the B!G Ten Network, it just is a way to provide more TV coverage and more income for the conference members and the network.
I hope Bobda chimes in here, since he's living in Milwaukee these days he's no doubt a little more up on the WCHA plans without Wisconsin and Minn.
The WCHA is still a quality league without Minnesota and Wisconsin since North Dakota, Colo College, and Denver are high quality programs and the other programs are all solid other than Michigan Tech. I suspect more than a few Gopher fans are going to be unhappy over this as Minneapolis/St. Paul is the site of the WCHA playoffs which is always a sell out and the Mn/ND rivalry is the best rivalry in college hockey along with its rivalries with the other Minnesota schools. The concern re the CCHA is that Notre Dame and Miami might now be tempted to jump to the WCHA which would be a huge blow to the CCHA. Miami is now the best program in the CCHA and ND has really gone first class in building in program with its new arena ready to open. Both would be welcomed with open arms by the WCHA. There are several teams in the CCHA that are not in good shape financially and their livelihood depends upon the crowds they draw when a big school team comes to town. As a Michigan fan, I like the idea but I am not so sure I would feel the same way if I were a Gopher or Badger fan as they are leaving the best hockey conference.
Interesting move by Mich State, they hired the commissioner of the CCHA as their new coach. He is a MSU guy, but hasn't coached in college hockey in 20 years. Here's a good article on it. New MSU Coach Bob I don't know of course what ND will do, but a lot of people are saying that the Big10 Hockey league is unlikely to schedule ND in the future. If we go to the WCHA that would be cool, but it would really add to the travel. Some have said maybe the WCHA should add some of the remaining good CCHA programs and split into 2 divisions and go that route.
I think both Jackson and people at M stated that they plan to continue scheduling each other as ND/M has developed into a big hockey rivalry. The WCHA had expressed reluctance to grow larger in the past but ND, Miami, Ala Fairbacks and Northern Michigan would fit it well with the league. I would not be surprised if the WCHA went the mega conference route with two dividions although the other posibility could be for ND and Miami to join an East Coast conference to save on travel costs. The MSU choice is bizarre as he really has very little coaching experience
I do wonder if either of those two leagues will come calling on the UAH Chargers. I know they made overtures before only to be snubbed by the friggin Alaska schools and I believe a few of the Big10 teams were against it. Now that they are gone and they will need members, it seems to be a good time. I know it seems odd to the outsider but Huntsville is not truly a 'Southern City' in regards to the makeup. Huntsville, Decatur and Madison are largely made up on transplants from the North and Midwest who love hockey. The biggest problem the Chargers have had selling the program to the general public is that most folks seem them as a program that may be gone in a few years..