Who's Next?

Earlier this year, Lake Forest announced they were leaving the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) after the 2008-09 season to join the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association (MCHA). This came as a surprise to many and has left people asking who will join the NCHA as its new 8th league member in 2009. It is unsure who exactly will fill the void created by the Foresters, but one would have to think it would be a team currently playing in the MCHA.

Lake Forest originally joined the NCHA men's hockey conference in 1992 under the coaching styles of Tony Fritz. Since joining the conference, the head coach has remained the same, but almost every other facet else has gone through changes. While in the NCHA conference, the Foresters team has experienced the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. Just a couple years ago, in the 2003-04 season, the Foresters went 18-6-4 and were a semifinalist in the NCHA conference tournament. After that year, many thought the team was on the upswing and would soon be a contender in the NCHA. Instead, since then the Foresters have gone downhill fast, as over the past three seasons, their record has steadily declined to the point where the 2006-07 campaign resulted in a 3-21-3 season that included a quick exit from the NCHA playoffs.

There is no clear cut reason why Lake Forest is leaving the NCHA to join the MCHA, but any college hockey observer would be quick to point out how the Foresters have struggled to compete with NCHA competition in rescent years. Leaving the NCHA to join the MCHA would mean easier competition for the Foresters. The league change should also help their travel schedule, as the MCHA map of teams is better for Lake Forest than that of the NCHA.

With the Foresters set to jump ship and leave the NCHA after the 2008-09 season, many wonder which school will become the next member of the NCHA. In my eyes, it will be a current team in the MCHA who will join the NCHA. Here are the candidates in my eyes that would make the best fit as a new member of the NCHA :

1. Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders

MSOE would be the best fit to join the NCHA at this point. For starters, the school is conveniently located in Milwaukee, which would serve as a much better travel partner than the current Lake Forest team. MSOE would also serve as a bit of a "rival" to both Stevens-Point and St. Norbert as well. The main point however is that MSOE would bring a winning team to the conference. Having won the past three conference championships in the MCHA, MSOE would definitely strengthen the already strong NCHA league.

2. Finlandia Lions

Finlandia is another team that is a good candidate for the NCHA. The main reasons are that they have recently been a very competitive team, which would strengthen the NCHA conference, and also the fact that Finlandia's women's hockey team, is already a member of the women's NCHA conference. One major factor that I don't like about Finlandia joining the NCHA conference is the fact that they are way up in Houghton, Michigan, which would be a pain for scheduling travel dates for the NCHA conference play. Currently, each team in the NCHA has a travel partner (ex - RF/Stout, Scholastica/UWS, etc.), and adding Finlandia to the mix would throw the travel schedule off. I mean sending a team up to play Finlandia one night, and SNC or Point another night would be pretty crazy in my mind as a team would have to spend a lot of time on the bus that weekend, rather than only traveling a short distance from Friday to Saturday.

3. Lawrence Vikings/Marian Sabres

I see both Lawrence and Marian as a sort of "third option" for NCHA officials if they cannot get either MSOE or Finlandia to join the conference. The reason being is that even though both of these programs are on the rise, they would not do well in the NCHA, due to how competitive the conference has gotten as of late.

In listing my five potential applicants for the NCHA conference in 2008-09, I really hope its one of the top two. I know it will be hard getting one of the elite teams in the MCHA to join the NCHA, but if we don't get a top caliber team like that, I have no idea how a team like Lawrence or Marian would even survive in the NCHA. If anybody thinks a different team will join the NCHA conference after Lake Forest leaves, post your comments in this blog, and share your thoughts!!!