Rebirth of the CCHA official, set for 2021-22
Bowling Green—who owned the rights to the CCHA name and history once the original league dissolved after 2012-13–has officially announced that the 7 teams leaving behind the WCHA will play in the new CCHA.
Those 7 members: Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State, Northern Michigan.
Seems to be the death blow to the WCHA whose remaining members are Alaska-Fairbanks, Alaska-Anchorage and Alabama-Huntsville. Lot of talk going on that both AK schools may lose their hockey programs. Sad.
February 18th, 2020 at 12:39 PM ^
Hey CCHA, got any room in there for the B10? Asking for me, who really misses Michigan playing in the CCHA.
February 18th, 2020 at 3:27 PM ^
Why ? I love that the Big Ten has its own hockey conference. And did we used to go on road trips to Alaska ??? Holy shit if true.
February 18th, 2020 at 3:29 PM ^
Yes, to play the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks. It was glorious.
February 18th, 2020 at 3:34 PM ^
The old CCHA was fun and I find the Big Ten kind of boring. Miami was a good rival for a while there and it was always cool to play the smaller Michigan schools vs Wisconsin and Minnesota who we see in pretty much every other sport
February 18th, 2020 at 3:41 PM ^
Yes, it was a nice change having different rivalries in the CCHA. Big Ten hockey just feels . . . sterile.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:18 PM ^
and the hockey was good.
February 19th, 2020 at 8:28 AM ^
and it pisses me off they let ND into the big to play hockey, it should be all or nothing to be in the BIG.
February 19th, 2020 at 10:33 AM ^
Looking at you, Johns Hopkins Lacrosse!
February 18th, 2020 at 3:37 PM ^
The Big Ten has less than half of it's own conference - the rest don't even have hockey teams, and we include Notre Dame. IMO, the CCHA had much more grit given the fact the teams we played were in lower conferences in other sports like football/basketball, but they got to play with the "big boys" from the Big Ten.
I'm sure I'm just being nostalgic, but CCHA hockey >>>> Big Ten hockey. I'd much rather watch Michigan-Miami (OH) than Michigan-Penn State.
February 18th, 2020 at 3:50 PM ^
To be fair, ND was arguably Michigan's biggest CCHA rivalry outside MSU
February 18th, 2020 at 3:55 PM ^
Well, until that douchebag Northern Michigan team would show up with half their rosters made of overaged felons. And that was just the moms section.
February 18th, 2020 at 4:30 PM ^
Yes and those were/are very tough games - I guess my point on ND was more to the fact that the B10 barely has it's own conference.
February 18th, 2020 at 5:11 PM ^
Former Miami student, current Michigan one here
Miami has been garbage at hockey the last half decade. They fired their coach who took them on those Frozen Four runs and have not been competitive before or since then
I get the nostalgia factor, but I would rather play meaningful hockey games against good teams than play in a shit conference
February 18th, 2020 at 7:12 PM ^
Hey Miami will always have that insane choke job against Boston U in the Championship. Just crazy.
February 18th, 2020 at 12:44 PM ^
Also working against the Alaska schools are the unprecedented slashing of their budgets by the Alaska governor. It will be tough enough for the University system itself to survive, let alone the athletic programs.
February 18th, 2020 at 1:44 PM ^
Also working against the Alaska schools is being in f$%^ing Alaska.
February 18th, 2020 at 5:42 PM ^
alaska is literally the most beautiful place on our planet. it is glorious.
February 18th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
It's a double-whammy. I don't see how the programs survive. A real shame.
The snarky response to this about them being in Alaska is, of course, a real factor in all of this--the Alaska schools have to pay the travel costs for teams that come to visit, and the teams that left the WCHA don't like the trip even without the costs, and I think that's understandable even if unfortunate.
I was really excited that Penn State added hockey, and it's still a good thing... but all the shuffling that has happened since then has been bad. Unquestionably.
February 18th, 2020 at 2:33 PM ^
Interesting... considering Alaska hands out millions every year in oil stipends. There's money there, lots of it...
February 18th, 2020 at 3:11 PM ^
"Oil payments" amount to about $2000 per resident at its high but average around $1,200.
The Alaska Permanent Fund as its called is also widely misunderstood. And Alaska being "awash" in oil money is also widely misunderstood, hint, it is not.
Anyway the Gov. cut the higher education budget by 40% in one fell swoop after vetoing the state legislatures budget. Alaska had a massive budget gap, surprise from tax cuts. Ultimately its forcing the Sates University system into some very tough and harsh decisions, which includes possibly closing one of its campuses. Athletics is at risk, no question.
Not to get political but it is indeed the old (or new) fight from Conservatives and their distrust of higher education coming to the ultimate climax.
February 18th, 2020 at 3:49 PM ^
For a state with a land area of 663,000 square miles (you could fit 11 Michigans in it!) to close one of its satellite campuses would really suck. This isn't like having U-M Dearborn a half hour away from Ann Arbor. To go from one inhabited part of Alaska to another is a trek.
February 18th, 2020 at 3:58 PM ^
Educated conservative. There’s an oxymoron for you.
Let them fuck themselves up in AK. Who cares.
February 18th, 2020 at 4:50 PM ^
The Alaska schools pay some of the cost of the trip. It's an amount that is probably more than they can realistically afford, and at the same time, not enough for it to make financial sense for the schools that are in the WCHA.
February 18th, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
I wouldn't mind seeing my Hockey Broncos come back to the CCHA. They're competing well in the NCHC (currently in 3rd behind North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth).....but it would be nice to see them play all of those teams from Michigan on a regular basis.
February 18th, 2020 at 12:51 PM ^
Yeah, the small schools that are playing up in hockey (Bemidji, Ferris, etc) can't subsidize AK schools like the old WCHA and old CCHA could, so probably deathknell for Fairbanks & Anchorage. Which is sad because they gave us MURDERDEATH HOCKEY BEARS IN JETPLANES.
But this makes sense to compact the league to that footprint-- If I was hockey emperor for the day, I'd:
* dissolve the NCHC & current WCHA
* Put all the U.P. teams and smaller Minnesota teams in a conference and call it the Superior League (7-8 teams)
* Put all the smaller L.P. teams (Ferris, WMU) + Bowling Green + UAH (they have good support in Huntsville for the program) + a revitalized Wayne St program + Miami OH and call it the CCHA (6 teams)
* Put all the Colorado teams (incl. AF) + AK team(s) + Arizona St + UNO + NoDak in a conference and call it the WCHA (7-8 teams)
February 18th, 2020 at 1:52 PM ^
You are exactly correct about the subsidizing the AK schools. That's why one team was in the CCHA the other was in the WCHA, to share the cost burden. It was very expensive to fly your hockey team to Fairbanks and Anchorage. It could be done when the Michigans and Minnesotas of the world are chipping in. Ferris St and Bemidji St can't afford that.
B1G hockey ruined college hockey.
February 18th, 2020 at 1:21 PM ^
The CCHA was so much better and on tv so much more than what we currently get. I did not think this was going to be the result of a Big Ten hockey conference.
February 18th, 2020 at 1:43 PM ^
I really thought with the birth of BTN we would get more hockey, boy was I wrong.
February 18th, 2020 at 3:31 PM ^
Is The problem that games are on the same time as basketball ? Because if they are playing some studio show, women’s sport, or Olympic sport over hockey....that’s a crime.
February 18th, 2020 at 4:52 PM ^
BTN basically gave up on hockey because the ratings were so terrible. Women's basketball, women's volleyball and wrestling all got better ratings, so that is what BTN has started to emphasize.
February 18th, 2020 at 1:51 PM ^
Good for all those programs. That is a solid conference. Some of those programs have been ranked in the top ten in recent years. That will be a competitive conference.
February 18th, 2020 at 2:42 PM ^
Someone explain to me why the Big 10 doesn't just add Minnesota-Duluth and Nebraska-Omaha and call it a day.
February 18th, 2020 at 3:11 PM ^
Because (Notre Dame notwithstanding) they're not in the B1G?
I kind of wish we hadn't allowed ND to come into the conference for hockey, but I understand that much more than UNO or Mn-Duluth. Just get Illinois in the conference in a couple years and the scheduling problems will even out.
February 18th, 2020 at 4:27 PM ^
The "not in the B1G" argument does not hold any water when we have ND in the conference for hockey and JHU for lax.
Regional rivalries were the key to college hockey which the B1G whiffed on. People care more about Minnesota vs. UMD than they do about Minnesota vs. Michigan. Illinois is not going be some sort of panacea for the conference. I'd rather watch U of M vs. Lake Superior State as would most fans.
February 18th, 2020 at 3:13 PM ^
Two more schools to share television revenue with. Nope
February 18th, 2020 at 4:27 PM ^
Was kind of curious about this. TV Hockey revenue can’t be that much (the games are never on TV!). Does anyone know what NDs deal looks like? Are they getting part of the overall TV money? Or is there some carve out for hockey?
February 18th, 2020 at 4:28 PM ^
Zero percent chance it touches any non-hockey TV revenue.
February 18th, 2020 at 5:18 PM ^
No way in hell Nebraska-Lincoln lets Nebraska-Omaha into the Big Ten (even as an associate member). Lincoln is the reason that UNO gave up football when they moved to D1
February 18th, 2020 at 2:52 PM ^
Lots of talk about the Alaska schools, but I see Huntsville isn't included here either. They'll need a landing spot. I don't think they could make it as an independent.
February 18th, 2020 at 3:46 PM ^
Well, it seems we're getting back closer to where things should have gone post-Big Ten formation. Unfortunately, all the big non-B1G schools panicked and scooped up all the best of the old WCHA and CCHA in the aftermath. Now we're kind of gravitating back to what we should've had which is a smaller WCHA (NCHC) and CCHA. (Honestly, I wonder if the NCHC will buy/take the rights to the WCHA)
Seems like the Alaska schools are being taken off life support. It just seems so unlikely that they exist in 5 years time. I'm a little surprised and a little not surprised Huntsville isn't invited into the CCHA club. No one has ever seemed particularly interested in going out of their way to help them.
Now I have to imagine Miami and Western are going to move back to the CCHA. Travel costs and regional rivalries should draw them home. Maybe not immediately, but soon enough. That would leave the NCHC small and then who do they invite ASU? Bemidji or Minnesota State? Seems likely it all washes out to Big Ten, old WCHA, and old CCHA which is where we should've landed in the first place post-PSU
February 18th, 2020 at 4:00 PM ^
One of UAH's problems is that it is extremely expensive and inconvenient to fly into Huntsville airport. If UAH was theoretically in Atlanta or Nashville, I think some of the smaller CCHA footprint schools wouldn't grouch so much. It's impossible to drive to for the traditional CCHA footprint schools within a weekend series format.
February 18th, 2020 at 4:03 PM ^
Also, re: NCHC-- I would think NCHC would happily take a Arizona St for Western Michigan swap out. If they could find one more west of the Mississippi team to jump up to D-1 that's a big name (I've lost track who's even viable anymore), they'd probably jettison Miami OH as well.
February 19th, 2020 at 9:26 AM ^
I suspect there are several NCHC schools that might be interested in a more regional realignment to the CCHA, but I've heard the buyout to leave the NCHC is prohibitively expensive, making it unlikely anyone leaves.
February 18th, 2020 at 3:58 PM ^
This thread title had me hopeful.
I wholeheartedly agree that the old CCHH >>>>>>B1G Hockey. I pay 10% as much attention to college hockey as I used to. Certainly other factors are at play, but B1G hockey does nothing for me.
February 18th, 2020 at 5:56 PM ^
I am really sad for the Alaskan schools, and while I don't blame the W/CCHA schools for ditching the expensive mid-majors, I do blame the Big Ten for causing this shakeup.
I wish the Big Ten would add the Alaskans, but I know they wont. I also secretly hope Washington and Oregon make programs go D1, and then start a PCHA with UAA, UAF and ASU. Also know this won't happen.
Poor damn nanook.
February 18th, 2020 at 6:53 PM ^
I find it ironic that there is so much nostalgia for CCHA hockey when the reason that FYS and we were there in the first place was that some administrators decided that the cost savings were more important than playing against the more elite programs in the old WCHA.
February 18th, 2020 at 7:37 PM ^
Seeing Michigan and the other large schools come up to Fairbanks was one of the highlights of my time as a student at UAF. Was definitely cool seeing the teams come up to visit small town Fairbanks in -20F temps. Unfortunately, I graduated just before the epic hockey bear videos. UAF hockey is the only sport up there (besides riflery) and losing it will crush the students and fans.
As for UAA, they used to be a giant in college hockey in the 80-90s. Sad to see both the state's teams struggle. We even lost the Alaska Aces ECHL team several years ago and now the Sullivan Arena sits quietly most days.
Regarding the PFD, it really doesn't help much with cost of living up here. They've been capping the free checks at $1,600 or so the last few years so they can take the rest to help pay for state government. We tend to make more in salary to offset the higher cost of living but it's not like we're swimming in cash. BP just sold all of their North Slope assets and it's become easier and cheaper to get oil out of the ground in Texas than to work in AK. Lots of challenges for the lawmakers up here though none want to make tough choices.
Don't cry for us up here though. Hawaii is a quick 6 hour flight away.
February 19th, 2020 at 6:09 AM ^
If both Alaska teams fold, it'd be cool if the BCHL put a team in Anchorage. I know that's a heck of a distance from the rest of the league, but it would suck to have you guys lose all 3 teams in a matter of years
February 18th, 2020 at 8:14 PM ^
Can we go back? Big Ten sucks and was a huge mistake.