Why not explore ‘non-traditional’ sites for NCAA hockey regionals?

The American Hockey Coaches Association is at its annual retreat in Naples, Fla., this weekend. Though the Sunshine State has never housed a varsity program, it is a staple on the almanac through the late-April convention and the Estero-based Florida College Classic.

Not to mention, Tampa has hosted two well-received Frozen Fours over the past five years.

With this in mind, as NCAA hockey regionals reform takes the forefront of the 2017 convention, similar ventures into otherwise Division I puck-free landscapes ought to be on the table.

According to the authoritative Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, better sites for the first two rounds of the national tournament are the topmost itch on this year’s agenda.

In a Sunday write-up, he was apt to remind us that the NCAA has generally pursued strictly neutral venues for its first two tournament rounds this calendar decade. Over the last eight years, only Notre Dame’s Compton Family Ice Arena has held a national tournament game as a campus site, doing so in 2015.

But, Schlossman elaborated, “While this setup has worked in the East, where schools are closely clustered and there’s an abundance of American Hockey League team facilities, it has not worked in the West.”

He also reports, “The three new options that are expected to be discussed are allowing home venues to bid on predetermined regional sites, moving the four regionals to the home venue of the No. 1 seed or turning the first weekend into eight best-of-three series on the campus of the higher seed.”

Those potential choices blatantly point to a potential regression. Outside of 2008, when Colorado College and Wisconsin fell short, participating programs have consistently left a regional in their yearlong domain with a Frozen Four passport.

North Dakota did it in 2006. Minnesota capitalized in 2005 and 2003. Michigan fulfilled the phrase “home-ice advantage” in 2003, 2002 and 1998.

Before that 2008 anomaly, Michigan State’s shortcoming in 1996 was the last of its kind.

Granted, Michigan, Minnesota and UND boast three of the nation’s most notorious venues for visitors. But the rabid atmosphere is exactly why their arenas are top-notch for the regular season, not as predetermined sites for do-or-die contests in which the yearlong tenant may not have as high a seed as the adversary.

And while the second and third options Schlossman reported would at least grant the home ice to a team that has earned it, Division I hockey should be above staying on campus for its national tournament. (That goes for both genders.)

To avoid future ludicrous occurrences such as Penn State hosting a Midwest Regional in the decidedly Eastern city of Allentown, Pa., the NCAA need not resort to outdated destinations. There are plenty of relatively new professional arenas beyond the Eastern Time Zone, albeit ones without college programs in the vicinity.

The aforementioned AHL has the Iowa Wild in Des Moines at the 12-year-old Wells Fargo Arena. The venue’s home state is flanked by Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska, and the rest of the Midwestern programs are not terribly far. In addition, a regional in Iowa could mean bringing back some distinguished alumni from one of the state’s four USHL teams.

While the subject is on active AHL arenas, there are other unconventional spots crazy enough to work. The Tucson Roadrunners took root this season, one year after Arizona State started transitioning from club to Division I hockey.

The Tucson Convention Center Arena is a two-hour drive from Tempe, and can accommodate 7,440 fans. That only makes it slightly smaller than its peers in Allentown and Bridgeport, Conn.

If the five-year-old Penn State program can have hospitality privileges so soon after joining the ranks, why couldn’t the Sun Devils?

Even a few of the five California venues, all of which are coming off their second seasons in the AHL, deserve consideration. San Diego’s Valley View Casino Center seats nearly 13,000 spectators for hockey. Bakersfield, Ontario and Stockton all hover around a 10,000 capacity.

Size-wise, those buildings are on the same par as the seasoned NCAA hockey regionals abodes in Manchester, N.H., Providence, R.I. and Rochester, N.Y. Tradition-wise, they are no different than Tampa’s Amalie Arena, Estero’s Germain Arena or Anaheim’s Honda Center (site of the 1999 Frozen Four).

The 2016-17 season saw 40 Californians spread across the 60 Division I men’s rosters, including 19 at schools in the Northeast. On the women’s side, the 2015-16 season kicked off with a Wisconsin-Providence two-game series in San Jose.

Compared to Iowa and other possible Heartland hotspots, the West Coast has the disadvantage of a lack of, in Schlossman’s words, “closely clustered” programs. But nothing is stopping a selected quartet of teams from flocking to Florida, and now another to Northern Ireland, every regular season.

Considering that, four converging journeys to the genuine West for a postseason weekend is not such an absurd proposition.

The NCAA hockey regionals can by all means remain big-time, neutral-site events without resorting to geographic misnomers. All it will take is a little thinking outside the ice box.