Summary of Stories To Watch:
Coaching Vacancies:
Colby*
Chatham
Nichols
Lebanon Valley
Castleton
Salem State
Elmira*
*Included because HC still has an interim tag.
New Programs for 2017:
Aurora - Aurora, IL
Trine - Angola, IN
King's College - Wilkes-Barre, PA
Wilkes University - Wilkes-Barre, PA
(Anyone I'm forgetting? Suffolk starts in 2018 from what I've read.)
Conference Alignment
The ECAC West is down to five SUNY schools (Plattsburgh, Oswego, Potsdam, Cortland and Buffalo State). They have 2 seasons to get back to at least 7 to keep their Pool A bid to the NCAA tournament. There are two SUNY women's programs playing in the Colonial Hockey Conference: SUNY Canton and Morrisville State. There could be a defection of them to form a SUNYAC Women's League with the 5 ECAC West teams. Or they could find new programs or poach existing programs to join the ECAC West, leaving it the only ECAC conference left in Division III. Or they could do nothing and compete with the WIAC for a Pool B bid.
Anyone else have stories to watch for? And of course there will always be surprises...
Coaching Vacancies:
Colby*
Chatham
Nichols
Lebanon Valley
Castleton
Salem State
Elmira*
*Included because HC still has an interim tag.
New Programs for 2017:
Aurora - Aurora, IL
Trine - Angola, IN
King's College - Wilkes-Barre, PA
Wilkes University - Wilkes-Barre, PA
(Anyone I'm forgetting? Suffolk starts in 2018 from what I've read.)
Conference Alignment
The ECAC West is down to five SUNY schools (Plattsburgh, Oswego, Potsdam, Cortland and Buffalo State). They have 2 seasons to get back to at least 7 to keep their Pool A bid to the NCAA tournament. There are two SUNY women's programs playing in the Colonial Hockey Conference: SUNY Canton and Morrisville State. There could be a defection of them to form a SUNYAC Women's League with the 5 ECAC West teams. Or they could find new programs or poach existing programs to join the ECAC West, leaving it the only ECAC conference left in Division III. Or they could do nothing and compete with the WIAC for a Pool B bid.
Anyone else have stories to watch for? And of course there will always be surprises...
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