Wayne State won’t be playing hockey next season but that doesn’t mean that the program is dead and buried forever. In an article in Friday’s Detroit Free Press, George Sipple writes that the school is in talks with the Detroit Red Wings to build a facility on the Wayne State campus in downtown Detroit that the Wings would use as a practice facility and the University could use for a Division I varsity team.
The article states that WSU athletic director Rob Fournier “hopes to convince (Red Wings owners Mike and Marian Illich) that a partnership is in the best interest of the Warriors and the Wings.”
Obviously, this is not something that will happen overnight and the fact of the matter is that the team will not play next year and the remaining members of College Hockey America remain endangered to not have a conference next year in which to play.
But CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos told the Free Press that building a rink with the Wings “would make a strong statement” and is a “huge step in demonstrating commitment.”
This all could be just another PR buzz campaign that’s circulating around to generate positive news, particularly in light of the CHA’s seemingly impending demise. But at the point, all good news is exactly that, good news, for college hockey.
