Offseason 2022

[pdt1081]

I'm surprised there are so many universities willing to go the independent route in hopes of latching on to a conference. One would think a University would want a conference commitment before making the jump or bringing a team back.

Under the current Pairwise, a mildly successful season as an independent provides an easier route to the NCAA Tournament. The more wins over different opponents, the better. In a conference, you need your conference-mates to win their out of conference games. Playing teams who then don't play each other, gives the chance for more comparisons won.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

I go back and forth on this group forming a conference. It makes perfect sense on paper with the free autobid. Details suck, though. Augustana to Huntsville travel would stink. But is it any worse than Fairbanks to Huntsville? Likely an agreement that there would be no travel subsidies as every team would want them from every other team (in other words zero sum) so travel costs would be yuge and unsustainable over the long term. How does LIU pull this off with their shoestring budget? How many times can the UAx's go to the booster well before it runs dry? I suppose the league could arrange for neutral sites at a midway point between schools to cut costs, but then what's the point of having a college hockey team? What happens when the first team gets an invite to a "real" conference?

I just can't wrap my head around how this thing becomes successful and sustainable for more than a couple of years.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

And in other news, it looks like McKay will be rewarded with the Richter award for spending most of his career finding creative ways to keep his toes warm while his team pummels the opposing goaltender. Hmmm.

https://twitter.com/chnews/status/15095 ... MsVUYgVp5A

[jpfalcon09]

I go back and forth on this group forming a conference. It makes perfect sense on paper with the free autobid. Details suck, though. Augustana to Huntsville travel would stink. But is it any worse than Fairbanks to Huntsville? Likely an agreement that there would be no travel subsidies as every team would want them from every other team (in other words zero sum) so travel costs would be yuge and unsustainable over the long term. How does LIU pull this off with their shoestring budget? How many times can the UAx's go to the booster well before it runs dry? I suppose the league could arrange for neutral sites at a midway point between schools to cut costs, but then what's the point of having a college hockey team? What happens when the first team gets an invite to a "real" conference?

I just can't wrap my head around how this thing becomes successful and sustainable for more than a couple of years.

Therein lies the unfortunate reality for a handful of these programs - their models aren't sustainable. I'm surprised AH is willing to bring back Bobby Mo. We'll see how much public funding is going to be there if that program struggles to regain their footing. Same for UAA and even UAF. They'd be better off consolidating into one program. The rest are going to be a crapshoot. About the only independent I feel good about is ASU.

I did see today that Stonehill is also looking to make the jump to D1 for hockey and would start off as an independent. Apparently they've got the funding raised to build a new rink.

[pdt1081]

I go back and forth on this group forming a conference. It makes perfect sense on paper with the free autobid. Details suck, though. Augustana to Huntsville travel would stink. But is it any worse than Fairbanks to Huntsville? Likely an agreement that there would be no travel subsidies as every team would want them from every other team (in other words zero sum) so travel costs would be yuge and unsustainable over the long term. How does LIU pull this off with their shoestring budget? How many times can the UAx's go to the booster well before it runs dry? I suppose the league could arrange for neutral sites at a midway point between schools to cut costs, but then what's the point of having a college hockey team? What happens when the first team gets an invite to a "real" conference?

I just can't wrap my head around how this thing becomes successful and sustainable for more than a couple of years.

What's the NCAA's definition of a "conference" to get an auto bid? If they just have to play each other 2 games each and have a conference tournament, it could work. Definitely piss a lot of people off in the process, but they'd just have to meet the bare minimum "conference" requirements.

[mbenecke]

I go back and forth on this group forming a conference. It makes perfect sense on paper with the free autobid. Details suck, though. Augustana to Huntsville travel would stink. But is it any worse than Fairbanks to Huntsville? Likely an agreement that there would be no travel subsidies as every team would want them from every other team (in other words zero sum) so travel costs would be yuge and unsustainable over the long term. How does LIU pull this off with their shoestring budget? How many times can the UAx's go to the booster well before it runs dry? I suppose the league could arrange for neutral sites at a midway point between schools to cut costs, but then what's the point of having a college hockey team? What happens when the first team gets an invite to a "real" conference?

I just can't wrap my head around how this thing becomes successful and sustainable for more than a couple of years.

What's the NCAA's definition of a "conference" to get an auto bid? If they just have to play each other 2 games each and have a conference tournament, it could work. Definitely piss a lot of people off in the process, but they'd just have to meet the bare minimum "conference" requirements.

I believe you need 6 teams in a conference for it to receive an autobid.

[pdt1081]

I believe you need 6 teams in a conference for it to receive an autobid.

Minimum 6 teams to receive an auto is correct. There's also an aspect of the teams have to play each other for two years before the conference qualifies for an auto bid (NCHC, and CCHA both met that based on conference membership the year prior to formation). I'm talking more about what qualifies as a "conference." Basically, what's the minimum number of league games required? The administrative aspect is the easy part to figure out.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Sam Craggs has 2 apples in 3 games with the Walleye.

https://www.wtol.com/article/sports/hoc ... 69f4e8bd51

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Theo signed with Adirondack (ECHL) where Evan Pivnick will be calling out his name.

[BG84]

And in other news, it looks like McKay will be rewarded with the Richter award for spending most of his career finding creative ways to keep his toes warm while his team pummels the opposing goaltender. Hmmm.

https://twitter.com/chnews/status/15095 ... MsVUYgVp5A

I'm inclined to think many goaltenders with great stats have good defenses in front of them.

[bgbill]

Connor Ford signed with Henderson (NV) Silver Knights (AHL). Brandon Kruse will make him feel welcomed.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Connor Ford signed with Henderson (NV) Silver Knights (AHL). Brandon Kruse will make him feel welcomed.

I'd see a rumor on that but was waiting for confirmation. Thanks.

Edit: The roster page for the Silver Knights has both Kruse and Ford in their BG jerseys (they haven't taken official team photos yet).

https://www.hendersonsilverknights.com/team-roster/

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

There are currently 51 available defensemen in the portal. Here are some with numbers I found interesting. Aside from Nordqvist I don't know anything about these guys but there has to be suitable replacements out there for Lloyd.

Code: Select all

Name			Team		Pos	YOE	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Jacob Nordqvist		Lake State	D	1	138	13	49	62	28	68
Ty Farmer		UMass		D	1	134	11	33	44	45	86
Michael Underwood	Clarkson	D	1	129	5	13	18	26	98
Elliott McDermott	Colgate		D	3	62	4	15	19	1	32
Drew Bavaro		Bentley		D	3	52	11	28	39	-7	34

[jpfalcon09]

And in other news, it looks like McKay will be rewarded with the Richter award for spending most of his career finding creative ways to keep his toes warm while his team pummels the opposing goaltender. Hmmm.

https://twitter.com/chnews/status/15095 ... MsVUYgVp5A

I'm inclined to think many goaltenders with great stats have good defenses in front of them.

As a former goaltender I can agree with this statement.

[pdt1081]

There are currently 51 available defensemen in the portal. Here are some with numbers I found interesting. Aside from Nordqvist I don't know anything about these guys but there has to be suitable replacements out there for Lloyd.

Code: Select all

Name			Team		Pos	YOE	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Jacob Nordqvist		Lake State	D	1	138	13	49	62	28	68
Ty Farmer		UMass		D	1	134	11	33	44	45	86
Michael Underwood	Clarkson	D	1	129	5	13	18	26	98
Elliott McDermott	Colgate		D	3	62	4	15	19	1	32
Drew Bavaro		Bentley		D	3	52	11	28	39	-7	34

As much as I dislike transfers within leagues, I really think Nordqvist would help elevate Malmstrom's game. Malmstrom could be an elite level player (he was in the Bruins prospect camp last summer), he just needs some help to get there while he's in BG.