Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic City!

[Wholin1]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

New Thread.
http://board.uscho.com/showthread.ph...-Care-to-Dance

[unionbob]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

have question...was talking to few people and I cant recall the reason.......

why did the league decide to expand the tourny to all 12 teams?

[unionbob]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

OK so it is officially a new season for us...omg who would have thought...this is better then christmas morning....GO U!!!!!!!!

[aweise]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

There are three "bubble" teams right now: CC, UNO, and dear old Rensselaer. A Yale win locks in all three of these teams. A Cornell win means that one of these teams will be sitting at home next weekend. And, it all hinges on the results of the ECAC consolation game (a Colgate win guarantees the Engineers are in) and the two CCHA games. There's real in-depth analysis in the PWR thread and the first page or two of the RPI thread.

Thanks, burgie. I just went through the RPI thread and got the story...though my head is still spinning.

[GRussinko]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

I'm a little confused. I thought the NCAA didn't want to place two teams from the same conference in a regional to avoid their playing each other. And I read somewhere that since Yale is a co-sponsor of Bridgeport, they would automatically get placed there.

Bridgeport is about an hour closer to the Capital District than Manchester, so that would be better for us. It would also be very interesting to have Yale and Union play each other in the regionals as opposed to the tournament. Tomorrow will tell.

The only concern is that there be no intra-conference matchups in the regional semifinals. Potential matchups in the regional final are OK. So with Yale as the 1 seed and Union as the 3 seed, they couldn't meet until the final in Bridgeport, since the semis are 1-4 and 2-3.

[Goaliefan]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

Adam Wodon's analysis puts us in Bridgeport as the 8 seed vs. 9 seed U of Minn-Duluth. It's obviously a lot of guesswork at this point and all of the answers will be provided by this time tomorrow. http://www.collegehockeynews.com/new...ampionship.php.

I'm a little confused. I thought the NCAA didn't want to place two teams from the same conference in a regional to avoid their playing each other. And I read somewhere that since Yale is a co-sponsor of Bridgeport, they would automatically get placed there.

Bridgeport is about an hour closer to the Capital District than Manchester, so that would be better for us. It would also be very interesting to have Yale and Union play each other in the regionals as opposed to the tournament. Tomorrow will tell.

[Wholin1]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

Don't get me going on the AC fiasco, I'm sure the ECAC had its reasons for making the move and I'm assuming it had to be money. It's an embarrassment to the league that there is no one there and the players deserve a better venue as well. Of course I felt Albany was fine but living 10 minutes from the TUC makes me prejudiced I guess. Still this topic gets kicked around every year at this time and there had to be a dozen places that may not have been perfect, but all of which to me made more sense than AC.

As far as the NCAAs, it is a bit hard to believe that U has finally arrived at the Dance. It's a pinch-me kind of moment. It would be nice to see them placed within driving distance of the CD for those who would like to attend, but the fact that we're going is paramount to my way of thinking.

Adam Wodon's analysis puts us in Bridgeport as the 8 seed vs. 9 seed U of Minn-Duluth. It's obviously a lot of guesswork at this point and all of the answers will be provided by this time tomorrow. http://www.collegehockeynews.com/new...ampionship.php.

The last I heard there will be a gathering at the Nott tomorrow beginning at 11:00 a.m. for the bracket show on ESPN2 at 11:30. The Garnet Blades were initially going to sponsor it, but so far as I know Alumni Relations and the Athletic Department jumped on the bandwagon and took it over. Imagine that, a Bandwagon. . In any regard it should be an exciting moment.

[Spaceman]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

Prior to this year I had attended 41 straight ECAC championships, typically with a group of between 20 and 40 people. Although many in the group are Cornell alumni or fans, we went regardless of which teams were in the field.None of that group was even remotely interested in going to Atlantic City this year. Boston was a great venue before the teams from Hockey East left, Lake Placid was fantastic and Albany was more than acceptable. We had certainly hoped that the event would return to Lake Placid if Albany lost it and were stunned beyond comprhension when the move to Atlantic City was announced (particularly in light of the very modest financial guarantee). I have not been able to find any information on yesterday's attendance, but it certainly looked ridiculously low on the television screen. The ECAC is primarily a New York State and New England league with a core of fans from the various schools which could historically be counted on to send between 5,500 and (in the best cases) 8,000 or so fans each year. Those totals were fairly consistent during the last few years in Boston, during the Lake Placid years, and in Albany. There were always fans attending each year even when their own teams were not in the event. I doubt that very many of those are in Atlantic City this weekend and there is no reason to think that they will be there in the future. The location has no connection to the league, and even the hope that new fans from NYC might change the attendance totals seems to have been misguided. It is sad to the members of our group that what seems to me to be an unrealistic hope for a larger crowd has led to this development. If it were up to me I would focus on the realities of the core group of true ECAC fans and get this event back to Lake Placid or Albany as soon as possible.

Hear, hear!!!

[burgie12]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

I went through several scenarios this morning to see what happens with RPI and it almost seems they get in no matter what happens today, outside of Cornell beating Yale. There may be one scenario where RPI can get in if Cornell wins, but the odds are extremely high against RPI making the tourney if Cornell does it again (um....Let's Go Yale!).

There are three "bubble" teams right now: CC, UNO, and dear old Rensselaer. A Yale win locks in all three of these teams. A Cornell win means that one of these teams will be sitting at home next weekend. And, it all hinges on the results of the ECAC consolation game (a Colgate win guarantees the Engineers are in) and the two CCHA games. There's real in-depth analysis in the PWR thread and the first page or two of the RPI thread.

[nut_case]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

Prior to this year I had attended 41 straight ECAC championships, typically with a group of between 20 and 40 people. Although many in the group are Cornell alumni or fans, we went regardless of which teams were in the field.None of that group was even remotely interested in going to Atlantic City this year. Boston was a great venue before the teams from Hockey East left, Lake Placid was fantastic and Albany was more than acceptable. We had certainly hoped that the event would return to Lake Placid if Albany lost it and were stunned beyond comprhension when the move to Atlantic City was announced (particularly in light of the very modest financial guarantee). I have not been able to find any information on yesterday's attendance, but it certainly looked ridiculously low on the television screen. The ECAC is primarily a New York State and New England league with a core of fans from the various schools which could historically be counted on to send between 5,500 and (in the best cases) 8,000 or so fans each year. Those totals were fairly consistent during the last few years in Boston, during the Lake Placid years, and in Albany. There were always fans attending each year even when their own teams were not in the event. I doubt that very many of those are in Atlantic City this weekend and there is no reason to think that they will be there in the future. The location has no connection to the league, and even the hope that new fans from NYC might change the attendance totals seems to have been misguided. It is sad to the members of our group that what seems to me to be an unrealistic hope for a larger crowd has led to this development. If it were up to me I would focus on the realities of the core group of true ECAC fans and get this event back to Lake Placid or Albany as soon as possible.

[aweise]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

Mr. Hagwell is not fully responsible for the move. First, it needs to get voted on by the AD's (Administrators) and the Coaches. Secondly, Albany did a terrible job of making this an ECAC exclusive event. I was at the games last night and it did appear that there were more fans at the first game than at the second game. Atlantic City is awesome (except for the odd......person). The rink is a great venue and the boardwalk is right outside the rink....lots of food/drink and if you like to roll the dice after the games.....no problem. I think the bigger issue is whether or not the games should be televised. With no TV, you would have to attend the games. However, what does that do for league exposure? All I can say is Albany did not work, especially after experiencing the atmosphere at Lake Placid. I do believe AC has a chance.

I'm sure AC is a great place, but you need some local support. I'd doubt anyone in southern Jersey really knows or cares about hockey. Didn't they have a minor league team there? At least Albany & Lake Placid (probably more so LP) have locals who love hockey.

I agree that Albany didn't do a great job of promoting it, but it's the best logistical location. No school is more than 4 hours away and it's easy to get to.

Last night's attendance would have been worse if Cornell wasn't there (by far, the best traveling team in the conference). Imagine if SLU or Clarkson made it...forget about the fans who MAY travel, it's a 9-hour drive from Canton/Potsdam to AC. That's a long bus ride for the players. Nevertheless, I'll guess that if either of the North Country teams made it, there would be about 1,000 people that would have gone to Albany that wouldn't have gone to AC.

[hockeymascot]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

On another note, as an "ECAC" hockey fan, I am supporting the league by being here even if my team did not make it

[hockeymascot]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

Nice job, Mr. Hagwell.

Mr. Hagwell is not fully responsible for the move. First, it needs to get voted on by the AD's (Administrators) and the Coaches. Secondly, Albany did a terrible job of making this an ECAC exclusive event. I was at the games last night and it did appear that there were more fans at the first game than at the second game. Atlantic City is awesome (except for the odd......person). The rink is a great venue and the boardwalk is right outside the rink....lots of food/drink and if you like to roll the dice after the games.....no problem. I think the bigger issue is whether or not the games should be televised. With no TV, you would have to attend the games. However, what does that do for league exposure? All I can say is Albany did not work, especially after experiencing the atmosphere at Lake Placid. I do believe AC has a chance.

[aweise]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

The attendance in AC looks awful tonight, its too bad the league agreed for 2 more years there. I think there were more people each night at Messa last weekend.

One camera angle late in the second game made it look like there were about 200-300 people there. It was a bit on the side of where the Cornell fans were sitting, so it was a little difficult to see how full the place was. Even so - at the end of the first semifinal and beginning of the second, there still looked like plenty of good seats available.

Nice job, Mr. Hagwell.

[aweise]

Re: Union College Dutchmen Hockey 2010-11: There's one way and that's to Atlantic Cit

Playing around with the Pairwise Predictor after tonight's games it looks to me like U will end up either 7th or 8th in the PWR which means a #2 seed . Web link below seems to confirm this.
http://blog.siouxsports.com/2011/03/...ld-shaping-up/

Possible opponents are UMD, Notre Dame, Western Michigan, UNH or UNO. Have no idea what regional U would end up in, as there are all kinds of subjective reasons for switching teams around, but have to think there is at least a decent chance could stay in the East.. it's really starting to hit me that U is going to The Dance!! Pretty amazing considering teams like BU, Minnesota, Wisconsin & Maine will not.

As for RPI, they could use some help from Yale beating Cornell tomorrow..

If they play UNH, it will be in Manchester. Otherwise, it's a toss-up, if you ask me. It all depends on where the #1 seeds end up. Yale will be in Bridgeport, but BC, North Dakota, Michigan, and Merrimack (MERRIMACK?!?!?!??) could be the #1 seeds that could go anywhere. If UNH falls to a 4 seed, the committee won't put BC against them in Manchester.

I went through several scenarios this morning to see what happens with RPI and it almost seems they get in no matter what happens today, outside of Cornell beating Yale. There may be one scenario where RPI can get in if Cornell wins, but the odds are extremely high against RPI making the tourney if Cornell does it again (um....Let's Go Yale!).