GENERAL: CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos Comments To USCHO About Nebraska-Omaha Departure

It's no big secret that the University of Nebraska-Omaha has decided to move from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Late in June, Bemidji State, based in Minnesota, and Nebraska-Omaha were welcomed as official members of the WCHA. U.S. College Hockey Online has an article that includes some comments from CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos (pictured).

ANASTOS: We are disappointed to hear of UNO’s decision to leave the CCHA as they have been a very good member of our league, and we wish them well. We have an excellent league, with a very strong membership, and we will continue to focus all of our attention on being a great conference and a leader in helping to shape the future of college hockey. At this time, it serves no purpose to speculate on how this latest decision will impact the future makeup of CCHA membership. There is a process being followed with respect to admittance of any new member and we are committed to following that process through to completion.

Obviously, this decision by UNO impacts all of the CCHA teams (including Ferris). Clearly, Anastos was not eager to offer speculation as to where the league might go in search of potential replacements for the departing Mavericks or expansion beyond replacing Nebraska-Omaha. The CCHA has some options to consider as it (and interested parties) begin to measure how well they would mesh together.

The USCHO article does mention Alabama-Huntsville as a team that could be of interest to the CCHA.