The big fix

[jbakerifm]

So our WCHA Commish has a brilliant idea to fix the conference tourneys.

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/wcha/20 ... ournaments" target="_blank

The way this reads to me is having the combined tournament's every year at the X, which sounds pretty crappy for us. More like guaranteed home games for the Western schools with 5 or 6 of our fans present. I'd be more in favor of alternating in Detroit though.

[bgbill]

pure coincidence that the wcha commissioner lives in the twin cities

[apollo]

They have to do something....no one goes to the "Final Five" I can only imagine how much money the conference loses renting out those facilities. They need to find a nice 4000-6000 seat arena and just be happy. The conference is the second worst in the country, quit pretending that you're something better.

[Schadenfreude]

This isn't the worst idea.

Boy I miss the old CCHA.

[rood]

Announced attendance of 6000 for Minnesota vs. Michigan in the Twin Cities is beyond pitiful.

[pdt1081]

So our WCHA Commish has a brilliant idea to fix the conference tourneys.

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/wcha/20 ... ournaments" target="_blank

The way this reads to me is having the combined tournament's every year at the X, which sounds pretty crappy for us. More like guaranteed home games for the Western schools with 5 or 6 of our fans present. I'd be more in favor of alternating in Detroit though.

An even better fix would be CCHA Championships rotating between Toledo, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh.

[BGDrew]

I've got a few ideas on what the conference could do:
- Hold the tournament at the Sears Centre outside Chicago. Probably too big of a venue, but easy to get to, as centrally located in this conference as you'll get, and plenty of hotels.
- Keep the East-West rotation going, but move to more realistic arenas. Huntington Center is the perfect size, and the Resch Center in Green Bay is an attractive option for the western teams (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resch_Center" target="_blank).
- Top seed hosts. Probably the worst option since you have to block out a whole weekend of ice time even though you might not need it. Split up tickets four ways amongst the teams playing so there isn't a crowd advantage.

I appreciate that Robertson thinks outside the box, but this super tournament idea is awful.

As far as the CCHA talk goes, don't hold your collective breaths. If anything I see RMU joining the WCHA and ASU or another western team joining, thus creating a two-division conference.

That, or we double down and join the Nacho.

[apollo]

We definitely don't want to join the NCHC....we'll be back in last place in no time

[pdt1081]

I've got a few ideas on what the conference could do:
- Hold the tournament at the Sears Centre outside Chicago. Probably too big of a venue, but easy to get to, as centrally located in this conference as you'll get, and plenty of hotels.
- Keep the East-West rotation going, but move to more realistic arenas. Huntington Center is the perfect size, and the Resch Center in Green Bay is an attractive option for the western teams (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resch_Center" target="_blank).
- Top seed hosts. Probably the worst option since you have to block out a whole weekend of ice time even though you might not need it. Split up tickets four ways amongst the teams playing so there isn't a crowd advantage.

I appreciate that Robertson thinks outside the box, but this super tournament idea is awful.

As far as the CCHA talk goes, don't hold your collective breaths. If anything I see RMU joining the WCHA and ASU or another western team joining, thus creating a two-division conference.

That, or we double down and join the Nacho.

You mention RMU, but not Niagra or Canisius. In the past, Niagra has made it clear that they want to elevate their program to full scholarship level. Canisius has also expressed the same.

If you go two divisions, you may as well just go separate conferences and get another auto-bid.

[pdt1081]

We definitely don't want to join the NCHC....we'll be back in last place in no time

NCHC and WCHA are two different styles of hockey. 4 randomly placed games throughout the season doesn't give players or coaches am easy adjustment. Add in the inconsistent play of the team this season and you end up with the 4 losses. From what I saw, play each series in back to back games and both would have probably been splits. Do that all season and you're looking at a .500 team. Do I think they would win the league? No. Be a competitive, mid pack team? Absolutely. And that's right now, this season.

[apollo]

I think that the one thing this team has shown is that they do not beat quality opponents on a consistent basis. I don't disagree that they could split 4 games over the course of a year with NCHC opponents, but it would be very difficult to play Denver, Miami, Western Michigan, North Dakota 5 out of 6 weekends. I think you'd be lucky to ever be .500 in that league.

[Critical Thinker]

I think the NCHC is going to offer us membership sometime soon. I think ASU is going to join them, and that would make an odd number of teams. Notre Dame will get the offer first, but they'll turn it down in favor of playing with their like-minded east coast snobs like they always do. We'll get the offer next for being a full D1 school, and to give Miami and Western better travel. Should that happen, my hope would be we turn it down. We'd have to fly out to half the conference. Travel would be worse than it is now. Our best option is to stay where we are and wait for the NCHC to implode and reform the CCHA with Western and *sigh* Miami.