Sixteen-team field possible for NCAA hockey tourney

The NCAA men’s hockey tournament could expand to 16 teams as soon as next season, according to Northeastern University athletic director and former University of Maine associate AD Ian McCaw.

There are currently 12 teams in the field: five league tournament champions who receive automatic berths and seven at-large teams.

There are two six-team regionals and two teams move on from each to the Frozen Four.

If the expansion to 16 is approved by the NCAA, there would be four, four-team regionals and the four winners would advance to the Frozen Four.

Maine interim head coach Tim Whitehead and Northeastern coach and former Maine assistant Bruce Crowder are excited about the prospect.

“It should have been done 10 years ago,” said Crowder. “If you even look at this year, there are going to be some pretty good hockey teams with pretty good RPIs [Ratings Percentage Indexes] who aren’t going to make it.”

Whitehead said expansion to 16 teams would be a “huge step” in the growth of college hockey.

McCaw, a member of the NCAA’s Ice Hockey Committee, said, “There is a proposal on the table to expand the men’s hockey, men’s lacrosse and women’s softball tournament fields. The NCAA has appropriated one million dollars to expand them and they can expand all three for less than a million dollars.”

The NCAA championships cabinet met to discuss the proposal and vote on it Wednesday and the next step would be to have it approved by the NCAA’s management council in April. If it is improved in April, McCaw said it would be given to the board of directors for final approval in June.

“But if it passes in April, it would probably be rubber-stamped in June. So if it is approved in April, we would begin looking for two more regional sites for next season,” said McCaw.

He feels strongly that college hockey has improved to the point where there are at least 16 teams deserving of an NCAA tournament berth. There are 59 Division I programs in six leagues.

Maine junior center Tom Reimann agreed, saying “there are a lot of great teams who miss the tournament because they have a little slump. This would be good for college hockey as well as the fans.”

The NCAA is expected to approve the addition of an automatic tourney berth for College Hockey America for next season, raising the number to six.

Ayers grateful to EMMC, Bears

University of New Hampshire sophomore goalie Michael Ayers said he was indebted to the staff at Bangor’s Eastern Maine Medical Center.

Ayers suffered a torn tendon in his left arm in Friday’s 6-3 loss to Maine but managed to play on Saturday after receiving eight stitches at Bangor’s Eastern Maine Medical Center Friday night and having a protective splint made for him at EMMC on Saturday.

“They were awesome,” said Ayers, who made 33 saves in Saturday’s 2-2 tie and is having surgery this week.

He also said Maine’s Niko Dimitrakos and Mike Morrison called him at the hospital Friday night to inquire about his health and he was grateful to the Black Bears for not trying to take advantage of his injured catching glove hand by whacking it during the game.

“The Maine guys were classy,” said Ayers, who was visited at the hospital by Maine interim head coach Tim Whitehead.

“Our guys have a lot of respect for him. They thought he showed a lot of guts being out there. We drove the net hard but we didn’t cheap-shot him,” said Whitehead. “I was also impressed with how well he played.”