As mentioned in this INCH article, the Wayne State Warriors have made a formal request for admittance into the CCHA.  The proposal is for Wayne State to join the league for the 2008-2009 season.  Obviously this would put a further strain on the already strained CHA, and could signal the end for the league.  The CHA is made up of five programs and has petitioned the NCAA to allow the league to maintain their auto-birth in the NCAA tourney.

This is a good move for Wayne State.  The CHA has already started to crumble at the foundation and will probably not last past 2010.  With the departure of Air Force, Niagara’s application to the ECAC, and the failure to attract new teams to the league, the CHA is struggling to keep it’s head above water.  Last year the rumor mill was churning out teams such as Kennesaw State and Penn State to join the league.  This never came to fruition.  The one new team that did go division one, RIT, went to Atlantic Hockey.  The CHA is in for a long summer in which the product could be the end of the CHA.

This is not to say the CHA is a lesser league, with Niagara and Bemidji State cracking the PWR this year the CHA is turning out some quality teams.   However an NCAA upset might not be enough to keep the league afloat much further into the future.

Friday, February 2nd, 2007 - 2:17 pm | News