The Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee recently discussed ways to grow the sport, including increased television exposure and providing student-athletes with top-tier experiences at championships.

The most recent Frozen Four, played in Washington, D.C., set a standard for future events, said committee Chair Steve Cady, senior associate athletics director at Miami (Ohio). The city’s NHL franchise (the Washington Capitals) allowed the tournament to use all of its facilities  − including practice, training, laundry and other facilities – thus improving the student-athlete experience.

 “That really helped all the teams have a much better set-up,” Cady said. “We’ve never had that type of support before. Washington really set the bar in terms of a new standard for the event. It just made for an unbelievably positive situation for all the teams involved.”

Next year, Ford Field in Detroit will host the first Frozen Four in a football stadium, creating unique challenges and opportunities.

“It has the potential to be very exciting,” Cady said.

Committee members also talked with officials in Tampa, the host city for the 2012 Frozen Four. Recent changes in ownership for the NHL franchise there and a decision to forgo hosting other college hockey events recently prompted the committee to ensure that the city, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the local officials were still committed to producing the Frozen Four. 

The committee’s concerns were allayed after discussions with the Tampa local organizing committee and Lightning officials.

The committee also discussed the future of the sport, especially matters pertaining to the economy and the dissolution of College Hockey America after 2009-10. Cady said while sport sponsorship is an institutional decision, “the committee perhaps can facilitate dialogue between institutions or leagues that might be helpful.”

He also emphasized the importance of increasing television exposure of championship events. Last year’s television distribution was the best ever for the championship, with ESPN2 and ESPN Classic picking up some regional games.

“We want to make the tournament a national event,” Cady said. “Our desire is to continue to get as many regional games televised live as possible so it becomes a multiple-weekend event like softball or baseball, to get more exposure for the sport.”

In other business, the committee:

• Recommended the addition of a video-exchange policy with specific requirements of which game must be distributed to an opponent and the quality of the recording.
• Approved automatic qualifications for the 2010 championship: Atlantic Hockey Association, Central Collegiate Hockey Association, College Hockey America, ECAC Hockey, Hockey East Association and Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
• Clarified selection criteria. Instead of a team’s record against teams under consideration, a team’s record against other teams in the top 25 will be considered. The committee generally considers all teams in the top-25 for championship selection, but a new rule requiring teams to have a .500 record or better requires the clarification in selection criteria.
• Recommended Bill Bellerose, associate athletics director at Holy Cross, be appointed chair and recognized departing chair Cady and departing member Don Vaughan, assistant athletics director and head men’s ice hockey coach at Colgate.