RIP, CHA … But UAH Still Has Much to Play For
I really like Matt Mackinder. I’ve sat and talked hockey with him in the past. He’s a good fellow.
He’s also a little wrong in his column for USCHO this week. No, I’m not talking about the penalties he’s complaining about, or the disallowed goal for Niagara that he’s talking about, but this…
The league always had its critics, and that’s fine. I was probably one of them. I just wish there was a non-shortsighted commissioner out there that would take Huntsville into his conference. That still may happen, but next year, UAH will be an independent and basically play a season full of meaningless games. No playoffs. No championship. No NCAA tourney.
Good thing UAH made this season count, eh?
Matt:
- It’s not the commissioners who decide who enters a league or not. Folks have wanted to make Tom Anastos to be the demon in the UAH-denied-by-the-CCHA hullabaloo, but the truth is that the member schools, as represented by their Athletic Directors and Faculty Athletic Representatives, made the call. Or, well, not — in voting by acclimation, they chose not to go on the record as to how they voted. That’s their right, and it tells us that UAH faced significant opposition for its 2009 bid to get in the league. That doesn’t mean that circumstances can’t change in the future. I personally feel, from having talked to a lot of college hockey folks off the record this year, that there was a lot more going on in the CCHA’s denial than the merits of UAH joining the conference. Much of it was, I believe, out of our control—but should also be circumstances that change over time.
- Matt argues that we have nothing to play for after 2009-10. If that were the case, we wouldn’t field a team, right? But we have just as much of a chance to get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament here in Huntsville as any of the other 57 D-I schools have. Is our road harder here in Huntsville? Perhaps—our two D-I appearances were CHA tournament upsets. But I personally feel that, with every year Danton Cole is our coach, the program gets better and better. Each successive class of freshmen impresses me more than their predecessors, which is a credit to Danton, Chris Luongo, and John McCabe in their recruiting efforts. It’s also a credit to the program as a whole—everyone who’s worn the blue and white with UAH across their chest. We have a proud hockey tradition here, and we’re not just going to fold up our tent because no one wants to put us under their conference umbrella.
Besides: the McLeod Cup is ours, and we’re College Hockey Alabama now. Ain’t no one takin’ that from us, and anyone who tries is itchin’ for a fight. Or, well, an open ice check from Bruni.