Shannon Miller built the University of Minnesota-Duluth into one of the best women's ice hockey programs in the country.

In case you're not hip on your college hockey knowledge, here are the numbers: She won five NCAA titles in 15 years as head coach, has a career winning percentage of .713 and has helped develop 26 current and former Olympians. That last piece of info is especially relevant because, without a domestic pro league, the Olympics are the only next level for most women's ice hockey players, and Miller routinely helps young women reach the pinnacle of their sport.

Some would say that kind of production -- that consistent development of elite female athletes -- is priceless.

But apparently that's not how the UMD administration feels.

Late on Monday night, Minnesota-Duluth issued a press release -- right smack in the middle of the hockey season, no less -- announcing that this year would be Miller's last with the program; the school would not be offering her a contract extension. To save money, UMD would be cutting ties with the 51-year-old coach. See, the university has a budget deficit of more than $6 million, and cuts have to come from somewhere.

So we're talking big savings here, right?

Wrong.

Miller will make approximately $215,000 this season. Yes, she is the highest paid women's college hockey coach in the country (and deservedly so), but her base salary is still $20,000 less than UMD men's coach Scott Sandelin. (He has been with the school since 2000 and won an NCAA title in 2011; his job appears to be safe.) Also, UMD said it has no plans of cutting the women's program, so it'll still need to pay the salary of another coach, a contract likely in the neighborhood of about $125,000 to $150,000, which is about the going rate these days for a women's coach.

So, essentially, UMD drove a stake through the heart of one of the best women's hockey programs in the country so it could maybe save about $65,000. The whole move goes down about as smooth as a cup of gravel. Consider this: Miller had already told the school she would take less money. Also, the operating budget for women's hockey was already about $275,000 less than that of the men's program. (Men's and women's hockey are the only two Division I programs at the school.)

On Thursday morning, espnW spoke with Josh Berlo, the athletic director at UMD. He said the timing of this move, and the decision to announce midseason, was driven by the contracts of the women's coaching staff, which are set to expire in June. "At the time that we were having the negotiations -- and the deadlines were driven by their contract deadlines -- we weren't in a position to offer an extension. We were required to provide notice and if we didn't do that, it was an automatic renewal for the staff. We didn't know what kind of money we could offer. We'll be in a better position to know that when we start a search."

There's no question that UMD could no longer support the highest-paid women's hockey coach in the country. And there's no question that the athletic department needs to find savings in its budget. The question is: Why wasn't Miller approached with these financial issues and given the opportunity to accept a lower salary?

Said Berlo: "I guess I have to reiterate that based on the timing and budgetary uncertainty, we weren't in a position to do that."

Berlo spoke with Matt Wellens of the Duluth News-Tribune on Monday night and also tried to explain why Miller wasn't first offered a lower salary. "Shannon has made a lot of sacrifices for UMD," Berlo told the paper. "To ask her to take a significant pay cut, we did have discussions, but I would say that we determined it was best that, we determined that the contract couldn't be extended."

In other words: There's no logical explanation. Berlo did tell espnW that UMD values female coaches and welcomes all accomplished female coaches to apply for the position once it's posted. (Only 12.5 percent of the nation's premier women's hockey programs are coached by women.)

For her part, Miller told the same reporter that she was embarrassed for the university. "Obviously I would have taken a pay cut if they would have talked to me about it," she said. "We're coming out of a recession. They are making cuts at the university. Of course I would have taken a pay cut. Possibly my staff would have taken one. I think there should have been conversations about pay cuts for staff. I think there should have been conversations about budgets being cut. But let me be very clear, those conversations should be held with the women's Division I hockey team and the men's Division I hockey team. I will not shy away from that. That is a plain and simple fact."

Another conversation UMD should have: asking itself why it believes Shannon Miller, coach of its most successful sport, is so expendable.