Many may have felt it was a done deal for the CCHA to admit Alabama-Huntsville after the news of the coming defection of Nebraska-Omaha to the WCHA. The somewhat surprising decision of the Mavericks to defect to the WCHA created what a lot of people felt was a major void the CCHA was going to have to fill - somehow, some way. Obviously, not everyone felt quite the same way about the application of Alabama-Huntsville to join the CCHA.
Not so fast.
The CCHA halted premature thoughts of UAH joining the CCHA any time soon as Nebraska-Omaha is set to join the WCHA for the 2010-11 season.
The move leaves the Chargers without a conference to call home and may, in fact, put the future of its college hockey membership in jeopardy.
Here are comments from CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos who released a statement through the league offices:
“The league completed its due diligence of the application for membership submitted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville with careful consideration and discussion of various issues. At this time we have chosen to maintain our membership at its current level. The CCHA will remain focused on maintaining and strengthening our existing members to ensure the conference’s continued success and long-term viability.”There are probably a lot of smiles from some CCHA members at the elimination of potentially one more VERY long road trip.
Time will tell if this is a good move for the CCHA and for college hockey.
Here is a statement from Alabama-Huntsville director of athletics Jim Harris:
"We are certainly disappointed in the decision and feel like our program has a lot to offer to any league. We are going to look at other options that are available to us and then move forward."
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