At 8:08 PM 2/3/96, Deron Treadwell wrote [on INFO-HOCKEY-L]:
>Maine radio had an interview with Hockey East Commish Bob DeGregorio Jr.
>tonight, and he had a few interesting things to say that I wanted to pass on.
 
Thanks!
 
>With all the talk of expansion, WCHA seems to be against expansion, but
>Hockey East wants it.  Hockey East currently has 9 teams, and DeGregorio
>said that he wants to get up to 10, and then to 12 ideally.  He talked about
>Niagara, and their new coach Blaise McDonald.  However, Nigara is going to
>apply to the ECAC for admission.  There is also another Eastern program
>starting up, I didn't catch the name, but I believe the NY Islanders
>organization is involved somehow.  They too are planning to apply to the ECAC.
 
I believe that would be CW Post on Long Island.  From what I have heard, CW
Post has a new (on-campus?) rink that is being used as the Islanders'
training facility, and the university is interested in establishing a DivI
hockey program.
 
HE would naturally be interested because it would enable them to establish
a foothold in New York in an area that could be ripe for college hockey.
 
The same would be true with Niagara and the Golden Horseshoe area.  Niagara
seems like a program to keep an eye on.
 
I don't think that the distance involved in travelling to either school
would be a problem for HE.  CW Post isn't any further than Maine for most
of the HE schools (obviously, it would be a hike for Maine - upwards of 8-9
hours, less than 4-5 hours for the other schools).  Niagara is far (8-9
hours from Boston) but if you make only one trip a year, it's doable,
especially given some of the trips the ECAC small colleges make or have had
to make in the past.
 
And if you still play each opponent 3x, you play two at Niagara every other
year, and you might be able to combine a one-game trip to Niagara with
another game against a NY ECAC team.
 
I'm also curious about Canisius.  They've gotten quite a bit better in
recent years and could be a candidate to go to full-time DivI.  But I am
not sure what the climate is like at Canisius for such a move.
 
>DeGregorio commented that the ECAC is doubtful to except both or either of
>those teams, because they already have 12 teams, and with the limited number
>of games they can play, 14 teams might be a bit heafty.
 
If the ECAC accepted both schools and kept its current schedule format,
that would give teams 13x2=26 conference games.  This would probably be a
problem for the Ivies who limit themselves to 29 games overall.  It will be
interesting to see what will happen - first, if these schools do apply to
the ECAC; second, if they are accepted; and third, what they will do if
they are not accepted.
 
I have to think Blaise has designs on coaching a full-fledged DivI program
soon.  After all, he has already coached the DivI national champions (for
two games while Parker was at the WJC :-)).  If Niagara is not accepted
into the ECAC, either they may look into HE or he may look to move to a
DivI conference team.
 
>DeGregorio also talked about UConn, and said that Hockey East was almost
>courting them in a sense.  UConn is waiting to resolve whether or not they
>want to upgrade their Division I-AA football program to I-A.  Should they
>upgrade, there would be no attempt by UConn to establish a top-notch
>Division I hockey program.  DeGregorio did say that if UConn does look to
>join Hockey East, they are almost automatically in.  Hockey East is
>expecting to stay at the status quo for a couple years.
 
Does anyone know the status of UConn football?  I thought it was all but
decided that they would move to I-A soon.  I did not realize that I-A
football would mean no hockey upgrade.  I work with a UConn grad, and from
things he has said, it sounds like I-A football is very likely.  He is not
a hockey fan, so he doesn't know much about that aspect.
 
Another program Bob has mentioned in the past has been Villanova.  But I
have heard nothing to indicate that they have an interest in stepping up
their program to that level.  They would be an interesting addition to HE
with their Big East rivalries against BC and Providence.
 
Personally, I would welcome more teams in HE and a longer conference
schedule.  I know some people hope for more nonconference games and
interleague play, but the truth is that there is a different atmosphere
around conference games than there is around most NC games.  I'd like to
see HE add at least one more team and go to 27 conference games (9x3).  27
HE games and 7 NC games sounds about right to me.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
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