UNH 2020 Off-Season Thread: That Rinky-Shrinky Thang And Other Lively Banter :D

[HockeyRef]

Nice comeback win for the B's eh Snively!! Wasn't sure if they would pull it off. Big night for Pasta with the hattie. On another note, read on Twitter yesterday that UNH hockey will have a 'trial' game for 500 fans; no details on when, who that will be? Assume mostly students? Personally I doubt 500 students would go? Mix of fans/students?

[Chuck Murray]

Nice comeback win for the B's eh Snively!! Wasn't sure if they would pull it off. Big night for Pasta with the hattie. On another note, read on Twitter yesterday that UNH hockey will have a 'trial' game for 500 fans; no details on when, who that will be? Assume mostly students? Personally I doubt 500 students would go? Mix of fans/students?

For the sheer novelty, and without a lot of alternate options on campus right now, getting 500 kids to go should be a breeze. Why do you think it would be difficult to get that many to go, HR?

By now, we've all seen NHL games in Florida and Arizona where fans have been allowed.

I believe a few NBA teams have begun or are beginning to allow some fans.

Plenty of NFL and CFB teams allowed fans this past Fall/Winter.

[Felger]

For the sheer novelty, and without a lot of alternate options on campus right now, getting 500 kids to go should be a breeze. Why do you think it would be difficult to get that many to go, HR?

By now, we've all seen NHL games in Florida and Arizona where fans have been allowed.

I believe a few NBA teams have begun or are beginning to allow some fans.

Plenty of NFL and CFB teams allowed fans this past Fall/Winter.

Hoping UNH will next month and wonder if the hockey experiment might be a dry run.

[Chuck Murray]

Hoping UNH will next month and wonder if the hockey experiment might be a dry run.

What a shame UNH Hockey (a/k/a "Marty's Folly") didn't do outdoor hockey at "his" stadium.

I thought that was one of my better suggestions. He'd already have his answer if they did ...

[TV producer]

The cost of "outdoor game" rink installation/refrigeration etc runs about $850K. Not sure that is in the budget this year.

[Darius]

https://campusrec.unh.edu/facilities/mendums-pond?

[Chuck Murray]

The cost of "outdoor game" rink installation/refrigeration etc runs about $850K. Not sure that is in the budget this year.

Thanks for the input. I'm not so sure about that (budgeted or not) ... there had to be a pretty sizable line-item in the budget for the whole "shrink the rink" thing that got carried forward OR was just dropped back into the general fund, when the work was delayed. You have to think some money from that line-item would've been available there for outdoor rink facility costs?

Play 10 home games, sell 3,000 tickets (could be well more?) at $20 a pop, that's $600,000 before you get to parking, concessions and other potential revenue sources. You've got to think signage opportunities would be greater outdoors than at The Whitt, especially if there was TV/online media coverage. Also, save the cost of rebates to The Whitt's signage sponsors?

Even if costs were rounded to $1MM, the revenue opportunities could have been fantastic, even just for the novelty factor. Offer the facility for the now-abandoned Beanpot, or an alternative to the now-abandoned NCAA Regional from Manchester and you would have been guaranteed to be well in the black overall.

It's too late now, but it wasn't too late back in the Fall, when this was all quite foreseeable.

It's sad that no one dares to dream big over there (or anywhere, for that matter) any more ...

[Snively65]

Nice comeback win for the B's eh Snively!! Wasn't sure if they would pull it off. Big night for Pasta with the hattie. On another note, read on Twitter yesterday that UNH hockey will have a 'trial' game for 500 fans; no details on when, who that will be? Assume mostly students? Personally I doubt 500 students would go? Mix of fans/students?

I thought that JvR looked strong again in the game, with two assists, three SOG, and always a force around the net, especially on the PP.

[Snively65]

Thanks for the input. I'm not so sure about that (budgeted or not) ... there had to be a pretty sizable line-item in the budget for the whole "shrink the rink" thing that got carried forward OR was just dropped back into the general fund, when the work was delayed. You have to think some money from that line-item would've been available there for outdoor rink facility costs?

Play 10 home games, sell 3,000 tickets (could be well more?) at $20 a pop, that's $600,000 before you get to parking, concessions and other potential revenue sources. You've got to think signage opportunities would be greater outdoors than at The Whitt, especially if there was TV/online media coverage. Also, save the cost of rebates to The Whitt's signage sponsors?

Even if costs were rounded to $1MM, the revenue opportunities could have been fantastic, even just for the novelty factor. Offer the facility for the now-abandoned Beanpot, or an alternative to the now-abandoned NCAA Regional from Manchester and you would have been guaranteed to be well in the black overall.

It's too late now, but it wasn't too late back in the Fall, when this was all quite foreseeable.

It's sad that no one dares to dream big over there (or anywhere, for that matter) any more ...

When I was growing up in Durham, we flooded our backyard every winter with a garden hose to play hockey (much cheaper than $850k). Our boards were huge snowbanks, as back then we used to get lots of natural snowfall in winter, you know, before Al Gore caused the climate to change. :-)

[HockeyRef]

For the sheer novelty, and without a lot of alternate options on campus right now, getting 500 kids to go should be a breeze. Why do you think it would be difficult to get that many to go, HR?

By now, we've all seen NHL games in Florida and Arizona where fans have been allowed.

I believe a few NBA teams have begun or are beginning to allow some fans.

Plenty of NFL and CFB teams allowed fans this past Fall/Winter.

If we are talking about students, I'm not sure (without the exception of "White Out the Whitt" games) that there is ever 500 kids there, but, hey, love to see that happen. It would be awesome to see fans at games particularly students. Man, I watched a little of the Ottawa v Canadiens last night; if you haven't seen Tim Stutzle play he's something else. Of course makes me ask the 'what might have been' q but, he wasn't destined to be a college hockey player.

Here's to the weekend will we see a full 60 out of the 'Cats? Let's go!

[Chuck Murray]

If we are talking about students, I'm not sure (without the exception of "White Out the Whitt" games) that there is ever 500 kids there, but, hey, love to see that happen. It would be awesome to see fans at games particularly students.

If properly promoted, the student turnout for a "test" game at The Whitt would make WOTW look like nothing special. The students haven't had anything they've been allowed to do around campus, certainly anything close to what this would be.

It would be an event. Correction - it would be an EVENT.

Probably much the same if they allowed students to only go see Women's Hockey FWIW.

Man, I watched a little of the Ottawa v Canadiens last night; if you haven't seen Tim Stutzle play he's something else. Of course makes me ask the 'what might have been' q but, he wasn't destined to be a college hockey player.

Agreed. It was just never meant to be. Still surprised Jack Eichel spent at year at BU.

[Drew S.]

If we are talking about students, I'm not sure (without the exception of "White Out the Whitt" games) that there is ever 500 kids there, but, hey, love to see that happen. It would be awesome to see fans at games particularly students. Man, I watched a little of the Ottawa v Canadiens last night; if you haven't seen Tim Stutzle play he's something else. Of course makes me ask the 'what might have been' q but, he wasn't destined to be a college hockey player.

Here's to the weekend will we see a full 60 out of the 'Cats? Let's go!

One concern I would have if I was a student is if you go and then one or two people test positive do you then have to do a hard two week quarantine? Not sure what their plan for that is though.

[Chuck Murray]

One concern I would have if I was a student is if you go and then one or two people test positive do you then have to do a hard two week quarantine? Not sure what their plan for that is though.

If you were a student, you'd be starved of any college life entertainment, and you'd just go.

You wouldn't be sitting around worrying, like us folks who are twice, three or four times their age.

[Felger]

If properly promoted, the student turnout for a "test" game at The Whitt would make WOTW look like nothing special. The students haven't had anything they've been allowed to do around campus, certainly anything close to what this would be.

It would be an event. Correction - it would be an EVENT.

Probably much the same if they allowed students to only go see Women's Hockey FWIW

Opener for football is at 7 PM on a Friday night. Obviously a lot of variables over the next four weeks (covid, weather, etc.) but I'm thinking that could be an EVENT....(if they allow fans....)

[Chuck Murray]

Opener for football is at 7 PM on a Friday night. Obviously a lot of variables over the next four weeks (covid, weather, etc.) but I'm thinking that could be an EVENT....(if they allow fans....)

Why would they be playing on a Friday night in late February/early March if they weren't going to allow fans? To show off them fan-dangled new "lights" thingies?!? Friday Night Football on the edge of Winter, f-f-f-freezing, unless money is to be made. Kudos if they pull it off, honestly.

Maybe there is broadcasting money involved (and I'm guessing there's a decent chance for that)? Broadcasters have always lusted after the concept of competitive Spring football - see pre-Trump USFL, which had modest success until DJT decided it was time to take on the NFL in the Fall (too soon - oops!). Second tier college football is their next shot to try to capture the Spring football unicorn.

Or, as that PT Barnum guy used to say ... "There's a sucker born every minute" ...