Although I’ve only seen the web portion of the attempt to keep UAH Hockey alive, I’m very impressed with what you’ve done in the last year or so and also the support you’re getting from the college hockey community. It’s terrible that the administration, with an interim chancellor at that, has taken away the one thing that I honestly think makes your school unique. As you may know, Lowell was in a very similar situation a few years ago when some jerk on the UMass Board of Trustees made the mistake of trying to take out Lowell in order to boost funding for Amherst’s program.

A grassroots effort was started and support from local lawmakers along with a new chancellor that “gets it” helped kill any further talk of the program’s elimination. Now Lowell is on the rise again with a team that’s taking Hockey East by storm and an average attendance of over 5,000 at the Tsongas that beats out Amherst, Maine, Northeastern, and almost edges Boston University. Look at “almost contracted” teams like the Minnesota Twins, the rebirth of the Winnipeg Jets, and many others that have beaten out the close-mindedness of a small group and now have thriving fan bases. Even though things are probably not going as well as you’d like, I hope you and the Charger faithful continue to support the team and fight for what’s yours.

Keep up the battle down there! I’ll be at the Merrimack and Lowell games this week, might even root for UAH in both of them.

Ed.: Mike McMahon of the Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, Mass. notes that Merrimack was once much in the same place. I think both the UML and MC stories provide Charger fans not only hope of retaining the program but hope for future success.

My favorite Charger hockey memory will always be my first road trip to Niagara. In the fall of my freshman year at UAH, you could pay $80 for a 16 hour bus ride to Niagara Falls and two tickets to the weekend series at Dwyer Arena. Not to mention the relaxed drinking age across the border!

I still remember the quizzical looks on the faces of the Niagara faithful. Into Dwyer Arena stormed 100 blue and white-clad Charger fans, faces painted, flags in tow. A true home game for UAH–850 miles away from home ice, and just a stone’s throw from the Canadian border. Caught amidst raised eyebrows and whispers of “what the hell,” we marched to our seats as we chanted “It’s great! To be! A UAH Charger!” I’m convinced Dwyer Arena hasn’t been that loud ever since. The Niagara fans passively cheered on the “Purple Eagles;” we actively jeered the “Purple Pigeons.” The Niagara fans sat and politely clapped; we stood and stomped on the bleachers. The Niagara fans passively watched their team skate to a 7-3 victory; we screamed throughout a disappointing loss like it was the last UAH game we’d ever see. And in the second period, when Grant Selinger took a pass from Cale Tanaka and zipped a shot past the Niagara goalie to bring the Chargers within one score deep in the second period, he made sure to take a celebratory slam into the glass, right in front of us–the home crowd.

But this is just one memory among four years of exhilarating Charger hockey experiences. And it’s a shame that the short-sightedness of a few is bringing down the tradition built by so many. To think: the people dismantling this program are citing lack of fan support, just a short time after USCHO witnessed our invasion of Niagara Falls and opined that “no fans in college hockey are more underrated and under appreciated as the Charger faithful.” That probably explains why, in March 2007, a dozen of us crowded around a single laptop to watch the PPV broadcasts of the CHA tournament (and Dave Nimmo’s heart-stopping short-handed goal to knock off Robert Morris for the championships). Or why, weeks later, we made the trek to Grand Rapids, where it took #1 Notre Dame two overtime periods to climb Marc Narduzzi’s brick wall. Or why, over the next three losing seasons, we still went to the VBC every weekend (blasting Brett “P-Box” McConnachie’s “Chargers Gettin’ Rowdy”, mind you).

This is an extremely sad time for Charger fans. Fight and do all you can to save this team. We were always a dark horse, but we always put up a fight. And if we come up short, just remember what Coach Ross said after we nearly shocked the world in the 2007 NCAAs: “I’m proud of them, extremely proud of them, and I think they ought to walk out of here with their heads high.”

[Ed: If you want to tell your story, email it to me at g@saveuahhockey.com. --GFM]

Having grown up around hockey, my other brother started a school team at Appalachian State University. The team had to put $ in the pot to buy ice time for their games, and could not afford ice time for practice (but could practice on frozen ponds in the winter). Ten years later, that team is going strong with school support. That brother went on to coach hockey at Lynchburg College, and still plays recreationally as often as possible (joining my other bro’s team when in town). My dad, who first had the interest in UAH hockey, brought us to the UAH games, introduced the travel league to my bro, and was so dedicated in supporting my brother’s travel team – he has also played on an “adult over 30″ league (when he was in his late 50′s). He still supports my brother’s team and attends games weekly, frequently visiting the bench to offer coaching advice (he has even suited up as a sub on occasion). He has made some street hockey sticks and given them to my young sons – hoping to shape another generation in playing hockey. It all started with UAH.

I came to UAH with little hockey experience. I grew up in Kentucky and Texas, where basketball and football were king, but I remember watching some Stanley Cup games on TV with my dad. He didn’t know much about the rules, but enough that I could follow along some of the time with his help. When I applied to UAH, the fact that there was no football was actually a draw for me. I’d had enough of it during my two high school years in Texas. I thought the hockey thing was a little quirky, and it made the university stand out, but I figured I’d not really get into it and just go to a game if I was bored. I arrived on campus that fall with my attitude unchanged. Then someone took me to a game.

My first game was the 2004 exhibition match against Tennessee’s club team. We destroyed them 13-0, and I was hooked. I’m not sure if it was all the scoring or the fact that I almost died twice (first was a puck that zipped past my head, second was when Tom Train destroyed someone into the boards right in front of me, nearly making me fall backwards in those really high/unstable chairs up against the boards), but suddenly I wanted to go to every game I could. So I did.

Every Friday night and Saturday afternoon, if we had a home game, you could find me at the Von Braun Center. I found a couple friends who were more than happy to teach me the rules I didn’t know, and I was learning. In a couple months, I went from a hockey novice to a nut who could explain exactly what icing is. I still go to every home game, and now I’ve even got my roommate hooked. In the years I’ve been here, hockey games have become something that I can scream my head off at, have fun at, and one thing related to the school where I don’t have to think about that problem set that’s due on Monday, or the test I probably bombed this morning. Basketball games are that way too, but we don’t have basketball in October. Every hockey home opener is like my birthday present from the school, or a reward for making it to Fall Break.

When the announcement came that D-1 hockey was coming to an end, it felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I’d known it was probably coming, but hearing it made me want to hit something. If I hadn’t have had Humans vs. Zombies that week as a distraction, I might have. Dr. Portera insisted that club hockey would stay on and be just as good, but thanks to my experience at my first game, I knew better.

I know there might be a second chance now, with community leaders stepping up and Dr. Altenkirch not slamming the door in the face of anyone who asks about reinstating hockey, but to be honest, I’m scared to have too much hope. For now, I’m enjoying every game I can and letting that little spark of hope shine, just not too bright.

Lauren Kahre
UAH Student/Future Graduate/Hockey Fan

My wife, son and I traveled the nearly 600 miles from our home in Cary, N.C. to my hometown of Huntsville over the weekend for one purpose: UAH hockey. The flagship sport of my alma mater is in peril, and I needed to do my part.

The two games, as you know by now, were 4-0 and 2-0 shutouts for Ohio State. I was disappointed that I didn’t see the Chargers score a goal, but that’s not what this note is about.

The Friday night crowd’s announced attendance was 2,519, the largest of the season. I’m not going to delve into the accuracy of these things, but the arena seemed about one-third full. There was a decent student turnout, and they were loud and into the game. They heckled the Buckeyes coming out and going into the locker room — out of all the changes to the arena (this was my first visit to the renovated Propst at the Von Braun Center), I really enjoyed seeing this.

Saturday night’s crowd was announced as 1,351. Of course, with the Tide and Tigers battling out in the Football Game to End All Football Games, I expected a significant drop. But I expected worse, like crickets chirping bad. The student section also was about half of the night before, but they were just as loud (and delightfully obnoxious).

But what I got out of the weekend was that the elements that make a great college hockey atmosphere were still evident: The loud student section, the boisterous pep band and the fast action on the ice. And all this came after the news that the program was being canned, a UAH team that’s still trying to notch its first victory and during not only a big Alabama football game, but the insane hype machine that went with it.

What I saw was something to build on, not a reason to take down.

Building on means officially announcing that it will stay Division I and execute the fundraising plans that have been presented by Nathan Bowen and his team and the donors put together by Rep. Phil Williams. It means getting us into a conference as soon as possible and relieve the Chargers from this crippling scheduling. And it means keeping “Save UAH Hockey” well after being saved because we don’t ever want to go through this again.

I believe in this program, and this weekend made me feel like we can turn it into something special again. I just hope the people making the call can see it, too.

Michael Napier, SaveUAHHockey.com
UAH 1997

Almost all of Higher Education functionality (e.g. administration, instruction, student activities) is a cost. Don’t get me wrong – cost containment, wasteful spending, and inefficiencies are important principles. But if you look at this strictly from a from a cost-benefit model – you might as well get your axe and start cutting everything. You have to look at education from a benefit perspective… what are the gains from having a certain type of educational/campus climate. Diversity, civic engagement, leadership development, positive campus climate, opportunities of student development at the HIGHEST levels both inside and outside the classroom is what higher education is all about! From a D1 hockey standpoint at UAH – it creates diversity, leadership, civic engagement at the HIGHEST level – why go backwards. UAH needs to keep D1 hockey. period.

Andrew Cseter, Director Student Services
Metropolitan State University

P.S. 35% of Division I hockey programs will be in new or different conferences by 2013-14. 35% of Division I hockey programs are run from Division II/III athetic programs across this country. Why is this so difficult for the University of Alabama System and UAH to administer a DI Hockey program?

Dear Governor Bentley,

As the proud parent of one of the UAH Hockey players, and a fellow US Air Force veteran, I am writing today to appeal to you to strongly consider the proposition being brought forward by Rep Phil Williams. Mr. Williams has information concerning potential donors that are willing to step and provide the funds required to keep the UAH Hockey program at the DI varsity level, an option which I do not feel was fully explored by Dr. Portera in making his decision.

As a long time supporter of the Crimson Tide DI baseball program, you are no doubt aware of all the hard work that these young men invest, and the long odds that must be overcome, just to earn the opportunity to compete at the DI level. In hockey, with only 58 DI programs, those odds are even longer. All of these young men have spent the last 13-15 years of their lives to get to this point, making many sacrifices along the way. Several players have been carrying the mantle of hockey in the south throughout their careers, having grown up in non-hockey hotbeds such as Cincinnati, Nashville and the Atlanta areas, these young men had the additional challenge of having to leave home during their high school years to be able to play where the DI scouts would see them. These players offer hope to thousands of other southern hockey players. You have the opportunity to allow UAH hockey to continue to be the flag bearer for hockey in the south, which, who knows, could someday lead to the SEC starting its own hockey conference.

In little over one year on campus, my son has fully committed to UAH, both on and off the ice, and to the Huntsville community. He has made lifelong friends, volunteered with the local youth hockey programs, been a staunch supporter of the other UAH teams, and even opted to stay in Huntsville this past summer to take classes to ensure he would stay on track to graduate in 4 years. It would not have been a surprise to me at all, if the program had not been dropped from the Di level, that he would follow the path of many UAH Hockey alum that have preceded him, and decide to make Huntsville his home after graduation. Numerous UAH hockey alum have settled in Huntsville and surrounding communities and continue to make positive contributions. The head coach of the UA Tuscaloosa club hockey team is among them. You have the opportunity to further extend this trend, and allow those in the community to continue to benefit from their being involved, committed community members.

In making his announcement, Dr. Portera said that the school would be supportive in helping these young men transfer to other schools so that they may continue playing at the DI level. However, the reality of the situation is that it will be hard for these players to find opportunities at the remaining DI schools since most schools are currently filling their recruiting classes for 2013/14 and beyond. Therefore, the handful of slots may be available are those that become available as the result of an unexpected departure of an existing player due to injury or leaving school early. For the rest of these young men it’s the end of the dream to play DI hockey. You have the opportunity to step in and ensure that the UA System and UAH honors their commitment to these young men, who have kept up their end of the commitment.

UAH is the host school for the 2012 NCAA Frozen Four, being hosted in Tampa. This is an event which draws national attention and a national television audience. But as things stand today, one of the predominant storylines will be about UAH dropping its program, which will reflect negatively on UAH, the UA system, the state of Alabama, and hockey in the south. You have the opportunity to change this into a positive storyline, about how the fans and community rallied to support the team and to showcase UAH and Alabama as the Hockey capital of the South. Along those same lines, the Nashville Predators stepped up last year to sponsor the first ever NCAA DI hockey game in the state of Tennessee, which highlighted UAH. They had hoped to make this an annual event, as one is scheduled for this December, but that will end if the program allowed to be dropped. You have the opportunity to allow this event to continue to grow and allow UAH’s image in the region to continue to grow in a positive manner.

There is little doubt that the UAH alumni, fans and the Huntsville community received a serious wake-up call this summer. For whatever reasons, they had grown somewhat complacent and potentially took the program for granted. But, in a relatively short time after being made aware of the financial issues, they were able to fund raise and meet the initial amount as provided by Dr. Portera. These efforts have rekindled the support of the fan base and community, and reminded all of the value that the UAH hockey program brings to the area. Mr. Williams has information that even more substantial support has been made known in the time since Dr. Portera’s decision. It is not unreasonable to think that with the community and alumni financial support, the hockey program could become self supporting, and the funds currently allocated to it could be redistributed to the other UAH programs, just as Dr. Portera is looking to do. You have the opportunity to allow this tide of momentum to continue and to provide the alumni, fans and community to prove that they can in fact support the program.

Keeping the program at the DI level can also provide a positive economic impact for the Huntsville area. If the program is allowed to be dropped, the VBC loses those event dates and the city loses the income brought in by the visiting team and fans. A conference affiliation would ensure that even more home dates would be available. And college hockey has not been immune to the conference shakeup and realignments that we are seeing in other sports. In fact, all this movement has resulted in there being openings for UAH within a conference, but one of the key things they are looking for is strong administrative and community support for the program. Conference membership brings with it many advantages, among them the opportunity to build rivalries which attract fans and the opportunity to recruit the caliber of players to regularly compete on the conference and national stage. The student body and community are stepping up their support and now you have the opportunity to show that the program does have the administrative support that conference is looking for.

In closing, I encourage you to step in and allow the UAH alumni, fans, and the Huntsville community the opportunity to demonstrate that they can indeed provide the financial support to keep the program moving forward.

Respectfully,

Joseph Groh
Lead Consultant, Procter & Gamble Global Manufacturing and Supply Chain Group
Manufacturing Net Global Database Administrator
Global IWS Pillar SharePoint Support

December 12,2010:
Long time supporter and Athletic Director Jim Harris passes away. We all knew and respected the man and his passion for the University and the Division I. He had the wisdom and the courage to stand up for the Hockey program. He had the trust of the administration to make the right calls at the local level. Shortly thereafter a search team was established to hire a new AD.

March 14,2011:
Dr David Williams resign as President of UAH. Dr Williams was supporter of the Division I program and had the ability to process the entire budget with an understanding that you need to balance more than numbers to make the University successful. He was proud of the team and the culture of competitiveness that was created playing the best college teams in the country. An outside executive recruiting team was hired to find a replacement

March 2011:
Dr Portera take over as Interim President, He states ” there is a new economic reality we all face in higher education” . This is a song that he continues to sing. What he is saying, I’m going to cut the expenses before my old friend Dr Robert Altenkirch is announced. I’m going to try to act like I care, as difficult as that is for me. I going to use the media to make it look like I will examine all my options, however I really want to fly under the radar to get this swept away and get my self back to the Ivory Tower and watch football. Because we all know no one cares about Division I hockey in the South. I’m just doing everyone a favor. They just aren’t smart enough to figure out how brilliant I am.Oh the challenges of having to deal with the common man.

April 14, 2011:
Dr E.J. Brophy is hired as the new AD at UAH. Dr Brophy come to us with 9 years of experience. He is suppose to be an outstanding AD who’s strength include raising money both internally and externally. That’s administration talk for getting the community, and alumni involved to raise money. However, based on my personal discussion with Dr Brophy, Two weeks after he was hired he was pulled into the Office and told to sit tight on raising money until Dr Portera announces his decision. STOP HERE. PLEASE REREAD IF YOU MISSED THE FIRST TIME. Why would a financially troubled program tell the new all star AD to stop raising money for the Division I program? No One will answer this question!!!! This is the smoking gun of the issue of integrity. The only answer is, The decision was already made. The decision was already made. The decision was already made.

Now does everything else that transpired that seemed confusing and frustrating make sense?

July 2011:
Dr Portera is interviewed by USCHO.com regarding the status of UAH’s Division I Status. His response,” I can’t comment on this at this time”. As an outsider I would think that his PR people would have prepared him for this interview and the type of hard hitting questions that he would have to face. However he did not anticipate the USCHO.com need for facts and answers to a program that is important to over 50 other Universities. STOP HERE. The decision was already made two weeks after Dr Brophy was hired.

October 24,2011
Dr Portera announces his decision,(That was made in May) to everyone who had not been paying attention to the actions of the AD. We were so silly to think that he was honestly considering all the input and options. That there was integrity in this process. That there was a chance that he was listening to the communities plea to let the new President take ownership in the process. NOPE. Let’s turn the page so I can get back to football.Oh did I mention that there will be a press conference tomorrow to announce the hiring of the new president

October 25,2011:
Dr Robert Altenkirch is introduced as the new UAH president and has not commented on these events. The fear factor is so significant left by Dr Portera, the poor guy who updates the Chargers home page is so frightened he hasn’t posted the most important event in hockey history.

October 28,2011:
Student athlete’s parents try to communicate with Dr Portera to get straight answers to straight questions:
1.We requested the budget for the proposed club hockey program? There are multiple answers depending on the day and person responding.
Answer: Same as the basket bal program, about $400,000
Answer: Approximately $136,000
Answer Between $75,000 -$100,000
2.The community/Alumni were told we needed about $500,000 per year in addition to what the school had budgeted. I was told that they they had commitments for $200,000 per year and were on there way to getting the balance.
Answer: That is correct, however that is not what Dr Portera wanted to hear, so he ignored it completely. Didn’t you read above that he already made his mind up and doesn’t want to be bothered with the facts and details?
3.Dr Brody continues to tell everyone how loyal and experienced he is at handling these issues. How is that benefiting the Division I Program?
Answer: The only one benefiting is Dr Brophy. He is keeping his job, medical benefits retirement plan etc.
4.Do you think the rest of the sports programs should be concerned?
Answer: It is clear that when there is a loss of leadership that no one is safe from the “Chancellor” from out of town.
5.How will Dr Altenkirch respond to the events that occurred?
Answer: He has choices. He can solidify himself as a true leader and within about 2 weeks make a real informed decision,he could allow the team to play next year at the division I Level. We are only losing a couple upper classman. He could allow the hockey community/Alumni to close the gap on the real budget and work towards a long-term budget that puts us in a conference. Or he could say ” That decision was made prior to my arrival” Next Question!

The prevalent rumor during the 2010 Frozen Four in St. Paul was that the full D-I schools are considering banding together against whatever befalls college hockey in a BTHC world. I think this makes sense: if the Championship Cabinet decides that schools are going to drop varsity hockey in droves but would be willing to play a D-II varsity schedule, they might sanction a Division II championship again. If this happens and I’m a D-I school, I want to be ready.

Out west, there are seven schools that are Division I across the board: Bowling Green State University, University of Denver, Miami University, University of Nebraska-Omaha, University of North Dakota, University of Notre Dame, and Western Michigan University. [Note: UNO is transitioning to D-I.]

Many have said, and I agree with them, that a ten-team league is the optimum size for hockey, as this gives you lots of scheduling flexibility. Three teams would need to be picked up to make that reality, and I’ll submit the following for consideration: Colorado College, University of Minnesota-Duluth, and St. Cloud State University. My rationale: CC has a strong rivalry with DU, UMD just won the Frozen Four, and SCSU has a good building to showcase the league.

With 10 teams in the “Division I” conference and six teams in the BTHC, you’re left with nine teams in the west: University of Alaska-Anchorage, University of Alaska (Fairbanks), University of Alabama-Huntsville, Bemidji State University, Ferris State University, Lake Superior State University, Michigan Tech University, Minnesota State University-Mankato, and Northern Michigan University. Having both Alaska schools left over presents a large problem in terms of travel, and the prevailing wisdom has always been that you don’t put them in one conference.

I believe that it is important to countervail the prevailing wisdom.

Again, we’re working with nine teams that are neither fish (because the BTHC stinks), fowl (because the birds have flown the WCHA and CCHA coops), nor good red meat (eastern hockey). A ten-team league is generally optimal, but the presence of both Alaska schools means that travel is a problem. I say we bump things to a 12-team league and split up the two Alaska schools. Let’s grab three teams from Atlantic Hockey: Mercyhurst College, Niagara University, and Robert Morris University. NU and RMU played in the now-defunct CHA, so they’re ready to field an 18-scholarship program, and Mercyhurst seems like they’d come up to speed quickly. The Lakers are in the footprint for something like…

West

• Anchorage
• Bemidji
• Mankato
• Tech
• Northern
• Lake State

East

• Fairbanks
• Huntsville
• Ferris
• Mercyhurst
• Niagara
• Robert Morris

Here’s my divisional Logic:

1. You have to split the Alaska schools. Putting both schools in one division makes travel costs untenable for the the four teams that would be paired with them. If you’re going to make both teams be in this conference, it really doesn’t matter if UAA or UAF is in the “east”. The WCHA schools left out in the cold (Bemidji, Mankato, Tech) will all be in one division together, so you maintain some sense of rivalry, even if the Beavers and Mavericks are relative newcomers. Yeah, UAF has to go farther for travel, but they can always smash a supertanker in half with a hockey stick and get an F16 to magically appear to carry them to the east.
2. It makes sense to have the three Upper Peninsula schools together. If you take the Alaska travel as a given, every effort should be made to have the rest of the divisions as proximal as possible.
3. In the same vein, Bemidji and Mankato should be together based on history and proximity. Because you’ve got two Minnesota schools and four Michigan schools, someone’s going to get left out, and a MN-UP pairing makes sense to me.
4. Ferris-Mercyhurst-Niagara-Robert Morris works as a grouping. Ferris is further from the other three, but it’s not awful—they could be stuck schlepping it to Bemidji.
5. Huntsville needs a place to play. C’mon, this is saveUAHhockey.com. Niagara and Robert Morris are used to the travel to Huntsville. UAH and Ferris played a home-and-home in 2010-11. Mercyhurst is coming to Huntsville on 12/30-31/2011.

How would I schedule games? I’m glad you asked!

1. Teams would play home-and-home against your division every year. This gives you 20 divisional games—five opponents, four games each—only 18 of which count against your 34-game schedule, as you’re playing a series at the Alaska school in your division.
2. Teams would play six non-division games a year: three two-game series against teams from the other division. You’ll want to do this in a way such that it minimizes travel (save for the Alaska schools, for whom travel minimization is impossible) on a year-by-year basis. As an example, Huntsville wouldn’t have to play Tech-Northern-Lake in one season if two of the three were on the road. This leads to an unbalanced home schedule, as you’ll alternate six and seven conference home dates.
3. The outcome of the cross-division travel is that you’re playing each interconference team once on the road every four years. Every fourth year, you will get another two-game exemption when you travel to the other Alaska school.

This “leftovers” conference isn’t something anyone would necessarily love. The Alaska schools now play in the same league. Bemidji and Mankato are kicked out of the WCHA, which both worked very hard to enter. Ferris loses conference games against all the nearby teams. The Atlantic Hockey teams spike their travel costs significantly.

Who likes it? Huntsville for sure, as they’re back in a league. I’d think that Tech would like it at some level, because they’ll stop getting kicked in the head continuing to play familiar teams. Mercyhurst-Niagara-Robert Morris like it at some level because they can be a full-scholarship program, and this league should have some national cachet above AH.

It’s important to remember that the driver for this would be the D-I schools in the west banding together. It’s entirely possible that they’ll do that. If that happens, the other schools in the west will need to lash their boats to each other, and this is the best situation I’ve come up for doing so.

I don’t hate mine. I just keep wondering how much longer I’ll have one with my team as a fan an alumnus of a Division I program.

Bleeping CCHA.

Don’t get me wrong: I love each and every day as a Charger. Every time I come up the stairs in my house, I pass signed photos from the 2008-09 team [our guys signing around this great shot of one of our buckets that wnickelson took] and the 2009-10 team on the ice, right after winning the final CHA tournament and getting the CHA’s final autobid [photo taken by Douglas]. Each of those photos gives me a bit of a lift.

Bleeping CCHA.

Then I remember that UAH is the only independent in D-I, a change from the last time when UAH played as a D-I independent a couple decades ago. We never asked to come to D-I, but when the NCAA pulled the rug out from under D-II hockey [again], back we came to Division I. This time around, we’ve given as well as we’ve gotten, on the whole, including two NCAA tournament appearances in the last four seasons.

Bleeping CCHA.

I love the schedule UAH has this season—rid of guaranteed home dates from CHA schools, UAH can schedule anyone who’ll schedule them back. The coaches, understanding that college hockey is a brotherhood—59 member schools trying to turn young boys into men, educate them, and let them play some hockey at a fun level in front of adoring fans—have seen fit to make sure that UAH has enough games to be viable. Shoot, 32 games + two exhibitions with the US U-18 team gives the boys the most RS matches they’ve had since 2005-06. Does it suck that the Chargers’ D-I schedule ends in mid-February? Sure, but the boys play the hand that they’re dealt.

Bleeping CCHA.

The coaches understand the whole union/brotherhood thing. The AD’s are treating it like a business. That’s their right, of course. They’re missing the larger point, which is that more schools playing D-I hockey will mean more exposure for the sport, and increase the likelihood of some reasonable level of non-regional TV coverage. Yes, this would happen more quickly with more name schools playing D-I hockey—SEC/Big 12/Pac 10—but only in college hockey do we have the chance to see a liberal-arts college with 2,000 students and a $400MM endowment [Colorado College] face off against a school with 39,000 undergraduates and a $2.06B endowment [tOSU] and expect that the little school might win.

Bleeping CCHA.

More schools playing Division I hockey means more kids getting educated, more alumni with tighter bonds to their alma mater, more fans visiting other parts of the country and engaging the local culture, and more opportunities for hockey to really take off in the US.

Bleeping CCHA.

But no, the AD’s are acting with non-enlightened self-interest, worried about this year’s budget knowing that they’re down 15% from last year. I get that. Times are tough everywhere, and with 30 of the 59 schools being public, the current economic environment for governments across the country means that things will probably get worse before they get better—especially in western college hockey, where 21 of 24 schools are public.

Bleeping CCHA.

But yet if six of those schools—10% of the number—can decide to suck it up and travel to the mid-South for a little hockey, maybe we can get the other 52 to care. Or, well, eight of 11 schools in this one midwestern conference.

Bleeping CCHA.

Will told me that I needed to re-post this here.