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Discussion starter · #986 ·
I am hearing that the Long Island Ben’s deli’s and the Massachusetts packie’s are having a tough time filling out their intramural basketball teams next year due to the push towards a holistic approach at the school.
 


This might be the most telling line in the whole thing:

"Meantime, Woodward said over the next two years, UHart will be adding field hockey, men’s and women’s ice hockey, and will be bringing back men’s and women’s tennis."

Nothing about what conference they're actually going to go into...my guess is ideally Hartford wants the NEWMAC, since those are schools they'd feel they are most closely aligned with, but I'm not sure if that interest is reciprocated or not.

Outside of that, the Commonwealth Coast Conference sponsors men's and women's hockey. In this region of the country, it's the CCC, SUNYAC and NESCAC that fully sponsor men's and women's hockey as all sports conferences. The rest its either men's only (MASCAC) or it's the New England Hockey Conference, which houses all the others who are in various D3 leagues. There's like 5-6 independent teams out there too. Maybe they form a league with them. We all know Hartford isn't going to the NESCAC or SUNYAC.

Last I talked to someone they said CCC was the probable option but who knows if that's even progressed anywhere. The CCC already has 10 members. But, New England College is looking for a home after the collapse of the NECC. Maybe them + Hartford is what the CCC does for 12...NEC would have to move its hockey over from NEHC, but that'd give them 10 men's and and 9 women's programs if it was NEC and Hartford.

That being said, Hartford admins probably don't view the CCC as peers...but what choice do they have with the way they went about it? We don't even know if the CCC actually wants them either.
 
In an interesting turn of events from Briggs MCClain
Considering there's been radio silence on a lot of the guys who entered the portal and the fact the Coaching Carousel appears to have stopped with Gallagher still here, I have a feeling he won't be the last Hawk to come back.

Obviously being stuck at an independent with no chance of a tournament bid blows, but considering how many low majors enter each season with essentially no chance of making the Tournament, is Hartford that much worse know that you have the coach who recruited you and a greater guarantee of playing time due to the inability to add new scholarship players?
 


This might be the most telling line in the whole thing:

"Meantime, Woodward said over the next two years, UHart will be adding field hockey, men’s and women’s ice hockey, and will be bringing back men’s and women’s tennis."

Nothing about what conference they're actually going to go into...my guess is ideally Hartford wants the NEWMAC, since those are schools they'd feel they are most closely aligned with, but I'm not sure if that interest is reciprocated or not.

Outside of that, the Commonwealth Coast Conference sponsors men's and women's hockey. In this region of the country, it's the CCC, SUNYAC and NESCAC that fully sponsor men's and women's hockey as all sports conferences. The rest its either men's only (MASCAC) or it's the New England Hockey Conference, which houses all the others who are in various D3 leagues. There's like 5-6 independent teams out there too. Maybe they form a league with them. We all know Hartford isn't going to the NESCAC or SUNYAC.

Last I talked to someone they said CCC was the probable option but who knows if that's even progressed anywhere. The CCC already has 10 members. But, New England College is looking for a home after the collapse of the NECC. Maybe them + Hartford is what the CCC does for 12...NEC would have to move its hockey over from NEHC, but that'd give them 10 men's and and 9 women's programs if it was NEC and Hartford.

That being said, Hartford admins probably don't view the CCC as peers...but what choice do they have with the way they went about it? We don't even know if the CCC actually wants them either.
Considering the expenses with hockey, that sounds like a claim designed to try to boost their chances of acceptance into a conference that will almost certainly never to fruition.
 
Considering the expenses with hockey, that sounds like a claim designed to try to boost their chances of acceptance into a conference that will almost certainly never to fruition.
Perhaps. But, it's not D1 hockey. D3 hockey and its costs are different. Equipment and for Hartford probably a rink rental will be the big ones with travel...but, no scholarships, just paying a head coach and one assistant. And, with men's and women's hockey, you're adding 50 or more students between them. Many might even be full-price or paying close to it. Hockey players generally have parents that can afford to send them to college easily.

Also, the player pool is a lot larger. You can pretty much recruit USPHL/NCDC and EHL where most D3 level guys come out of. There are showcases for others, plus NAHL which is a higher level than those leagues and will produce D1 players has teams in Danbury and Attleboro nearby so any coach can go catch games there to recruit. Plus, there's always full boat direct from preps to college kids, and then add in Canadians who aren't making CHL rosters, not playing Tier 1 in BCHL or USHL, and just aren't D1 type kids will jump at the chance to play D3. That's because USports schools don't recruit them either since they take CHL guys who age out and don't sign pro deals over them. Plus, Scandinavians will play D3 if there's solid international student money which colleges love...and same deal for a lot of them as they have parents that can afford to send them abroad for schooling.

That's just on the men's side too. Women's hockey has more quality players than places for them to go, so D3s often can get D1 quality players because there aren't enough D1s for them to play at.

TLDR - there are plenty of good reasons Hartford would consider adding hockey in D3...a lot of sports for that matter because without scholarships and depending on the league they play in a lot less travel, D3 can bring a lot of paying students through the door, which is why so many of these small schools in worse shape than Hartford do everything they can to keep sports going.
 
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