While the influx of talented players has "been a boon for the sport," D-I men's college hockey has become a "game of musical chairs in which the number of players has increased but the number of chairs has not," according to Gary Santaniello of the N.Y. TIMES. Air Force coach Frank Serratore said, "There are more Division I-quality players than lockers available." Santaniello notes the number of D-I men's lacrosse programs has "increased to 69 from 54" since '03, and FBS teams have "gone to 127 from 117." Even basketball has "grown by 20 to 346 programs." But men's hockey has "not had a net gain in that same span." Even with the "high profile additions" of Penn State and Arizona State in the past five years, hockey "remains stuck" at 60 D-I teams. USHL Commissioner & President Bob Fallen said, "There isn't the growth in college hockey we'd all like to see." NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly is a member of The Campus Effect, a "partnership with USA Hockey and College Hockey Inc. to promote paths to college hockey." Daly: "The quality and depth that can be recruited to Division I has never been deeper." Daly added that the NHL was "working with member clubs on ways to promote growth" in college hockey. Santaniello notes the "biggest obstacle to adding teams is money." USA Hockey Exec Dir Dave Ogrean cited the "economics of hockey as the primary impediment to expansion" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/24).
