Atlantic Hockey Summer News

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

I don't know if an AHA "West"/CHA would be appealing to a Sacred Heart. They would have a much easier time making the NCAAs with the "East".

Like Burgie said, if the West were to "steal" away Army, the East wouldn't have an auto-bid anyhow. Let the flailing, unsupported Eastern programs figure out what they want to do with themselves on their own.

And despite popular assumptions to the contrary, Huntsville, Alabama isn't really all that far away. I know that it is an outlier to the rest of the college hockey landscape, but Alabama is NOT Alaska. Heck, it's not even Colorado Springs, for that matter. I know the NCAA says that "a flight is a flight", but in this case it isn't. I don't know the flight schedules or connections to get to Huntsville, but since it is only between an 11 and 14.5 hour drive from every team in the AHA West except AFA, I can't imagine the flight times are all that unbearable. (btw: by way of comparison, Air Force is a 25.5 hour drive and Anchorage is a 73 hour drive from Rochester ). When you look at it, if the AHA West were its own conference, They would be the best geographic fit for UAH of all the conferences, hands-down.

[mar7967]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

Like Burgie said, if the West were to "steal" away Army, the East wouldn't have an auto-bid anyhow. Let the flailing, unsupported Eastern programs figure out what they want to do with themselves on their own.

I don't think you will see this...HOPEFULLY the AHA has enough sense to know what is good for college hockey...and leaving 4 or 5 teams to "figure out what they want to do with themselves" is not. It is a possibility down the road to split into two conferences of 6 (and UAH can join too if they dont find a home somewhere else), but I dont think anyone would want 7 and 5...or 7 and 6 with Army in the west and UAH in the east.

[LtPowers]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

Why are we even discussing leaving AIC, Bentley, UConn, and Holy Cross to fend for themselves?


Powers &8^]

[schiegs]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

Let the flailing, unsupported Eastern programs figure out what they want to do with themselves on their own.

Laughably stupid comment.

[burgie12]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

Let the flailing, unsupported Eastern programs figure out what they want to do with themselves on their own.

No. Let's ignore it. Like I said originally.

When you look at it, if the AHA West were its own conference, They would be the best geographic fit for UAH of all the conferences, hands-down.

AHA West or CCHA. Hands parallel.

I don't think you will see this...HOPEFULLY the AHA has enough sense to know what is good for college hockey...and leaving 4 or 5 teams to "figure out what they want to do with themselves" is not.

Right on. But, all of these hypotheticals are just thrown out there crazily. I hope that you don't believe that DeGregorio is actually paying attention to this. A thirteen-team two-division (real divisions, not these crappy ones) conference might almost make some sense.

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

Laughably stupid comment.

This spoken by a supporter of a D-I team that AVERAGES 387 fans per game, including a whopping 402 fans for a PLAYOFF game. I sit here longing for a day in the future when my team can get a bigger arena so that they can do better than averaging "only" just under a sellout (2100 cap) per game, while there are programs in this conference that only break 500 maybe two or three times a year.
It may bother you, because you are one of a very few that care about Bentley hockey. But the fact remains (and we all know it) that there are certain programs in this conference that are barely (if at all) supported by their schools ($, facilities, fans) and in no way close to the way a Division I program should. These are the programs that are D-I because they have no other options. I meant the comment as no insult to true hockey fans of these schools like yourself. I honestly wish for your sake that the situation were better for these programs. But facts are facts. Until the schools step up and put forth an effort, those programs are simply existing. So in my estimation they are doing nothing to enhance the current or future state of college hockey as a whole. I know others are paranoid about simply the total number of D-I schools playing and think that a team leaving is some kind of a tragedy. But whether there are 59 D-I programs with 5 unsupported ones or 54 programs doesn't really make much of a difference, except that we may lose our precious 16 team tournament field some day.

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

[QUOTE=burgie12;4815053]Right on. But, all of these hypotheticals are just thrown out there crazily. I hope that you don't believe that DeGregorio is actually paying attention to this. [QUOTE]

I'm not an idiot who sits on here thinking people that matter actually are paying any heed to what I'm flapping my gums about. Yes, this is all hypothetical and most likely never going to even be considered. It's the off-season. We've got time to mull over possibilities whether realistic or not.

[schiegs]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

This spoken by a supporter of a D-I team that AVERAGES 387 fans per game, including a whopping 402 fans for a PLAYOFF game. I sit here longing for a day in the future when my team can get a bigger arena so that they can do better than averaging "only" just under a sellout (2100 cap) per game, while there are programs in this conference that only break 500 maybe two or three times a year.
It may bother you, because you are one of a very few that care about Bentley hockey. But the fact remains (and we all know it) that there are certain programs in this conference that are barely (if at all) supported by their schools ($, facilities, fans) and in no way close to the way a Division I program should. These are the programs that are D-I because they have no other options. I meant the comment as no insult to true hockey fans of these schools like yourself. I honestly wish for your sake that the situation were better for these programs. But facts are facts. Until the schools step up and put forth an effort, those programs are simply existing. So in my estimation they are doing nothing to enhance the current or future state of college hockey as a whole. I know others are paranoid about simply the total number of D-I schools playing and think that a team leaving is some kind of a tragedy. But whether there are 59 D-I programs with 5 unsupported ones or 54 programs doesn't really make much of a difference, except that we may lose our precious 16 team tournament field some day.

So......why did RIT et al join a conference with such horrible programs? Why didn't they start their own wonderful conference of "true" hockey programs? CHA would have jumped at the opportunity to have RIT. You could then be playing in a conference with a series of schools that basically mimics what you espouse. It seems odd that such a rich, popular, powerhouse program would join us low-lifes instead.

[RITProf]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

So......why did RIT et al join a conference with such horrible programs? Why didn't they start their own wonderful conference of "true" hockey programs? CHA would have jumped at the opportunity to have RIT. You could then be playing in a conference with a series of schools that basically mimics what you espouse. It seems odd that such a rich, popular, powerhouse program would join us low-lifes instead.

Because the ECAC turned us down!

Actually, I would say the conference is a great fit for RIT, now and for some time into the future. I think the ECAC is the only other possibility and that's not likely to happen without some shakeup (like ECAC and AHA joining forces and then reforming 3 conferences). DI hockey has already raised our university profile and it doesn't hurt us at all to be associated with the schools in the AHA. I don't have a problem with any school that wants to field a DI team, but it would be nice to see real commitments from the schools, on-campus arenas (perhaps with a minimum size), etc. that would result in the good fan support. For years, I heard that RIT couldn't be in DI because our arena was too small ... maybe that was true for some conferences, and if that's so and the AHA was the only conference that would let us in, then we owe the AHA a lot for that opportunity (and for giving us the momentum top get that bigger arena). I hope Bentley and others can do the same.

[kingdobbs]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

It may bother you, because you are one of a very few that care about Bentley hockey. But the fact remains (and we all know it) that there are certain programs in this conference that are barely (if at all) supported by their schools ($, facilities, fans) and in no way close to the way a Division I program should.

And in the meantime, you can keep growing a fat record that looks rather good in the tournament selection criteria by keeping us around.

We don't spend money, you get free wins. Everyone's happy!

[d4rksabre]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

And in the meantime, you can keep growing a fat record that looks rather good in the tournament selection criteria by keeping us around.

We don't spend money, you get free wins. Everyone's happy!

Eventually though, the conference will need to change. The point of bringing in Niagara and Rob Mo is to increase the level of competition in the AHA. Should RIT continue to grow and attract better talent, and subsequently field better teams, there will come a point where playing in the AHA will no longer be beneficial as a means of competitive play if other teams don't also grow.

The hope would be that the recent success of RIT and the introduction of Niagara will help the rest of the conference in attracting higher level players so that the AHA grows as a whole.

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

It seems odd that such a rich, popular, powerhouse program would join us low-lifes instead.

Rich?? I have no idea how rich RIT is, but they've certainly made a fair share of money off of me over the years - 5 yrs undergrad + 8 grad courses to date, not to mention 25 seasons worth of hockey tickets

Popular?? popular amongst whom? I'm not even sure what that would mean. Until the FF run last year, virtually no one in the college sports world outside of Rochester, the AHA, and D-III hockey die-hards had any idea who RIT was. So I'm not sure what point you're making there.

Powerhouse????? Yeah, right. It will be many years before ANY AHA team (RIT, Bentley, or otherwise) will be able to even hint at that description unless they're talking about a non-conference opponent.

[schiegs]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

Rich??

Well what are they doing with all the fabulous money from those capacity crowds you metnioned? Certainly not scholarships? They must be swimming in the stuff. Amazed they'd choose to join a conference with a bunch of schools that don't have two hockey nickels to rub together.

Popular?? popular amongst whom?

ibid

Powerhouse?????

Yes, as compared to all those programs you said should be cast aside.

[Snively65]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

I don't have a problem with any school that wants to field a DI team, but it would be nice to see real commitments from the schools, on-campus arenas (perhaps with a minimum size), etc. that would result in the good fan support. For years, I heard that RIT couldn't be in DI because our arena was too small ... maybe that was true for some conferences, and if that's so and the AHA was the only conference that would let us in, then we owe the AHA a lot for that opportunity (and for giving us the momentum top get that bigger arena). I hope Bentley and others can do the same.

I think that whenever the economy turns around, which might be a few years unfortunately, you will see Bentley build a rink on campus, which will probably be called an "events center" and seat a couple of thousand.

For the time being, I am just happy to see Bentley get a chance to compete each year with D-I teams like RIT, AF, Army, SH, and HC (it was not that long ago that the Crusaders pulled off half of what RIT did in the NCAAs this past season), and I am looking forward to games with Niagara and Bobby Mo. But, what I really like is seeing the Falcons get up for OOC games and knock off teams like UMass.

[komey1]

Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News

Eventually though, the conference will need to change. The point of bringing in Niagara and Rob Mo is to increase the level of competition in the AHA. Should RIT continue to grow and attract better talent, and subsequently field better teams, there will come a point where playing in the AHA will no longer be beneficial as a means of competitive play if other teams don't also grow.

The hope would be that the recent success of RIT and the introduction of Niagara will help the rest of the conference in attracting higher level players so that the AHA grows as a whole.

I think we have seen that in some programs already, which I think is partly due to the success of RIT and Air Force since they joined. Mercyhurst has certainly stepped up their play in the past couple years. Canisius seems to be rebounding from some bad years to be competitive.

One of the key reasons RIT chose to go to the AHA was because there was a chance to be competive in conference quickly. Success has come even quicker than several of us thought with 3 regular season championships, 1 tournament championship, and an improbable run to the Frozen Four. Let's also face that the Ritter really wasn't/isn't suitable to be playing in a major conference. A new arena changes that.

I would love to see the AHA grow as a whole, but some teams really don't apprear to be putting the effort into being a division 1 team for whatever reason. The AHA as a conference won't improve until the bottom tier teams improve. And if there is a shakeup in the landscape of Eastern hockey, the teams putting the effort in may jump to be in a conference with more prestigious teams in it.