Confirmed with Link: High Point University is building a D1 Hockey Arena

[HisIceness]

HPU Announces 10-Year Growth Plan, $1 Billion Investment - High Point University

The $300 million in new academic programs and facilities will include:

• The proposed start of a School of Nursing
• A new hospitality management program
• A new events planning program
• Half a dozen other programs
• Construction of a new library
• Construction of a new academic facility
• Construction of a new admissions center
• Construction of a new Division I ice hockey facility

Saw this and it kind of raised an eyebrow. I wasn't even aware that HPU even had an Ice Hockey club. Am I missing something or is the university really planning to have their Hockey team compete in the NCAA?

Click to read more...

 

[Navin R Slavin]

The Triad has had good hockey for a long time. I'm a little surprised, but not that surprised.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Wait, what? That seems to have come completely out of left field.

High Point has been pretty aggressive in recent years, so it seems in character for them to identify an unfilled niche and go for it. Hopefully it will also help advance the conversation at other schools.

 

[DaveG]

A little surprised it's not say Wake Forest or State going for it first, but either way this is awesome news. Here's hoping we start seeing more programs in the area getting in to making a push for D1 Hockey.

 

[Canes]

Definitely bizarre. I'd figure a bigger NC school would be the first, and they still might if they really wanted to.

 

[HisIceness]

Thats what I figured too, that one of the ACC schools would be the first to get in line.

 

[CandyCanes]

Honestly that’s exciting and possibly a smart move for the school. They’re never going to compete with other NC schools trying to put together a basketball or football team, would be way too hard to build an impressive program that would attract talent. NCAA hockey outside of the northern market is pretty non existent, here’s a chance for High Point to not only become one of the first southern market schools with D1 hockey team, but also attract real talent to the school. I know if I was in high school looking at colleges and High Point had a D1 hockey team I’d be so intrigued to go there as a student.

 

[Bunch of Jurcos]

Honestly that’s exciting and possibly a smart move for the school. They’re never going to compete with other NC schools trying to put together a basketball or football team, would be way too hard to build an impressive program that would attract talent. NCAA hockey outside of the northern market is pretty non existent, here’s a chance for High Point to not only become one of the first southern market schools with D1 hockey team, but also attract real talent to the school. I know if I was in high school looking at colleges and High Point had a D1 hockey team I’d be so intrigued to go there as a student.

And how cool would it be to have your parents to be able to see you play college hockey and not have to fly to the northeast to do it? I think it would also be awesome if we were able to have a few players from our state get drafted. It would be some great marketing to generate interest locally.

 

[Anton Babchuk]

And how cool would it be to have your parents to be able to see you play college hockey and not have to fly to the northeast to do it? I think it would also be awesome if we were able to have a few players from our state get drafted. It would be some great marketing to generate interest locally.

the travel for away games would be brutal, though, much like with huntsville

From Alabama, Hockey’s Ultimate Travel Team

 

[Unsustainable]

the travel for away games would be brutal, though, much like with huntsville

From Alabama, Hockey’s Ultimate Travel Team

Huntsville has all of the scientists living there from all over.

One of my friends from Canada was watching these kids play, saying the looked like Canadians out there, then when one of them spoke in 100% Alabama accent, he was blown away.

 

[The S5]

And how cool would it be to have your parents to be able to see you play college hockey and not have to fly to the northeast to do it? I think it would also be awesome if we were able to have a few players from our state get drafted. It would be some great marketing to generate interest locally.

Unfortunately, kids from the state that are that good leave at age 15 or so for prep school/northeaster AAA programs.
At that, only a small handful ever make it to D1.
The growth of the game has outpaced D1 programs, making D1 hockey scholarships extremely difficult to attain.

 

[Chrispy]

the travel for away games would be brutal, though, much like with huntsville

From Alabama, Hockey’s Ultimate Travel Team

The story for UAH was that the board (which is singular for all the U of As in Alabama) didn't want another football program competing with Alabama. This is part of what UAB has dealt with over the years.

Rather than fight that, UAH proposed hockey as their flagship program. They have homecoming at the hockey game. As @CandyCanes mentioned, this is a good unique spot for High Point, like UAH has leveraged for many years.

There was zero shot WF was going to be the one to do it; Wake sticks to as few sports as they can and tries to fund those as much as possible. You'll see lacrosse show up at WF long before hockey because the infrastructure is mostly in place. NCSU can at least use some facilities in the Triangle to make it work, but I still don't see a big draw. Hockey doesn't use the same conferences anyway so it's unlikely the ACC would start a hockey conference.

 

[DaveG]

Interestingly there was a good bit of talk as recently as a couple years ago about Kennesaw state looking to go div1 down in Georgia as well. Nothing came of it but I'm wondering if that gets revisited if more teams from the region get serious about the sport.

As for wake the only reason I would even think they'd look at it is the Joel annex is already in place which while small would still be suitable, and hockey is already surprisingly well supported at the low minors level with the thunderbirds.

 

[Chrispy]

Interestingly there was a good bit of talk as recently as a couple years ago about Kennesaw state looking to go div1 down in Georgia as well. Nothing came of it but I'm wondering if that gets revisited if more teams from the region get serious about the sport.

As for wake the only reason I would even think they'd look at it is the Joel annex is already in place which while small would still be suitable, and hockey is already surprisingly well supported at the low minors level with the thunderbirds.

That makes sense, but Wake did not buy the Annex when they bought LJVM back in 2013. If they had any long-term plans for hockey, I think that would have been part of the purchase.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Unfortunately, kids from the state that are that good leave at age 15 or so for prep school/northeaster AAA programs.
At that, only a small handful ever make it to D1.
The growth of the game has outpaced D1 programs, making D1 hockey scholarships extremely difficult to attain.

I think this is where it starts, though. The presence of a D1 program is a big milestone in completing a real pipeline from mini-mites to the NHL. It gives another option to the talented kid who is on the fence about moving to Michigan just for hockey. Get enough of those kids together and you've got a reason for scouts to show up. Get enough of that, and you've got a reason for a high school hockey program to exist. And once the first shoe drops with a school like High Point, there's the potential for other universities to get on board.

It seems that the likes of High Point and UAB (and apparently Kennessaw) are driving this process right now, likely because they observe an open niche for smaller schools to occupy. The tipping point will be when the NC States and UNCs and Dukes of the region start to get on board, but that's probably decades away.

 

[ONO94]

I think this is where it starts, though. The presence of a D1 program is a big milestone in completing a real pipeline from mini-mites to the NHL. It gives another option to the talented kid who is on the fence about moving to Michigan just for hockey. Get enough of those kids together and you've got a reason for scouts to show up. Get enough of that, and you've got a reason for a high school hockey program to exist. And once the first shoe drops with a school like High Point, there's the potential for other universities to get on board.

It seems that the likes of High Point and UAB (and apparently Kennessaw) are driving this process right now, likely because they observe an open niche for smaller schools to occupy. The tipping point will be when the NC States and UNCs and Dukes of the region start to get on board, but that's probably decades away.

A college team would be nice--especially at a school like High Point where you don't have built in fan animosity like you would at one of the ACC schools. This way fans of hockey could cheer on D-1 hockey and not feel slimy by cheering for state or dook.

But really the next step of developing home grown hockey in NC is finding a youth program to compete with the likes of Honeybaked, Little Ceasars and those guys to attract scouts for the U-16 crowd. The Eagles and Hurricanes have become involved together, so maybe that is a team that step up to that level...maybe with some Dundon money? And then they need a legit prep school hockey program. There are mulitple kids from NC and the southeast going to play in the mid-west, northeast and Canada prep leagues because there are no viable schools for hockey down south. Maybe if a Cary Academy or a Cannon School could establish a legit program, some of that talent drain would lessen. And a USHL team would help too--but travel would become an issue for any school or USHL team.

 

[The S5]

I think this is where it starts, though. The presence of a D1 program is a big milestone in completing a real pipeline from mini-mites to the NHL. It gives another option to the talented kid who is on the fence about moving to Michigan just for hockey. Get enough of those kids together and you've got a reason for scouts to show up. Get enough of that, and you've got a reason for a high school hockey program to exist. And once the first shoe drops with a school like High Point, there's the potential for other universities to get on board.

It seems that the likes of High Point and UAB (and apparently Kennessaw) are driving this process right now, likely because they observe an open niche for smaller schools to occupy. The tipping point will be when the NC States and UNCs and Dukes of the region start to get on board, but that's probably decades away.

The issue is that the Jr. Canes have the only Tier 1 program in the Carolina's. There are very few Tier 1 teams willing to come to Raleigh for a weekend series when they have countless options within a couple hour drive.
Just because there is a D1 team nearby doesn't mean scouts would come here to view youth hockey when they can stay in their backyard and watch the best players for a particular age group, including Jr. Hurricane kids, who have to travel to the Northeast and Midwest to play.
Currently, the participation numbers just aren't here. Which is why kids make the decision to leave.
The discussion around are the kids making the right decision is another topic entirely.

 

[tarheelhockey]

A college team would be nice--especially at a school like High Point where you don't have built in fan animosity like you would at one of the ACC schools. This way fans of hockey could cheer on D-1 hockey and not feel slimy by cheering for state or dook.

But really the next step of developing home grown hockey in NC is finding a youth program to compete with the likes of Honeybaked, Little Ceasars and those guys to attract scouts for the U-16 crowd. The Eagles and Hurricanes have become involved together, so maybe that is a team that step up to that level...maybe with some Dundon money? And then they need a legit prep school hockey program. There are mulitple kids from NC and the southeast going to play in the mid-west, northeast and Canada prep leagues because there are no viable schools for hockey down south. Maybe if a Cary Academy or a Cannon School could establish a legit program, some of that talent drain would lessen. And a USHL team would help too--but travel would become an issue for any school or USHL team.

Honestly Cardinal Gibbons would be the common sense contender. It's a Catholic school so there are a ton of northern transplants (when my kids played roller hockey there were more kids playing for St Michaels than all the other schools put together), it has a relatively high profile athletic program already, and they're right next door to PNC so in theory they could get by without building facilities.

If the Canes were willing to donate ice time, it could happen.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The issue is that the Jr. Canes have the only Tier 1 program in the Carolina's. There are very few Tier 1 teams willing to come to Raleigh for a weekend series when they have countless options within a couple hour drive.
Just because there is a D1 team nearby doesn't mean scouts would come here to view youth hockey when they can stay in their backyard and watch the best players for a particular age group, including Jr. Hurricane kids, who have to travel to the Northeast and Midwest to play.
Currently, the participation numbers just aren't here. Which is why kids make the decision to leave.
The discussion around are the kids making the right decision is another topic entirely.

I understand, I'm just saying the status quo can't change without investment from the top down. No local university teams means geography is a hard barrier for talent development... families who aren't willing/able to spend tens of thousands of dollars on travel alone and then ultimately move to a different state, cannot even enter the development pipeline. Even with only one university option, you at least have the possibility of attending their development camps, playing for a scholarship, being video scouted. It's not Notre Dame, but at least it's an open door.

High Point isn't going to change everything 180 degrees by themselves, but they represent the first real investment in 18+ talent development in NC. That's a pretty huge milestone on the way to a system that works for local kids rather than against them.

 

[The S5]

I understand, I'm just saying the status quo can't change without investment from the top down. No local university teams means geography is a hard barrier for talent development... families who aren't willing/able to spend tens of thousands of dollars on travel alone and then ultimately move to a different state, cannot even enter the development pipeline. Even with only one university option, you at least have the possibility of attending their development camps, playing for a scholarship, being video scouted. It's not Notre Dame, but at least it's an open door.

High Point isn't going to change everything 180 degrees by themselves, but they represent the first real investment in 18+ talent development in NC. That's a pretty huge milestone on the way to a system that works for local kids rather than against them.

I agree that having D1 hockey nearby will help the popularity of the sport, but it isn't going to change the dynamic of youth hockey in the area. You might, every few years, get a local kid to play there, but, if the kid is good enough, he will have other options.
FWIW, Dundon has kicked in a bit more towards youth hockey, but mainly in the form on marketing at local rinks.
Bottom line is that hockey is expensive. Ponying up for club fees and travel is just the beginning. I imagine its why hockey parents tend to have unrealistic expectations of their kids.

 

[The S5]

Honestly Cardinal Gibbons would be the common sense contender. It's a Catholic school so there are a ton of northern transplants (when my kids played roller hockey there were more kids playing for St Michaels than all the other schools put together), it has a relatively high profile athletic program already, and they're right next door to PNC so in theory they could get by without building facilities.

If the Canes were willing to donate ice time, it could happen.

Who are they going to play?
High School hockey is fun for the kids, but takes a backseat to club hockey with regard to development and exposure. Even prep school kids tend to play club hockey.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Who are they going to play?

They’d start with a schedule against club teams and out-of-town varsity teams, I’d imagine. That’s how elite hockey got started everywhere else, including the northeast and Canada.

I mean you have to start somewhere. If everyone waits for someone else to make the first move, nothing happens. The local club teams didn’t come into being with a full slate of local competition.

 

[cptjeff]

That's indeed quite out of nowhere, but HPU has been making huge investments in the last decade or so to be taken far more seriously academically and in terms of amenities. They want to become one of the big boys and seem to have the financial backing to do it, somehow.

 

[poobags]

Who are they going to play?
High School hockey is fun for the kids, but takes a backseat to club hockey with regard to development and exposure. Even prep school kids tend to play club hockey.

I'm a Cardinal Gibbons grad (2007). When I was there I believe they were icing two separate club teams at one point. That might've been so they had someone to play against regularly though. Pretty sure Apex High has/had a club ice hockey team as well? I bet between all the schools in Wake/Durham county at least 4 programs could survive. Make it a mini league at first and see how it goes.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

holly springs had a club ice team at one point as well, no idea if it is still there or not