Having exposure to potential students in your home state is important, as was cited.


Northern Michigan not interested in WCHA

COLLEGE MEN'S HOCKEY: The university's athletic director said after six weeks of evaluation, he and the school's president decided not to pursue rejoining the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

By: Craig Remsburg, Mining Journal of Marquette, Mich.


MARQUETTE - Scratch Northern Michigan as a potential new member of the men's Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

"We evaluated all the pros and cons and decided it's not the best for us," Northern Michigan athletic director Ken Godfrey said Wednesday. "We made the decision about two weeks ago."

The WCHA on Tuesday, at its annual meeting in Marco Island, Fla., indicated interest in expanding the 10-team league, which includes Minnesota Duluth, to 12 starting in 2011-12 with the addition of Bemidji (Minn.) State and one yet-to-be-selected school.

Nebraska-Omaha and Northern Michigan had been rumored to be in the WCHA's expansion sights.

But Godfrey said after six weeks of evaluation, he and Northern Michigan president Les Wong decided it would not be prudent to rejoin the WCHA.

He said WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod, whom he had been in contact with several times, has been formally told of Northern Michigan's decision.

The Wildcats played in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association from 1976-1984, switched to the WCHA from 1984-1997 and returned to the CCHA before the 1997-98 season.

Godfrey cited increased travel costs as the primary reason for rejecting the WCHA.

As a member of the WCHA, the Wildcats posted a 198-200-27 record over 13 seasons. They won the 1990-91 regular-season title, three league tournament crowns (1989, '91 and '92) and the 1990-91 NCAA Division I championship.



On 5/5/09 11:16 AM, "Bob Woodbury" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

NMU gets my vote.

On May 5, 2009, at 11:40 AM, Hampton, Nathan E. wrote:

> We should have a poll of some kind to guess the 12th team (which
> reminds me of my favorite Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt movie, Twelve
> Monkeys). We have a few candidates already mentioned - Nebraska-
> Omaha and Northern Michigan. Plus at least one upstart in Moorhead
> State. Was it last year by popular vote that North Dakota State was
> going to move all sports to Division 1 and then didn't get the
> money? They could jump into the mix, possibly. I still like Air
> Force coming in.
>
> I wonder if anybody out there wants to take a poll of who people
> think is most likely and then we can somehow declare a winner?
>
> Nathan
>
>
> On 5/5/09 9:45 AM, "Michael Bohler"
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> I haven't seen this news come across the list.  Passing it along.
> From
> yahoo.com
>
> Bemidji State gets good news from WCHA
> By JON KRAWCZYNSKI, AP Sports Writer Apr 29, 12:21 am EDT
> MINNEAPOLIS (AP)-Bemidji State has been trying to get into the Western
> Collegiate Hockey Association for years, and the powerful
> conference might
> finally be relenting for the first No. 16 seed ever to reach the
> Frozen
> Four.
> The 10-team WCHA lifted its long-standing moratorium on expansion
> Tuesday
> at the league's annual meeting in Marco Island, Fla. The league hasn't
> officially approved Bemidji State's application for admission, but
> Commissioner Bruce McLeod said he will be more aggressive in
> pursuing a
> 12th school to accompany the Beavers into the mix.
> "Our issue at this point was not Bemidji State University and their
> membership," McLeod said in a teleconference. "Our issue was more
> with the
> number. We've been through quite a few things in the last six
> months or so
> trying to work through the number of 11."
> Unlike the 11-member Big Ten, the WCHA is firm about having an even
> number
> of teams to make a balanced schedule.
> McLeod said he hopes to have a resolution by mid-summer.
> Time is of the essence for Bemidji State, which made a stunning run
> to the
> NCAA Frozen Four this season. The school's College Hockey America
> conference will fold after next season.
> While the WCHA didn't hold a formal vote on the Beavers'
> application, the
> Beavers came away with the impression that they took a huge step
> closer to
> a new hockey home.
> "We have been patient for 10 years-what's a few more months?" coach
> Tom
> Serratore said. "I'm confident the WCHA will be able to find a 12th
> member, and I feel very confident where we stand with the WCHA. All we
> need to do is be patient and things will work out."
> It's been a long climb up the hockey ranks for the school of 5,000 in
> northern Minnesota. The Beavers won 13 national championships in
> Division
> II, III and NAIA before making the jump to Division I in 1999.
> It wasn't until this season that the Beavers finally caught the
> attention
> of hockey fans across the country.
> The final seed in the 16-team NCAA tournament, Bemidji State defeated
> Notre Dame and Cornell in the first two rounds to advance to the
> national
> semifinals in Washington, D.C. The Beavers lost to Miami of Ohio,
> but the
> feel-good run could only have helped them in their quest to join the
> mighty WCHA.
> While McLeod said the program's success this year didn't make the
> school's
> application any more or less attractive, the commissioner did say it
> raised Bemidji State's profile.
> "We were just real conscious of not trying to get caught up in all
> that
> enthusiasm," McLeod said. "We were very happy for them and it
> probably put
> a little pressure on us from a public standpoint more than anything."
> Now it seems the only thing in Bemidji State's way is the lack of
> another
> program to reach that round number of 12. Nebraska-Omaha and Northern
> Michigan have been floated as potential members, but McLeod
> declined to
> comment specifically on those two schools. He did say an upstart
> program
> at Minnesota State University, Moorhead would be a "long shot."
> McLeod said he is willing to be flexible with schools to make
> joining the
> WCHA an attractive option and is confident he will be able to find
> a 12th
> school to make it happen.
> "We've reached a real critical point in collegiate hockey,
> especially in
> the West," McLeod said. "The direction I've been given is we have
> to be
> more aggressive in our approach."
>