Sources: UND will leave WCHA for new league
July 7, 2011 at 8:55 am in Grand Forks Herald
UND will soon announce it is leaving the men’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association for a new, startup conference in 2013-14, the Herald has learned. Continue Reading
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Wow stupid comment…
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yeh… I doubt Notre Dame will tolerate the Fightin Irish…oops Fightin Sioux logo.
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Interesting… First a BCS shake up this year in football and now college hockey in 2013..I’d be interested in finding out what the league name will be called? Or did I not read that part?
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Fred — Do you really think UND would make this ‘announcement’ if the other schools were not already on board??? I say grab Bemidji State and Notre Dame and call it good.
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freddy….Do you need a “current events” lesson?!?!? UND was transiting away from the nickname…it was the ND elected officials that made them keep it. You sound like a typical uniformed, tunnel-visioned, envious, ignorant bison fan….much like lakesbison. PLease tell us what the “MASCOT” looks like!!!! Get a clue, life, or job!!!
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Hey, I’m a Bison fan and I didn’t receive a uniform. Where do I get one?
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lakebison? lol is that clown still around?
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And still have more Division 1 National Titles than the Bison.
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If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to hear it does it make any noise?
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If a pig craps in a barn at ndsu, and noone is there to see it, does it still smell?
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Way to go, Big Ten Hockey conference. You have ruined college hockey…
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Brian…joe, you know that the only UND/NDSU rivalry is in the distant, distant past, right? Ask any student on campus. There’s no jealousy back and forth from anyone of significance. People still living that old rivalry are like Grandpa Simpson, a living joke. You should listen to yourselves.
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thanks Alvin best comment thus far. Im excited about the Big Ten and another possible conference. College hockey is getting some much needed fine tuning.
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How so? This is a complete money making move by UND, CC, Denver, Duluth, etc. The WCHA was way well off without Minnesota and Wisconsin. Its greed from the schools and nothing else. It will be a great conference tho
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Hey joe, you will have to ask noone but my guess is that is still does.
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UND vs. Western Michigan: a rivalry in the making!
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This is completely retarded. Its a good conference but there is absolutely no logical reason for it to be done. Its all about money and nothing else. The Big Ten can’t be blamed because the WCHA was more than good to go with what was left after Minnesota and Wisconsin left the conference. Sad to see money take over the great sport of college hockey and its going to be sad to see the (I’m sure) 10+ smaller schools drop hockey because some of the power houses decided they were to good for the small schools. It really is a shame
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Adam, three good reasons to do this;
1. Get rid of Bruce McLeod and Greg Shepherd
2. Build a league better than the Big 10
3. Increase attendance for new league’s member schools
Number 1 would be worth it by itself.
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Adam, three good reasons to do this;
1. Get rid of Bruce McLeod and Greg Shepherd
2. Build a league better than the Big 10
3. Increase attendance for new league’s member schools
Number 1 would be worth it by itself.
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Let’s see… the new Big Ten hockey conference will have six teams. They will need a lot of non-conference games. This new “Super” conference will have six teams. They will need a lot of non-conference games. Seems like this is simply a play by the Sioux, Bulldogs, et. al. to keep their more prestigious games against the Gophs and Sconnies, at the expense of the Mn SCU schools, UAA, and MI Tech. It’s slimy and is an example of everything that’s wrong with college sports. today.
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There’s 8 teams in this new “super” conference. This whole thing is about money from “powerhouses” that were left from the WCHA and CCHA. Its sad because it REALLY hurts the small schools they rejected. Idk why they picked western michigan over st cloud or bemidji tho. Unless it was to have another member closer to notre dame and miami
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There are only 6 teams in this new conference.
UND, Denver, C.C., UMD, UNO, and Miami.
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For now…Notre dame and Western Michigan will join by the end of the summer.
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Are you sure that Notre Dame is coming? Hockey East is still an option for them.
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This could be great. The two UNDs having an annual series of games. The Fighting Irish against the Fighting…uh…er…nevermind.
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Feel sorry for BSU. They worked like dogs, I mean, beavers, to get into the WCHA. Now it’s abandoning them.
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This is a good move. Without MN and Wisc the conference goes from great to average. Western Michigan is a great school and I think some of you have forgotten that they were in the ncaa tourney last year. As someone pointed out on a different thread- UND learned the hard way when ndsu, sdsu, and northern colorado left the NCC and UND behind; they will surely not make the same mistake again. Plus, the remainder of ccha and wcha will be able to form a 10 team conference; with both Alaska teams finally in the same conference.
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Six teams have made the move, not just UND, and others may join. Conference changes are happening all over NCAA football and basketball, etc. I’m pretty sure UND leadership is 100 times more capable of making the right call than any of us ignorant fans. It’s so easy to judge and name-call, but UND is much more competent than many areavoice comments would lead us to believe. I know most comments come from sports fans, but what has happened to our manners.
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Seems like there are a few posters on here who think that it was okay for UMN and UW to leave the WCHA for the Big 10 but not okay for UND to leave the WCHA to form this new conference; I honestly don’t understand the logic behind that idea. I think its obvious enough why UMN and UW went to the Big 10… $$$$ So then why is it okay for those schools to take the opportunity for more money but not okay for UND, DU, CC, UMD, etc to seek out that same opportunity? Sounds a little hypocritical to me guys. I keep hearing that the WCHA would have been “fine” without UMN and UW… that may be so but why should UND and these other schools who dominate the WCHA every year have to settle for “fine”. This is a potential game changer for college hockey and I believe it will lead to greater exposure for the sport. I for one do not blame UND or any of the other potential member schools one bit for making this move.
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Chris, not many people here are okay with MN and Wisco leaving but that’s a different scenario. That is their rightful conference and they are required to join if the league is formed by the Big Ten. Minnesota is actually going to make far less money in the Big Ten conference according to their athletic director. People think its money but it is far from that. That’s why Minnesota didn’t want this to happen and didn’t want to join the Big Ten conference, along with the fact that they loved the WCHA and their in state rivalries
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Adam I’m gonna have to disagree with you there. When UMN made the decision to move the the Big Ten I never heard anything that would lead me to believe they were making that decision out of obligation. The idea that they’re going to make “far less money” in the big ten is asinine. Keep in mind that Joel Maturi is the same guy who extended Don Lucia’s contract, a move which many agree was dumb, so I don’t put a whole lot weight behind anything Joel says. If anything he was probably trying to save face with those who were upset with UMN’s move to Big Ten. I’m a MN native and although I’m a diehard Sioux fan, I’ll always have an allegiance to the Gophs. I wasn’t upset in the least bit when UMN and UW decided to move to Big Ten because I know that they are only doing what is best for their program. This is the same reasoning behind the formation of the “Super League”. UND and the other member schools are doing what they know is best for the future of their programs. The remaining 10 teams from the dismantled conferences is the real issue here. People are remembering a time when the bigger programs would go out of their way to help support the smaller programs and grow the sport. But a lot has changed since then and in my opinion the best way to contribute to the growth of the sport now is through media coverage. The super league and the big 10 will both bring significant media coverage to college hockey. The 10 smaller programs that remain after the shift will band together to form a new league and those programs will survive just fine. Attendance for those programs is so low anyways that it really doesn’t matter. And with the Big Ten being only a 6 team conference, there will be plenty of opportunity for non-conference play with those smaller programs. Keep in mind this is only my opinion but I’ve been following college hockey my entire life and come from a family with deep roots in both UMN as well as East Coast hockey. I firmly believe this move is not only the best move for UND and the other member schools, but also for the future of college hockey in general.
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That’s what Im saying bro! College hockey deserves a lot more media coverage. Perhaps the Big Ten will be the first step. But not going to hold my breath, ESPN has pretty much dumped Hockey, NBC aired what 4/7 Stanley Cup games and who the hell gets Versus?
Thank god for FSSN and FSN even if it means catching a rodent’s game.
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FSSN and FSN will continue next season. Afetr that, who knows. The former will have to change its name when the nickname goes. The latter will have to hope Big Ten Network lets it do Gopher games, or be stuck with BSU-Mankato…whose ratings in the Twin Cities will be nil.
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Over ten years ago Woog was pushing for and predicting a Big Ten hockey conference, and it’s been in the cards a long time. Unfortunately, the Big Ten doesn’t care about hockey. Its network has habitually showed tape-delayed games at 2:00 am, even for such big games as Mich-Mich St. And Chris is right about Maturi. He really is an incompetent slug, and doesn’t care about hockey either.
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Thanks for backing me up Gene. I completely agree with you in regards to the Big Ten network not caring about hockey. Hockey will always take a back seat to football and basketball on that network and any games they do show will likely be tape delayed anyways. My hopes are that this new “Super League” could find a home on Fox sports, FCS, or one of the other networks with open time slots. I think that there is enough interest out there in the teams that are being named as potential member schools. I think a really good marketing arrangement and broadcast agreement could lead to this super league overshadowing Big Ten hockey in a very short time period. Again this is just my opinion but you never know. A guy can dream right?
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MN and WI play in the BigTen in all other sports. UND doesn’t. Thus UND is shut out of that conference.
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Good move for UND, terrible move for college hockey.
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You got that right citori. It is a great move for UND and the teams in it but its a big blow to college hockey just because this new conference completely dismantles 2 other ones. Sure the Big Ten took a couple teams from conferences and that sucks too, but at least they didn’t leave all the small schools hung out to dry like this new one. Many ppl were complaining about the Big Ten ruining the small schools and now that its UND doing it they think its ok. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
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“Sure the Big Ten took a couple teams from conferences and that sucks too, but at least they didn’t leave all the small schools hung out to dry like this new one.” REALLY?!! So you’re telling me that taking 3 of the biggest competitors in the CCHA and moving them to another league doesn’t hurt the smaller programs like Ferris State, LSC, BGS, or AK-F? And two of the biggest competitors in the WCHA not to mention some of the most storied rivalries in the history of college hockey leaving for another league doesn’t hurt the remaining schools? Think about the Strength of Schedule for the large programs that remain in the CCHA and WCHA after the Big Ten move. I’m not trying to be a jerk or anything but I feel like you must have a personal vendetta here; that or you just have no idea what you’re talking about.
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For those of you who dislike my comment that this is terrible for college hockey, explain this. How is replacing home games with U of Minn, Wisconsin, and UND for Ferris State, Bowling Green, and Lake State going to be good for Bemidji’s hockey program? The teams that are going to be left behind in the WCHA and CCHA will struggle to even maintain their programs, let alone see them grow.
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Citori- Teams grow by having good seasons, making the playoffs, and performing well against non-conference opponents. Take Bemidji state for example; in 2009 they were in the CHA and only got to play big name teams like UND through non-conference play. That year they managed to make the NCAA tourney and went on to defeat #1 seeded Notre Dame in the first round. A win against Cornell gained them their first frozen four berth in program history. They went on to lose to Miami-OH in the semifinals but their spectacular season lead to them getting a brand new arena and entrance into the WCHA. I believe that the big name programs should do what they can to help foster the growth of smaller programs; but to an extent. You cannot expect programs with a long history of success, such as UND, DU, CC, UMN, UW, etc to continue to hold themselves back just to help grow the smaller programs. With 10 teams left over after the conferences split, you’ll have a perfect setup to for another conference with those remaining teams. That conference would be pretty evenly matched among the member schools and I don’t forsee a huge drop in attendance numbers because many of those smaller schools are located in fairly remote regions where other entertainment is few and far between. It would also put AK-F and AK-A back in the same conference and renew a rivalry that has been strong for years, not to mention reducing travel costs for those teams. And again with only 6 teams in the Big Ten they will have plenty of scheduling slots open for non-conference play and those will likely be scheduled with teams like LSC, Ferris state, Bowling green, etc… People are really worried about these smaller programs struggling with the formation of these new conferences but I really don’t think that’ll be the case. I think the super league and the big ten will bring about some really good media coverage for college hockey which will in turn increase awareness for the sport. I think people are moreso just sad to see the WCHA dismantled since it has such a storied history. But in time that will pass
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UND has nothing to feel guilty about. Bemidji State acted in its own self interest ($$ & national exposure) when it decided to build its program and facilities. And now UND had to decide whether to languish in a conference hampered by small schools/hockey programs or act in ITS OWN SELF INTEREST. Proactive beats reactive IMO.
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The remaining teams from the WCHA and CCHA should realign (get both Alaska teams in the WCHA) but remain two seperate conferences. Then they could create a scheduling agreement between the two conferences to fill out their schedules. If the two leagues combine they would only have one auto bid to the NCAA tourney, if they remain two separate leagues each will send a team to the NCAA tourney every year. In doing so that means one team from the Big Ten or new super conference has to stay home. A small victory but would serve the big powerhouse programs right.
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U need to realize that if they form a 10 team conference, then it is possible for more than one team to make the tournament- this phenomenon is called At Large bids.
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No kidding? U missed my point. Additional conferences take away At Large Bids. The smaller schools will have a greater opportunity to win their conference tourney than to earn an at large bid over a bigger school. That’s how Bemidji State made the tourney every year, by winning the crappy College Hockey America tourney every year. Each year the Beavers won the CHA tourney, a bigger school was left out because of one less at large bid. This is precisly why I suggest keeping both the CCHA and WCHA and having a platform where member smaller schools will have greater opportunity to make the NCAA Tournament.
I didn’t think I had to spell it out, but here it is. More Conferences equals less at large bids. Conferences made up of smaller schools equals greater opportunity for smaller schools to make the NCAA tourney. More smaller schools in, more larger schools left out. There are only 16 slots to be filled and qualifying conferences get to send their tournemant champions. If conferences are made up of left behind smaller schools blah blah blah…understand?
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Haha all I said is that it is possible; but you are correct it’s not probable. The main point being that the conference winner, who ordinarily doesn’t have a shot in today’s conference, can win their tourney and get in. New opportunities.
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