FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

[dggoddard]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

Not at all biased. Any team in the country, that is ranked #1 should pack their arena for a playoff game. Do you think Boston College wouldn't pack their arena if they were number 1 and playing Merrimack? Definitely. Michigan would pack Yost if they were 1 and playing Bowling Green. Cornell would pack Lynah if they were 1 and playing Brown. Hell, Air Force packs their arena when they play ****ing Canisius. The fact that Denver doesn't pack their arena when they're number 1 is pathetic, plain and simple. There are NO EXCUSES for that.

If DU was in 10th place & CC was in 9th, the building would be packed. In Denver the opponent matters. This is why I was so opposed to Bemidji & UNO joining the league.

These WCHA playoff games mean nothing. Blame Pairwise.

If DU had to make the Final 5 to receive an NCAA bid, it would bave been closer to a sell-out.

[Arafel]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

Not at all biased. Any team in the country, that is ranked #1 should pack their arena for a playoff game. Do you think Boston College wouldn't pack their arena if they were number 1 and playing Merrimack? Definitely. Michigan would pack Yost if they were 1 and playing Bowling Green. Cornell would pack Lynah if they were 1 and playing Brown. Hell, Air Force packs their arena when they play ****ing Canisius. The fact that Denver doesn't pack their arena when they're number 1 is pathetic, plain and simple. There are NO EXCUSES for that.

From the Hockey East thread:

Attendance when BC hosted BU in the HE playoffs
3/11/2004: 3250
3/12/2004: 4706
3/13/2004: 4329

Last night's HE playoff numbers:

Maine 3,000 exactly.
BC 2,888
UNH 3,712
BU 3,508

Looks like your argument doesn't hold water. The fact is that the conference tournaments aren't that important unless you are a bubble team.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

Anyone know why Robinson made the start last night over Genoe.

If it was a hunch, it almost worked.

Probably Genoe tonight. Can we squeak out a victory without Olson.
I hope Royer is back.

Robinson was the better goalie last weekend against UND. They've split the past two series, and both have gotten shelled as usual, but Russell knows he has to ride the hot glove at this point and Robinson seemed to have regained his confidence in his last couple of starts.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

If DU was in 10th place & CC was in 9th, the building would be packed. In Denver the opponent matters. This is why I was so opposed to Bemidji & UNO joining the league.

These WCHA playoff games mean nothing. Blame Pairwise.

If DU had to make the Final 5 to receive an NCAA bid, it would bave been closer to a sell-out.

Why wouldn't want to go watch a good game? I've never understood why opponent matters. Last night's game was a good game from what I could hear on the radio. I always thought paying to see a game was about being entertained...not seeing the opponent play your team... Just admit that the DU fanbase sucks, plain and simple!

[A Shot and a Goal]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

Robinson was the better goalie last weekend against UND. They've split the past two series, and both have gotten shelled as usual, but Russell knows he has to ride the hot glove at this point and Robinson seemed to have regained his confidence in his last couple of starts.

Fade, Robinson kept Tech in the game. Denver dominated through stretches of the game, had some solid scoring chances and your goalie prevented the Pioneers from boosting their lead to, perhaps, 4-1 or 5-1. He was impressive as were the Huskies. Based on his performance last night I expect to see Robinson in goal again. Maybe Jamie Russell has already decided to rotate goalies for the series. Job well done by Robinson last night. I'm looking forward to this evening's game.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

Fade, Robinson kept Tech in the game. Denver dominated through stretches of the game, had some solid scoring chances and your goalie prevented the Pioneers from boosting their lead to, perhaps, 4-1 or 5-1. He was impressive as were the Huskies. Based on his performance last night I expect to see Robinson in goal again. Maybe Jamie Russell has already decided to rotate goalies for the series. Job well done by Robinson last night. I'm looking forward to this evening's game.

Yeah, I know. Too late to save his stats this year, but hopefully another good performance (or maybe two ) in goal will go a long way towards getting a good, competitive rotation back in place next season.

I suppose JR could have also decided before the series that unless one of them manages to steal a win, each would get a start for the sake of playoff experience. After Robinson's performance last night though, I'm all for giving him another go.

[Dmann]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

So this lack of TV coverage is killing me!! Women's basketball!! Good God !!! It looks like I can get the UND vs Minny game, thank God!! Does anyone out there know of any link besides the DU one? Like what about JustinTV, or something out of Mich Tech?, I've become spoiled ever since I got the sports package with Direct TV, a lot of good it's doing me now right?

[dggoddard]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

Why wouldn't want to go watch a good game? I've never understood why opponent matters. Last night's game was a good game from what I could hear on the radio. I always thought paying to see a game was about being entertained...not seeing the opponent play your team... Just admit that the DU fanbase sucks, plain and simple!

I'd rather have a sucky fanbase than a sucky team.

DU has the highest or 2nd highest ticket prices in the WCHA. Draw's 92.5% of capacity and the tickets that don't sell are the crappy $18 end zone seats behind the nets. Two season tickets in DU's Gold Club (est. seating 300) cost $3,000 per season.

2009-2010
Team	       Dates	Avg.	Capacity	% Cap.
Wisconsin	20	15144	15,237	           99.4
North Dakota	19	11653	11,500	          101.3
Minnesota	20	10108	9,700	          104.2
Nebraska-Omaha	21	6866	16,680	           41.2
Michigan	18	6646	6,637	          100.1
COL. College	20	6548	7,343	           89.2
New Hampshire	18	6134	6,110	          100.4
Boston College	16	5913	7,884	           75.0
St. Cloud State	19	5893	5,763	          102.3
Denver	        20	5571	6,026	           92.5
Boston Univ.	17	5343	6,300	           84.8
Massachusetts	15	5313	8,373   	   63.4
Michigan State	19	5008	6,470 	    77.4
Mass.-Lowell	17	4664	6,496 	    71.8
Minn.-Duluth	20	4596	5,233 	    87.8
Maine 	        18	4469	5,641 	79.2
Cornell        	15	4264	4,300	99.2
Vermont     	18	3944	4,003	98.5
Minn. State	19	3880	4,832	80.3
AK-Anchorage	17	3310	6,206	53.3
Yale           	14	3198	3,486	91.7
Northeastern	15	3197	6,000	53.3
Miami	        18	3162	3,642	86.8
Ohio State	20	3096	17,500	17.7
Alaska	        19	3069	4,595	66.8
Dartmouth	15	2935	4,500	65.2
N. Michigan	18	2934	3,800	77.2
Rensselaer	20	2859	5,217	54.8
Notre Dame	18	2765	2,667	103.7
Quinnipiac	21	2671	3,286	81.3
Clarkson	16	2647	3,000	88.2
Air Force	18	2565	2,635	97.3
W. Michigan	18	2393	3,667	65.3
Harvard	         14	2378	2,776	85.6
Lake Superior	16	2314	3,373	68.6
St. Lawrence	18	2213	3,000	73.8
Bowling Green	16	2203	5,000	44.1
Bemidji State	15	2181	2,415	90.3
Merrimack	16	2176	3,000	72.5
Michigan Tech	17	2164	4,200	51.5
Army	         15	1990	2,648	75.1
Ala.-Huntsville	12	1866	6,800	27.4
Union	         17	1864	2,504	74.5
RIT	         16	1763	2,100	83.9
Ferris State	19	1643	2,457	66.9
Providence	16	1629	3,030	53.8
Princeton	16	1545	2,100	73.6
Brown	13	1394	2,495	55.9
Colgate	18	1164	2,600	44.8
Niagara	14	1067	2,100	50.8
Holy Cross	17	929	1,400	66.4
Robert Morris	13	764	1,100	69.4
Connecticut	15	740	2,000	37.0
Mercyhurst	15	738	1,500	49.2
Canisius	18	671	1,800	37.3
Sacred Heart	15	408	1,000	40.8
Bentley	15	387	1,200	32.3
American Int'l	14	238	1,200	19.8

[Old Pio]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

Not at all biased. Any team in the country, that is ranked #1 should pack their arena for a playoff game. Do you think Boston College wouldn't pack their arena if they were number 1 and playing Merrimack? Definitely. Michigan would pack Yost if they were 1 and playing Bowling Green. Cornell would pack Lynah if they were 1 and playing Brown. Hell, Air Force packs their arena when they play ****ing Canisius. The fact that Denver doesn't pack their arena when they're number 1 is pathetic, plain and simple. There are NO EXCUSES for that.

Let me join the chorus and suggest (politely) that you're talking through your hat. Any comparison of attendance that matches DU against Michigan is fatally flawed and terribly unfair. You certainly don't mean to suggest there's equivalence between the entertainment opportunities in Denver and Ann Arbor. Do you? If so, your argument is immediately exposed as without merit. There IS no comparison between Denver and Ann Arbor in this regard. And how big is the Michigan student body? 35K, 40K? Many times larger than the DU student body. And has been pointed out, many DU students are gone on Spring break (DU is on quarters, not semesters, one of the really attractive things about the place). Further, whoever came up with the idea of conference playoffs in whatever sport should be roasting in hell. From DU's perspective, we've won the conference title, what's the point of the vaunted "Final 5" anyway, except to make money for the WCHA and give regular season losers another bite at the apple and justify tournament bids and higher seedings? And no offense to our friends from the UP, a matchup of #1 against #10 is not calculated to get people's adrenaline flowing, especially when they played a regular season matchup so recently.

DU has a hockey base at most of, say, 6-7 thousand. And those folks have been mighty loyal over the years, considering how generally awful our teams and facilities were in the years between Murray Armstrong and George Gwozdecky. In the old days, DU hockey was THE winter sport in Denver. No NHL, no NBA, the Broncos sucked (and were in the AFL) anybody who was anybody showed up at our games (mayors, governors, candidates, business leaders etc.). Those days are long gone and DU has to fight like the dickens to get any recognition from the Denver media. That long dark period when DU dropped down to D-II certainly didn't help in that regard (even though hockey remained D-I).

DU has never generated the kind of student support that a Big Ten school does, and never will. But we can and should do better. Some of our DU posters (DG and Puck Swami particularly) have worked very hard to improve the overall intensity at DU home games (return of a pep band, encouraging students to learn and sing the fight song and last week's very successful White Out are some examples of the progress that's been made). So we're taking small steps in the right direction.

You may wish to categorize the forgoing as "excuses," but those are the realities DU faces everyday in a very sophisticated market with the world's best skiing just a short drive away (historically DU professors have been loath to schedule tests on Fridays during ski season because, well, nobody will be there).

This windy exegesis is predicated on the assumption that you're ignorant of these matters, rather than malicious. If I'm in error, then go bleep yourself.

[Jeff_Jackson_for_Pres.]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

So this lack of TV coverage is killing me!!

D'accord. I've watched many DU games this season and when I tuned to channel #683 and saw no hockey, I wasn't a happy camper. (Not to mention the CCHA marquee matchup of Michigan and MSU wasn't on FSD...)

Regardless of the lack of tv coverage (which meant I got to listen to the QU-Union history maker)... last night was a little too close for comfort. Kinda surprised that neither Rakhshani nor Ruegsegger was on the scoresheet.

Good luck tonight.

[bcfan131]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

Not at all biased. Any team in the country, that is ranked #1 should pack their arena for a playoff game. Do you think Boston College wouldn't pack their arena if they were number 1 and playing Merrimack? Definitely. Michigan would pack Yost if they were 1 and playing Bowling Green. Cornell would pack Lynah if they were 1 and playing Brown. Hell, Air Force packs their arena when they play ****ing Canisius. The fact that Denver doesn't pack their arena when they're number 1 is pathetic, plain and simple. There are NO EXCUSES for that.

Nobody in Hockey East ever sells out their quarterfinal games. Even BU last season, who was ranked #1 in the country and playing a historic "Hockey East Big 4" rival in Maine, didn't sell out their quarterfinal games last year. BC never sells out quarterfinal games, no matter where they're ranked (this year we're ranked 4th) and who they're playing. Even UNH only had 3500 people at the Whit last night, and they average a sellout at their arena this season. We're trying to figure that out on one of the other boards on this site.

[SiouxTechie]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

I'd rather have a sucky fanbase than a sucky team.

I feel like I need to respond to this, being a fan of UND AND Tech. (UND, great fanbase and decent team. Tech, decent fanbase and crappy team.)

As hard as it is to be a Tech fan, Tech has some great fans. Being an avid road trip junkie, I've realized that FANS make up part of the team. Talking to hockey players, they always mention that having a great fanbase is one of the best parts of being on a hockey team. Without the fans, they have nobody to perform for.

I agree with what people have been saying about DU's hockey fans not showing up for games. I've heard that there are more Sioux fans in the building than DU fans when the Sioux go to Denver, even when school is in session. Yes, UND fans travel well. But even IN Denver, you can't get more DU fans to show up for a Pio/Sioux hockey game?

Denver has the same amount of national championships as UND, and they are a great team year in and year out. There should be no excuse that you're not filling your arena for games. I don't care if people don't want to watch Tech, they should go because they want to watch DU!! Show up for the big games AND the not-so-big games!

[dggoddard]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

I've heard that there are more Sioux fans in the building than DU fans when the Sioux go to Denver, even when school is in session. [/B]

Not true. You need to quit drinking the green kool aid.

[Old Pio]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

I feel like I need to respond to this, being a fan of UND AND Tech. (UND, great fanbase and decent team. Tech, decent fanbase and crappy team.)

As hard as it is to be a Tech fan, Tech has some great fans. Being an avid road trip junkie, I've realized that FANS make up part of the team. Talking to hockey players, they always mention that having a great fanbase is one of the best parts of being on a hockey team. Without the fans, they have nobody to perform for.

I agree with what people have been saying about DU's hockey fans not showing up for games. I've heard that there are more Sioux fans in the building than DU fans when the Sioux go to Denver, even when school is in session. Yes, UND fans travel well. But even IN Denver, you can't get more DU fans to show up for a Pio/Sioux hockey game?

Denver has the same amount of national championships as UND, and they are a great team year in and year out. There should be no excuse that you're not filling your arena for games. I don't care if people don't want to watch Tech, they should go because they want to watch DU!! Show up for the big games AND the not-so-big games!

I've got tears rolling down my cheeks. Are you actually comparing Denver with Grand Friggin' Forks? What, exactly, is there to do in Grand Forks on hockey nights other than troop to that leather upholstered, mahogany and marble erection and support the Sioux? Give me a total break. You're comparing apples to oranges, and I assume you know it. There are NOT more Sioux fans in Magness during games with UND (although I understand any number of folks with fewer than the average number of teeth and green wigs do show up looking to get into the witness protection program).

So buzz off with your UNDie bragging will ya?

[Yager]

Re: FORE! WCHA First Round - Michigan Tech at Denver

I just wish Tech could host the games if Denver didn't appreciate them.