2021-22 Gopher Men's Hockey Preview (or) Finding Consistency In An Unpredictable Year

One of the more surprising things about Chaz Lucius finally coming to campus? How little surprise exists.

Sure, a few strange oddities have happened since September 2017's post "What is a verbal commit from a 13/14-year-old worth?" Anyone who had "Don Lucia, the head coach who recruited Lucius, now serving as commissioner of the CCHA all while the world is 20 months into a global pandemic" should play the lottery or use those powers for good. 

Four years later, the college hockey landscape is anything but predictable. The rise of new powers, realignment, schools returning after a year away, and transfer portal madness with an additional season of eligibility have all made 2021-22 a world where it is tougher to grasp a handle than any other season.

And yet, Minnesota - on the ice and with its roster - sticks out for its consistency entering Bob Motzko's fourth season as Gophers head coach.

Take Lucius, for example. Not all 14-year-old verbal commits live up to the hype at 18. Even fewer of those who do keep their original commitment. (NCAA hockey recruiting rules thankfully changed so that the days of 13 and 14-year-old verbal commitments are a thing of the past.) However, Lucius did and continued developing into one of his age group's top goal-scorers, being the top Minnesotan and selected 18th overall by the Winnipeg Jets.

That he did is a boon to Motzko, who didn't recruit Lucius to Minnesota but adds him to a team full of players he did. The young underclassmen two seasons ago thrown into the fire by Motzko out of necessity remain as experienced leaders. 2021-22's talented underclassmen will not have to develop in quite the same way. 

Coming off a 2020-21 season where the Gophers won the Big Ten conference tournament, returned to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed after a three-year absence, and made the regional final, high expectations return for the Pride on Ice. While many teams reload or begin the season with a number of transfers and newcomers, Minnesota sticks out by returning most of its core.  

Motzko will miss the 19 goals from Sampo Ranta (early departure), along with leadership from Scott Reedy (pro contract) and Brannon McManus (grad transferred to Omaha). Former Colorado College captain Grant Cruikshank, who led the Tigers in goals despite missing half of last season with appendicitis, comes to Dinkytown as Minnesota's one major incoming transfer. His elite skating joins three returning Gopher forwards who had 25+ points in Sammy Walker (in his unprecedented third season as captain), Blake McLaughlin, and Ben Meyers.

Of course, the largest return might be in net where 2021 Mike Richter Award winner Jack LaFontaine took advantage of the extra year. Minnesota knows it has an experienced number one goaltender, one who had a .934% save percentage and 5 shutouts against Big Ten opponents. That's an early advantage over several schools competing in the same space.

LaFontaine also gets his blue line help back. The entire Gophers top-six returns after a season that saw several players take positive steps in their development. Another year older from a team that gave up 2.06 goals on average, expectations are for Ryan Johnson, Brock Faber, Mike Koster, Jackson LaCombe, Ben Brinkman, and the rest to take another as Minnesota features one of the top defensive depth in the country.

Throughout the lineup, Minnesota is consistent in a year that is anything but. Other teams have more experience or higher-profile players. The Gophers keep building on its own, trending upward; a feature that can be seen in all facets whether it's a top potential free agent in Meyers or an improved defender in LaCombe. 

That includes the incoming players beyond Lucius. In a season where Michigan takes the spotlight for having four of the top-five 2021 NHL Draft picks, it's easy to overlook Minnesota's rookie class. The Gophers went under the radar with three players picked in the first 2 rounds. 

Historically, the bread and butter of Motzko's recruiting involve getting talented players on the upswing, which is the case with forwards Tristan Broz and Mathew Knies where neither was considered a second-rounder at the start of last season. 

In contrast to a number of players in recent years who went the opposite way - NHL Draft hype at 16 and undrafted by 18 - it speaks to where the Gophers program is at entering 2021. (On top of the young rookies, several incoming drafted forwards, such as Rhett Pitlick, had the opportunity to take an extra year of juniors to develop.) It may not be the flashiest or most hyped team, but Minnesota has potential throughout a lineup filled with older experience to continue making noise nationally in a national landscape full of surprises.

Now the question is whether Minnesota, like Lucius over the past four years, lives up to October hype and expectations come March and April.

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WCHA Eulogy

Before the 2021-22 season begins in full, I thought it would be appropriate to toast and eulogize the WCHA men's league.

I'm not the first person to do so. And this isn't exactly my first attempt on the subject. For two years, the WCHA existed in a position where we all knew the end was near. Seven schools departed to form a new CCHA while the remaining three did not have enough schools to continue, culminating with the league quietly closing up 70 years of history with a Friday press release entering the holiday weekend.

It's important to honor that history and legacy. 

Home to more men's national championships than any conference, the WCHA brought the hockey world Olympians, legends, all-time great teams, and Stanley Cup champions. It saw multiple eras where conference teams dominated the national landscape, beginning with a Michigan dynasty in the 1950s and ending with a Minnesota State powerhouse run.

Each person has their own memories of what the league was - older fans have a time when Notre Dame and Michigan were members while newer fans have an era with Bowling Green and Bemidji State. Each era showcases something unique as generations played for the same honor of winning the MacNaughton Cup.

No matter the era, the WCHA rose to the occasion.

One of those, the 2000s, was a special time for me with the WCHA Final Five becoming an annual March puck staple at Xcel Energy Center, a place where Upper Midwest fans from more than a half-dozen schools came together to tailgate, talk trash to one another, and sell out an NHL building.

The Final Five was the perfect event to capture the spirit of 2000s college hockey, which showcased itself in the 2005 Frozen Four featuring only conference schools much to the chagrin of WCHA fans. To experience Minnesota-North Dakota meant to experience a classic rivalry built to the tipping point on the backs of generations before.

That's a testament to the WCHA, which has been there for several different eras of college hockey, always evolving with an ever-changing sport. Always a place for schools - big and small, from Alaska to the Upper Midwest to even interlocking schedules with a young Hockey East - to call home. The W may stand for "western," but its reach was worldwide.

That's what made the WCHA stand out, no matter if the rivalry was between schools in Minnesota, the UP, Colorado, the Great Lakes, or (insert team here) and Wisconsin or North Dakota. It was home for schools that needed one. Those schools made it into something more.

And yet what made the WCHA work so well is also what made it open to being blown up. As much as the men's league evolved to the era, alliances of convenience remained a constant. (This remains true for the women's league, which thankfully still exists.) That was both part of its charm and a reason - disorganization, a large footprint, a lack of TV deals (or a few select teams having them), an imbalance of power - why teams leaving predate the WCHA leaving us. It predates the 21st Century. 

Even in its final years, the WCHA men's league stuck to its principles being open to being home to those who needed one. The league found room for Bemidji State when the CHA went away, picked up the remnants of the pre-2013 CCHA, Alabama Huntsville, and even courting schools like Arizona State. That was what the WCHA did.

For the first time in 70 years, unfortunately not enough teams need a home. In this era, more regional teams and TV deals - the number of games broadcast in one weekend is 5x more than 10-20 years ago - take precedence. More schools mean fewer need an alliance of convenience, which can also be seen as a healthy sign. This isn't the 1950s where only six schools exist outside the Northeast.

The WCHA men's league may be gone for now, but that does mean, like the CCHA just did, it can rise again for the next era as college hockey continues to evolve and change. Since July 2019, two small Western schools - Augustana and St. Thomas - announced plans to sponsor men's hockey. They likely aren't alone. 

For now, the WCHA's spirit lives on in the teams, the history, and the rivalries. I can't think of a more fitting conclusion than Minnesota State, who was invited to play in the WCHA Conference Tournament in the late 90s before joining, being the final dynasty while Alaska, Anchorage, and Alabama Huntsville - three schools always looking and needing a home - being the only ones who didn't leave. 

No matter the teams or eras, the WCHA remained true.

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2021 NHL Draft: Owen Power & Matty Beniers Returning To Michigan Would Continue A College Hockey Trend

The likely number one overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft might return to college next season rather than turn pro. He's not alone. So could another potential top-three pick. 

Both Owen Power and Matty Beniers mentioned in the lead-up to Friday's first round that they are leaning to coming back to Michigan for their sophomore seasons. Besides being a major boost to the Wolverines, whose 2020-21 season ended without getting a chance to participate in the NCAA Tournament due to Covid protocols, the decisions would be the first in over a decade.

No top-three selection went on to play college hockey after being drafted since James van Riemsdyk (2nd overall in 2007) spent two seasons with New Hampshire. Two haven't occurred simultaneously since van Riemsdyk and Kyle Turris (3rd overall in 2007) were both in college for the 2007-08 season. The number one overall pick last played in the NCAA in 2006 when Erik Johnson suited up for Minnesota's blue line.

Add in Jonathan Toews' North Dakota tenure and the mid-late 2000s may be a sign of where things may be heading once again in 2021.

Of course, there is no guarantee Power, Beniers, or both, return to Ann Arbor. It is easy to say so before the draft. Doing it afterward is another thing. Teenagers making soft commitments to NCAA hockey programs is nothing new.

The mid-to-late 2000s featured soft commits regularly. In these cases, players looking to choose their CHL destination would verbally commit to a school in order to gain draft leverage. In effect, the hockey world would know they only wanted to go to one team, who would then "take a chance" with a later pick than the player would slot otherwise. 

It was not just major junior, however. Players drafted by NHL teams would also all of a sudden post-draft be persuaded to bail on NCAA commitments and go the CHL route. Between the late 2000s and early 2010s, the number of college-affiliated players drafted by an NHL team versus the number who stayed on campus usually ended up varying between June and September.

Still, Power and Beniers' leaning towards Michigan feels more like an endorsement of college hockey's developmental path than aimless posturing or a bluff to NHL teams. 

The trend of deciding on one extra year of college seasoning is picking up steam. Credit can't go to one player, as several stand out in recent years. 

Two of the three most recent Hobey Baker winners, Cole Caufield and Cale Makar, were sophomores who returned despite being NHL first-round picks. (Even the third, Scott Perunovich, came back to UMD when he could have easily signed with St. Louis after winning a national championship.) Makar (4th overall in 2017) became the first top-10 pick to stay two years after his draft selection since van Riemsdyk and looks to be outshining several top 2017 picks who turned pro after one.

Reigning Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox, who topped Makar for the honor, stayed three years at Harvard before winning in his second NHL season. Caufield, meanwhile, found another gear at Wisconsin and became the scoring threat he was at the USNTDP in NCAA (along with being a 200-foot threat on the ice) before seamlessly being a Stanley Cup playoff difference-maker for the Montreal Canadiens. 

Even on Michigan, top defenders have stayed a second season between Zach Werenski (8th overall) Quinn Hughes (6th overall), and Cam York (14th overall).

Power and Beniers each have several other reasons to return to Mel Pearson's team besides development and getting a quality education. The way last season ended. Not getting a chance to live a normal college year.  College sports opening up to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights - there is money in being a big fish in an NCAA hockey pond and far more exposure than even 5-10 years ago.

Taking away the last reason, which could be its own essay adding to the trend, the argument for further developing in college by staying an extra year remains compelling. Look at the results. Caufield was one of five collegians picked between 12 and 16 in the 2019 NHL Draft (Matt Boldy, Spencer Knight, York, Caufield, and Alex Newhook) who each stayed for their sophomore season in 2020-21. All five found both individual and team success.

While the talk from Power and Beniers may be just that - or might be posturing, or a soft commitment, or an exception that comes from playing in a season that was unlike any other - it rings true. Neither coming back would be a surprise. Neither coming back to Michigan before stepping into the NHL next March/April would seem like a step back. 

That it's a viable option goes a long way in showing where college hockey is perceived in the greater hockey zeitgeist. There aren't columns on why it would be a bad move or an exception based on a global pandemic. It seems different even compared to Hughes and Makar, both of whom returned for their sophomore seasons in 2019, making their decisions. 

And it seems very different than a decade ago when teenagers made soft NCAA commitments to go to the CHL and teams pushed that route over the college path. Those days are over. If not Power and Beniers, the trend is heading towards the next top pick staying the extra season in college.

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Robert Morris potentially reinstates hockey, but at what cost?

"Don't mistake my kindness for weakness."

It's a quote that comes to mind with the news that Robert Morris, working with the Pittsburgh College Hockey Foundation, is open to potentially reinstating the men's and women's hockey programs it unceremoniously dropped six weeks ago in time for the 2021-22 season. 

Once again, college hockey came together to help a program under duress. Like Alabama Huntsville, Alaska Anchorage, and others before (Bowling Green comes to mind), Colonials hockey is not going without a fight.

I can't say enough good things about both the Pittsburgh and college hockey communities for the work done to get to this point. Six weeks ago I wouldn't believe it. News of RMU's decision was universally derided. Even then, it was a decision made by leadership that had no interest in sponsoring hockey programs and made it apparent that it absolutely no interest. Robert Morris did everything it could to erase its existence.

Through all that, the Pittsburgh College Hockey Foundation (made up of RMU alums and prominent people in the Pittsburgh hockey community) went above and beyond to keep Robert Morris hockey in the headlines. They hired a top lawyer. They worked tirelessly even when current players, dumped to the cold at a time when most teams had already settled on their lineups, found new homes, or turned pro. They reached a point where RMU was open to reinstating both teams if they can raise a large amount of money in a short period of time. 

No matter what happens, the people involved with the Pittsburgh College Hockey Foundation should be proud of showing how the hockey community can be at its best when facing the worst occasions. 

Sadly, they might be the only ones who truly come off well.

The Robert Morris leadership doesn't deserve credit or applause for Tuesday's announcement. The about-face RMU leaders did looks more like a Plan B that benefits them after Plan A - getting rid of hockey, a sport that the university President and other top brass wanted to get rid of - went so badly.

Moving the goalposts to "raise sufficient funds by the end of July" lets RMU off the hook by changing the conversation and perception. The university that went out of its way to promote its all-time fundraising and how cutting men's and women's hockey was part of a "strategic vision" rather than financial now sees an expensive sport that people want to keep as an opportunity. 

At best, it's an acknowledgment of the community's kindness. At worst, it's a money grab and a worrying trend in college hockey that puts the onus back on the community. If they can't raise money quick by the end of the month and $7 million over the next five years, well too bad.

RMU is now the third university in the past year to resort to publicly raising money to save a program. Both Alabama Huntsville (successfully) and Alaska Anchorage (TBD) went to the GoFundMe well in the face of becoming independent, something Robert Morris does not face in wanting to come back for next season.

Seeing Robert Morris also go this route smacks more of an opportunity than anything else. What worries me is that more universities are coming to the conclusion that the hockey community will keep the sport afloat regardless of the university's contribution and forcing their hand. It's a trend that can spell disaster to several small programs beyond the RMUs of the world. The more often it happens, the more often this will be seen as a viable path. No one wins in that scenario.

Even then, raising the money does not guarantee safety (see: Alabama Huntsville dropping its program once again days after being a highlight on GoFundMe's homepage). Nothing has changed. The "strategic vision,"  the group that wants to get rid of the sport, the group that kept the sport off-campus with no hockey in a new building - all remains in place. 

That quote? Well, it goes both ways. Robert Morris should not mistake the kindness of the hockey community as a sign of weakness that involves fundraising, but the community should not mistake RMU's kindness either. It's anything but. 

Hopefully, it goes well for the sake of the Pittsburgh hockey community. Hopefully, two teams return. Throw in needing to build two completely new teams by scratch in a month and playing next season seems a bigger dream.

However, the biggest sign of where things stand at the moment is that the CHA and Atlantic Hockey each announced 2021-22 schedules without Robert Morris on the same day as RMU's announcement.

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BLOG: A Fitting End to the Zach Parise-Ryan Suter Minnesota Wild Era

It's fitting the $196 Million Dollar Men leave Minnesota together.

Buying out both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, as Wild GM Bill Guerin did Tuesday, marks a major franchise move, one that clearly ends an era for the team that arrived with the two being a package deal nine Julys ago.

Eras do not often come with such clean beginnings and/or ends. Normally, the start of any decade looks a lot like the one it follows before evolving into something different. In this case, the Wild franchise gets both. 

July 4, 2012 kickstarted the next chapter for Minnesota when, after two-plus years of looking at a potential Parise/Suter signing being one of the only positives Wild fans could muster, dreams became reality. Not one, but both of the two best free agents to hit the market in years chose Minnesota. Their decision put the "State of Hockey" on the national map in a way the Wild spent a decade struggling to reach. 

Suddenly, there were reasons to watch besides being the B-Side of a matchup. There were reasons to host a Winter Classic besides being home to the capital of outdoor hockey with a fanbase that consistently sold out Xcel Energy Center during tough times.

Signing both to matching 13-year, $98 Million deals remains the biggest move in franchise history. With apologies to Jacques Lemaire, Marian Gaborik, and Mikko Koivu, time can be split to pre and post-Parise/Suter. 

On this new side of post-Parise/Suter, however, it's tough to not see the past nine years on the ice as a failure in spite of success for the franchise off of it. Minnesota never reached a conference final - its best team was upset in the first round of the playoffs. What was supposed to be the beginning of a contending run ended like almost every other WCHA player from the late 90s-early 2000s the Wild brought in: bought out.

Handing the keys to the franchise over to a pair of Midwestern Olympians in their prime staved off Minnesota's plan to fully commit to a rebuild after multiple first-round busts. Parise and Suter were sold on a vision of being with Koivu and leading the Wild's top-end prospect pool, which at the time included Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker, and Charlie Coyle, among others.

The best-laid plans did not come to fruition. Chemistry always seemed to be a problem, no matter the coach or GM. The team did not come together.

Minnesota went from mediocre down to a bottom-10 team when Parise/Suter signed back up to mediocre no man's land. The Wild, at best, resides at the bottom of a contending tier. 

To be honest, the writing was on the wall. Buying out both with four years remaining is a bold move in the spirit of the original, but it does not take a sleuth hiding in the bushes to see it coming. Three GMs tried to get Minnesota over the hump during the Parise-Suter Era. The past two, neither of whom signed the duo, each wanted to put their own stamp on the team.

Neither GM had the duo in their plans. Parise spent much of the regular season and playoffs being out of favor in the lineup. Suter was a top D yet not a franchise D. Neither player - both longtime alternates - getting the "C" after Koivu's farewell last season was another sign of the franchise's direction.

It's fitting the words said by Guerin involved moving forward. Like Koivu, like Granlund, like Zucker, like Coyle before them, the team in 2012 is now gone. Getting rid of both allows Matt Dumba to be protected in next week's expansion draft (the second time moves were made to save him). It's Kaprizov/Fiala/Eriksson Ek time now, with the only question being who, if anyone, will join them soon. The franchise is moving forward into the next era yet carries remnants of the previous one.

Although we'll see, this new chapter likely faces the issue where it's not quite a rebuild, not quite all-in to reach contending status. Guerin has the ability to see his vision through. However, buying out Parise and Suter puts the Wild in a cap crunch long-term moving forward that likely forces the team to rely on its young prospects in the same way Minnesota banked on them in 2012. Guess it's fitting.

It's also fitting the Wild did get that Winter Classic thanks in part to Parise and Suter while neither will be around to play in it. Both loomed large over the franchise for nearly a decade and yet can't say it makes sense to retire 11 or 20 in the same way it makes sense to send 9 into the rafters. Both leave the "State of Hockey" much as they found it, leaving Minnesota's quest for a Stanley Cup over to the next great big name hope.

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BLOG: Single-Elimination, Stanley Cup Series & The Stories Told

If the Stanley Cup semifinals were single-elimination, neither of the two teams playing tonight would be playing tonight.

Both the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning lost Game 1 of their respective semifinals to Vegas and New York Islanders, respectively. The Golden Knights, in losing its third series, advanced that far after losing both Game 1s of the series Vegas won.

In fact, teams winning Game 1 in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs have only gone on to win eight of the 14 best-of-seven series.

The stat jumps out for someone who covers college hockey and its annual tradition making vast generalizations from a single postseason game. Single-elimination can tell a different story compared to the best-of-seven series. More games allow a fuller picture to be painted. Anything can happen in a single game, which makes the NCAA postseason its own unique beast.

Neither is better or worse. They're just different.

Still, it's fun to compare how Stanley Cup contenders look in the single-elimination context. In one game, Washington was able to come from behind and upset Boston in overtime. Over five games, the Bruins pulled off a pair of overtime wins en route to a dominating series win. 

Colorado, one of the teams who looked as dominant in its round 1 series win as it did in Game 1, wishes it could skate by on Game 1 of its series with the Golden Knights. The Avalanche would bask in Game 1 perception. Instead, Vegas, who previously would've been the victim of a 1-0 upset loss to Minnesota in a single-elimination world, flipped the script after being dominated 7-1 in Game 1, winning in six games. 

Single-elimination misses out on the unfolding and changing, the comeback, the greater resiliency with the story within the story. Best-of-seven series miss out on the importance of preparing for a single, unknown opponent, the highest of highs, the lowest of lows, all compressed into a single evening - Game 7 notwithstanding.

Comparing the two is the difference between a single strike and a battle of attrition.  

The story changes with Montreal winning Game 1 against Toronto after John Taveres gets injured versus Montreal winning in seven games, overcoming a 3-1 deficit and multiple blown third-period leads to winning in overtime.

Single-elimination means the added stakes of four straight playoff OT games between two teams, such as what happened in the Nashville-Carolina series, never happens. Then again, the best-of-seven series miss out on the all-important, all out five OT classic, which Minnesota Duluth and North Dakota know the stakes all too well.

Both have their moments. However, like the games and series themselves, it's foolish to make comparisons or hold one in higher regard as much as the list of top college hockey teams who ran into a hot goalie or had an off night continues to grow.

I wonder how top college hockey teams would fare playing best-of-seven series, whether it would be similar to single-elimination or new dynasties would arise. I wonder how NHL teams would look playing single-elimination - the last champion to win all four Game 1s was Chicago in 2013. Tampa lost two Game 1s in 2020, including the Stanley Cup Final. So did St. Louis in 2019. Washington lost three of its four Game 1s while winning the 2018 Stanley Cup.

Just as the best regular-season teams end up not always being the best postseason teams, the best series teams end up not being the best single-elimination teams. 

(Then again, Tampa goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy having four straight elimination shutouts is some Hunter Shepard or Filip Lindberg-style feat.)

At the end of the day, single-elimination hockey adds to the unpredictability and entertainment. Any of the teams can win and it's difficult to make vast generalizations off 60 minutes. Heck, it's difficult making vast generalizations off a best-of-seven game series too. Not that it will stop us from doing either.

It would be one thing if Montreal and Tampa faced off in a single, championship game like UMass and St. Cloud State. Instead, I will enjoy watching tonight and seeing where it leaves us and whether the team that loses can go on to win. 

With the end result of the best-of-seven series leaving us with a final that features the No. 3 seed from the Central Division versus the No. 4 seed from the North Division that was the last team to make the postseason, this year's NHL championship would fit perfectly well with college hockey's postseason stories.

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On Robert Morris Discontinuing Hockey & Erasing Existence

Seven months after it came to an end, the only three remains were in two forgotten corners and a trophy case.

All I found in two treks around Ralph Engelstad Arena, a building showcased to celebrate North Dakota's hockey history, were three mentions of the women's hockey program shut down that previous March. 

One was in a trophy case highlighting UND players going to the Olympics and representing their country. Another featured the Lamoureux twins wearing the program's previous sweaters. A third, looking like it was missed, was a photo of former head coach Brian Idalski on the bench leading the Fighting Hawks.

Every banner, every mention of WCHA opponents, everything else had been taken down. Erased. I saw more North Dakota women's hockey sweaters on the concourse than reminders of its past. A place that spent decades fighting for a nickname did nothing to fight for a top-tier hockey team. Seven months after the university dropped the program so suddenly a recruit was on campus, it was treated like it never existed.

This trek came to mind yesterday (May 26, 2021) when Robert Morris brazenly discontinued its men's and women's hockey programs. 

Players and staff were given no warning, according to multiple reports. A 10-minute zoom call with an hour's notice and no subject was it before a coldly written press release under the subject "An update on men's and women's hockey."

The college world is no stranger to universities dropping Division 1 hockey. (It's my second straight column written about the subject.) Robert Morris, unfortunately, likely will not be the last. However, the Colonials' end differs from the Alabama Huntsvilles of the world. The signs usually show up before a program might meet its end.

In the case of Alabama Huntsville, UAH could not find a home. RMU simply did not want theirs.

Robert Morris got rid of two successful programs because they did not fit the new, purported image of the school. The university dropped a women's hockey team which made the 2021 NCAA Tournament. It dropped a men's hockey team, built from scratch 18 years ago, which has been Atlantic Hockey's most consistent program over the past 7-8 seasons.

It did so near Memorial Day at the expense of coaching staff and athletes now forced to find new teams after most programs are set for next season. Immediately eligible does not help RMU players when no one needs to sit out and everyone gets an extra year of eligibility.

Sifting through emotions, it's difficult realizing how open Robert Morris can be about not wanting to be a "hockey school." The university statement makes it clear that this decision was about "image," not money. (It discusses surpassing a $100 million fundraising campaign plus also goes into a discussion about a CEO Lecture series, which WTF?) Getting a national profile by making national tournaments means nothing when the school thinks it's an embarrassment.

Mostly, the news comes as a mixture of sadness and shock six weeks after RMU finished hosting the men's Frozen Four. At a time when NHL teams are teaming up with NCAA hockey nationally, the Colonials voluntarily leave Pittsburgh without a program. It leaves the CHA, now at five teams, in a precarious state.

I'm sad for Derek Schooley, who built the Colonials into a program that punched above its weight and earned its reputation among the hockey world. I'm sad for Paul Colontino, who made RMU a regular atop the CHA standings and championship game, all while producing a number of heralded players. I'm sad for the alums who no longer have a program to go back. I'm extremely sad for the approximately 55 current players who were done worse than anyone can imagine.

Robert Morris's "strategic course" wants to follow the North Dakota path by treating the programs like they never existed and leaving its student-athletes out in the cold. No one ever takes a breakup lightly, but it stings differently when the reason given is that the sport makes the school look bad in "positioning RMU for future growth and success."

Of course, the North Dakota women's hockey program - poised to be a top-five team the year it ended - lives on despite the lack of acknowledgment at Ralph Engelstad Arena thanks to the number of teams that used former Fighting Hawks players and recruits to further its own success. The same will happen with the Colonials.

Still, it's a sad day. Instead of the women's hockey team seeing a CHA conference tournament banner raised this fall, there will be no celebration. They'll hopefully be representing Robert Morris across a number of schools. 

All while the accomplishment gets tossed by RMU into some forgotten corner, never to be spoken of again by the university.

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