Michigan Tech explores leaving WCHA for CCHA
 
John Millea / Star Tribune
 
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association might be in for more changes --
Michigan Tech is exploring a return to the Central
Collegiate Hockey Association . . . again.
 
Michigan Tech has a history of jumping between the two leagues. The school
was an original member of the WCHA when it was
formed for the 1951-52 season. The Huskies left after the 1980-81 season
and spent three years in the CCHA before returning to
the WCHA for the 1984-85 season.
 
Six Michigan schools -- Michigan, Michigan State, Northern Michigan,
Western Michigan, Ferris State and Lake Superior State
 -- belong to the CCHA. Northern Michigan left the WCHA this season for the
CCHA, and the loss of that rivalry is a major
 reason why Michigan Tech is considering the same move.
 
"Having Northern in the CCHA kind of hurts us, because they're really our
biggest draw here," Michigan Tech athletic director
Rick Yeo said Monday.
 
The CCHA has 11 teams this season and the WCHA has nine. Mankato State is
expected to join the WCHA for the 1999-2000
season, and Nebraska-Omaha is next in line for WCHA membership. If Tech
leaves the WCHA after next season,
Nebraska-Omaha's timetable might be moved ahead, meaning the Mavericks also
could join the league in 1999-2000.
 
Representatives from each WCHA school will meet Sunday in Atlanta in
conjunction with the NCAA convention, and WCHA commissioner Bruce MacLeod
said the ramifications of Tech's possible departure will be discussed.
 
"I'm really sorry that they are considering it. I feel bad about it,"
MacLeod said. "They have a lot of history with us. But I do understand
their reasoning behind it."
 
Yeo said a decision is expected in late February. Tech would have to give
the WCHA a year's notice if it left the league, meaning
the Huskies will remain in the conference at least through next season.
 
"It's clearly up to them," CCHA commissioner Bill Beagan said. "They left
of their own volition [in 1984] and if they want to
come back they would have to apply the same as everyone else."
 
With Tech already flip-flopping between leagues once, school officials said
the future is not being taken lightly.
 
"It's nothing where we're going to make a quick decision," Yeo said. "What
I'm looking at right now is just trying to get together
all the pros and cons. I definitely don't want to make any move unless I'm
a thousand percent sure that it's the right one."
 
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