FAIRBANKS—Western Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Bruce McLeod was impressed with the community support for the Alaska Nanooks. He also had high regards for the Carlson Center, the Olympic-size ice arena of the Nanooks of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

However, McLeod’s visit on Tuesday to the University of Alaska Fairbanks and around Fairbanks was to get a sense of the Nanooks as a possible WCHA menber in 2013-14, when NCAA Division I hockey experiences realignment.

Current CCHA programs Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State are joining WCHA schools Wisconsin and Minnesota and college hockey newcomer Penn State in the Big Ten Conference in 2013-14.

It’s the same season that the National Collegiate Hockey Conference begins play with Miami (Ohio) of the CCHA and five WCHA members — North Dakota, Nebraska-Omaha, Colorado College, Denver and reigning national champion Minnesota-Duluth. Also, the CCHA’s Northern Michigan is returning to the WCHA that season.

McLeod also touched on a meeting two weeks ago in Chicago with CCHA officials that included a discussion of a possible merger for 2013-14. The conjunction would consist of the remaining CCHA programs — Nanooks, Notre Dame, Bowling Green State (Ohio), and Michigan schools Lake Superior State, Ferris State and Western Michigan — and Northern Michigan and the five remaining WCHA schools —Alaska Anchorage, Michigan Tech and Minnesota schools St. Cloud State, Bemidji State and Minnesota State-Mankato.

However, there’s been speculation that Western Michigan and Notre Dame may go elsewhere in 2013-14.

McLeod stressed that Tuesday’s visit to Fairbanks was about exploring the Nanooks program that is under consideration for membership in the WCHA. During the day, those affiliated with the Nanooks — such as UAF administration, coaches and supporters — became familiar with the 64-year-old commissioner and the league he’s overseen for 16 years.

McLeod’s first visit to Fairbanks since the early 1990s was set during a conference call in July with athletic directors from the five remaining WCHA schools.

“It’s been a good day and from my perspective, I gained a much better insight into the (program), which is really important to us,” McLeod said Tuesday evening during a media conference in the UAF Patty Center. “I think at the base, the most important thing you can have in a conference is you have to have people on the same page and you have to have a certain level of commitment from the institution.”

UAF athletic director Forrest Karr said in a recent News-Miner article that the university spent about $2.4 million last year on hockey operations, including salaries, travel, scholarships, equipment and facility rental.

Karr shared information about the program’s revenue and expenses with McLeod on Tuesday.

“I can tell you in general that it falls within kind of the top and bottom of the parameters of the current (12-team) WCHA,” McLeod said.

Said Karr, “We wanted to show the university’s financial commitment and demonstrate the community support and passion for the (Nanooks) program, and give a little sense of how our university would be the right fit for the WCHA.”

“You have to look at the academic institution as a whole,” Karr continued, “and whether the university and the community and everything that it entails, whether that fits in with the other WCHA institutions. Hopefully, we did a good job of showing him that.”

The Carlson Center fit the WCHA’s criteria for a minimum seating capacity of 4,500, as it seats 4,545 for hockey. The 21-year-old arena recently received a $3.5-million appropriation from the state legislature for improvements, such as the construction of new lockerrooms.

The number of an arena’s seats, however, aren’t critical in determining if its college hockey tenant becomes a WCHA member. For example, the Bemidji Regional Events Center seats about 4,200, McLeod said.

“These are very expensive programs and you need a fighting chance to make ends meet on these things,” said McLeod. “We just figured out over the years that that’s the kind of capacity, roughly, that you need.”

The WCHA’s seating criteria was geared toward the visiting teams.

“If you can get your program going, you can fill that thing up and you’re going to have a fighting chance in making ends meet and hopefully, making a few dollars,” McLeod said.

One sticking point for potential WCHA membership for the Nanooks is whether opponents want to come to Alaska twice a season to play the Nanooks and the UAA Seawolves.

A possible scenario includes teams rotating visits to Alaska — Fairbanks one season and Anchorage the next.

“We worked on some things, not really knowing ... a lot of it is dictated by numbers,” McLeod sad. “We haven’t decided, the WCHA as an entity, whether we’re approaching this thing kind of from a (perspective of) adding one team at a time, or whatever, and trying to get the best fits that way.”

The possible merger may be a factor. McLeod and the CCHA officials are set to meet again Aug. 23.

“There’s a sense I have from the CCHA people that they want to approach this more from a group type of merger thing,” McLeod said. “The first question they asked me is ‘How are you approaching this, Bruce?’ Obviously, I told them we don’t have a single approach right now, it’s kind of a do approach to the thing where we kind of work our way through it.”

McLeod worked his way around the UAF campus and Fairbanks on Tuesday, including visiting the Fairbanks Hockey Hall of Fame in the Big Dipper Ice Arena and having lunch with Ferguson and Nanooks supporters.

“I have a good sense of the support both administratively and from the community,” he said. “The facility (Carlson Center) is just fine. It’s the idea of trying to find some ways about being creative about the travel to here twice a year.”

Contact staff writer Danny Martin at 459-7586.