NCAA Top Men's Hockey Freshmen coming into the 2023-24 season JAN 31, 1992/VOL. 45, ISSUE 19 - Written by Man Carlson. Break away from the National Collegiate Athletic Association? It sounds drastic, but that’s what some Central Collegiate Hockey Association coaches are considering after the NCAA denied their appeal to keep a second full-time assistant coach and graduate assistant next season. “It’s ignorance,” Michigan State coach Ron Mason said. “The frustrating part is it’s over dollars and cents.” Most CCHA teams—and many Division I programs—rely on two assistant coaches and a graduate assistant to cover on-ice, administrative and recruiting needs. But next season, the NCAA will limit teams to one head coach, one-full-time assistant and a second assistant who can earn no more than $16,000 per year from athletic department funds. The NCAA is also reducing games (to 34) and scholarships (from 20 to 18) in the hopes of trimming its budget. But CCHA pilots see the coaching reductions as the unkindest cut of all. Most feel the move will cripple recruiting and hinder instruction. “Maybe in the future, the NCAA will allow schools to vote on hockey-related issues,” Mason said. “What happens is more than 300 schools in the NCAA don’t play hockey and don’t understand it. But at the 50-some schools that do (at the Division I level), it’s a revenue sport. “Hopefully, this can be rectified. But hockey, as usual, was overlooked.” Illinois-Chicago coach Larry Pedrie said the move could destroy teams in transition. “I think it’s one of the worst things that could have happened to college hockey,” Pedrie said. “We’re understaffed right now. I don’t see how this is going to help academics. All you’re doing is leaving people unemployed.” ANOTHER OPINION: Ohio State coach Jerry Welsh may be the only CCHA coach who isn’t completely opposed to the coaching reductions. “I’m ambivalent,” the 17-year Buckeye veteran said. “As an administrator, it doesn’t make much sense to me. You’re taking away our coaching feeder system. “But on the other side, that’s what I’ve been dealing with for years. I’ve only had one fulltime assistant and half of another assistant here for years. This will bring the rest of the world down to what Ohio State has had to work with.” Welsh didn’t have a full-time assistant coach for almost a decade. He managed to get that concession in 1984. FRESH IMPACT: The Illinois-Chicago Flames have climbed to the middle of the pack in the CCHA after an atrocious first half. The Flames went 0-4-1 in their first five games, but rebounded well. They pushed their record to 6-9-3 Jan. 11 with a 2-1 win over Miami. The reason for the resurgence? The freshmen are finally playing consistently. The Flames routinely dress 10 first-year players for each game. The most visible is goalie Jon Hillebrandt, who logged 1,048 of his team’s first 1,097 minutes in goal. He had a 4.18 goals-against average and a league-leading 579 saves (18 games). Read more here: [https://archive.thehockeynews.com/issue/612003/577313?t=NCAA’s%20coaching%20policy%20sparks%20bitter%20controversy] RELATED
