Changing NCAA Landscape

The D-1 landscape is on the verge of major change as a new Big Ten Conference and National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) will commence play in 2013-2014. The CCHA will loose Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State to the new Big Ten Conference. Recent powerhouse, Miami (of Ohio) will depart for the new NCHC while perennial bottom runner, Northern Michigan will leave for the WCHA.

The WCHA will loose Denver, North Dakota, Colorado College, national champion Minnesota-Duluth, and Nebraska-Omaha. The move comes after the official announcement of the Big Ten Conference. The NCHC confirmed ongoing discussions with the CCHA's Western Michigan, Notre Dame, and Alaska . The NCHC, already including members from the Western part of the country and one (Miami) from the mid-west, submitted an offer to Boston College and Boston University, but both Hockey East schools declined.

Four Atlantic Hockey schools, Canisius, Robert Morris, Niagara, and Mercyhurst met with representatives from the CCHA about joining the league for the 2013 season. The schools are still evaluating their positions in Atlantic Hockey and their decision will largely be based after September 30th when decisions from the remaining three CCHA teams are expected.

After a year of Independent hockey, Penn State will be joining the Big Ten in its inaugural season. Expect the new Nittany Lions to be a force in D-1 hockey, but it should take a few recruiting classes to be on par with the top teams. Don't expect them to roll-over and play AIC (oops, I meant dead). The Big Ten will develop into a powerhouse conference, but Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State have had down years recently. The NCHC appears to be the most competitive of the new conferences with Minny-Duluth and Miami. Nobody can discount North Dakota, Denver, and Colorado College programs, so expect the NCHC to have a more immediate impact than the Big Ten Conference.

The CCHA will still have competitive Alaska and Western Michigan programs in addition to the strong program at Notre Dame. Alaska made the dance for the first time in some years this past season and showed some positive signs against BC. Western Michigan just hired Andy Murray as its new head coach to lead the Broncos into the uncertain waters ahead. Congratulations to Murray who almost became the head coach at RPI five years ago. I wish him the best of luck making the transition from the NHL to the NCAA. I think in terms of coaching, he should be fine. Recruiting and running a program will take a little getting used to.

If Robert Morris and Niagara, the most recent additions to Atlantic Hockey, make the decision to switch conferences, the CCHA will once again be viable and will afford a solid Robert Morris program (who gave North Dakota fits last year)and a formidable Fighting Irish squad, a better chance at making regionals. Atlantic Hockey improved both in terms of quality of play and program stability this year. Loosing Robert Morris and Niagara will hurt the league, but not as much as loosing stable competitors Canisius and Mercyhurst. Canisius finished 8th in Atlantic Hockey and defeated Niagara in the first round of the AHA tournament with a strong outpouring of offence from their senior class and outstanding special teams. The Golden Griffs forced a third game in their quarterfinal series against #3 Holy Cross, but the HC offense combined with Adam Roy's consistent net minding overpowered them. The only two teams that really benefit from loosing the recent AHA additions are perennial powerhouses Air Force and RIT. (Holy Cross last won Atlantic Hockey in 2006, the year before RIT began conference play).

Hockey East should remain undeterred. The conference remains the best in the country, even if the Western powers unite. Merrimack made great strides this season and is a testament to the Hockey East brand name in recruiting. With the NCHC teams competing for the auto-bid, expect the Hockey East product to once again dominate the NCAA scene.