People will talk of a "Big Ten" hockey conference like people talk of
Notre Dame joining the "Big Ten" football conference.  It sounds nice,
but will not happen.
 
They (the purposed "elite" league teams) would collectively shoot
themselves in the foot by trying to form on big conference.
 
If you are "Team A" would you rather play and win a title every couple of
years, or wind up losing more often than not, to one of the other "elite"
teams in the conference?  These people are not dumb. Granted there must
be a great temptation to merge into a league that fits what they know in
other sports.  After all "thar be money in them there hills!"  This
attitude is easier to understand if you look at the growing number of
"new" hockey fans, and the increasing base of casual hockey observers.
If "Fan A" from "Big # Conference A" is used to seeing the same teams
playing football, it is natural to wonder why the school isn't playing
the same teams in hockey.  IF they think highly of the football setup, of
the league they belong to, it becomes instinct to believe that setup, in
another sport would be better, or as great as what they know.
 
I can understand that point of view.  Among long term fans of college
hockey, I can understand the variety of views on the subject.  Some I
agree with, some I do not.
 
I think that the best arrangement for college hockey is what we have now,
with or without minor changes.
 
If you are the "Elite schools", and these teams are spread among the
western conferences.  You could potentially have two automatic bids in
each of the two conferences out west, and maybe two or three other teams
with at-large bids, why screw it up and join one big conference, and most
likely limit yourself to two spots (four in a very good year, but
typically less).
 
Even if such an "Elite League" were to be formed, would schools like
LSSU, CC, BU, BGSU, Maine, Vermont, NMU, etc, etc, etc, let such a league
romp through the college hockey world?  Nahhhhhhh.  That is the wonderful
thing about college hockey.
 
Schools of all types can compete against each other successfully.
And the reason why big schools aren't automatically going to suck all the
top recruits in, is simple.  It was once said while he was here at BG,
that if Ron Mason were at Notre Dame, he'd never lose.  He disagreed.  If
it were true, Michigan and MSU, among others, would already dominate
hockey.  While damn good, and perhaps among the best over the long term,
they share that status along with LSSU, BU, and many others who are NOT
household names in other sports.
 
Why this is, and will remain true even in this era of growth, and
increased publicity, is due to just what hockey is about.
 
It is a old, but new world in sports.  It is tradition, people,
personalities, desire, and most of all, it is not baseball, basketball,
or football.  It is a different sport, with a different culture, that is
I think closer to it's roots than the other sports.  It is closer and
more keenly aware of where it came from.  As it moves into this new stage
of growth and popularity, it is aware of the risks, and has seen the
problems other sports have had.  It should benefit from the fact that
hockey is a smaller sport than football and others nationally.
 
Will things change?  Yes, just as things have changed the NHL.  But that
does not also mean the destruction of the college hockey world.  The NHL
is more available to "walk on" fans.  That is to say people who are
checking out the sport, and just starting to explore the game.  They
don't know the ins and outs of game yet.  These are the people that are
fueling the exodus of NHL teams from Canada.  These are the people that
make NHL hockey possible in such bastions of the sport like Florida
(sarcasm)!  The problem with these people, is that lacking knowledge of
tradition, they develop their own.  Being that this is America, home of
Basketball, Football, and Baseball, these fans import what they can from
what they know of the other sports.  That is were the threat to the
college hockey culture comes from.
 
But the college game has a lot going for it, which I think will help
protect and preserve what we have.  When ESPN was airing the NCAAs, what
did you hear during the Mich. games?  You heard the staple of college
hockey: The cheers, and the crowd participation.  If you are a "walk on
fan," and you go to your first college hockey game, you get that in your
face, and in your ears.  I think it was great that you could hear all
that over the TV.  Because it tells a new fan, watching on TV, or
actually at a game that "There is something to this I don't know about,
that everybody else does."  And that in turn tells these people: "OK, so
how do I get with the program?"  That isn't universally true, but it
tells them that they have just stepped into something bigger than they are.
 
Growth of the sport in terms of teams will have an impact, but more in
terms of how many places the game is played, and the development of a
domestic player base, than the culture of the game.  This is simply
because growth isn't as fast, and any new teams must go through the
established programs, and all that goes with them.  The fans of new
programs learn what their team is a part of.  As an example of sorts, I
would point out to Ohio State.  It is rediscovering itself.  They don't
have the cheers like Michigan, MSU, BGSU, and others do.  You can see
their fans trying.  There new fans figure out what all the fuss is about
when BGSU's fans can do their paper thing, or Michigan does that blasted
cow bell thing (that we can do this in as great numbers on road games as
at home is moot).
 
The point being is that we have a measure of control over this, more than
we might have if this were the NHL.  There will be new faces in the
stands.  New teams on the ice.  Lots more broad based coverage of the
game.  But it is still college hockey.  Should we worry about things
changing?  Not really.  Should we be concerned about protecting the
culture of the game?  Yes, just as we would anything we value and enjoy.
And the way we protect that is simply being the fans we are.  We wear our
jerseys, team pins, and hats.  When people ask us about our game, we take
pride being college hockey fans, we tell them about it, and why we like
it.  You exemplify what you like best about the game, promote it, and
demand it in the league, university, or whatever level of the game you enjoy.
 
So if you hear mublings and rumblings about "Big Elite Leagues," or
expansion, or big TV contracts, don't worry about it.  That's the sound
of new fans coming into the fold.  Welcome them aboard but don't forget
to explain and show these new fans why we don't have Elite leagues either!
 
Nathan W.L. Boyle
BGSU
 
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