WCHA Tournament

[osualum86]

So what's with these ghost town arenas during the playoffs? It doesn't look like there's more than a dozen or two at Amxoil and Ridder is the real shocker to me.

I was not that surprised that Amsoil was mostly empty, but I was definitely surprised at how empty Ridder was.

 

[osualum86]

That still likely depends on how Cornell and Yale and Princeton do in the ECAC tournament. And if Mercyhust can knock off Penn State in their tournament. Duluth is definitely 'on the bubble' now, but might still hang on to be the #10 seed.

I have been watching the NPI quite a bit lately and it is hard to even speculate because the ECAC Teams are beating each other up. UMD is setting in the 10th spot. I don't know if they get in or not. I assume that have to root for all the favorites to win ... no upsets in the conference tournaments, in order to have a shot.

 

[robertearle]

I have been watching the NPI quite a bit lately and it is hard to even speculate because the ECAC Teams are beating each other up. UMD is setting in the 10th spot. I don't know if they get in or not. I assume that have to root for all the favorites to win ... no upsets in the conference tournaments, in order to have a shot.

Grant, aka TonyTheTiger, has posted his 'predictor'. where you can input any set of outcomes for the remaining games, and it tells you who makes the field and who does not. I've done a little playing with it this afternoon, after the day's games were completed, and I think Duluth still squeaks through in 10th. Meaning they only get bumped if someone from outside the top 10 wins their conference tournament. The obvious best possibilities are Mercyhurst and Cornell; Mercyhurst only takes one upset, while Cornell would need two.

 

[pgb-ohio]

Ridder has more people today than Amzoil but still basically empty. I'd expect Eeyore or Crazy Dave to be there no matter what but where is the Gopher so called faithful? If your team has been struggling those girls on the ice really need the emotional support of their fans. I just can't believe they got pissy and bailed!

GWH fans have been disheartened in recent years. But I highly doubt that they singled out this particular occasion as the time to "bail."

In the Minnesota Hockey community, the High School Hockey Tournaments are enormously popular. As are the Sectional Tournaments leading up to them. For this reason, the 1st Round of the College Hockey Playoffs have always been a tough sell -- Men's Hockey & Women's Hockey alike.

I'm sure there's more to the story than I'm aware of; I've lived in Central Ohio for almost 40 years. But I have to believe that the High School Tournaments are still a major "elephant in the room" on this question.

 

[osualum86]

Grant, aka TonyTheTiger, has posted his 'predictor'. where you can input any set of outcomes for the remaining games, and it tells you who makes the field and who does not. I've done a little playing with it this afternoon, after the day's games were completed, and I think Duluth still squeaks through in 10th. Meaning they only get bumped if someone from outside the top 10 wins their conference tournament. The obvious best possibilities are Mercyhurst and Cornell; Mercyhurst only takes one upset, while Cornell would need two.

The only team that is really in trouble right now is Cornell in 11th as they will get bumped by the NEWHA Tournament Champion. I may have to check out TTT's predictor and play with it a little.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

I'm sure there's more to the story than I'm aware of; I've lived in Central Ohio for almost 40 years. But I have to believe that the High School Tournaments are still a major "elephant in the room" on this question.

You may be right but if that was the case I would have thought some of the regular Gopher poster would have made that point?

 

[pgb-ohio]

You may be right but if that was the case I would have thought some of the regular Gopher poster would have made that point?

Fair question. But it also raises a larger concern. Reply rates seem down across the board, not just on this one question.

For a long time we've joked around about the "17 of us" who post here. To a point, this was comfortable humor -- it was self-evident that the group had grown well beyond that number. Now, however, sometimes it feels like we're back down to the Original 17...

 

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

GWH fans have been disheartened in recent years. But I highly doubt that they singled out this particular occasion as the time to "bail."

In the Minnesota Hockey community, the High School Hockey Tournaments are enormously popular. As are the Sectional Tournaments leading up to them. For this reason, the 1st Round of the College Hockey Playoffs have always been a tough sell -- Men's Hockey & Women's Hockey alike.

I'm sure there's more to the story than I'm aware of; I've lived in Central Ohio for almost 40 years. But I have to believe that the High School Tournaments are still a major "elephant in the room" on this question.

This time of year in Minnesota does present many options for hockey. And it is not just the State Tournaments for girls and boys but also the section tournaments before the state tournament, particularly the section finals. I make it a point to attend a couple of section final games for both the boys and girls. Those games will conflict with GWH games and the first round of the WCHA playoffs. For a number of years my brother-in-law and I take the day and attend the boys AA quarterfinals which is about as good as it gets for a hockey experience. So with the struggles of the tunnelers in recent years, it is pretty easy to put your attention towards other sources of hockey enjoyment

 

[BuckyB]

Such a shame that the women get kicked to the curb with the days and times for their championship.
Thursday at 4:00 is ridiculous !!
All because the St. Thomas men are hosting their first round playoff series and God knows despite all the rhetoric spewed by the conference and institutions the women will FOREVER take a backseat to any men’s event.

 

[Lindsay]

Such a shame that the women get kicked to the curb with the days and times for their championship.
Thursday at 4:00 is ridiculous !!
All because the St. Thomas men are hosting their first round playoff series and God knows despite all the rhetoric spewed by the conference and institutions the women will FOREVER take a backseat to any men’s event.

Thats a huge yikes and this is where the st Thomas coach needs to say something. Move it back to Ridder if st Thomas can’t show basic respect for the women. This stuff is not acceptable and I’ll never understand the women especially, who think it is.

Ample examples of this foolishness.

 

[Lindsay]

Actually it looks like it’s always in the afternoon on a weekday for semis. Unfortunate either way. I used to buy access to watch but not any longer as my sports payments are through the roof for the kids, lol. Would also love to see the wcha tourney on B1G and and not a streaming service (or both).

 

[BuckyB]

Actually it looks like it’s always in the afternoon on a weekday for semis. Unfortunate either way. I used to buy access to watch but not any longer as my sports payments are through the roof for the kids, lol. Would also love to see the wcha tourney on B1G and and not a streaming service (or both).

Again, it’s all predicated in the needs of the men’s program wherever the games are played.
You’d think the Big Ten Network would want to carry the Final Faceoff having 3 “Big Ten “ schools participating.
Probably need to televise the men’s football mouthguard fitting day from Rutgers instead.

 

[wheel snipe celly]

Actually it looks like it’s always in the afternoon on a weekday for semis. Unfortunate either way. I used to buy access to watch but not any longer as my sports payments are through the roof for the kids, lol. Would also love to see the wcha tourney on B1G and and not a streaming service (or both).

Yes, while there have always been an early game in the semis it has always been on a Friday. This year it is pushed to Thursday because the mens team has a game Friday night.

 

[robertearle]

I think having a day off between games is probably a good thing for the teams and players; the women's NCAAs have done that 'forever', as has NCAA men's basketball for all three weekends of that tournament, and NCAA women's volleyball now mandates it for the second and third weekends of that tournament.

(Fans attending in person may not be so crazy about it, though...)

 

[Lindsay]

How do men’s tournaments do semis? Saturday and then game Sunday?

I would not have thought Ridder would be booked at night so assumed early games were an intentional choice.

Should def get these games on B1G though.

 

[Lindsay]

Yes, while there have always been an early game in the semis it has always been on a Friday. This year it is pushed to Thursday because the mens team has a game Friday night.

Gotcha. Curious what the head of programs think etc.

In general the “take what we can get “ attitude needs to be gone.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

This time of year in Minnesota does present many options for hockey. And it is not just the State Tournaments for girls and boys but also the section tournaments before the state tournament, particularly the section finals. I make it a point to attend a couple of section final games for both the boys and girls. Those games will conflict with GWH games and the first round of the WCHA playoffs. For a number of years my brother-in-law and I take the day and attend the boys AA quarterfinals which is about as good as it gets for a hockey experience. So with the struggles of the tunnelers in recent years, it is pretty easy to put your attention towards other sources of hockey enjoyment

Ohio State fans are quite familiar with conflicts with state high school tournaments. When out men's hockey team finishes high enough to host Big Ten Tournament games they get kicked out of their barn as Ohio State has a long term contract they always renew for the state high school wrestling tournament to be held in the Schott!

 

[robertearle]

How do men’s tournaments do semis? Saturday and then game Sunday?

.

For the NCAAs, currently, two weekends (with a full week off in between, BTW), Thursday-Saturday and Friday-Sunday the first weekend, and then Thursday-Saturday the second. I can't say how far back that format goes.

 

[Lindsay]

Currently, two weekends (with a full week off in between, BTW), Thursday-Saturday and Friday-Sunday the first weekend, and then Thursday-Saturday the second. I can't say how far back that format goes.

Thanks. I looked as well for this year. Looks like big ten semis are on the 14th and big ten final is on the 21st. Both Saturdays.

There’s probably many competing variables as you mentioned in a prior post.

Hopefully they have the good sense to at least control what they can control like open the concessions and sell parking at a reasonable price, create printed game sheets for guests and whatever else they can dream up to do a great job.

 

[eastcoastgopher]

For the NCAAs, currently, two weekends (with a full week off in between, BTW), Thursday-Saturday and Friday-Sunday the first weekend, and then Thursday-Saturday the second. I can't say how far back that format goes.

Through 2021 it was Friday-Saturday and Saturday-Sunday. The weekend off goes back to 2000, when there were only 12 teams in the tournament.