Don't Pat Yourselves On The Back

With the news released this morning, it would seem that a great unjustice in the hockey world has been corrected as Robert Morris University announced that they, in partnership with the the newly-formed Pittsburgh College Hockey Foundation, would work together to raise the necessary funds to restore Division-I men's and women's hockey at the school for the 2021-22 season. While there will be glad-handing by school executives after this announcement as they congratulate themselves for "finding a way" to make this right, it's pretty clear that RMU's administration was forced to re-examine their decision to cut hockey once legal action was brought forth by the players.

As I mentioned on the Canada Day episode of The Hockey Show, the former players who made up the RMU men's and women's hockey teams got a huge boost from a lawyer named Jeffrey Kessler. If you've been following the sports legal world for the last few years and, in particular, this year, Kessler was the man who successfully convinced the US Supreme Court vote 9-0 against the NCAA in that "NCAA restrictions on education related athlete benefits are a violation of U.S. antitrust laws". He's also the lawyer who took a stand beside athletes from 11 sports cut by Stanford University and dared them to cut the sports, prompting Stanford to reverse course and reinstate all 11 sports under their watch once more.

Kessler's had already had himself a big year, and then RMU's former hockey players called. And Jeffrey Kessler took that call. And now hockey is back at RMU after an email from Jeffrey Kessler himself requested a meeting with RMU administration. Clearly, RMU's bluff was called by the players in bringing in someone who legitimately could expose the bluff, and now RMU should have a healthy serving of crow to eat.

Except they won't because we already know they don't give a damn about accountability.

While I legitimately believe that Robert Morris University has every right to examine its budget annually in an effort to make every penny count, yanking the carpet out from under the feet of fifty players and dozens of staff is wrong and RMU knows it was in this reversal of their May 26 decision. Fighting an ugly, public court battle with the very players they may have to ask to return to play under the Colonials name would be disastrous, so conceding the loss on this one is the first intelligent move the university has made since cancelling the two hockey teams.

Just don't go patting yourselves on the back.

The players, alumni, and supporters who make up the Pittsburgh College Hockey Foundation have already raised a pile of money to ensure there will be hockey next season and in the future at Robert Morris University, and the two sides "agreed to work toward raising sufficient additional funds by July 31 to bring the teams back and position them to be financially sustainable for the foreseeable future - with an overall fundraising goal of $7 million over the next five years."

I trust that RMU and PCHF will find those monies to be able to fund the program for the next five seasons, but there needs to be a better commitment from RMU regarding the future of the arena the teams currently play in along with the proposals put out by the Pittsburgh Penguins that would serve the Colonials well. Without those commitments, I'm not sure what RMU's contribution will be five years from now aside from haing their name on a team that the players were forced to save.

For now, though, it appears that the RMU Colonials will skate next year and for up to four more years in Pittsburgh at the very least. That's fantastic news after it seemed like their return was all but impossible just weeks ago. Their long-term viability still needs to be nailed down and a long-term commitment from the university in supporting the teams should be sought, but, for today, a win is a win is a win.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Colonials on the ice next season already!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!