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College Hockey News and Notes

Andrew Chiappazzi | Amateur Hockey (Juniors/NCAA)

Jul 14, 11:49 PM | Hype this story!

It may be hot and sticky outside, but perhaps mentally transporting yourself to the local ice rink will help you cool off. You can aid in your theoretical transportation with the following bits of news and notes.

• Robert Morris announced their 2008-2009 schedule today, and while the Colonials will play 20 of their 34 games on the road, a couple important dates stick out. One is their first ever participation in the Governor’s Cup in Albany, NY, a joint tournament hosted by Union College and RPI.

• The other major RMU date is November 14th. Ohio State will come into Pittsburgh for their second straight trip as part of the Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase at Mellon Arena. Game time is at 8pm, and it looks like Robert Morris will bring in their D-I woman’s team as the opening act instead of the club team that has opened the showcase the past couple of years.

• Final RMU note, but this is on a larger scale. The NCAA has put forth a plan to keep the College Hockey America conference in tact with an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament despite the dissolution of conference member Wayne State and the fact that the CHA has just 4 teams left. Robert Morris, Niagara, Bemidji State, and Alabama-Huntsville will play an abbreviated conference schedule this year.

• The other tournament related information to come out of the same set of meetings is that the NCAA wants all at-large bids to have a .500 record or higher. Wisconsin made it into the NCAA Tournament as a #3 seed despite having a losing record and that prompted this discussion.

• Both plans will be reviewed in the fall. Other items that could be in the works throughout the summer include revamping overtime to look similar to the NHL with shootouts, further revisions to kicking motions involving goals, confirmation and complete adaptation of the two-referee system, and more.

• Boston College’s Nathan Gerbe was named USA College Hockey Player of the Year by USA Hockey. He has signed a contract with the Buffalo Sabres after leading the Eagles to the national championship.

• Atlantic Hockey has instituted a policy that will revamp their playoff format, according to INCH. The new format is going to be similar to other conferences, where the top six seeds get byes and the other four play each other in a 7v10, 8v9 format. The AH had all ten teams play in the first round in a juggled format.