June 26, 2017 at 3:31 p.m.
WIAA OKs two boys' hockey divisions beginning in 2019-20
Two-year trial to be held
WIAA OKs two boys' hockey divisions beginning in 2019-20
Beginning in the 2019-20 season, the WIAA will run a two-year experiment with a two-division system in the sport, creating two, four-team state tournaments for each division.
The change was one of a number of winter sports changes the WIAA Board of Control passed during its June meeting Thursday in Stevens Point.
"It came through the channels of the coaches and sports advisory (committees)," WIAA Board of Control vice president and Great Northern Conference commissioner Scott Winch told the River News Friday. "The coaches actually wanted eight Division 1, four Division 2 and eight girls (teams) at the state tournament. It was amended down to four Division 1, four Division 2 and four for the girls. A lot of it just has to do with facility use and getting things on TV."
At present, there are 87 high school boys' hockey programs in the state. Under the WIAA's plan, the smallest 32 of those programs, based on enrollment, would be placed in the Division 2 field. The remaining teams would compete in Division 1.
"It's something we talked about at the (Wisconsin High School Hockey Coaches Association) meeting. I think it's outstanding to give these smaller schools a chance," Rhinelander High School boys' hockey coach M.J. Laggis said Thursday night, after being informed of the news during a summer hockey scrimmage. "I think about schools in our area, like Northland Pines, that have been powerhouse teams but aren't going to get past some of those bigger schools. I think it give the Antigos, Rhinelander, if we have a big year, the Pines, the Mosinees, those teams a chance. I think it's awesome."
"I and our conference ADs and a lot of people in the state have been pushing for this," Lakeland Union athletic director Don Scharbarth said. "Because of the disparity with the co-ops your standalone teams and even your small co-ops really don't stand a chance and I think this evens the playing field."
According to WIAA Director of Communications Todd Clark, and confirmed through independent research conducted by the River News, all eight Great Northern Conference boys' hockey programs - including the Rhinelander and Lakeland co-ops - would be projected to fall in the new second division, based on current enrollment data.
"Having the one division in the whole state is very hard for the small schools to compete because we don't have the numbers and the depth," Lakeland boys' hockey coach Ken Thanig said. "That's something that we are looking forward to, seeing two divisions in the state. We've never been down to state, a lot of the smaller teams haven't."
"The mindset of our players, even though it's not something we talk about, (is) we go to win in the playoffs. I don't care who we're playing," Thanig added.
The majority of the GNC is currently assigned to Section 3 in the eight-section WIAA tournament, based on geographic location. That puts schools like Northland Pines, the second smallest boys' hockey program in the state based on enrollment (407 students), in the same bracket as much larger schools from the Wisconsin Valley Conference including Stevens Point (2,078) and perennial state powerhouse Wausau West (1,394).
Wausau West has been the sectional champion seven of the last eight seasons. The only exception was in 2016 when Antigo upset the Warriors in the sectional finals to advance to the state tournament.
"I guess, if I'm talking as a commissioner, it is," Winch said when if asked if the change will be a positive for the Great Northern Conference. "I mean when's the last time someone from the GNC went to state in one division of hockey? Antigo two years ago but, other than that, it's been rare. Pines has had as good a program as probably anybody (historically). You look at the state tournament program and Pines had got just about as many (state appearances) as anybody, but it's been awhile."
Proponents of the two-division system also hope a second division will curb the number, and limit the size, of co-operative programs statewide. Of the 87 boys' hockey programs, less than half (42) are standalone programs. The largest co-op in the state is Greendale, a nine-school conglomerate with a combined enrollment of more than 10,000 students. Some co-ops, however, allow schools that do not have the numbers or facilities to field a hockey team the ability to offer the sport to their students. Rhinelander, for instance, co-ops with Three Lakes, although it does not currently receive any hockey players from the northeastern Oneida County school. Lakeland is partnered with Mercer, which has an overall enrollment of 37 students.
"I think the amazing thing about our town is we've keep our numbers pretty solid and we're not looking at (co-oping)," Laggis said. "Two teams here tonight, Tomahawk and Park Falls (Chequamegon/Phillips), are going to have a hard time going it on their own within the next few years. The co-ops aren't going away and it's not good for hockey. You'd like every town to have their own team, but that's not the way it's going."
There are those, however, who wish the WIAA would do more still to curb the impact co-ops have on several sports, including girls' hockey.
"The problem is more than half of those teams have an enrollment of 5,000 or more than 10,000 then you've got your small standalone schools and some real small co-ops like Lakeland," Scharbarth said. "It's going to really help the boys' game, but I still feel something needs to be done for the girls' side of it."
Winch said the WIAA amended the coaches proposal to send eight girls' hockey teams to the WIAA state tournament in part because that would mean more than a quarter of the girls' hockey programs statewide would end up in Madison. With the merger of the Point/Rapids/Marshfield and Waupaca co-ops, and the Beaver Dam and Fond du Lac co-ops, the WIAA will have 29 girls' hockey programs in 2017-18, down from 31 last winter. Winch added further discussion of co-ops may be on the table this fall at the WIAA area meetings and noted the board was presented language regarding a possible constitutional amendment regarding co-op size. Changes to the WIAA's constitution are voted upon each April by the organization's member schools during the WIAA's annual meeting in Stevens Point.
Additionally on Thursday, the WIAA Board of Control approved seeding the state boys' hockey tournament beginning this coming winter. According to a WIAA press release, the WIAA will conduct a conference call with coaches of qualifying teams to determine the top four seeds, and the remaining four teams will be randomly drawn as opponents of the seeded teams in the brackets.
River News reporter Nick Sabato contributed to this report from Minocqua. Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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