So.Mn.Fan -> RE: RE:Gopher Hockey (4/1/2009 5:36:36 PM)
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ORIGINAL: McMurfy Scott, help me out with a little history lesson. When I left North Dakota, in the mid 80's as a 14 year old, we had the old WCHA ND,CC,DU,UM,UMD,WIS, and others here and there. That being said, where did St. Coud St, and Minn St(the old Mankato I think) and also Bemidji St. Were these Division II, club, NAIA or what? I never heard anything from these schools hockey wise until the past few years. What did I miss? Hey Murf. They've all taken different (and long and winding roads to the big-time). Mankato State is closest to my area and a great place to watch a D1 game. usually light crowds and very accessible players and a good clean arena with cheap seats. The hockey program basically started in 1970, playing as an independent against small colleges. Went D2 from '77 to '84, then to D3 from '84 to '92, then back to D3 from '92 to '95 before starting into D1 in '96-'97, when they played one year as a independent, and were allowed to play a strange schedule, consisting of series against 7 D1 schools, 2 D2 schools, 4 D3 schools, and 1 NAIA school. As was mentioned, they were allowed into the WCHA post-season tourney in '98 as a #10 seed, then full-time into the WCHA the next year. St Cloud, as Jim said, was guided along by Herbie. They had played D2 and D3 hockey since the 1950's. The WCHA took them in during the '87-'88 season. Bemidji is just a very cool story right now. They actually have a rich history of small-college hockey forever, as they have won 13 national NCAA hockey championships at various levels below D1. They moved up to D1 in '99, and have been a member of College Hockey America (the CHA)ever since. Don't quote me on any of the years for sure. I'm a more-the-merrier guy. Having all these D1 programs in one state is awesome, imo. And as BSU has proven, its not watered-down. There are plenty of hockey players to go around.
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