I spoke to someone today briefly with a little inside knowledge. He said he hasn't heard anything in a week, but the issues in question were, in order: arena, the women's program, and scholarships.
The arena question: Quinnipiac and Niagara both told the ECAC about new arenas, and I know QU promised to play all their ECAC games on the road until the new arena was completed. Not sure if Niagara promised the same but they also talked up a new arena to the ECAC brass. Playing ECAC games at the Centrum seems to be the direction HC would go if it gained entry to the conference...
Regarding the women's program: I haven't asked about specifics but for what it's worth, I've heard nothing to indicate the College wouldn't look to move the women's program to D-I if the ECAC was contingent on it. But I don't even know if that's the case.
Scholarships: An interesting situation, especially since my friend made it seem like it only became a sticking point in the last few weeks. I mentioned the Ivies and how they don't give official scholarships, and he mentioned those schools are not pushing HC on the scholarship issue.
He also confirmed that Yale wants no part of Qunnipiac in ECAC, but that Harvard is NOT AGAINST Holy Cross joining the conference.
Not sure if this helps anybody's understanding. To me, it still leads me to believe HC AND QU will be invited. ECAC will expand to 13 teams and remain there until Union is forced out in the not too distant future.
