Falcons weigh options (07-13-11)

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File Photo: BGSU’s
Director of Athletics Greg Christopher. (Photo: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune)

College hockey’s second major realignment in the last four months became official Saturday.
But where Bowling Green eventually will fit in hasn’t been decided.
The Falcons could remain in a revamped Central Collegiate Hockey
Association, move to a new look Western Collegiate Hockey Association or
join a new super conference of sorts.
For now, though, BG remains in a shrinking CCHA.
CCHA member Miami and five schools from the WCHA have formed a new league that will start play in the
2013-14 season.
The WCHA schools in the yet-to-be named league are Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth,
Nebraska-Omaha and North Dakota.
The formation of the new league was confirmed Saturday in a joint
statement by the athletics directors of the six schools. Additional
details will be released today during a press conference in Colorado
Springs.
The loss of Miami leaves the CCHA with seven schools, although Notre
Dame and Western Michigan could become the new league’s seventh and
eighth members.
The new league comes after Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State
announced in March they are leaving the CCHA after the 2012-13 season to
form a Big Ten Conference hockey league, along with Minnesota and
Wisconsin of the WCHA.
Penn State also will be a member of the Big Ten hockey league, its
program starting play in the fall of 2012 and joining the Big Ten the
following season.
The other remaining CCHA schools are Alaska, Ferris State, Lake Superior and Northern Michigan.
The remaining WCHA schools are Alaska-Anchorage, Bemidji State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota State (Mankato)
and St. Cloud.
A league needs at least six teams to receive an automatic berth to the NCAA playoffs.
BG athletics director Greg Christopher said his school hasn’t received an invitation to join the new
league or the WCHA.
The CCHA could be on the verge of becoming extinct. Northern is believed
headed for the WCHA, while the other remaining CCHA schools are rumored
to be considering WCHA membership, too.
“(Northern) has stopped returning phone calls to (CCHA) member schools,
that’s a pretty indication of what they’re going to do,” Christopher
said.
College hockey’s rumor mill — which has been on fire since word of the
new league leaked out early last week ­— also suggested a merger of the
CCHA and the WCHA is possible, with the revamped WCHA being divided into
east and west divisions.
Independent Alabama-Huntsville, turned down for CCHA membership last year, also is looking for a league.

“I have talked to a few of the ADs (in the WCHA) about the landscape of
college hockey, but not specifically about the WCHA,” Christopher said,
adding he has not talked to WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod.
Christopher also has said he has talked to some of the ADs in the new super league.
“That’s a tough question,” Christopher said when asked where he would
like BG to end up. “We’re trying to evaluate all of the factors and how
they’ll affect our program. We’ve been playing all of those scenarios
out with our staff internally.”
Christopher would prefer to remain in the CCHA. BG and Lake Superior are
charter members of the league, which began with the 1971-72 season.
“We want to keep a strong CCHA,” Christopher said. “You can’t throw out
30 years of rivalries, connections and regional pieces. It would be
disappointing if the league fell apart.”
Yet, Christopher will do what is best for the BG program, which was on life support just two years ago.

“Bowling Green is committed to its program and competing for
championships, that’s the same approach we’ve had all along,”
Christopher said. “We’re committed to a full funding of the program.”
Christopher said there is no timetable for the next round of realignment
to be finished. The CCHA ADs will hold their annual summer meetings in
mid-August in Dearborn, Mich.
“The sooner the better is what everybody wants,” Christopher said. “We
want a decision, but we won’t make a decision just to make a decision.
You have to be patient and let things play out,. We hope to have some
sense of direction from each school when we get together in August. The
situation continues to be very fluid.”
Among the factors to determine where BG will end include the cost of
travel and recruiting budgets, the ability to recruit quality players,
and competition level.
“You have to weigh all of the factors,” Christopher said.
The new league that includes Denver and Miami, reportedly has an
admission fee of $250,000 and playing in that league probably would
require five plane trips each season to the WCHA cities. Those trips
probably would include leaving Thursday and returning Sunday.
The WCHA also would have similar travel costs.
“Travel is something we have to look at, what will be the overall cost
to the institution?” Christopher said. “We’re going through some
difficult budget times here at the university and in the state of Ohio.”
But The Falcons believe they can still recruit quality players. The
United States (Junior) Hockey League and the North American (Junior)
Hockey Leagues have expanded, and there are enough good players to be
recruited by all leagues. The Falcons recruit both leagues, and heavily
recruit within a five-hour radius of BG that includes Michigan and
Ontario.
“Chris (BG head coach Bergeron) is confident we can continue recruiting
the players we need to be successful, no matter what league we are in,”
Christopher said.
Even if the Falcons were offered a spot in the new league, they’d have
to weigh the competition level. BG most likely would finish near the
bottom of the new league since the other schools already rank among
college hockey’s elite.
The Falcons probably would be better off being the best team in a
revamped CCHA or WCHA, even though it would be a third-tier league.
Bemidji, formerly of College Hockey America, and the Rochester (N.Y.)
Institute of Technology, a member of Atlantic Hockey, have both advanced
to the NCAA Frozen Four from so-called third-tier leagues.
“You can compete for a national championship through a number of different leagues,” Christopher said.

The Falcons have been left out of the new league so far because of they
haven’t had a winning season since 1997 and the recent uncertainty over
the program’s future.
Notre Dame might hold the key to future movement. The Fighting Irish
also are considering a move Hockey East, but rumors persist they’re
going to drop out of the CCHA and play an independent schedule.
The new league reportedly would like to add ND and Western to better balance the league geographically.

Boston University and Boston College reportedly turned down the league,
which has already had discussions with Versus to have that network
televise its games.
Western faces a difficult situation after head coach Jeff Blashill
resigned last week to become an assistant coach with the NHL’s Detroit
Red Wings.
Blashill, in his only season at Western, guided the Broncos to a
fourth-place finish in the league after finishing last in 2010. Western
advanced to the NCAA playoffs and finished 19-13-10 overall.
Western’s program also had been rumored to be on the chopping block
until last season and the school remains committed to the sport, based
on a statement it issued Sunday.
St. Cloud was rumored to be in the mix for the new league as well, but
school president Earl Potter told the St. Cloud Times last week, the
school would not leave the WCHA.
Despite the loss of Michigan, MSU, OSU and Miami as regular opponents in
the Ice Arena, Christopher was confident BG still would draw well at
home, especially if the team starts winning.
“Our fans have proven terrific in the way they support the team,”
Christopher said. “I don’t think it matters significantly who we are
playing. Schools like Lake Superior, Ferris State, Western Michigan and
Miami are brand names that our fans recognize.”
If the CCHA is saved, it could expand. Niagara, Robert Morris, Canisius
and Mercyhurst of Atlantic Hockey and Huntsville all are rumored to be
interested in joining the CCHA. Atlantic Hockey has a limit of 12
scholarships, six less than the NCAA maximum and some of those schools
may be interested in increasing their scholarships to 18.
The formation of the new league has created some hard feelings as
multiple sources have reported the six schools kept their plans secret.
Traditionally, college hockey has been a close-knit community with all schools working together for the
good of the sport.
The sport only has 58 Division I schools.
But the sport has become every school for itself since the new league was announced.
“This has been a balancing act,” Christopher said “All of us have tried
to do what’s best for our own institution and what’s best for college
hockey and all of us have talked about that, going back to the day last
fall when Penn State made its announcement. Now, some people have been
paying lip service to that. The actions of some of the schools involved
has been interesting.
“At the end of the day, college hockey is a sport with less than 60
Division I institutions and I would be really disappointed if you have
some of the smaller programs without a seat when the music stops.”

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