Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce
Well, it was the WCHA or no program at all. I can confirm that we would've dropped the program at the end of 12-13 if our bid hadn't been accepted.
Beyond being happy to still be playing hockey, I think that we're happy with the quality of play. Guys are looking at us now that wouldn't give us the time of day before, which you would expect, but we're getting more serious interest from better players, and I think that has a lot to do with the quality of hockey that's being played in the WCHA. I think that we can all sell guys on these facts: 1) the league is strong top to bottom; 2) if you're really good, you'll probably play right away; 3) scouts do notice us. All of the departures, early or on-time, help everybody for recruiting, but they especially help UAH. It's nice to be able to hang your hat on more than just Cam Talbot (although he makes a hell of a coat rack — tall and is used to holding his arms up for an hour).
I don't think that we'll see an up-tick in attendance in the fall for football- and performance-related reasons. If we've got five wins at the break, maybe people will take us a little more seriously. It's a hard sell right now getting teams in here over our SPHL franchise, even though the SPHL is rightly touted as the Stop Playing Hockey League. Those games appear better because they are more competitive. Give us a season where we're averaging 2-3 goals a game and things are different.
I'm optimistic.
GFM
Originally posted by manurespreader
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Beyond being happy to still be playing hockey, I think that we're happy with the quality of play. Guys are looking at us now that wouldn't give us the time of day before, which you would expect, but we're getting more serious interest from better players, and I think that has a lot to do with the quality of hockey that's being played in the WCHA. I think that we can all sell guys on these facts: 1) the league is strong top to bottom; 2) if you're really good, you'll probably play right away; 3) scouts do notice us. All of the departures, early or on-time, help everybody for recruiting, but they especially help UAH. It's nice to be able to hang your hat on more than just Cam Talbot (although he makes a hell of a coat rack — tall and is used to holding his arms up for an hour).
I don't think that we'll see an up-tick in attendance in the fall for football- and performance-related reasons. If we've got five wins at the break, maybe people will take us a little more seriously. It's a hard sell right now getting teams in here over our SPHL franchise, even though the SPHL is rightly touted as the Stop Playing Hockey League. Those games appear better because they are more competitive. Give us a season where we're averaging 2-3 goals a game and things are different.
I'm optimistic.
GFM
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