U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

[Split-N]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Curious that the CHN article mentions a second school that was ****ed close to doing it as well.

I’m guessing it was Navy.

Navy would make sense from the standpoint of its being the only D1 Service academy without hockey but I live in that general area and haven't heard anything to that effect on the hockey grapevine. Pure speculation on my part but UNLV wouldn't surprise me. Plenty of $$$ (at least until recently), and some acceptable venues relatively close by.

Personally I'd love to see Syracuse or Rhode Island make the jump to fill out Hockey East but I won't hold my breath.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Curious that the CHN article mentions a second school that was ****ed close to doing it as well.

I’m guessing it was Navy.

[Groot]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Pandemic Puts Illinois Hockey on Hold, AD Says - https://t.co/jgFL14WzGS

— College Hockey News (@chnews) April 20, 2020

No surprise. Hopefully it still happens but I think a lot of schools need to figure out money. It's not even the loss of sports. Schools need to give back housing money and everything for spring semester (which was likely already spent).

[Ralph Baer]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Pandemic Puts Illinois Hockey on Hold, AD Says - https://t.co/jgFL14WzGS

— College Hockey News (@chnews) April 20, 2020

[slowe]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Here’s another decent article. Mostly similar info and quotes.


Whitman: Illini 'hit the pause button' on hockey project

https://247sports.com/college/illino...mpression=true

[slowe]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Stupid pandemic. Not surprising of course. Whitman, the athletic director still sounds optimistic. But yeah it will be a while longer. The below quotes are just a few key excerpts. The link has the whole article.


‘Short-term pause for hockey’ at Illinois

https://www.news-gazette.com/sports/...c7c92668c.html

“Candidly, we were bracing and preparing for a big announcement as early as next month,” Whitman said Monday. “We felt like we had put everything in the order that we needed. We had all the partners around the table. We had a good, solid plan to move it forward. Then, of course, everything changed.”

“We had some other key partners I think come into line the last several months that gave us a lot of confidence that we were going to be able to move this forward,” Whitman said. “I think that we’re now in the process of reconnecting with all those partners. We’ve had a couple conference calls to see where everybody’s at in light of this new environment. By and large, most people and most organizations remain very comfortable with this new situation.

“There are a couple other entities that are also kind of seeing how this is going to play out in terms of their own financial picture. It made it evident it was wisest for all of us to take a short pause here and make sure each of the different entities remains committed and capable of the support necessary to get it done.”

[joecct]

Sorry Illinois, but Duke University beat you to starting a D1 hockey program......

https://www.thetelegram.com/sports/h...t-item-427557/

"After first committing to University of Vermont, Pasichnuk went on an adventure with forward brother Steenn on the start-up NCAA Blue Devils, playing hockey in the desert, "

Fredonia has been playing for years, and they are in the far west (of NY).

[Sol Diablo]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Sorry Illinois, but Duke University beat you to starting a D1 hockey program......

https://www.thetelegram.com/sports/h...t-item-427557/

"After first committing to University of Vermont, Pasichnuk went on an adventure with forward brother Steenn on the start-up NCAA Blue Devils, playing hockey in the desert, "

[4four4]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

I would be leery of assuming that people with $200 million to invest two weeks ago still have $200 million to invest.

I would agree.

[AMC]

If anybody is bored here are some old links for this project.

The Yards Concept Design – Subject to Change

‘The Yards’ Downtown Development Clears Hurdle At Champaign City Council Study Session

$200 million project could completely transform Champaign

I would be leery of assuming that people with $200 million to invest two weeks ago still have $200 million to invest.

[4four4]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

If anybody is bored here are some old links for this project.

The Yards Concept Design – Subject to Change

‘The Yards’ Downtown Development Clears Hurdle At Champaign City Council Study Session

$200 million project could completely transform Champaign

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Because after a decade of not being able to do this, the money finally shook loose during a massive financial crisis?

Did someone short any airline stocks? Is Le Chiffre an alum?

[slowe]

Because after a decade of not being able to do this, the money finally shook loose during a massive financial crisis?

Yes. I think this is the first time the university has actually asked. Generally they are slow to pick up new sports for fear of diluting the donor pool.

[AMC]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Nothing new here but from what I have been told today IL is getting closer to getting all their ducks in a row. This will get done.

Because after a decade of not being able to do this, the money finally shook loose during a massive financial crisis?

[4four4]

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Same source that said they are going to shrink the capacity of Mariucci by 1,500

Throw enough darts one will hit

This IL rumor came from a top executive in the USHL and not somebody within U of M.