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  • AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

    USCHO Interview

    Suspension of Canisius Player:
    I have no problem with stiff penalties for egregious violations of rules, especially those that threaten player safety. However, this set of suspensions is completely arbitrary. Six games; the first four being immediate, and then two additional when Canisius travels to Colorado Springs in February? That is moving beyond commissioners discretion, and into area of unilateral authority and decisions. What if a commissioner is an alum of a certain program? Bias can creep in (or at least be claimed) if the commissioner has complete authroity to make up penalties along the way.

    Non-Conference Play: Duh. I think it has been well established that on whole, the conference has the ability to "compete", but not necessarily win against other conferences.

    Future Expansion, Four Unnamed Programs: I guess its a safe bet that UAH is one of the four. Unless someone has the skinny, I am all for idle speculation. Navy? Beyond that, it gets interesting. It would have to be either a new program (which can't be a D-III school anymore), or someone from another conference. I used to follow NCAA rules, but lost track. Can (new) D-II programs still play up?
    Stonehill?
    St. A's?
    St. Michael's?
    SNHU?

    Merrimack? (Go ahead, pile on and tell me how ridiculous this is.)
    Bentley University Hockey
    On-campus arena: Build it, and they will come...

  • #2
    Re: AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

    I didn't see the hit or other details, so I won't comment on the length of suspension (although I agree they should be long). I don't recall seeing it before, but I really like the idea of the suspension being broken up so that the offending player doesn't play the next games against the same team. I have no problem with that. If it were just an arbitrary opponent, that'd be seriously questionable.

    I believe the OOC winning percentage is significantly up so far this year ... when it is no longer at the bottom, the AHA has "arrived".

    Teams ... hmmm .... UAH is an obvious one. I believe even DII teams have to move all sports up, so I doubt any of them. Some random guesses: Bowling Green, Western Michigan, Ferris State.
    -M

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    • #3
      Re: AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

      Originally posted by RITProf View Post
      I didn't see the hit or other details, so I won't comment on the length of suspension (although I agree they should be long). I don't recall seeing it before, but I really like the idea of the suspension being broken up so that the offending player doesn't play the next games against the same team. I have no problem with that. If it were just an arbitrary opponent, that'd be seriously questionable.

      I believe the OOC winning percentage is significantly up so far this year ... when it is no longer at the bottom, the AHA has "arrived".

      Teams ... hmmm .... UAH is an obvious one. I believe even DII teams have to move all sports up, so I doubt any of them. Some random guesses: Bowling Green, Western Michigan, Ferris State.
      There is absolutely no secret that the AHA could add St. A's or that St. A's is interested in moving up to D1 for hockey. Their program draws exceptionally well and they have a class facility. Given the AHA's association with NE-10 programs and the NE-10's association with D1 hockey - MACK, UML, AIC, Bentley - I think it's safe to look at them as a good team.

      Navy's been 5 years away from D1 for the past 10 years. Maybe now's the time?

      URI is another name I've heard. Don't sleep on them as a shot in the dark team. With every New England state at the D1 level, they could elevate. Plus they have built in rivalries with Brown and PC.
      Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

      STAY UP #94 #58

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      • #4
        Re: AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

        I had forgotten about the URI possibility. From a marketing perspective, they would fill in nice for UConn, taking over the "Generic Big State U" spot in the mix. Don't they have an on-campus facility already?
        Bentley University Hockey
        On-campus arena: Build it, and they will come...

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

          My problem with the hit is that the video seems to be locked up tighter than the watergate tapes. It should be out there for the public to see...

          So we might wind up with a 15 team league when many conferences look like they may be at 8? This tells me that the AHA feels that other teams than UCONN are going to leave and the madness that started when Penn St announced their program will countinue... That is just my gut feeling...
          Course, That's Just my Opinion, I Could Be Wrong.

          Thomas M. Naeger
          The Mule
          Rochester Institute of Technology '03


          "Good Judgment comes from experience, experience comes from Bad Judgment"

          "If we play our game, there's pretty much no chance they have of beating us. We know what we have to do. It's just a matter of going out and doing it." - Brent Alexin

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          • #6
            Re: AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

            Originally posted by Tom Naeger View Post
            My problem with the hit is that the video seems to be locked up tighter than the watergate tapes. It should be out there for the public to see...

            So we might wind up with a 15 team league when many conferences look like they may be at 8? This tells me that the AHA feels that other teams than UCONN are going to leave and the madness that started when Penn St announced their program will countinue... That is just my gut feeling...
            Perhaps it stems back to the continued disappointment that the scholarship western teams have about what they can offer?

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

              Is there a video of the hit anywhere?
              "The man who smiles when something has gone wrong just thought of someone to blame it on." Robert Bloch
              Discontinued Program:http://s.ecrater.com/stores/70443/48...70e_70443n.jpg
              The goofs might suck, but Happy swallows.
              Brooks told me he added something to the effect that, “if you want to go into business, go to Harvard; if you want to be a hockey player, go to North Dakota...”

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              • #8
                Re: AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

                Originally posted by Tom Naeger View Post
                My problem with the hit is that the video seems to be locked up tighter than the watergate tapes. It should be out there for the public to see...

                So we might wind up with a 15 team league when many conferences look like they may be at 8? This tells me that the AHA feels that other teams than UCONN are going to leave and the madness that started when Penn St announced their program will countinue... That is just my gut feeling...
                Being in talks with 4 teams does not mean 4 teams joining. We all assume UAH is one of these four, and there's only a 50/50 shot they join AHA, assuming they even remain afloat.

                It's also no secret that RIT would likely jump ship to the ECAC as soon as the opportunity arose, and having a few buffer teams puts the AHA in a good position to absorb any such issues.
                RIT

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by FlagDUDE08 View Post
                  Perhaps it stems back to the continued disappointment that the scholarship western teams have about what they can offer?
                  Can someone please explain how the AHA plans to compete at the D1 level when they only offers 12 scholarships? If there are 4 teams that want to find a new home or elevate to D1 might they want to join the 4 AHA teams that explored a new 18 scholarship conference leaving the Original AHa even less competitive.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

                    Originally posted by THEMICK View Post
                    Can someone please explain how the AHA plans to compete at the D1 level when they only offers 12 scholarships? If there are 4 teams that want to find a new home or elevate to D1 might they want to join the 4 AHA teams that explored a new 18 scholarship conference leaving the Original AHa even less competitive.
                    "Compete" on the ice in W's and L's....or "compete" in terms of a conference's long term economic viability, and therefore survivability? The CHA was an example perhaps the mirror image of AHA. That went well.
                    Bentley University Hockey
                    On-campus arena: Build it, and they will come...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by schiegs View Post
                      "Compete" on the ice in W's and L's....or "compete" in terms of a conference's long term economic viability, and therefore survivability? The CHA was an example perhaps the mirror image of AHA. That went well.
                      Compete both on and off the ice. The AHA has the worst attendance and is the least winningest of the conferences. The CHA failed because it had a lot of startup teams that were too geographically diverse and rivalries never developed limiting attendance while driving up travel costs. The CHA didn't fail because it gave 18 scholarships.

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                      • #12
                        Re: AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

                        Originally posted by THEMICK View Post
                        Compete both on and off the ice. The AHA has the worst attendance and is the least winningest of the conferences. The CHA failed because it had a lot of startup teams that were too geographically diverse and rivalries never developed limiting attendance while driving up travel costs. The CHA didn't fail because it gave 18 scholarships.
                        Doesn't change one unavoidable fact: For many (most?) of the AHA programs, its either a 12 scholarship confernce, or don't field a program. Even that formula was too much for a few programs (Fairfield, Iona). The higher the scholarship limit, the less competitive those limited resource teams will be. Eventually, each has a threshold at which they throw in the towel, and the sport shrinks in aggregate.

                        For those that want a high investment, max limit approach, there are other conference options available. The fact that those doors may not be as open as some wish does not make it AHAs responsibility to appease them, becoming something it was never intended to be. Every college sport needs a low-cost avenue via conference affiliation.
                        Bentley University Hockey
                        On-campus arena: Build it, and they will come...

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

                          Originally posted by RITProf View Post
                          I believe even DII teams have to move all sports up, so I doubt any of them.
                          A Division II team can play up to Division I in a sport that does not have a championship in Division II (NCAA Bylaw 20.8.2).
                          Michael Napier - UAH '97
                          uahhockey.com

                          UAH Chargers Hockey
                          U.S. National Club Champions - 1982, 1983, 1984
                          NCAA Division II National Champions - 1996, 1998
                          CHA Regular Season Champions - 2001, 2003
                          CHA Tournament Champions - 2007, 2010

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                          • #14
                            Re: AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

                            Originally posted by UAHStatman View Post
                            A Division II team can play up to Division I in a sport that does not have a championship in Division II (NCAA Bylaw 20.8.2).
                            In this case, I stand by my baseless rumors of St. Anselm, Stonehill, SHNU, and St. Michael's being in the mix. Particularly St. A's.
                            Bentley University Hockey
                            On-campus arena: Build it, and they will come...

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                            • #15
                              Re: AHA Commissioner Interview. He said what?

                              Originally posted by UAHStatman View Post
                              A Division II team can play up to Division I in a sport that does not have a championship in Division II (NCAA Bylaw 20.8.2).
                              OK. I had thought that was trumped by the new "no play ups" legislation. Maybe that only applied to DIII (which, of course I heard more about around RIT).
                              -M

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