Penn State Women’s Hockey: Barbour talks about the future at CHA

Penn State Women’s Hockey is happy to stay at the CHA, according to Sandy Barbour, director of inter-university athletics, but that doesn’t mean the Nittany Lions won’t weigh their options in the future when needed.

Penn State’s women’s hockey is involved in the five-team CHA conference, which was previously a six-team league, until earlier this year Robert Morris announced plans to break up men’s and women’s hockey.

These plans are still seemingly in place, despite Robert Morris announced a few days ago plans to raise funds to restore the program in 2022.

This affects Penn State on more than one level. In general, CHA is considered the weakest conference in women’s college hockey. When the Nittany Lions finally managed to reach a record 16-3-2 and a regular season CHA title, the late season loss and second loss in the CHA tournament would prove to be the last straw that kept Penn State away from the eight-team NCAA tournament.

What’s frustrating is just that our league isn’t respected on a general level, coach Jeff Kampersal said earlier this year.

In previous years, when both Mercyhurst and Robert Morris have been two really strong teams that both could potentially go to [but only the automatic bid did]. This year it will be interesting because there is no crossover [games between conferences] So perceptions are based on last year, as program X is really good. They’ve been really good for a long time, so they still have to be good and still better than any CHA team. “

While we played almost full games and won almost all, the three losses were too many for Penn State to win on a poor schedule in the league.

As for Robert Morris, bringing the CHA to just five teams further undermines the argument for all the big deals. The winner of the CHA tournament will receive an automatic offer for the NCAA tournament, but it has only been valid since 2014.

To some extent, CHA’s weakness had made the regular season a competition that is virtually invincible or wins a conference tournament. Only one team across the country won more victories than Penn State in 2020-21, but the Nittany Lions still fell behind in the afternoon. Part of this was the product of the COVID-19-era seasons, but the Nittany Lions field had a unified unit throughout the year.

The long and short question is the question put to Barbour last weekend. Can Penn State women’s hockey have national success at the CHA, and are there discussions about what will happen next if Robert Morris doesn’t return to the conference?

“Yes and yes.” Barbour said.

“I actually think [Penn State can have national success in the CHA], ”Barbour added. “Access to the NCAA [Tournament] is a really important thing, and it’s definitely in CHA. I am a really proud coach of Kampersal and the young women in that program and the year they had. Apparently this was a breakthrough year for them and we expect it to move forward. “

“The information you mentioned with Robert Morris will certainly give us a concern or an opportunity to make sure we understand what the landscape looks like and what options we might have. We do so constantly everywhere in everything, and that’s why we analyze what’s always best for that program. I obviously mean we have men’s volleyball, two fencing programs, and women’s hockey that aren’t part of Big Ten, so these are ongoing conversations. “

Of all the doubts a sport can have about CHA, has something to say “stay or leave?” Both sides. Argument. On the other hand, Penn State’s only remarkable season so far has not yet followed with another, a jumping ship from the CHA would mean an increase in opposition, which would be a blessing and a curse. Before Nittany Lions can prove that their improved game wasn’t weird, facilitation may not be the worst thing.

As for the start, at some point Kampersal will only be able to do so much with a program that plays teams that no one really cares about. Despite this, Mercyhurst – another member of the CHA – has participated in the NCAA 13 times, of which only Wisconsin and Minnesota are the best. All of these appearances became members of the CHA.

The result is a delicate balance between pragmatism, where the CHA is as a conference and where Penn State is the program. Nittany Lions may do worse than collect high winnings, but they may be left unfilled if they look inward.

On the other hand, the only way to prove you belong is to play with teams that already have.