Is The Tidal Wave Coming To The ECAC?

Hockey East could be looking for a 12th team

It looks like the tidal wave from the western part of the college hockey world has come east. Today, Notre Dame announced that they will become the 11th member of Hockey East. This is has caused a lot of speculation on who the twelfth team will be (since conferences like having an even number of teams). College Hockey experts have guessed that either a team from the ECAC or Atlantic Hockey will join the premier league in the east.

The most popular choices from the ECAC are RPI, Quinnipiac, Cornell, and Harvard, while the teams like Niagara, Holy Cross, and UConn have been mentioned as having interest in bolting from Atlantic Hockey. Other rumors include schools that don't currently sponsor D-1 hockey like Buffalo, Rhode Island, and Syracuse, as well as the only independent team in D-1 hockey, Alabama - Huntstivlle. RPI has been the front-runner for a while though.

Personally, as a fan of ECAC Hockey, I don't want to see any ECAC team leave the conference. I like our conference the way it is. If RPI were to leave, it would damage the rivalry with Union, which has become one of the best rivalries in the league, and hurt the prestige of the conference. RPI is one of the premiere teams in the conference with tons of history in the ECAC, and it would really hurt to see them go. I also don't want to see Quinnipiac go, not only because they have the nicest building in the ECAC, but they have a nice rivalry going with Yale. On the Cornell and Harvard front, I doubt either would leave the other Ivies, so I don't see that as a real possibility. But, if Cornell were to leave it would be absolutely devastating.

The ECAC has a rich history

But, if I had to pick one ECAC team to leave for Hockey East, I'd pick Quinnipiac. They have the least history in the ECAC, and is the weakest academic institution in the league (not saying they're a bad school, but they aren't on the same level as the others). I think QU fits into Hockey East geographically, academically, and facilities-wise. The Bobcats would have to step up their game on the ice, considering they've been a mid-level team in the ECAC since they joined the conference.

This is not saying that I don't think RPI is a bad fit for Hockey East. They have a big enough rink, and has a program with lots of history. I think a lot of RPI fans would be open to their team moving to Hockey East since it would bring more prestige to the program, but I just think they belong in the ECAC. They fit geographically (Troy in the middle of conference), academically (one of the best institutions in the country), and athletically (D-III in all other sports like ECAC schools).

So say an ECAC team leaves the conference for Hockey East. Who should replace them? My top choice would be the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The Tigers have had a very strong hockey tradition that dates back to their D-II and D-III days where they won national championships in 1983 and 1985, respectively. They also made it to the Frozen Four in 2010, which is better than any ECAC team can say. RIT is another top notch institution, and geographically isn't too far out of the way. Rochester is only about two hours from Ithaca. If RPI were to bolt, RIT could easily fix the travel partner situation with RIT pairing up with Cornell, and Colgate becoming Union's travel partner (about a two hour drive between Colgate and Union). Plus, RIT and Union had a pretty nice rivalry back in their days at D-III back in the 80's.

If not RIT, then I'd go with Holy Cross. They are another good academic institution that would fit in with other ECAC schools, and have been one of the better teams in AH over the years. Holy Cross would also fit geographically since they're located in Worcester, MA. It would fit perfectly if they were to replace Quinnipiac. Yale would partner up with Princeton (not much different than QU-Princeton), and Holy Cross would team up with Brown (about 45 minute drive between the two).

Obviously,  travel partners would be different if RPI left and Holy Cross joined or Quinnipiac left and RIT joined, but we'll cross that bridge if the opportunity presents itself.

UConn is currently in AHA

Since I don't want any ECAC teams to leave, who would I pick as Hockey East's 12th team? I think in a perfect world I would pick the University of Connecticut. UConn already has D-1 hockey, and while they play hockey in Atlantic Hockey, most of their teams play in the Big East and their women's hockey team already play in Hockey East. Obviously,  a TON of money would have to be available at UConn for this to happen, but there is a possibility that this money is there considering how much money UConn men's basketball, women's basketball, and football reel in every year. UConn could be able to save some money if they find a way to put an ice surface down in the Gampel Pavillion (basketball arena). If not, they'll have to renovate the Freitas Ice Forum (2,000 capacity), or build a new facility. They would also have to offer hockey scholarships, which then means they would have to even that up with a creation of another women's varsity sport because of Title IX (I believe that would be the fact).  While UConnNotre Dame, it's very close to all the other HE schools.

Plus, the addition of UConn could leave an opening for Alabama-Huntsville to join Atlantic Hockey. I really don't want to see our friends to the south die off.

If Hockey East is looking for a school that would be an easy travel partner with Notre Dame, I have no idea who they could ideally pick. Niagara? Robert Morris? Mercyhurst? None would really fit athletically in Hockey East and all are at least 6+ hours away from South Bend. The way I see it, the only way Notre Dame could get a realistic travel partner were if Kent State or the University of Illinois-Chicago were to resurrect their college hockey programs.

I've been asked by a few people if there's any way this realignment episode could doom the ECAC. I think the only way that would happen was if an ECAC team (RPI, QU) were to leave the conference, and the league were unable to replace them, causing the league to have 11 teams. This could prove to some that the ECAC was weak, and cause the Ivies to branch off to make their own conference. But, I really don't see that scenario working out right now.

I really hope the ECAC is the only conference not impacted by this tidal wave. I like the conference the way it is. Deep down inside I don't think this whole realignment thing will affect us.

But, we will all wait to see what happens...