We knew the introduction of Penn State to NCAA Division I ice hockey would shake things up but I didn't think it would form a new conference. The National Collegiate Hockey Conference was officially announced on Wednesday and it's going to be an immediate powerhouse.
(The NCHC is officially launched. Photo Credit: College Hockey News.com)
Denver, Colorado College, North Dakota, Miami, Nebraska-Omaha and Minnesota-Duluth are the six teams leaving their current conferences and forming NCHC which will begin play in 2013-2014. All of these teams, with the exception of Miami (CCHA), will be leaving the already powerful WCHA conference in search of something better. Ultimately, to compete with the Big Ten Hockey Conference.
The Big Ten Conference made their announcement earlier this year when Penn State made the decision to become a NCAA Division I hockey school. That announcement meant Wisconsin and Minnesota leaving the WCHA while the CCHA loses Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State. The move makes sense since all of the schools participate as members of the Big Ten in all of their other major sports, most notably Basketball and Football. The conference also has its own TV network.
What Does This Mean For Everyone Else?
With these changes above the CCHA is left with Notre Dame, Western Michigan, Northern Michigan, Alaska, Lake Superior, Ferris State and Bowling Green. The seven team conference still has enough teams for an automatic NCAA bid and could probably survive if none of they didn't lost another team. I wouldn't be surprised if Notre Dame, a member of the Big East, left the conference and moved into Hockey East.
The WCHA is now left with five schools: Alaska Anchorage, St. Cloud State, Bemidji, Minnesota State, and Michigan Tech. All five of them finished with sub 500 records last season and rounded out the bottom of the WCHA, combining for just 41 wins.
If you're Hockey East or the ECAC Hockey Conference, you won't be impacted too much. It looks like the major transitions will be taking place out west. Atlantic Hockey could lose Air Force, afterall, they are in Colorado and playing in "Atlantic Hockey", it geographically makes no sense.
It will be interesting to see what happens over the next two seasons and where teams land. For now we can sit and wait to see what changes are made, unless you want to join us and speculate.
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