Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

[Badger Booster]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

Assuming that UW includes season ticket holders are included in attendence figures regardless of whether they show or not, then the crowd was probably less than 1,700. I was one of those that had to work Friday and going to a 2:00 Friday game isn't normally doable. I would love to know the official reason why they can't play a women's game at 4:00 and the men at 7:00 on the same day. While I would hope it's not parking, what other good reason would there be?

Hopefully, the incoming storm that is supposed to hit Madison right around face-off time won't be that bad. That's kind of the way this season is going. The last Saturday night game ended up going against the Packers which probably cost them a near sellout and now a winter storm that will probably prevent some people from going.

At this point, today's game is less about ending the Gophers' streak and the Border Battle in general, but rather picking up some much needed points. It's going to be a fine line between finishing 2nd and 5th this year. Badgers left some crucial home conference points on the table earlier and now have to get them back by any means necessary.

[Nowheresville]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

15 minutes from faceoff and you'd never guess this is a sellout. Rows upon rows of empty seats. Crowd isn't even much bigger than Friday.

[ManBehindTheCurtain]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

15 minutes from faceoff and you'd never guess this is a sellout. Rows upon rows of empty seats. Crowd isn't even much bigger than Friday.

Huge number of empty seats evident even on the webstream. Bad weather?

[brookyone]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

Huge number of empty seats evident even on the webstream. Bad weather?

Caught the Championship Belt manufacturer on screen though.

[Badger Booster]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

Huge number of empty seats evident even on the webstream. Bad weather?

Freezing rain and a winter storm advisory was the main culprit. The frustrating thing that I saw (besides the game) was before I went in, there were several families and couples that got up to the door, saw that it was a sellout and left. That was just in the 5 minutes I was out there selling my lone extra ticket. Who knows how much walk-up was lost. I've seen multiple games this year with as many if not more fans there than today.

[Nowheresville]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

I can give a pass for what UW defines as a sellout, being that this is LaBahn's first year, but they really can't have a situation like today again where there are hundreds upon hundreds of empty seats for a "sold out" game. The sections between the face off circles were pretty well filled up, but the entire back 1/3 of the rink was practically empty. It's hard to do "standing room" tickets for a general admission event, but it looks like they need to oversell the arena pretty significantly. The sport just can't afford to be turning people away for no reason at all.

As far as the game itself, I couldn't be more impressed with the depth of the Gopher team. Watching the 2013 Gophers against the 2007 Badgers would be one of those amazing video game type matchups I'd love to see.

Wisconsin played their best hockey of the weekend coming out of the gate to start the third period, with multiple scoring chances, but just not being able to push one across. All those chances without a goal seemed to lead to a classic letdown moment, where Minnesota scored a greasy 4th goal that just slid into the net, another chance just minutes later that hit the inside of the post and lucky for Wisconsin bounced directly back under Rigsby, and then got the Power Play where the Gophers were pounding the Rigsby with shots, until one finally went by with a second left on the PP to ice the game.

[ManBehindTheCurtain]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

Freezing rain and a winter storm advisory was the main culprit. The frustrating thing that I saw (besides the game) was before I went in, there were several families and couples that got up to the door, saw that it was a sellout and left. That was just in the 5 minutes I was out there selling my lone extra ticket. Who knows how much walk-up was lost. I've seen multiple games this year with as many if not more fans there than today.

Well, weather is weather. Particularly winter weather is winter weather. Too bad, too bad.

It is a double shame that more people didn't see this game live and that people who wanted to see it were turned away.

The box score lists the game as 2,273 (sellout).

[Nowheresville]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

I really don't think the weather had much of an impact on the attendance. Yes, there was some sleet right before gametime, and that might have kept a couple people home, but it wasn't some major winter storm. If the ticket office would have kept selling tickets, you would have had a full house and then some. The problem is that you had hundreds of tickets sold to people who had no intention of showing up to the game.

[NMH]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

I disagree that the weather wasn't a factor. While the actual weather didn't end up being too bad, it was built up bigger than that. Threats of more than 1/4" of ice on the ground is absolutely going to keep people at home.

Additionally, we arrived 30 minutes before puck drop and it was not pretty out - it was snow/sleet/hail and it kind of hurt. I can see folks walking out in it and turning right back around. This is where the cheap ticket works against UW - folks haven't invested much and therefore have no problem "eating" the ticket.

I was really surprised there seemed to be about 4 students there. This, again, can be attributed to the weather, IMO. Rough Saturday night means the motivation is low and you look out the window at that hard snow and you think "no way I'm going to that game."

I wonder about the season ticket folks being no-shows. I live in Milwaukee and have season tickets because they're just $30 each. I braved the weather and went today, but I wonder if there aren't more like me who buy them because they're so cheap, but don't actually go very much. I personally try to give away my tickets to any game I can't attend, but no one ever takes me up on them.

As for the game - you know how when a team is going good, they can do no wrong? Everything falls their way? Minnesota is in that sphere. I say that with no malice and with no excuses - they were the better team. But it seemed like every time the Badgers were able to knock a puck away, it literally landed right on another Gopher's stick.

The Badgers came out for the first and the beginning of the third with lots of gusto, but looked very flat other than that. Leaving the bench to start the second they looked tired and lackluster. It was pretty uninspiring.

[Nowheresville]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

The reason I don't think weather was a big factor is that the number of no-shows seems to be pretty much in line with an average game. It seems like the announced attendance for pretty much every game is about 500 more than who actually show up. I've also seen plenty of days with much worse weather, and better crowds - of course that was at the Kohl Center where you didn't have to turn people away who wanted to come to the game.

I certainly don't think you can say the weather had any impact on the student attendance - those 4 students are the same 4 (and the only 4) who are at pretty much every game. If there was any issue with a lack of student attendance it is that because of the sell-out, the all-sport passes were not valid for the game, and/or that students are much more likely to buy at the gate.

The prices of season tickets is however likely a big factor. I completely agree that they are at a price point where people don't feel like they are out anything if they don't go to every game. I know I'm that way too, I've missed a lot of games this year, but it doesn't bother me when I've got something else going on and have to skip a game. I don't want to see the season ticket price go up, but I do see how it can contribute to the problem. I would think that overselling - and making sure people know that their ticket does not guarentee an actual seat - might be the best bet. Even in a worst case, there's a lot of standing room available if there are actually more fans than seats.

[icebadger]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

Leading up to this weekend's games, I thought to myself, "Hey this might be a great series to attend. Maybe I can bring my 2-year old daughter." Then I heard both games were sell-outs and weren't at the Kohl Center. I couldn't believe the latter part of that. I know it's nice for the women to have their own arena, but for the Minnesota series not moving it to the KC seemed silly. As it turned out, there seemed to be plenty of room, but there were probably a lot of people who were going to get tickets in the days leading up to the game but didn't bother trying when they heard it was sold out.

[Badger Booster]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

I think I fall somewhere in the middle on the attendence issue. Freezing rain and a threat of a winter storm was starting an hour or two before the game. I'm sure that kept many casual fans away that weren't overly invested in the game. And yes, at $5/adult & $2/kid-student, it's easier to eat the ticket. However, by all means, I don't advocate raising the price of the tickets.

Unfortunately, there were more devoted fans who made the trek to the game only to be turned away when there were plenty of seats to accomodate them. I'm not sure it cost them many fans, but when I heard that the all-sport passes were invalid, it just ended any chance of more students to come and check out the game.

I'm intrigued by the overselling concept. Because of general admission seating, a natural number of no-shows (for whatever reason) and a fair amount of standing room spots, they could probably sell 120% of official capacity. Then it could be first-come, first serve until it's actually full. Logistically challenging perhaps, but would prevent what happened yesterday.

[Badger Booster]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

As far as the game went, I felt like I was watching the Badger teams from '09/'11..except they were wearing maroon and gold. Unrelenting offensive pressure, big physical defensemen and great goaltending.

Personally, I thought that Wisconsin had good energy and effort for most of the game, but were running on fumes especially for the last 10 minutes of the game. Gophers looked motivated to put up as many goals as possible.

At this point, the battle now fully shifts to locking down either the #2 or #3 spot in the league. Ultimately, I think the 4/5 spot will be the kiss of death for whoever ends up there. First off, that 4/5 series will easily be the toughest of the WCHA quarterfinals. Then if you advance to the WCHA semis, you'll get Minnesota right off the bat.

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

Well, the gals are hanging onto the 8th spot in the polls with da dawgettes and sue all over them. Is a 5-1 finish to the season a reasonable expectation? I think so.

[Badger Booster]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2012-2013 - The LaBahn Era Begins

Well, the gals are hanging onto the 8th spot in the polls with da dawgettes and sue all over them. Is a 5-1 finish to the season a reasonable expectation? I think so.

Anything less than finishing 5-1 would be a disapppointment. Running the table or going 5-1 probably gets them 2nd or 3rd which is key in getting a NCAA spot. I don't think any team finishing lower than that has a shot unless they win the WCHA tournament.