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OPEN ICE BY JIM RICH The Start of College Hockey's Greatest Era? W "Imagine a regional at Xcel Energy Center featuring four of our Division I programs from the State of Hockey." —BOB MOTZKO, HEAD COACH, ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY and Mankato. University of Minnesota head coach Don Lucia believes that this will be good for all programs, not just the Golden Gophers. "'Like' schools are now playing in 'like' conferences, and I think in the long run that can be really healthy," said Lucia. "Fans want to watch their team win. If you are losing year in and year out, your attendance dwindles, apathy sets in. I think this will develop a new freshness for teams and fan bases alike, who will now look and see [winning records] and that creates better atmospheres in buildings, allows for better recruiting and success at the end of the year come NCAA Tournament time." St. Cloud State is now a member of the NCHC along with Minnesota-Duluth. Huskies head coach Bob Motzko feels the five programs in the state will still be strong. "The North Star College Cup tournament will keep us all together and it has great potential for our fans to see each other," said Motzko. "Even though we are in three different conferences, we all are going to have to leave our mark on college hockey for our state. You look at the Frozen Four, and four of the five COLLEGE HOCKEY CONFERENCES: 22 MINNESOTAHOCKEYJOURNAL.COM // DECEMBER.2013 teams have made it in the last four years with Duluth winning it all. That tells you that we have some pretty strong programs right now." Minnesota State University and Bemidji State University will remain in the WCHA and Beavers head coach Tom Serratore believes it will take "a year or two" for the new rivalries to establish themselves, but that in the long run things will be good. And, as Motzko points out, there may be one additional bonus: "These Minnesota school rivalries will really heat up if we can play each other in the first round of the NCAA Tournament," he said. "Imagine a regional at Xcel Energy Center featuring four of our Division I programs from the State of Hockey." I think college hockey fans are doing just that this season. Jim Rich is the Sports Director at Fox 9 News. He also is the play-by-play announcer for the St. Cloud State Men's hockey TV broadcasts. Nick Oliver, Roseau Youth Hockey Association PHOTOS: TOM NELSON e've seen it happen in college football. Now, it's hit closer to home with a massive shuffle of college hockey. Minnesota finally had all five of its NCAA Division I programs in the same conference and life seemed right for fans across the State of Hockey. But then the Big Ten formed its own hockey conference, bringing the University of Minnesota into the fold while the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) was born. Suddenly, we were left with our perfect college hockey world splintered into three different conferences absent of long-time rivalries. There are those who feel the break-up of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) will be devastating to the sport of college hockey as we know it, especially here within the state. Time will tell, but if you look at it in a different view, this could be the start of the greatest era in college hockey. University of Minnesota-Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin understands that change can be difficult for some. "The old-school people are still disappointed in seeing what's happened with college hockey, but at the same time there are a lot of people in Duluth extremely excited to see some new teams," said Sandelin. "And for our program, we are still going to play the other Minnesota schools and try to keep those traditions alive, so it could be a winwin for everyone." With three different conferences now in the state, fans will be able to see up to 28 different schools come through the rinks in Bemidji, Duluth, St. Cloud, Minneapolis