Tim Benz: Pitt? Duquesne? Chatham? Who picks up the torch of Pittsburgh DI hockey if Robert Morris folds programs?
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Hopes of saving the Robert Morris hockey teams are on life support. So the question needs to be asked if any other local universities might be interested in stepping up and filling the void for Pittsburgh area NCAA DI hockey that would be created if the Colonials can’t stay on the ice.
Keep in mind, it’s two programs. Not one. Both the men’s and women’s teams are being cast aside by the RMU administration.
For Title IX purposes, it’s difficult to imagine any school being able to allow only a men’s team. And, given the hardships both teams are realizing right now, it would be hard to meet the cash flow and facility needs for a women’s team without the draw and exposure of a corresponding men’s team.
Unfortunately, both programs had a track record of success and now a batch of players are either log-jammed in the transfer portal with nowhere to go or are en route to destinations outside of Western Pennsylvania.
Many of whom — four on the men’s team and two on the women’s — are Pittsburgh-area talents now being booted elsewhere.
Rink magnate Murry Gunty, who has tried unsuccessfully to broker a deal with the university to keep the hockey teams going, broached the topic of finding another NCAA D-I outlet in town if Duquesne or Pitt might want to partner up.
If @Pitt_ATHLETICS or @GoDuquesne want to go D1 in hockey please contact me. I will do everything I can to bring back D1 hockey in Pittsburgh. https://t.co/eGK92WeX7G
— murry gunty (@MurryGunty) June 10, 2021
Shaler’s Zac Lynch (who ranks second all-time in points and goals at Robert Morris) took to Twitter as well, encouraging Pitt and Duquesne to investigate the idea.
@Pitt_ATHLETICS what a perfect time to start NCAA Div 1 men/women hockey programs @Pitt_LykeAD you have two teams of players/staff already competing at nationally ranked levels. Makes the logistics of starting that much easier.. also have some disgusted alum/fans ready to support
— Zac Lynch (@ZLynch84) June 1, 2021
Pitt has club teams playing at Alpha Ice Complex in Harmarville, with the men’s team winning the College Hockey Mid-America regular season or postseason title four of the last five years. The Panthers are starting back up again next year after the pandemic shutdown.
Fellow ACC school Boston College has a men’s team in Hockey East, and Syracuse has a women’s team in RMU’s conference, College Hockey America. Notre Dame has a men’s team in the Big Ten.
At the risk of kicking up another off-campus venue debate, the University of Pittsburgh also already has a presence at the Cranberry UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in terms of its affiliation with UPMC, sports science and advanced training programs. Something that is intended to grow exponentially if the Penguins end up building that much-discussed third ice sheet.
So Pitt would seem to be a natural fit on an academic, medical and athletic basis — not to mention the alumni and fan base that live in the North Hills. Factoring Pitt’s larger regional fan base and branding in the market, linking up with the Penguins directly or involving Gunty as a third party seems worthy of consideration.
Keep in mind, too, while Pitt’s revenue sports of men’s basketball and football have been middling in the ACC lately, less publicized sports such as men’s soccer, women’s volleyball and baseball have seen a rise in success.
Yet when reached for comment on the idea of adding hockey teams, the notion was quickly dismissed.
“Pitt Athletics is not considering any additional sports sponsorship beyond our 19 intercollegiate teams at this juncture,” the school said through a spokesperson.
Duquesne is also a long shot. But the door is cracked open here. At least a sliver.
Athletic director Dave Harper spoke at length with us and is fond of the theory of a Dukes hockey team. But along with creating a funding stream and leveraging a deal for a place to play, Duquesne’s Title IX restrictions are extreme.
According to Harper, the school’s undergraduate population split is 66% women to 34% men. That’s why there are 11 women’s programs and six men’s at Duquesne right now.
So even if Duquesne did what Robert Morris did and split scholarships and opportunities evenly between the two hockey teams, proportionally a one-to-one add of two sports isn’t that simple. Another sport on the women’s side may have to be added as well.
That said, Harper did provide some wiggle room.
“Duquesne is continuously looking at the landscape of sports programming and emerging sports and will always be looking at strategies to adapt our sports programming mix to help with institutional reputation and enrollment,” Harper said via a phone call last week.
According to Harper, one way to add a sport while staying within Title IX rules even if gender opportunities and scholarships fall out of the margins is to identify a “significant demand at an institution or within the market.”
Given Duquesne’s club team and the interest in hockey in Pittsburgh — especially with an NHL arena literally across the street from campus — Harper says a case can be made for that consideration at Duquesne.
So unlike Pitt’s “hard no,” Duquesne feels more like a “highly unlikely, don’t hold your breath.”
If Gunty and the Penguins really want a Division I partner, it might be at least worth a phone call to Harper.
Don’t forget about Chatham as well. They have Division III teams. The men are at Frozen Pond Arena in Valencia. The women skate in New Kensington at Pittsburgh Ice Arena. The men’s program recently made strides under former Colonials assistant Mike Gershon. The Cougars went 5-8 (5-5 in UCHC play) in a truncated season after finishing 3-21-1 the previous season.
But no immediate plans to elevate those programs, or others in the athletic department, seem to be pending based on our conversations.
One last item needs to be pointed out, especially in the cases of Pitt and Duquesne. They didn’t need Robert Morris to fold before either of those schools investigated going DI. It’s not like RMU’s market share or footprint is large enough that they were somehow blocking the Panthers or Dukes from staking a claim to the DI hockey landscape.
Those two schools just haven’t had the desire, money, facilities or Title IX latitude to do it.
Unfortunately for those who’d like to see DI hockey continue in Pittsburgh, that still appears to be the case for the immediate future.