Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

the thread where the rumors never die...
----------------------------

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/niaga ... e-20141005" target="_blank
on October 5, 2014 - 12:01 AM
.
.
"Western New Yorkers can put the idea of the University at Buffalo adding Division I hockey on the back burner. Athletic director Danny White has said there are no plans to consider adding the sport.

“I get the question all the time,” White said. “Does it make sense? Yeah. It’s the No. 1 hockey market in the country. Sure it makes a lot of sense. But we’re not going to realize our potential until we figure out this football thing, figure out how to consistently be competitive in football and be good at all the sports we have. When we do that, we’ll generate more revenue and maybe we’ll be in a different position. But right now, I don’t see how it’s something we could look at realistically. “

But realignment could happen even without the addition of another program. The latest conference structures leave a lot to be desired for some former CCHA schools. That conference was once centralized in Michigan and Ohio. Travel budgets have been blown up with the new league formations.

Consider that Bowling Green, in its new WCHA league, travels to Alabama-Huntsville, Alaska and Alaska-Anchorage. Lake Superior State and Ferris State are in the same boat while Western Michigan in the NCHC has added regular trips to Colorado College and Denver.

If those schools become unhappy and uncomfortable with that arrangement, particularly from a financial end, it’s possible to see a Great Lakes conference that could draw those schools along with Canisius, Niagara, RIT, Mercyhurst and Robert Morris.

It’s all speculation at the moment, but many in college hockey feel another major realignment shift will happen in the next two or three years."

I give the current alignment no more than, maybe, 2-3 more years. The original WCHA members of the NCHC and current WCHA will get back together (maybe including NMU) as the WCHA, and a new CCHA will form that will include many of the original members plus some new ones mentioned in the article. Incidentally, the WCHA may have some issues since none of those members are D1 in all sports, meaning they won't have an NCAA representative at the table unless they find a D1 school to join their league.

Hopefully they realign soon....having your closest trip be 4 hrs away isn't good for BG. Too much travel and no fans from opposing teams for home games.

BG, Miami, WMU, Ferris, Lake, Niagara, Canisius, Rob Morris.
Nice geography, with us right in the middle.
That sounds good to me.

Freddie wrote:BG, Miami, WMU, Ferris, Lake, Niagara, Canisius, Rob Morris.
Nice geography, with us right in the middle.
That sounds good to me.

I do not know why, but for some reason I believe Huntsville will be involved as well.

Freddie wrote:BG, Miami, WMU, Ferris, Lake, Niagara, Canisius, Rob Morris.
Nice geography, with us right in the middle.
That sounds good to me.

I'd image Hurst would be involved since they fit the footprint and are rivals with Niagara and Bobby Mo.

pdt1081 wrote:

Freddie wrote:BG, Miami, WMU, Ferris, Lake, Niagara, Canisius, Rob Morris.
Nice geography, with us right in the middle.
That sounds good to me.

I do not know why, but for some reason I believe Huntsville will be involved as well.

My assumption as well. Freddie's hypothetical conference would be the closest to them, so they'd likely wind up getting thrown in. If they get the chance to bolt from a conference with 2 Alaskan school, they'll probably take it in a heartbeat.

Critical Thinker wrote:

pdt1081 wrote:

Freddie wrote:BG, Miami, WMU, Ferris, Lake, Niagara, Canisius, Rob Morris.
Nice geography, with us right in the middle.
That sounds good to me.

I do not know why, but for some reason I believe Huntsville will be involved as well.

My assumption as well. Freddie's hypothetical conference would be the closest to them, so they'd likely wind up getting thrown in. If they get the chance to bolt from a conference with 2 Alaskan school, they'll probably take it in a heartbeat.

There is always the chance that we would be "encouraged" to take one of the Alaska schools with us since one of the stipulations for their move to D1 was that they would be in separate conferences to lessen the travel strain.

Who owns the rights to the CCHA name now that the league is defunct? It would be interesting to know the answer to that.

Schadenfreude wrote:Who owns the rights to the CCHA name now that the league is defunct? It would be interesting to know the answer to that.

General consensus among the college hockey world says BGSU does. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. All the records that are required to be kept (by law) are stored at the university somewhere.

pdt1081 wrote:

Schadenfreude wrote:Who owns the rights to the CCHA name now that the league is defunct? It would be interesting to know the answer to that.

General consensus among the college hockey world says BGSU does. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. All the records that are required to be kept (by law) are stored at the university somewhere.

Yes, BG owns the rights to the CCHA name. I know this for a fact.

Falcon Fanatic wrote:

pdt1081 wrote:

Schadenfreude wrote:Who owns the rights to the CCHA name now that the league is defunct? It would be interesting to know the answer to that.

General consensus among the college hockey world says BGSU does. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. All the records that are required to be kept (by law) are stored at the university somewhere.

Yes, BG owns the rights to the CCHA name. I know this for a fact.

This makes sense to me. We were the very last school out, right? Plus, the CCHA is part of Bowling Green hockey's DNA. So it's quite fitting.

It would be fun to bring it back.

We were also the last remaining charter member.

BGFan wrote:We were also the last remaining charter member.

Huh. Going by memory, I thought Lake Superior State was a charter member, too. I also thought St. Louis, Ohio U., and Ohio State were there at or near the beginning, too.

Did Lake State come a year later?

Also, wasn't the possibility of a conference that included some Western New York schools part of why it took Bowling Green so long to decide to join the WCHA? That always seemed to be in the penumbra of what people were saying about the dragged out decision.

The kind of conference hinted at in that article would serve BGSU better than what we have now. I don't mind having Alabama-Huntsville around, because where else would they go? But the trips to Alaska, and especially Minnesota, seem unnecessary.