Listening to Illinois season opener against Michigan State on my Illini mobile iPhone app, and figured what the heck? Let's have an ACHA topic on this board.
Anyone else that follows an ACHA team at any level, feel free to post away here. Probably only going to be able to catch two or three games live this year, but I'll be sure to be listening to the team relatively often and following them in the standings.
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And the Illini start out the season strong with a solid 4-0 shutout victory.
Last edited by No Fun Shogun: 09-23-2011 at 09:45 PM.
Well, listening to tonight's game certainly sounded painful. Even the play by play guy was sounding ticked at how good in net Michigan State's netminder was. Think he made 36 or so saves in his shutout, if I heard correctly.
They better finish higher than that. Not even the highest ranked team in Illinois, ouch.
Also not to derail the idea of an ACHA thread, but I'm dying with the idea of Big 10 hockey coming soon and no word from the Illini. Here's to hoping our new AD takes a serious look.
Also not to derail the idea of an ACHA thread, but I'm dying with the idea of Big 10 hockey coming soon and no word from the Illini. Here's to hoping our new AD takes a serious look.
Only time will tell. It's already a widely accepted view that Illinois wants to put together a massive project together to fund the construction of a replacement for the Assembly Hall sometime in the near future as the university seems to be of the opinion that the lack of luxury boxes, sales/merchandise space, and other modern amenities is limiting their ability to generate revenue with their basketball program. If it's really true that they want to build a replacement arena for that purpose, it might very well make sense for Illinois make it capable of having a regulation-sized rink as well to significantly increase its potential revenue generation capability, from both university athletics and other special events.
Only time will tell. It's already a widely accepted view that Illinois wants to put together a massive project together to fund the construction of a replacement for the Assembly Hall sometime in the near future as the university seems to be of the opinion that the lack of luxury boxes, sales/merchandise space, and other modern amenities is limiting their ability to generate revenue with their basketball program. If it's really true that they want to build a replacement arena for that purpose, it might very well make sense for Illinois make it capable of having a regulation-sized rink as well to significantly increase its potential revenue generation capability, from both university athletics and other special events.
I've been keeping my eye out for any Assembly Hall renovation news. Not much out there yet. There's another rumor of a separate building just for a new ice arena. The quoted price tag on it is a little low though. Not sure how big a building they can get for just $15 million.
They better finish higher than that. Not even the highest ranked team in Illinois, ouch.
Also not to derail the idea of an ACHA thread, but I'm dying with the idea of Big 10 hockey coming soon and no word from the Illini. Here's to hoping our new AD takes a serious look.
Illinois would need a new ice arena to be competitive in NCAA DI/Big10 hockey I'll be sad to see the current one replaced, it's one of the unique, historic ice arenas left in the US.
ACHA DI preseason rankings are out. I disagree with them again. Last season I thought Davenport was ranked low in the preseason, DU recruited very well stepping into ACHA DI competition. This year they have a new coach and a number of players left the program, also they haven't reloaded as well. Lindenwood's issue going into the season is goaltending after their starting goalie graduated. LU will also need to find some offense after losing a potent graduating class, including Cory Spradling, 2011 ACHA DI Player of the Year. But my big problem is Penn State, ranked 4th in preseason? They have an NCAA DI coaching staff and influx of NCAA players in preparation for the move to NCAA hockey next season. 1) they probably shouldn't be allowed to compete for a post season much like the NAIA does with schools transitioning to the NCAA. 2) Penn State should have more games with the top ranked teams on the schedule (they don't play Davenport or Lindenwood).
My preseason ranking:
1 Penn State
2 Lindenwood
3 Davenport
4 Ohio
Well, time will tell. First ranking of the season in any sport is always going to have some wonky issues.
And I'm half debating going back downstate to try to catch an ACHA showcase that'll be taking place in Springfield, but sadly know that I'll be unable to. The Illini will be playing Delaware, Davenport, and Oakland over the weekend, as well as a load of other games taking place.
SUNY Canton hosts St.Bonaventure this weekend.First regular season game at the new arena.
They're looking to go D3 NCAA,which is weird because SUNY Central Office would love nothing better than to merge the campus with Potsdam.
I thought they've already played a few games in their new area?
Canton was accepted into the NCAA DIII transition process over the summer and are an exploratory member this season, which means Canton athletics continue to compete in their Non-NCAA athletic associations. Next season they'll most likely play an NCAA DIII schedule (for hockey and all their sports). I've also seen some news stories that they'll be adding NCAA DIII women's ice hockey in the coming years.
How do you guys like Stony Brook? That's my school and I just wanted an opinion. I went to their season opener and they beat Lehigh 7-1, so I thought they may be decent.
I thought they've already played a few games in their new area?
Canton was accepted into the NCAA DIII transition process over the summer and are an exploratory member this season, which means Canton athletics continue to compete in their Non-NCAA athletic associations. Next season they'll most likely play an NCAA DIII schedule (for hockey and all their sports). I've also seen some news stories that they'll be adding NCAA DIII women's ice hockey in the coming years.
They did a couple exhibitions,IIRC.
If all goes well,they will be D3 next year and playing in a nicer barn than Potsdam.It'll be the new Rt.11 Rivalry.
Women's hockey's a good fit,but I'm still concerned about the intercampus politics.Potsdam State essentially sees SUNY Canton as a glorified ag school/community college.
When SUNY wanted to "merge services" by dumping-sorry,hiring as a special assistant- Canton's President and giving both campuses to Potsdam's President,let's just say the fit hit the shan.
Of course that's part of what makes a good rivalry.
If all goes well,they will be D3 next year and playing in a nicer barn than Potsdam.It'll be the new Rt.11 Rivalry.
Women's hockey's a good fit,but I'm still concerned about the intercampus politics.Potsdam State essentially sees SUNY Canton as a glorified ag school/community college.
When SUNY wanted to "merge services" by dumping-sorry,hiring as a special assistant- Canton's President and giving both campuses to Potsdam's President,let's just say the fit hit the shan.
Of course that's part of what makes a good rivalry.
Despite the scores, those SUNY Canton games count and weren't exh. As far as I know, they opened the season with a two game series vs. Lebanon Valley College (a glorified ACHA DII2 team though).
SUNY Canton keeps growing and was a community college not to long ago, I think as they'll come out of Potsdam's shadow as they continue to grow.
From their stats so far this season, it's hard to see the difference lol. Canton this season could surprise a lot of people this season. Everyone is talking about Penn State and their NCAA coaching staff and a roster with a lot of incoming players that will be on the NCAA team next season. Canton's hockey program goes back to their NJCAAA days and was/is one of the ACHA DI teams (along with Lindenwood, Davenport, Robert Morris (IL)) that is operates as a varsity program. They'll still be a lot of growth btwn consistent winning at the NCAA level in a few yrs and destroying some low ranked ACHA DI teams so far this season.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EpicDing
How do you guys like Stony Brook? That's my school and I just wanted an opinion. I went to their season opener and they beat Lehigh 7-1, so I thought they may be decent.
Stony Brook is a good ACHA DI program. Good, not great. They've lost in the first round of the ACHA Men's DI Championship Tournament in the past few seasons. Lehigh really should be an ACHA DII team, they haven't been good at all and the program is a true club team compared to a number of NAIA varsity teams, varsity-club programs, and high level club programs with successful boosters and resources (like SB) So far this season they've blown out Lehigh and Nova to open the season. Last weekend at the ACHA DI Showcase they got shutout 0-5 to #3 ranked Ohio and beat #15 Central Oklahoma 5-2 and #22 Arizona 5-4.
This season marks the first season in the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL), after previously competing in the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association (ECHA). ESCHL should be more competitive for Stony Brook, conference rivals Delaware and Rhode Island have consistently ranked in the top 10 the past few seasons. Stony Brook should be an exciting team for fans to watch but still a few pieces short of an elite program; but I think they'll be a bit better than last season.
So relative newb question here about the ACHA, what are the criteria for putting teams in the 3 divisions? NCAA does it by what kinds of scholarships are allowed, but there are no scholarships for ACHA. Division 1 teams can be quite organized and high skill with longstanding traditions. Some division 3 teams are barely put together with almost anyone that wants to play. But what are the formal criteria for separating the divisions? Is it as simple that to be division 1 you have to play mostly other division 1 schools? How does a division 3 team work its way up to division 2 and then 1?
That's honestly a really good question, as I have no clue. I know that the Illini also have a Division 2 team, but now that I think about it, I've never actually gone to one of their games and don't really know anything about it.
And, even though they're the enemy, the Blackhawks hosted Penn State's team and got them a box for the game tonight. Pretty cool to see that.
OK, so to answer my own question, there are a lot of rules govering how the different divisions work. For anyone that's truly interested in the minutiae can go to:
Division 1 has the most specific rules. First is that to move up from D2 to D1, 75% of D1 teams have to approve the application. There are quite a few guidelines on minimum facility seating (500), a minimum budget of $50,000, minimum attendance of 300, and some facility standards regardling locker rooms and press accomodations.
Division 2 I didn't see a whole lot of specific requirements other than it lacks some of the specificity of D1. All of the above not required. D2 is also divided into 4 geographic regions for ranking purposes instead of just whatever leagues they are in.
D3 needs a smaller % of games to be against other ACHA opponents. They are only required to have one goaltender on the roster. I'm sure there are a few other factors, but I didn't catch them all.
Out of curiosity how good do you have to be to play on a decent ACHA team? Like lehigh or NJIT for example?
High school captain/star? Or average highschool player?
Out of curiosity how good do you have to be to play on a decent ACHA team? Like lehigh or NJIT for example?
High school captain/star? Or average highschool player?
It depends on the team and the division. There are ACHA DIII players who played or were recruited to play NCAA DIII. A DIII player made a CHL team this year, and there is/was a DII player in the ECHL. However, these players are seldom and not representative of the ACHA.
If you've played Midget AA (or high school equivalent), you could likely make most DIII ACHA teams- outside of the top teams. Similarly, you could likely make some DII ACHA teams. However, you would be unlikely to make a good (ranked) DI ACHA team unless you are above the AA level skill-wise.
I would look at the website of the team(s) you're interested an see where the players have previously played. Most teams provide this information. It's difficult to say what it takes to make a 'division' in ACHA because there are large differences in skill within each division.
Not a bad article about the ACHA in general. It's mostly about the experience as a player and the growth of the league. Thought it was a good read, so enjoy.
