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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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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Bracketology: 2021 NCAA Tournament Women's Hockey Final Projected Bracket

Four teams officially scanned their digital tickets to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, hours away from Selection Sunday. 

All games have been played Robert Morris, the CHA's third seed, won its third game in as many days, defeating Syracuse 1-0 to take home the CHA conference tournament championship. The Colonials return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.

Northeastern, much to the joy of Boston College and bubble teams elsewhere, defeated Providence 6-2 to claim its fourth straight Hockey East conference title Saturday night. The Huskies enter the NCAA Tournament a remarkable 20-1-1 and not lost since its second game of the season. 

Colgate held back a late St. Lawrence attempt Sunday afternoon to send the game to OT to defeat the Saints 3-2. The win leaves the Red Raiders as the ECAC's lone representative by default as the loss drops St. Lawrence below .500, along with Clarkson (and Quinnipiac taking away 6 NEWHA wins against LIU and Sacred Heart).

Ohio State, after scoring six more goals against UMD Saturday than in two games when the two teams played in Duluth, had an opportunity to make a statement and repeat as WCHA Final Faceoff champions facing the Badgers, who defeated Minnesota on Saturday. For a second consecutive year, the Buckeyes and Wisconsin went to overtime to decide a champion. This time, however, it was the Badgers who celebrated an OT championship. Lacey Eden scored 42 seconds in to win Wisconsin's eighth WCHA conference tournament title and break a 2-2-0 tie on the season against Ohio State.

The four teams earning automatic bids are noted with their conferences in parenthesis. If you need a refresher on what subjective criteria the NCAA Tournament selection committee will use to seed the top four and choose the eight teams, click here. Otherwise, here is the final projected bracket.

You can watch the 2021 NCAA Women's Hockey Tournament Selection Show at 9 pm ET Sunday, March 7 on NCAA.com

The Bracket:

1. Northeastern (Hockey East) vs. Robert Morris (CHA)

4. Colgate (ECAC) vs. Minnesota

2.  Wisconsin (WCHA) vs. Boston College

3.  Ohio State vs. Minnesota Duluth

(All games played March 15-20 at Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, PA)

How Did We Get Here:

Several teams had opportunities to make arguments for higher seeds or steal automatic bids. In the end, only Colgate and Robert Morris did. The Red Raiders winning the ECAC championship mixed with Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth losing in the WCHA Final Faceoff semifinals gives Colgate the fourth and final seed. 

From there, I avoided inter-conference matchups as much as possible and go with a straight bracket as travel does not matter. One matchup seems locked into the bracket: Northeastern as the No. 1 overall seed, facing Robert Morris. The selection committee has traditionally protected the No. 1 overall seed when possible, and this is a case where it would be easy to do so.

Four WCHA teams making the bracket and protecting the No. 1 overall seed leaves one WCHA inter-conference matchup. For that, I went with the lower of the two WCHA seeded teams to face Minnesota Duluth while the higher goes against Boston College.

Who Was Left Out? Deciding The Final At-Large Bids 

Penn State and Providence, I'm so sorry.

The final at-large bids come down to the selection committee putting in one of the following three choices: A fourth WCHA team, a third Hockey East team, or a second CHA team. It would not be out of the realm of possibility for any of the three to be included when the bracket gets shown Sunday night, however, in my bracket as selection committee I am going with the fourth WCHA team, Minnesota Duluth.

Providence's loss Saturday leaves the Friars 12-7-1 compared to Boston College's 14-5-0. The Friars are hoping the committee gives credence to PC going 2-1 against BC, with the loss happening on the road in OT. As good as Providence has been, the Eagles finished higher in comparison when it comes to statistical rankings (BC was also the only team to beat Northeastern while the Friars went 0-4) and I am keeping Boston College ahead as the second-ranked Hockey East team.

Penn State should be given more credit. As SB Nation College Hockey's Chris Dilks points out, the Nittany Lions have been recruiting well since Jeff Kampersal took over. It has been paying off for PSU. In another season where there are more comparison and non-conference games, I think it's an easier argument for whether or not Penn State makes the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid. As it is, the CHA's historical and past performances make it difficult to put a second team into my bracket, leaving Penn State the best CHA team to miss.

Instead, Boston College and UMD get the spots. I find it easier to believe a second Hockey East team finds its way in and comparing Minnesota Duluth's resume to Providence and Penn State gives the nod to the Bulldogs.

Why is Minnesota Duluth, who finished ahead in the conference, the fourth WCHA team instead of the Gophers? A mixture of head-to-head and strength of schedule. Minnesota swept the Bulldogs in Duluth when the two teams played in December. The Gophers are undefeated against teams not named Wisconsin and Ohio State while Minnesota Duluth lost to a two-win Bemidji State team. In addition, the Gophers are also higher in the Pairwise and other statistical rankings when comparing WCHA teams. Minnesota's 2-8-1 record against Wisconsin and Ohio State (UMD is 2-3-0 against the two) puts it a distant third, though.

Nuts and Bolts:

Teams By Conference:

4- WCHA
2- Hockey East
1- ECAC, CHA

Last Two Teams In: Boston College, Minnesota Duluth
First Two Teams Out: Penn State, Providence

Related:

2021 NCAA Tournament Women's Hockey Bracket Version 2.0

2021 NCAA Tournament Women's Hockey Bracket Version 1.0

Five Selection Questions + NCAA Tournament Locks & Bubble Teams

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College Hockey Stock Report: October 21, 2019

Another weekend gone answered some questions.

We learned Wisconsin can win defensive battles. We learned the Stefanos Lekkas and Jeremy Swayman experiences continue on for another season. We learned it's never too early for a players-only meeting, as was the case after Penn State followed up a 7-0 shutout win with a 4-0 shutout loss. (We're also learning that Hockey Bear is taking no prisoners this year.) We heard the Battle Hymn in Minneapolis, had an amazing matchup in Mankato, first wins for Merrimack and Colgate, and upsets in Columbus and Boston.

We saw the first-ever instance of 3x3 OT in women's D1 hockey when Minnesota State "defeated" Ohio State to take the extra conference point. Once again, Robert Morris took it to a perennial powerhouse, tying and falling 6-5 to Clarkson.

All in all, it was a quality weekend. Here's what is going on throughout the college hockey landscape as this week's stock report recaps who is doing well, who is on their way down and what trends should be followed.

Monday Morning Gophers: Minnesota's Opening Weekend Ends Up Like CC's Sweaters

Minnesota's opening weekend ended up like the new sweaters Friday of its opponent. There was a bit of everything to take away. Put together, I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

Photo Credit: @CC_Hockey1

The Gophers began 2019-20 by splitting with Colorado College, falling 3-2 Friday before coming back to win 4-3 Saturday. Neither game featured a complete performance, which can be expected in early October for a team with 12 freshmen and two completely new goaltenders starting.

60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Robert Morris

Robert Morris

2018-19 Record: 16-22-2 (11-15-2, T-8th in Atlantic Hockey)
Head Coach: Derek Schooley, 16th Year
Top returning scorer: Luke Lynch (10G-11A)
Top returning goaltender: Dyllan Lubbesmeyer (Jr.)

It speaks to the recent success of the Robert Morris program that the Colonials enter 2019-20 on its longest streak since joining Atlantic Hockey in 2010-11 finishing below .500: Two seasons.

In fact, those two seasons have been the only two sub-.500 years. An annual staple of Atlantic Hockey's top tier, Robert Morris dropped as the conference has undergone a makeover with schools such as American International and Bentley jumping up last season. (How topsy-turvy has AHA been? This is the 12th college hockey preview and I've already discussed four of the conference's top five 2017-18 teams based upon 2018-19 records.) Despite a 2-11-1 January and February, the Colonials came within two games of an NCAA Tournament berth. RMU made it all the way to Buffalo for the Atlantic Hockey semifinals before losing to AIC in OT.

What's New: There's a contagious case of grad transfer fever around the Greater Pittsburgh area. 

Longtime starter Francis Marotte left the Colonials for North Country pastures, transferring to a Clarkson team needing a starting-caliber goaltender for his final season. In his place will reportedly be another grad transfer, former Ferris State goaltender Justin Kapelmaster. 

Kapelmaster, whose 2018-19 season ended up being hampered by injuries, has been part of a goalie platoon each of his three seasons with the Bulldogs. He will be replacing a goaltender who played almost every meaningful minute for RMU over the last two years and was in net for two Atlantic Hockey championship games. Robert Morris as an option also has junior Dyllan Lubbesmeyer, who stopped 26 of 28 shots in limited action during his career.

After an eight-year run, the Three Rivers Classic will not be played in 2019-20. The tournament brought to Pittsburgh a plethora of brand name college hockey schools. (St. Cloud State, Union, and Brown were the final Three Rivers Classic participants.) In its place, Robert Morris' non-conference schedule sees RMU host Michigan Tech on Neville Island along with a single game at PPG Paints Arena against Penn State.

Closing Thoughts: The Colonials turn the page to 2019-20 with much of its core intact. There seems to be a plan in place to replace those not returning (Marotte and graduated leading scorer Alex Tonge). Kappelmaster has shown ability at times throughout his college career to steal a game. Getting Luke Lynch closer to the 17 goal scorer he was as a sophomore would go a long way to snapping the sub-.500 streak.

RMU, stats-wise, had a year to expect from a team dropping from 18 to 16 wins. Fewer goals scored, more given up, power-play down, starting goaltender's number slightly down, etc. It's been five seasons since the Colonials made its lone NCAA Tournament appearance yet Robert Morris has the best record (104-73-18) among Atlantic Hockey teams over that time, along with a pair of AHA regular-season titles.

In a conference in the midst of upheaval, Robert Morris remains competitive in Atlantic Hockey. Whether or not that's enough to stay in the conversation and get above .500 for the first time in three seasons will be something to watch. 

Recent 60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less) Features
Colgate
RPI
Army
Mercyhurst
Every Team So Far

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