The Notre Dame Fighting Irish had a fantastic year. Sure, the football team went 3-9 and the men’s basketball team was embarrassed in the second round of March Madness. But the unexpected success of the hockey team makes it all worthwhile, right?

Notre Dame’s hockey history isn’t the stuff of movies – the Irish didn’t even bother to ice a team between 1928 and 1968. But under the watchful eye of coach Jeff Jackson, the Irish reached their first-ever Frozen Four last month. Then on Apr. 10, Notre Dame beat the Michigan Wolverines 5-4 in overtime to advance to the Finals.

The party ended two days later when the Boston College Eagles won the championship 4-1. The Irish may have lost in the end, but this is not a one-and-done story. Jackson has coached and advised at every level of the sport, including the U.S. Olympic team. He’s already won two NCAA titles coaching Lake Superior State University; more will come.

The goal of the NHL is to eventually land a lucrative US television contract- hell, it doesn’t even have to be lucrative at this point, any US T.V. will do. How about the Cartoon Network?

So why not help the cause at a grass-roots level? In virtually all the new southern US NHL cities, youth hockey has exploded. Kids love the game. They get it. Unlike their parents who may not have had as much exposure to the game, the kids don’t need to have the puck high-lited by a blue circle on television in order to know what’s happening with the play.
By this measure then, if youth hockey is expanding in the South why wouldn’t NCAA get on board and help further the cause of the sport?

Given the immense popularity of college sports in the US, coupled with the fact that many of these fans follow the college stars when they hit the big leagues, wouldn’t it be prudent to get some southern NCAA hockey going?