Mike Burger wrote with some clarifications regarding college hockey conferences, filling in the knowledge gaps. Two things of note from him:

1. Splitting up the Alaska teams was purposeful, as schools didn't want to make two trips to Alaska each season. For the CCHA, teams make 3 trips to Alaska in a 5 year period (outside of Nebraska-Omaha, who goes every year). Games don't count against game total, much as when a football team travels to play Hawaii at home.

2. CHA is mostly leftover programs from when division II hockey got shut down (which I should have known, looking at the membership). Mike thinks Robert Morris joining CHA and things standing pat is most likely (that jibes with most of what's out there) or that the ECAC will poach from Atlantic Hockey, Atlantic Hockey will poach from CHA, leaving leftover teams (like Air Force or Bemidji) out in the cold, so to speak.