GRAND FORKS — This year saw a new push to bring future NCAA men's hockey regional tournaments to campus venues.
The most vocal person on the topic was University of Denver head coach David Karl. This is notable because Denver has won more NCAA national championships than anyone under the current 16-team, non-home site system.
But when it came to discussing the issue Friday morning at the annual coaches conference in Naples, Fla., it was the same old story.
The idea of a home regional league received approval from the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and the Big Ten, two leagues based in the West.
The plan was rejected by four other leagues: the Central University Hockey Association, Hockey East, ECAC, and Atlantic Hockey America.
That doesn't mean the leagues have the same preferences, two people told the Herald.
Without widespread support for change, the NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Committee is not expected to embrace the idea of sending area residents home.
Bids to the 2025 and 2026 NCAA regional tournaments have been decided. UND will host Seals Arena in Fargo in 2025. All three of his other regional tournaments are in the Eastern time zone (Toledo, Ohio; Allentown, Pennsylvania; and Manchester, New Hampshire).
Regional competitions in 2026 are scheduled for Loveland, Colorado, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Albany, New York, and Worcester, Massachusetts.
Bids have been submitted for the 2027 and 2028 NCAA Regionals. Awards are expected to be made in late summer or early fall. UND submitted a bid to host the event at Seals Arena both years.
The move to move regional games to their home base came after low attendance figures for some regional games in recent seasons.
UND has played in front of sparse crowds in the NCAA regional tournament in Grand Rapids and Albany, Michigan. He also played in front of some of the highest-level crowds in Cincinnati.
Non-home territory systems also struggle to win bids in Western countries.
Minnesota is effectively locked out of hosting regional tournaments due to a lack of viable buildings. Xcel Energy Center is too big and the non-campus arenas in the state are too small. It will soon be 10 years since the state hosted a regional game.
It was held this spring in Maryland Heights, Missouri, in a building with a capacity of 3,100 people. In other years, due to a lack of bids, the NCAA awarded three regional spots to the East and only one to the West.
But some believe having a regional team on its home site would be too great an advantage to give a team in the NCAA Tournament.
Underdog schools believe they are unlikely to host an NCAA Tournament game and would prefer to play at a neutral site rather than a road venue.
If the 2027 and 2028 bids are successful, the earliest a format change could occur is 2029.
The lack of a regional venue in the West did not hinder the NCHC's success in the NCAA Tournament. The NCHC school has won six national titles in the past eight years. The remaining two games were won by ECAC and Hockey East.
Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been named the Herald's Top Beat Writer by the Associated Press Sports Editor four times and North Dakota Sports Writer of the Year once. He lives in Grand Forks. Please contact bschlossman@gfherald.com.
