NCAA Hockey Expansion Thread

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.
All these rich folks have massive egos, college hockey should campaign how their donation could etch their name forever in history with these schools lol.
 
Really interesting article with a ton of titbits scattered throughout. Not sure how inside Shasby is in college hockey undergrounds, but he also suspects that there will be a conference shift a few years from now. Then he mentions that a couple of teams are trying to make the "jump" to DI, who they purposely scheduled games against such as Liberty, UNLV, and...Simon Fraser. Would NCAA allow a Canadian school to compete in US divisions? He seems a bit too optimistic, but he's hopeful that teams in PAC-12 eventually look at UAA and Kraken (personnel in the organisation donated money to keep UAA alive), which convinces one of those NW schools to eventually get a team that could be a gateway for a conference that will help keep the Alaska teams. Take the Q/A for what you will.

Q&A With ... Alaska-Anchorage Coach Matt Shasby
 
Really interesting article with a ton of titbits scattered throughout. Not sure how inside Shasby is in college hockey undergrounds, but he also suspects that there will be a conference shift a few years from now. Then he mentions that a couple of teams are trying to make the "jump" to DI, who they purposely scheduled games against such as Liberty, UNLV, and...Simon Fraser. Would NCAA allow a Canadian school to compete in US divisions? He seems a bit too optimistic, but he's hopeful that teams in PAC-12 eventually look at UAA and Kraken (personnel in the organisation donated money to keep UAA alive), which convinces one of those NW schools to eventually get a team that could be a gateway for a conference that will help keep the Alaska teams. Take the Q/A for what you will.

Q&A With ... Alaska-Anchorage Coach Matt Shasby

Take it for what we will? How should we take some more peddling rumors of teams at schools which have made it blatantly clear they can't afford to make NCAA D1 programs due a combination of lack of interest, funding issues, and Title IX issues?

Oh yes, that is correct! We shall take it as absolutely meaningless.
 
Take it for what we will? How should we take some more peddling rumors of teams at schools which have made it blatantly clear they can't afford to make NCAA D1 programs due a combination of lack of interest, funding issues, and Title IX issues?

Oh yes, that is correct! We shall take it as absolutely meaningless.
It's okay fam. I know life must suck for you at the moment, but there's always light at the end of the tunnel. Again, it's going to be okay.
 
It's okay fam. I know life must suck for you at the moment, but there's always light at the end of the tunnel. Again, it's going to be okay.

What? You've been peddling rumors and not known even the most basic of college hockey information for years now. You didn't even know the difference between URI and Union! If you want to call being informed and more knowledgeable than you as being depressing, then by that logic just about about everyone on this site needs to get on happy meds.
 
Really interesting article with a ton of titbits scattered throughout. Not sure how inside Shasby is in college hockey undergrounds, but he also suspects that there will be a conference shift a few years from now. Then he mentions that a couple of teams are trying to make the "jump" to DI, who they purposely scheduled games against such as Liberty, UNLV, and...Simon Fraser. Would NCAA allow a Canadian school to compete in US divisions? He seems a bit too optimistic, but he's hopeful that teams in PAC-12 eventually look at UAA and Kraken (personnel in the organisation donated money to keep UAA alive), which convinces one of those NW schools to eventually get a team that could be a gateway for a conference that will help keep the Alaska teams. Take the Q/A for what you will.

Q&A With ... Alaska-Anchorage Coach Matt Shasby
UNLV might be "looking to make the jump" as the coach says. However I don't classify them as a realistic candidate. They have been told time and time again by their athletic department that there is no chance the university will add it at this time. UNLV hockey club desperate for money, NCAA Division I status As far as I'm aware and I could be wrong, but they don't even get a cent of funding from the university. Now like anything in college athletics, if a big donor(s) comes along, and the Title IX numbers are good, sure it could happen. I thought with the success of the Golden Knights and Bill Foley having money to throw around he could have been someone who got the ball rolling, but after the Knights brought the AHL to town, I think that rules anything like that out. And now I believe he's pursuing an MLS franchise for Vegas.

Liberty certainly has the facilities, and even the fan support for such a move, and I always put them on my shortlist of candidates, from that standpoint they are certainly better positioned than a program like UNLV. But even though I do put them on my list of most likely candidates, they haven't made a move to be an NCAA program or even expressed an interest in adding NCAA hockey.

Simon Fraser already competes as an NCAA DII athletic department in the Great Northwest Conference and they are not new to playing NCAA exhibition games either. Using Wikipedia as a quick source "Since 2012-13 Simon Fraser University has been playing NCAA Division 1 programs with increased frequency. 2012–13 saw the Clan face off against the Air Force Falcons of Atlantic Hockey. 2013-14 saw the Clan travel to college hockey hotbed Boston and take on the Sacred Heart Pioneers and College of the Holy Cross Crusaders. That year they would also host two major historical college hockey programs in the 8 time NCAA Champion University of North Dakota Fight Hawks, and two time ECAC champion Princeton Tigers.[4] 2014-15 would take the Clan to Ohio to take on the perennial powerhouse Miami RedHawks who would go on to capture the NCHC championship that year, as well as the former national champion Bowling Green Falcons.[5] 2015-16 would once again take the Clan back to Boston to play the defending national champion Providence College Friars, as well as former national champions in the Northeastern University Huskies.[6] 2016-17 saw the Clan travel to Alaska to take on the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves[7] and the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks,[8] then in February they would travel to Tempe, Arizona to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils for the second time in their history."

And in 2016 they did come out and say they were exploring it, but no official word since then SFU Exploring Business Models For NCAA Hockey, Sand Volleyball - Simon Fraser University Athletics
 
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Simon Fraser is curious for being NAIA way back when, then jumping to CIS when the old league with seemingly all the Northwest US schools broke up, then settled into the GNAC just when the NCAA started offering the gateway into D-2.

Which is one way of saying that, even those few years ago, the GNAC knew they were having trouble keeping schools that had football.

SFU football played at Swangard (way the other side of Burnaby from their campus) for a few years, had then moved their games on campus to a field with no stands some years ago… and in 2020 finally finished the “stadium” they built by Terry Fox Field. Capacity 1,800. Just in time for the pandemic. And after some slight improvement this year, and because there are three remaining GNAC schools sponsoring football, they’ll be playing football next year in…

…drumroll please…

…the Lone Star Conference. Yes, Texas.

I bring this up for what I hope are obvious reasons. Simon Fraser will have their budget really stress-tested next fall. And maybe this works out and makes any hockey moves they may be considering easier. But I’m not sure they’re properly scaled for the task.
 
... I bring this up for what I hope are obvious reasons. Simon Fraser will have their budget really stress-tested next fall. And maybe this works out and makes any hockey moves they may be considering easier. But I’m not sure they’re properly scaled for the task.
SFU took a huge step toward legitimacy in ANY sports league/conference when they finally decided to drop their sports team name "The Clan" in 2020. But that STILL doesn't put them even a stride closer to becoming the first Canada-based NCAA DI hockey team.
 
SFU football played at Swangard (way the other side of Burnaby from their campus) for a few years, had then moved their games on campus to a field with no stands some years ago… and in 2020 finally finished the “stadium” they built by Terry Fox Field. Capacity 1,800. Just in time for the pandemic. And after some slight improvement this year, and because there are three remaining GNAC schools sponsoring football, they’ll be playing football next year in…

…drumroll please…

…the Lone Star Conference. Yes, Texas.

I bring this up for what I hope are obvious reasons. Simon Fraser will have their budget really stress-tested next fall. And maybe this works out and makes any hockey moves they may be considering easier. But I’m not sure they’re properly scaled for the task.
At least the other 3 GNAC Football schools will help alleviate the travel somewhat. But that is DII college football's version of the Alaska schools in hockey.
 
Lindenwood is almost certainly jumping up from D2 to D1 and joining the OVC. I'm wondering if we'll finally see a vastity hockey announcement once they announce they're going D1.
 
Lindenwood is almost certainly jumping up from D2 to D1 and joining the OVC. I'm wondering if we'll finally see a vastity hockey announcement once they announce they're going D1.
Something might be included about hockey in the overall announcement, although I would expect it to be a separate announcement when it would happen. The hockey timeline has been set back, about a year. So that would be a timeline of 23-24 for full NCAA play rather than next season as originally intended.
 
Something might be included about hockey in the overall announcement, although I would expect it to be a separate announcement when it would happen. The hockey timeline has been set back, about a year. So that would be a timeline of 23-24 for full NCAA play rather than next season as originally intended.
Hm, bummer, but at least they’re still going to do it.
Non hockey related: It’ll be cool to have Division I football back in the St. Louis area. Would be the first time since 1949 when SLU dropped it.
 
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Hm, bummer, but at least they’re still going to do it.
Non hockey related: It’ll be cool to have Division I football back in the St. Louis area. Would be the first time since 1949 when SLU dropped it.
Well with hockey, that would make two sports LU has returned to the STL area after SLU dropped them :naughty:
 
Well with hockey, that would make two sports LU has returned to the STL area after SLU dropped them :naughty:
On one hand it's great that both will be coming soon, on the other, I'm saddened over the fact that SLU could be so much better.
 

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