The thread about D-I expansion has been great to read.  Dave Hendrickson was
definitely on the money in his discussion of D-I talent.
 
And Mike Machnik had a great point--and probably an unpopular one--when he
wrote:
 
>Sometimes I wonder...would Merrimack regain the level of community and
>school support it had in the 1980s if it was winning games, no matter what
>the competition?
 
A case in point is Alaska-Fairbanks.  Here is an absolutely terrific hockey
community, very supportive of the Nanook program...to a point.  Most of the
long-time fans will be fans until they die (or until the program dies).  But
Fairbanks is a small community, and the lack of success in the CCHA is
beginning to hurt Nanook fan support (from what I hear--I'm a long way away
from Alaska).
 
Fairbanks is the kind of school that, like Merrimack, wanted to join a "big"
league for the draw of competing with big-name schools, like Michigan.  The
problem is that Fairbanks is a recruiting nightmare, and the Nanook program
can't compete against schools like Michigan, Michigan State, Lake State,
etc. for recruits unless it has a winning program.  Let's face it, talent
was more willing to come to Columbus, Ohio and a new arena to help a program
rebuild than it was to go to Fairbanks where the school can't even afford to
buy its own team a new skate sharpener.
 
So, Fairbanks--and perhaps other small schools--can't compete for the
recruits until they have a winning program, but they can't win until they
have more competitive players....what a Catch 22!
 
And the fans are disgruntled.  But would the fans be happier if the team
were simply *winning*?  I think they might.
 
 
Mike also wrote:
 
>An interesting side question is, can Merrimack become a contender in HE,
>and if not, would it consider moving to the MAAC.
 
Probably not, since such a move may be considered a loss of face, no matter
how practical and logical the move might be.
 
With UNO's pending admittance to the CCHA, another issue merits discussion:
why?  As much as I admire Bill Beagan (the recently retired CCHA
commissioner), his penchant for league expansion baffles me.  There are
eleven teams in the CCHA.  Isn't that enough?  What does the CCHA truly gain
by admitting *any* other team?
 
This is no slam against UNO's program, which by all accounts is a fine one.
And promotion into other markets is I'm sure something that motivates the
CCHA for expansion.  But when is enough enough?  Many coaches are unhappy
that Fairbanks was added to the CCHA several years ago--and many coaches are
*very* vocal about it.  When do the detriments of adding another team--more
travel (these are college students, after all), the difficulty of
scheduling, etc.--outweigh the benefits?
 
If the CCHA admits UNO--and I think it will--then I have no doubt that
Niagara is far behind.  Expansion for the sake of expansion itself seems
foolish to me.
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.