I hope the off-season is treating everyone well.  Here's a
little college hockey to ponder...
 
How about Weber State University in Ogden UT as a future
Division I site?  It may happen by the end of this decade.  I
first heard of WSU's interest in fielding an ice hockey team
when UAFairbanks was involved in the CCHA/WCHA/????
predicament earlier this year.  Apparently, Weber State had
already contacted the ACHA and/or NC$$, which added
another piece to the "Far West Conference" puzzle/mystery.
 
Recently, I noticed an article in HOCKEY PLAYER that shed
much more light on the subject.  In conjunction with Utah's bid
for the 2002 Winter Olympics, three Olympic-sized sheets of
ice are being built.  The first, named The Ice Sheet, is on the
WSU campus.  The Ice Sheet seats 2000 and has been built
to IOC and USOC specifications.
 
[begin content aimed at Minnesota fans :-]
The article also mentions that Jim Schreiber is the manager
of the new facility.  Schreiber was an assistant coach at
Woodbury HS and he managed Minneapolis' Parade Ice
Garden for 12 years.
[end content aimed at Minnesota fans :-]
 
The HP article discussed the growing demand for hockey
and ice in Utah, and the growth of youth hockey in the area,
and finished with "Utah hockey is also looking forward to the
development of a college club hockey program on the Weber
campus."
 
So...there you have it.  WSU seems like a natural opponent
for the mighty Icecats at the University of Arizona.
 
Short aside to Linda Radtke:
As has already been mentioned, UA still fields a strong team.
They finished 4th in the ACHA national championships, losing
the consolation game to the University of Ohio, 5-3.  UA's
overall record in 1993-94 was 28-6-0.  Also, I *believe* that UA
had the 4th largest attendance average in college hockey...
including all NC$$ divisions!  Drawing in the range of 6000-6500
per game should put them behind only Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Michigan and, perhaps, Michigan State.  [Apologies if I omitted
anyone from this list.]  From a naive perspective, the only thing
standing in the way of Arizona moving into the NC$$ is geography.
 
Next topic: US Olympic Festival
The AP reported last week that the USOF faces future cutbacks
due to the change in the Olympic cycle.  The USOC board of
directors is considering limiting the festivals to a maximum of
two every four years, beginning in 1997.  With the Summer or
Winter Olympics now occurring every two years, the strain on
the USOC and the local organizing committees was cited.  The
festival includes 37 Winter and Summer sports.  The USOC
also estimated it would save $4.2M every four years by
reducing the number of festivals.  [I knew that $$ had to be in
there somewhere. :-]  Mike Dyer, the executive director of the
1994 festival in St Louis was quoted as saying, "It was never
looked at as a money-making project.  We'll be very happy
when this ends if we're able to pay all our bills."  The budget
for next week's festival is $15M and as of last week only $2.1M
worth of tickets had been sold.
 
 
  John H
  U Mich
  Best wishes to Jerry York.  I ripped him for the alleged Ted
Kramer/Charles Manson comment, but the CCHA is definitely
losing a good guy.  It must have been a tough decision to leave
a steadily improving BG team to jump into the fire at BC, but I
know that an alma mater can have that kind of pull.  Jeez, I'm
STILL in Ann Arbor. :-)