Big story of the afternoon: Jim Scherr might be leaving the NCHC

The "big story" to break this afternoon is that NCHC commissioner Jim Scherr might be leaving the NCHC to take another job. Okay, more power to Commissioner Scherr for possibly getting another opportunity, I have never faulted anyone that has had an opportunity to better themselves and move on.

Brad Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald -- Prior to joining the NCHC, Scherr was the chief executive officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

UND athletic director Brian Faison, the chair of the NCHC board of directors, said he’s aware of Scherr’s discussions with “another job opportunity,” but says nothing has been finalized yet.

“The NCHC board of directors is well aware that commissioner Scherr has been approach with another job opportunity,” Faison said in a statement. “The recent published reports that Jim has already accepted a position are erroneous. He has been forthcoming with information regarding a competing bid for his services. Since this is an internal personnel matter, the conference will offer no further comment at this time.”

No matter what the NCHC does, there are going to be the distractors and haters. That is just a fact of life. To these haters, nothing the league does is going to change their opinion. Some of the haters are the foam at the mouth variety. The fact that the University of North Dakota is involved in the NCHC makes their foaming at the mouth a bonus. All it is; is blind hatred and jealousy. That's what this boils down to.

There were a lot of people that are upset with what transpired two summer ago and will always hold a grudge towards the way things were handled. I don't blame them, it could have been handled better. Maybe the optics were that great and there were a few glitches getting the league off of the ground but none of them have marveled the WCHA's questionable tournament marketing scheme.

That being said, there are some that just can't help themselves. I have had a lot of discussion with other fans, bloggers and media types about the formation of the NCHC. It's water over the bridge. None of us were asked for our opinion, so really we're just bystanders.

So how does that affect the average fan that will be watching college hockey this fall and winter. Won't mean a thing. The fans are going to go the game no matter who is running the league office.

Related articles

• NCHC Coaching Résumés (thehockeywriters.com)

NCHC working diligently with the Target Center

One of the concerns for the NCHC going forward is the Target Center being a basketball facility, and that the ice has been poor in the Target center in the past. Well, it looks like the NCHC leadership is cognisant of these concerns and appears to working on this.

Bruce Ciskie, the radio voice of UMD Bulldogs, interview Jim Scherr Commissioner of the NCHC.

On Target Center and the planning for next year's inaugural NCHC Tournament:

"The arena and their leadership has been fantastic in working with us. As everyone knows, they haven't traditionally hosted a lot of hockey events. We're working very close with them and their operations staff on making sure that all the equipment is upgraded, and the quality of ice, and the quality of the venue, and everything that goes into it to making sure it's an incredible experience for our teams and is on par with the very best in the country.

"So we're working very diligently with Target Center on that, and they've been great to work with. That's number one, making sure for the teams that the locker rooms and the ice and the ice access and conditions for play are great.

"Second, is we want to fill the house. We want to make sure that our teams are playing in front of a strong crowd. The XCel Center and the WCHA and the Final Five have done great, and we'll have some strong competition every other year from the Big Ten. Filling the house is a big priority, so we're working with them on the right promotions for the tournament."

Stern says Target Center needs upgrades

What do you make out this? I like many were under the impression that these upgrades were going to take place and were to start soon. I will be interesting to see how this plays out. The NCHC conference tourney is supposed to be in the Target Center starting in 2014.

Joan Niesen, Fox Sports --- The real reason for Stern's visit is to meet Thursday with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak about the proposed renovations to the Target Center, which were part of the Minnesota Vikings' stadium bill but have been held up in recent months due to financial concerns. Stern was open with his opinion that the Target Center has fallen behind much of the rest of the league's facilities and that something needs to be done about the state of the arena. He sees those improvements as going hand-in-hand with the team's long-term viability in Minnesota.

In addition, Stern said that there's no sense undergoing a refurbishment unless the plan includes a pledge to continue to maintain the arena. He compared what he'd like to see done with that of the renovations to Detroit's Palace at Auburn Hills, which opened in 1988, and Phoenix's U.S. Airways Center, which opened in 1992. Both arenas have been renovated and kept current throughout their existence, unlike the Target Center, which opened in 1990.

UND vs. SCSU links

This weekend is a pivotal WCHA matchup between the SCSU Huskies and North Dakota. I know, I know… it’s tough not to refer to our team as the Fighting Sioux.

Jayson Hajdu has the pre-Christmas and post-Christmas records for the University of North Dakota under UND head coach Dave Hakstol. The question remains, will there be another second half run for the UND hockey team or will they keep their current pace of sub .700? Currently, they are playing at a .625 clip.

Year Before Xmas After Xmas

2004-05 13-7-2 (.636) 12-8-3 (.587)

2005-06 12-7-1 (.625) 17-9-0 (.654)

2006-07 7-10-1 (.417) 17-4-4 (.760)

2007-08 8-6-1 (.567) 20-5-3 (.768)

2008-09 9-8-1 (.528) 15-7-3 (.660)

2009-10 9-6-3 (.583) 16-7-2 (.680)

2010-11 13-5-2 (.700) 19-4-1 (.813)

2011-12 9-8-1 (.528) 17-5-2 (.750)

2012-13 10-5-3 (.639) 3-2-1 (.583)

Totals 91-62-15 (.586) 135-51-19 (.705)

North Dakota head coach Dave Hakstol has a 22-10-6 (.657) record against the SCSU Huskies.

Senior Forward Corban Knight has had at least a point a game (7g-11a—18pts) against the Huskies during his career at UND.

Mick Hatton beat writer for the Saint Cloud Times has his pre-series articles up today and you can read them by clicking on these links. [Click to view], [click to view] and [click to view].

The Huskies have had a long 10 game home stretch and now they will go on the road for eight of their next 12 games.

Here are a few articles that might pique your interest. [Click to view], [my series notes]

Brad Elliot Schlossman has his breakdown of the WCHA race.

Brad also has a gem about how the NCHC is keeping an eye on possible officials for next season. I can tell you that I have talked to many college hockey fans would like to have/see a Shepherd free NCHC. Enough is enough.

The men play the Huskies in Grand Forks and the women are in St. Cloud to play the Huskies in a crucial WCHA series, to date, the women have kind of underperformed or failed to meet pre-season expectations. Now it appears that a starting goalie is beginning to emerge for the women's team.

	WCHA Games								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA		W	L	T	GF	GA
Minnesota	16	9	3	4	22	56	39		17	3	4	93	45
St. Cloud State	16	11	5	0	22	55	36		14	10	0	80	61
Nebraska Omaha	16	9	5	2	20	59	49		13	9	2	88	67
North Dakota	16	8	4	4	20	57	46		13	7	4	81	64
Denver	18	8	6	4	20	57	54		13	8	4	85	67
Minnesota Duluth	18	8	7	3	19	50	51		10	11	3	64	68
Minnesota State	18	9	8	1	19	55	46		15	8	3	82	60
Wisconsin	16	6	5	5	17	35	36		9	8	5	49	45
Colorado College	18	7	10	1	15	60	66		10	14	2	88	94
Bemidji State	16	4	8	4	12	36	49		5	12	5	48	66
Michigan Tech	18	4	10	4	12	44	61		7	12	4	63	71
Alaska Anchorage	18	1	13	4	6	31	62		3	14	5	42	73