NCAA Hockey Expansion Thread

[Slowe]

The concept art of it looks great, I would like one detail clarified that I haven't seen yet, in that article it says Arizona will the rights to use Rink 1. So is that 3,000 seat capacity for that ice sheet alone, or is the 3,000 seat capacity 3 rinks with 1,000 bleacher seats each down one side?

“The Wildcats will be the primary tenant at the 3,000-seat facility, which is currently under construction. The Iceplex will also serve as the club’s headquarters and practice facility. More details will be announced at a news conference scheduled for Friday.”

Wildcats will play hockey at new Mosaic Quarter Iceplex starting in '24; UA to add 3 new teams

The same statement said about arenas in terms of minor league hockey expansion can be said about collegiate hockey in that just because a suitable arena exists, doesn't mean a school would become an NCAA program.

Up until this move Arizona has played at the Tuscon Convention Center since before the arrival of the AHL Roadrunners. Which would certainly be considered one of the nicest arenas in ACHA hockey.

Very good point. It’s the largest obstacle but not the only one. It’s still a fair bit of money to run a team and add a women’s sport to satisfy title IX. Their current arena is probably too large though. And the scheduling couldn’t be very attractive. A D1 team sharing the only sheet of ice in town with a pro team and the community? I’d like to think this new rink of their own plus a little jealousy of their rivals ASU up north finally pushes them over the edge. That’s more wishful thinking than anything. Either way, I’ll be checking back in on Friday.

 

[mk80]

“The Wildcats will be the primary tenant at the 3,000-seat facility, which is currently under construction. The Iceplex will also serve as the club’s headquarters and practice facility. More details will be announced at a news conference scheduled for Friday.”

Wildcats will play hockey at new Mosaic Quarter Iceplex starting in '24; UA to add 3 new teams

Edit: Looking at the building plans in this article unless anything changed in the design phase. The 3,000 seat capacity will be the total for the whole facility. It would not be 3,000 seats in one rink that could support an NCAA team.
3 ice rinks could be part of an expansion of Tucson's Kino Sports Complex

 

[S E P H]

Lack of money. They don't get a ton of money from the state to put into athletics. All their NCAA D1 programs suffer from lack of investment and are run on a shoe string budget. Their performances, or lack thereof, are reflected in this. They can barely operate what they already have and are more likely to cut programs than add more. They looked at adding NCAA D1 hockey in the early 2000s when they built their Boss Rink and then again in the early 2010s. They determined both times they completely lack the financial ability to support a NCAA D1 men's hockey program, let alone whatever actions they would need to take to stay Title IX compliant.

Thanks for the info, how does this compare to Union College who was able to start a DI team? I ask because both seem like they are in a similar situation no?

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Thanks for the info, how does this compare to Union College who was able to start a DI team? I ask because both seem like they are in a similar situation no?

Union has one of the oldest hockey programs in the country. Their first year of playing was 1903-04. They were NCAA DIII/II before they made the jump to NCAA DI, something you can't do anymore while all other sports stay DIII/DII. They were successful during their 15 years as a NCAA DIII team. Union is a small liberal arts school with some money. They brought the program back because they got money. They brought the program back because the school had interest in adding it.

URI is a much newer program and doesn't have a long hockey history. They are club and can't go NCAA DIII/DII to transition because the rest of the school is DI. You can be grandfathered in to play up, you can't play down in the NCAA. URI is a medium-sized state school with almost all their funding and alumni coming from the local government. The school was briefly interested in adding hockey but has constantly said they have absolutely no interest. They aren't even interested in funding their ACHA team, who have some of the most expensive dues in the ACHA at over $3k per player.

URI's and Union's situations could not be more different. In fact, their only similarity is they name's start with a <<U>> and they are schools in the American Northeast.

 

[JMCx4]

... URI's and Union's situations could not be more different. In fact, their only similarity is they name's start with a <<U>> and they are schools in the American Northeast.

More than that - they share <<Uni>>.

 

[mk80]

Union has one of the oldest hockey programs in the country. Their first year of playing was 1903-04. They were NCAA DIII/II before they made the jump to NCAA DI, something you can't do anymore while all other sports stay DIII/DII. They were successful during their 15 years as a NCAA DIII team. Union is a small liberal arts school with some money. They brought the program back because they got money. They brought the program back because the school had interest in adding it.

A small point of clarification to the bolded here Barclay, schools can still field individual teams without having to elevate their entire athletic department in sports where there is no national championship conducted at a specific level or in sports where there is a single level championship.

For example in Men's volleyball for the 2022 season there are going to be about 33 DII schools with DI teams since Men's volleyball like hockey only has a DIII and DI national championship. Or for a sport like beach volleyball there is just one national championship that encompasses all teams playing no matter if they are a DI, DII, or DIII athletics program.

 

[Slowe]

Edit: Looking at the building plans in this article unless anything changed in the design phase. The 3,000 seat capacity will be the total for the whole facility. It would not be 3,000 seats in one rink that could support an NCAA team.
3 ice rinks could be part of an expansion of Tucson's Kino Sports Complex

I listened to the press conference. Rink 1 by itself is a 3,000 seat arena. They showed another graphic with seating layered over that image. No NCAA D1 (no surprise but still sucks). Lots of feel good talk about the club and community. I’m surprised when they opened it up for questions no one even asked about D1 in the future. Overall boring.

 

[mk80]

I listened to the press conference. Rink 1 by itself is a 3,000 seat arena. They showed another graphic with seating layered over that image. No NCAA D1 (no surprise but still sucks). Lots of feel good talk about the club and community. I’m surprised when they opened it up for questions no one even asked about D1 in the future. Overall boring.

Looks like a tight arrangement for 3k seats based on that plan. Hopefully the updated one is posted at some point.

 

[EvilDead]

Any news on the future of Lindenwood's d1 men's hockey team plans?

 

[JMCx4]

Any news on the future of Lindenwood's d1 men's hockey team plans?

All's quiet on the LU front. Maybe the Athletic Dept. is waiting for a winning lottery ticket in their weekly office pool.

 

[True2TheRoos]

Hello and Merry Christmas. I don't know how many of you read the College Hockey News website, but they reported a few days ago that the Kansas City Roos (formerly UMKC) are seriously considering adding men's hockey.

As a current student, I can tell you that our campus is very excited about the possibility of adding hockey. The school seems to be taking athletics seriously for the first time ever, and this news also coincides with an athletic and university master plan unveiled earlier this year. Kansas City also has a growing hockey scene and the ECHL's Mavericks do well.

According to someone on our message board, if the school decides to move forward with this, it will be about five years before the program is up and running. Right now, there really isn't space on-campus for a hockey arena. It also doesn't help that the biggest and more pressing priority at the moment is upgrading facilities for our basketball and volleyball programs. If I had to place money on it, a hypothetical KC Roos hockey team would begin play at the T-Mobile Center (formerly Sprint Center) or Municipal Auditorium. They're off campus, but the Kansas City Streetcar connects them all and is free to ride for anyone, including students.

As a hockey fan myself, I'm very excited about this development. If I hear anything else regarding this, I will be sure to share it here.

 

[JMCx4]

@True2TheRoos ... Welcome to HFBoards, and good snoop on the Roos' story in CHN. It was buried deeply in the article by Adam Woden, who has seemed to be pretty well plugged in to the college hockey world over the last 5 or so years that I've been visiting the website regularly. I do hope for your sake (presuming you will be staying in or maintaining a link to the KC area for the foreseeable future) that there are some legs under the Missouri-Kansas City plans; but your enthusiasm should be tempered by Mr. Woden's statement: "This is in the slightly-higher-than-rumor category." That assessment would typically place the likelihood of it happening squarely on the "slim & practically no way" spot on the scale of potential DI hockey expansions.

You should spend some time perusing the previous 12 pages of this thread, looking for examples of the criteria that other posters have identified as accompanying a credible bid for a DI men's hockey program. I think you'll find that MO-KC's hockey future will need far more than just free public transportation to/from an arena that has previously spurned inquiries to house pro hockey teams.

 

[True2TheRoos]

@True2TheRoos ... Welcome to HFBoards, and good snoop on the Roos' story in CHN. It was buried deeply in the article by Adam Woden, who has seemed to be pretty well plugged in to the college hockey world over the last 5 or so years that I've been visiting the website regularly. I do hope for your sake (presuming you will be staying in or maintaining a link to the KC area for the foreseeable future) that there are some legs under the Missouri-Kansas City plans; but your enthusiasm should be tempered by Mr. Woden's statement: "This is in the slightly-higher-than-rumor category." That assessment would typically place the likelihood of it happening squarely on the "slim & practically no way" spot on the scale of potential DI hockey expansions.

You should spend some time perusing the previous 12 pages of this thread, looking for examples of the criteria that other posters have identified as accompanying a credible bid for a DI men's hockey program. I think you'll find that MO-KC's hockey future will need far more than just free public transportation to/from an arena that has previously spurned inquiries to house pro hockey teams.

I don't disagree with you, it seems like a longshot at this point. The public transportation comment was more of a side comment to suggest that they have mechanisms in place to grow the student fanbase even if the games aren’t on-campus to begin with.

 

[LetsGoIslanders]

Wow, this a lot to unload.

I live literally blocks from UMKC in The Plaza. I'm a little plugged into the KC hockey scene. I've never heard anything of such.

Does UMKC even have a club team? This is pretty much the base for starting a team.

Then they'd have to start as a D-III team. You're not Arizona State. Kids aren't flocking to Kansas City for that cool Roo experience.

 

[S E P H]

Nice find with that article mate! Interesting news and for the lot who have not read it yet, the writer anticipates that Fenton leaving for the Summit League will eventually transform NCHC into the Summit League. Of course, with all the current NCHC teams including the addition of Augustana and St. Thomas in the future. Those additions would then push out Western Michigan and Miami to CCHA.


Update of other schools we've been talking about here (no huge news)...

Arizona State ... new arena will open next season, so no reason for any conference not to allow it in. What league it winds up in, though, depends upon a lot of other shuffling, so it will be a non-stop issue until negotiations resolve itself. How great would it be if ASU could somehow get archrival Arizona to join in? Arizona does well in club hockey, and gets great crowds, and is moving into a new 3,000-seat arena in 2024. If that happens, it would add further chaos into conference shuffling, but then Arizona State and Arizona could go somewhere as a unit.

Alaska-Anchorage ... like Robert Morris, also coming back from extinction, but like Alaska (Fairbanks) will have nowhere to play. It also currently has no roster. I don't see how it survives long term. There's also a major concern that institutions will continue to slash programs, just so that private donors can save it later on, and then the school is off the hook. This is a disturbing trend, but a lot of schools are taking notice that private donors are stepping up and "saving" programs, so, hey, why not cut ours and let someone else deal with it.

Alabama-Huntsville ... in the same boat as UAA, but has no conference, and has said it wouldn't come back without one. Nothing has changed. The twitter-verse will continue to call me Daddy Downer, but I'm just saying obvious things that people don't want to say. Every time a program is "saved" everyone jumps for joy and throws them a party, but they miss the devil in the details. Rarely has long-term viability improved.

Lindenwood ... said last spring that it would have an announcement in summer about finally hitting its goals towards starting a men's program. Summer came and went, there was no announcement, and now they won't answer my inquiries.

Illinois / Navy ... wake me up when it happens

Tennessee State ... the announcement that it was conducting one of those NHL viability studies was met great interest. I won't hold my breath, but this would be a fun one, not to mention, a great way for college hockey to horn into the exciting Nashville market.

UNLV / Rutgers ... These folks fall into the category of extremely eager club programs, that really want to be Division I. But that can be said for probably 200 club programs, these are just the two who make the most noise about it. We wish them well, but won't count on it soon.

Utah Valley Univ. ... This is a new one, where I've heard rumblings of it being one of those schools that could come out of nowhere and start something up. Why not? But again, barely above rumor.

Between the Lines: Midseason Report

There might be a programme who starts sooner, but I still think Rutgers has the most potential on that list (It was Illinois pre-Covid). Being in a strong hockey region who make a ton of collegiate players, while also being in a very successful power five conference that has grabbed many high-end players since its foundation. Plus you can add some prestige considering their university.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Nice find with that article mate! Interesting news and for the lot who have not read it yet, the writer anticipates that Fenton leaving for the Summit League will eventually transform NCHC into the Summit League. Of course, with all the current NCHC teams including the addition of Augustana and St. Thomas in the future. Those additions would then push out Western Michigan and Miami to CCHA.


Update of other schools we've been talking about here (no huge news)...


Between the Lines: Midseason Report

There might be a programme who starts sooner, but I still think Rutgers has the most potential on that list (It was Illinois pre-Covid). Being in a strong hockey region who make a ton of collegiate players, while also being in a very successful power five conference that has grabbed many high-end players since its foundation. Plus you can add some prestige considering their university.

Does Rutgers have the highest potential? Yes
Does Rutgers have the lowest likelihood of actually happening? Even more certain yes.

 

[Drummer]

Edit: Looking at the building plans in this article unless anything changed in the design phase. The 3,000 seat capacity will be the total for the whole facility. It would not be 3,000 seats in one rink that could support an NCAA team.
3 ice rinks could be part of an expansion of Tucson's Kino Sports Complex

The Ref's rooms look way too small. How do you get 8 officials in there (four on the ice and the next four who are getting dressed - for 15min there are 8 people in there).

Also - am I missing something - generally you need 4 dressing rooms (2 for the teams on the ice and 2 more for the next pair of teams to get ready) per ice for a total of 12 rooms. I see the Youth rooms as well as the 'HS' rooms, but are the HS rooms going to be used for other hockey - they look like their for dedicated teams?

 

[S E P H]

Does Rutgers have the highest potential? Yes
Does Rutgers have the lowest likelihood of actually happening? Even more certain yes.

Rutgers probably has the highest percentage of sugar daddies that can bring a team from nothingness though. It’s just if they choose to do it or not…

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Rutgers probably has the highest percentage of sugar daddies that can bring a team from nothingness though. It’s just if they choose to do it or not…

Rutgers has been trying to get it done for years. The fact they haven't come anywhere close yet is more of an indication that it will never happen rather than an indication they could do it. It is actually an indication they can't do it.

 

[mk80]

Hello and Merry Christmas. I don't know how many of you read the College Hockey News website, but they reported a few days ago that the Kansas City Roos (formerly UMKC) are seriously considering adding men's hockey.

As a current student, I can tell you that our campus is very excited about the possibility of adding hockey. The school seems to be taking athletics seriously for the first time ever, and this news also coincides with an athletic and university master plan unveiled earlier this year. Kansas City also has a growing hockey scene and the ECHL's Mavericks do well.

According to someone on our message board, if the school decides to move forward with this, it will be about five years before the program is up and running. Right now, there really isn't space on-campus for a hockey arena. It also doesn't help that the biggest and more pressing priority at the moment is upgrading facilities for our basketball and volleyball programs. If I had to place money on it, a hypothetical KC Roos hockey team would begin play at the T-Mobile Center (formerly Sprint Center) or Municipal Auditorium. They're off campus, but the Kansas City Streetcar connects them all and is free to ride for anyone, including students.

Welcome to the site! That's an interesting little nugget that you astutely pointed out. I could be wrong but I don't believe UMKC has a club team in the ACHA currently, certainly not at the ACHA D1 or D2 level. But it's not the first time that a UM branch campus has explored hockey, UMSL back in 2005 was looking into adding it and join the old the CHA. If the Summit league/NCHC moves panned out I'd say that might add some fuel to the fire, or if the university was to build a new combined basketball/hockey facility as part of their facility upgrades you mention. One question though is the Municipal Auditorium still capable of hosting hockey? My understanding was that it was turned into a rec facility with basketball courts, jogging track, etc.

The Ref's rooms look way too small. How do you get 8 officials in there (four on the ice and the next four who are getting dressed - for 15min there are 8 people in there).

Also - am I missing something - generally you need 4 dressing rooms (2 for the teams on the ice and 2 more for the next pair of teams to get ready) per ice for a total of 12 rooms. I see the Youth rooms as well as the 'HS' rooms, but are the HS rooms going to be used for other hockey - they look like their for dedicated teams?

It's possible the high school and youth locker rooms won't be reserved for specific teams. But also I'm betting there has been an update to the facility design since the partnership with Arizona. That building plan I think was very early into the planning but was the only one I could find at the time.

 

[True2TheRoos]

Welcome to the site! That's an interesting little nugget that you astutely pointed out. I could be wrong but I don't believe UMKC has a club team in the ACHA currently, certainly not at the ACHA D1 or D2 level. But it's not the first time that a UM branch campus has explored hockey, UMSL back in 2005 was looking into adding it and join the old the CHA. If the Summit league/NCHC moves panned out I'd say that might add some fuel to the fire, or if the university was to build a new combined basketball/hockey facility as part of their facility upgrades you mention. One question though is the Municipal Auditorium still capable of hosting hockey? My understanding was that it was turned into a rec facility with basketball courts, jogging track, etc.

You are correct in that UMKC does not currently have an ACHA team. However, I believe you’re thinking of Kemper Arena, which turned into a multi-purpose facility that is now known as HyVee Arena. The Municipal Auditorium is still around and was actually the former home of UMKC basketball. I have no idea if it can accommodate hockey since it’s never been played there before, but I imagine it would be an option in the short-term.

 

[mk80]

You are correct in that UMKC does not currently have an ACHA team. However, I believe you’re thinking of Kemper Arena, which turned into a multi-purpose facility that is now known as HyVee Arena. The Municipal Auditorium is still around and was actually the former home of UMKC basketball. I have no idea if it can accommodate hockey since it’s never been played there before, but I imagine it would be an option in the short-term.

Thanks for the info! Kemper would definitely be what I was thinking of. I didn't realize the Municipal Auditorium was a separate facility. It will be interesting to see what develops.

 

[sbkbghockey]

Nice find with that article mate! Interesting news and for the lot who have not read it yet, the writer anticipates that Fenton leaving for the Summit League will eventually transform NCHC into the Summit League. Of course, with all the current NCHC teams including the addition of Augustana and St. Thomas in the future. Those additions would then push out Western Michigan and Miami to CCHA.


Update of other schools we've been talking about here (no huge news)...


Between the Lines: Midseason Report

There might be a programme who starts sooner, but I still think Rutgers has the most potential on that list (It was Illinois pre-Covid). Being in a strong hockey region who make a ton of collegiate players, while also being in a very successful power five conference that has grabbed many high-end players since its foundation. Plus you can add some prestige considering their university.

A couple notes on your comment and the expansion mentions in the CHN article:

1) Good point on Josh Fenton, it's good for College Hockey to have hockey people in leadership positions in non-hockey conferences to evangelize College Hockey to potential interested ADs. Most ADs across the country aren't hockey people, many are former football or basketball coaches who worked their way up through college athletics, having people like Fenton in general conference positions gives College Hockey a voice outside of the hockey community.

2) I agree, the eastern NCHC teams to the CCHA 2.0 would likely provide some stabilization to the Midwestern shuffle that really hasn't fully settled since the Big10 broke up CCHA 1.0 and the WCHA. Stable conferences then allows other schools interested in adding teams, like Lindenwood, Tenn State, Ala Huntsville, UMKC, etc... a starting point to project costs longterm and compare conferences.

3) Per the article, there's a few vocal club teams like UNLV, Rutgers, and Alabama that campaign to push their program to DI, basically on brand name alone and selfishly to help their club recruit. Most club programs would love their college to add NCAA hockey but don't recruit on empty promises. It's disingenuous and also they should focus on being competitive at the club level (ACHA DI for those three). Almost any university with a club program or not can/will had NCAA Hockey if/when a major donor writes a big check like Penn State, ASU, etc... Ironically, the club programs productively working with their universities on moving to NCAA hockey aren't publicizing it because it takes a lot of work, planning and fundraising, not just a vocal club team's twitter account. There's also a growing number of programs within the ACHA that are run as varsity programs at their schools, particularly in the Midwest with NAIA schools and NCAA D2s that aren't looking to go D1 for hockey and outside of the Northeast to play D3 opponents like the NE10.

4) UMKC is interesting, an NCAA DI athletic program but really a regional university more suited for NCAA D2. UMKC is an urban university and has a good med school but not really a national brand name like many other D1s. Schools like UMKC are a good fit for College Hockey because being good at hockey can put them on the national stage and carve out a niche compared to the Mizzou's of DI athletics in other sports. Summit League schools have shown success at hockey and UMKC has closest comparable in the hockey world, Nebraska-Omaha. UNO's move to DI included a focus on College Hockey. They dropped several sports in the transition, including football and the arguably stupid move dropped a championship wrestling program but it looks like UMKC doesn't have the issues. UMKC's BIG issue looks like Title IX as they have a large skew in their female/male ratio and associated sport offerings. UMKC doesn't have an extensive history of athletic success so adding hockey and a mindset to be a Hockey School like UNO and several other College Hockey universities have, could be the combo of niche and success that elevates their brand.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Rutgers has been trying to get it done for years. The fact they haven't come anywhere close yet is more of an indication that it will never happen rather than an indication they could do it. It is actually an indication they can't do it.

Rutgers has plenty of rich alums, but what someone doesn't understand is that not every rich alum has an interest in college hockey...

If Rutgers ever replaced Alumni Gym with a modern arena that had an ice plant AND there was a rich alumnus willing to underwrite a real college hockey program, maybe it'll get done.

Again, you have the $88M problem - that's what it took at Penn State, which is a comparable school to Rutgers.

 

[JMCx4]

Rutgers has plenty of rich alums, but what someone doesn't understand is that not every rich alum has an interest in college hockey...

Anyone with $88M of mad money should be forced to fund a college hockey program. Period dot