Mike writes:
 
>Next season, it appears, the NC$$ DivII tourney will once again go
>away because there are only 13 schools that are DivII and playing
>hockey, and something like 40 are needed.  I would guess that like in
>1984, the DivII schools will be given the option of either remaining
>under the DivII classification and not having a national title to
>compete for, or declaring as a DivI Independent.
 
Also, in 1984 there were a lot of D-III schools with D-II hockey
programs (Plattsburgh, RIT, Elmira, Union) who simply began calling themselves
D-III programs and kept the same schedule, leagues, etc. If I remember
correctly, the SUNYAC, ECAC East, ECAC West and NCHA all continued virtually
unchanged when the D-II tournament was
eliminated. The programs that were hurt by this were the TRUE
D-III schools (mostly in the ECAC North and South) who now
had almost no shot at a national title.
 
The only  D-II teams that were truly effected, were to my
recollection Lowell, Merrimack and Huntsville, who went D-I around
that time or shortly after, and possibly the Alaska schools.
I also think Mankato began saying around this time that they intended
to go D-I in the near future.
 
>(Moving down to DivIII isn't an option since you cannot play below your
>division.)
 
This is puzzling because in the years when there wasn't a D-II
tournament,  I remember D-II schools like Bemidji and Mercyhurst
being invited to, and in the case of Bemidji, winning the D-III
tournament in 1986.
 
Chris Lerch
Xerox
RIT '84 & '91