Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

[SoCalSiouxFan]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

Evidently the WCHA commissioner is not overly concerned with Minnesota and Wisconsin leaving the WCHA. The WCHA tournament was a big success without Minnesota and Wisconsin (revenue was up).

http://www.startribune.com/sports/go...118307199.html

The Final Five is alive and well, thank you. Even without the Gophers and Wisconsin. P.S. Get used to that.

Two quarterfinals Thursday drew a combined crowd of 12,903. Friday's semifinals drew 13,131 and 15,008. That's a total of 41,042 for three sessions.
"Without playing the championship game, our gross income is higher than it was last year," McLeod said.

"The reality is Minnesota and Wisconsin will need games," McLeod said. "With six teams, if they play each other four times, that's only 20 games."
McLeod said there is a tentative agreement between the WCHA and its two departing longtime members to keep playing nonconference games.

"We want to stay [at the Xcel] and do what we can," McLeod said. "We spent a long time building it to this point. It's a fantastic facility. You have a great group of people to work with, and they are positive about our future."

WCHA was getting a bit crowded with 12 teams. In the long run this may be what college hockey needs to attract more fans. Gophers will now have a ligitimate excuse for not playing in the WCHA tournament at the x. Gophers should host a Minnesota/North Dakota college kickoff tournament at the x with 5 Minnesota teams and UND. Such a tournament would be a sellout for sure.

[Priceless]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

I'm not happy either, but it's not like the Badgers are moving to Atlantic Hockey.

Badger fans will see so many AHA cupcakes it will seem like they have.

[Bertogliat]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

Evidently the WCHA commissioner is not overly concerned with Minnesota and Wisconsin leaving the WCHA. The WCHA tournament was a big success without Minnesota and Wisconsin (revenue was up).

The problem is there were probably a lot of fans that attended (like me) who are Gopher fans and went to see the league tournament because it is fun and is of interest even if my team did not advance. However I am not sure if I will choose to attend the WCHA tournament when the Gophers play in the B10. I guess time will tell, but the WCHA will probably lose it's luster and I think many Gopher fans will stop going on a regular basis. It's too bad, I really like the WCHA.

However, the league hasn't been as interesting lately with the diluted pool (probably since Mankato entered). I am not a fan of playing UND and UMD so little. The Gophers may actually play them nearly as much with this move (at least I hope). As a season ticket holder, I cannot remember so many weekends with so little excitement.

A conference tournament in Chicago will be lame. Thankfully I am no longer a poor college student.

I do look forward to more games with Mich and Mich St. And I look forward to more non conference games. I really hope they book hockey road trips to Ohio St and Penn St the same weekend as football or basketball (not as much) road games. That would defenitely get me to travel that far.

[SOTA]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

Evidently the WCHA commissioner is not overly concerned with Minnesota and Wisconsin leaving the WCHA. The WCHA tournament was a big success without Minnesota and Wisconsin (revenue was up).

He'll be worried the first time the Sioux have a down season & fail to make it to St. Paul.

It will be interesting to see. I believe this year was the first time that 2 of the 3 out of MN, WI & NoDak didn't make it to St. Paul. Of course, now the Sioux will get all of the officiating calls because the league will favor them.

[bigmrg74]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

He'll be worried the first time the Sioux have a down season & fail to make it to St. Paul.

It will be interesting to see. I believe this year was the first time that 2 of the 3 out of MN, WI & NoDak didn't make it to St. Paul. Of course, now the Sioux will get all of the officiating calls because the league will favor them.

Not to mention the Evening game as well.

[Gurtholfin]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

Badger fans will see so many AHA cupcakes it will seem like they have.

Just think of how good our record will look though!

[Tiggsy]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

The problem is there were probably a lot of fans that attended (like me) who are Gopher fans and went to see the league tournament because it is fun and is of interest even if my team did not advance. However I am not sure if I will choose to attend the WCHA tournament when the Gophers play in the B10. I guess time will tell, but the WCHA will probably lose it's luster and I think many Gopher fans will stop going on a regular basis. It's too bad, I really like the WCHA.

That is an interesting point. I think I agree. I have gone to a few games to watch other WCHA teams play because they were in the same league, but if they don't play these teams often I wouldn't think I would go. Especially since it's not like the frozen 4 so it is much easier to get tickets. I went to a the SCSU regional game last year just because but can't say I will make it a regular habit of doing things like that. I think the F5 will feel the burn as local hockey fans start to lose interest in the WCHA. Sad but true since it will eventually happen.

Barry is a complete tool, but you hit this one on the head.

Wow, I agree with you on something... the first part anyways. I'm not quite as optimistic, so it's all his fault! I think MN and WI will be fine but the other leagues and smaller schools will feel the brunt of this in a few years.

[Almington]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

The question though is what that anger will produce. I'm not saying this to be a smart-***, but will you stop going to games or lessen your commitment to the team because of this? I know that I won't.

Honestly, I see this as a pure unadulterated money grab. I will continue to give specifically to the academic departments where I had classes, but I will not donate another dime to the athletic department for the indefinite future. I'm also far less likely to make trips to Madison for either hockey weekends or football games. I recognize that I am in the minority but I see my financial support as agreeing with their decisions, which I do not.

[Gurtholfin]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

Wow, I agree with you on something... the first part anyways. I'm not quite as optimistic, so it's all his fault! I think MN and WI will be fine but the other leagues and smaller schools will feel the brunt of this in a few years.

Barry is not universally liked here, no matter what you may hear. In fact, far more people in Madison that I know dislike him although we acknowledge what he (the football program's success 94-05) did for our overall athletic program.

Time will be the measure and there's nothing we can do to stop this anyway. At least we still get to hate each other on a regular basis.

[aparch]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

I heard there are some rumblings at the University of Illinois about the Illini making a jump to D1 in 2014. Maybe it's only some confusion by players and staff about the "Big10" announcement?

[Driftryder]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

The problem is there were probably a lot of fans that attended (like me) who are Gopher fans and went to see the league tournament because it is fun and is of interest even if my team did not advance. However I am not sure if I will choose to attend the WCHA tournament when the Gophers play in the B10. I guess time will tell, but the WCHA will probably lose it's luster and I think many Gopher fans will stop going on a regular basis. It's too bad, I really like the WCHA.

Exactly this. I know of many Gopher fans including myself that went to all the games at the X to watch WCHA College Hockey, but after the Gophers leave the WCHA that will probably stop, unfortunately.

[Bakunin]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

I really hope they book hockey road trips to Ohio St and Penn St the same weekend as football or basketball (not as much) road games. That would defenitely get me to travel that far.

Somebody should pass that suggestion on to the powers that be. Coordinating hockey series with football might help with attendance (OSU could certainly use a boost on that one).

[Tiggsy]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

Somebody should pass that suggestion on to the powers that be. Coordinating hockey series with football might help with attendance (OSU could certainly use a boost on that one).

That would make way too much sense to do. So obviously there is no chance they will actually realize this would be good and do it. That would be giving the schedulers way too much credit.

[Almington]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

Evidently the WCHA commissioner is not overly concerned with Minnesota and Wisconsin leaving the WCHA. The WCHA tournament was a big success without Minnesota and Wisconsin (revenue was up).

The problem with this view is that it totally discounts the ticket packages that Gopher (mostly) and Badger fans purchased year after year long before they knew if their teams would make it. I understand he is trying to put the best spin on it he can, but I suspect that the 2014 F5 will be awash in red ink and empty seats.

[Bakunin]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt II - The Exodus

That would make way too much sense to do. So obviously there is no chance they will actually realize this would be good and do it. That would be giving the schedulers way too much credit.

Coordinating and marketing this would be so easy, too. Despite MN being terrible in football, I could see some fans being more inclined to make road trips out east if they could see three games (two hockey / one football) in a weekend. I don't know how many crossover fans there are in the two sports, but it *has* to be a higher percentage than basketball/hockey.

As for the future of the F5, the WCHA better hope UND makes it every year. Attendance without them would be putrid. It'll be interesting to see just how much attendance drops when MN and UW fans stop going.