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  • Originally posted by FlagDUDE08 View Post
    At least there's two Colorado schools, which makes the last week's budget containment a possibility. Unless a Southern California college or maybe a UNLV puts together a hockey team, I don't foresee ASU being easily welcomed into one of the western conferences. Atlantic is a REAL longshot, but that's already a cost containment league having to house USAFA (~750 miles away).
    CC is 11 1/2 hours, Denver 12 1/2 by bus from Tempe, and that’s without meal stops. Unless UNLV has a Pegula, that’s not happening either. They would have to build a rink. The Orleans isn’t available and the Thomas & Mack & TMobile aren’t financially feasible. The Knights practice rink in Summerlin doesn’t have the seating capacity.
    "The use of common sense and logic will not be tolerated and may result in fine and/or suspension."- Western Professional Hockey League By-laws. 1999-2000.

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    • Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

      Originally posted by davyd83 View Post
      CC is 11 1/2 hours, Denver 12 1/2 by bus from Tempe, and that’s without meal stops. Unless UNLV has a Pegula, that’s not happening either. They would have to build a rink. The Orleans isn’t available and the Thomas & Mack & TMobile aren’t financially feasible. The Knights practice rink in Summerlin doesn’t have the seating capacity.
      Well obviously the costs are substantial. The point was mostly surrounding how the WCHA and NCHC are "cost containing" at least one weekend by having the "nearby teams" play each other. Could it work with an odd number of teams and then ASU gets a "bye" that final week? Perhaps.

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      • Originally posted by FlagDUDE08 View Post
        Well obviously the costs are substantial. The point was mostly surrounding how the WCHA and NCHC are "cost containing" at least one weekend by having the "nearby teams" play each other. Could it work with an odd number of teams and then ASU gets a "bye" that final week? Perhaps.
        I would not call Mankato and Bemidji close or even nearby. Ditto for UND and (UNO/SCSU).
        CCT '77 & '78
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        • Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

          I read that apparently the ASU and MSUM apps were intentionally delivered to the NCHC together as an attactive package that would immediately balance the conf. to 10 teams for scheduling purposes.

          ASU applying alone had no added value to the NCHC in terms of adding to their number of members, a long standing and competitive hockey tradition, a suitable arena, and travel costs.

          The NCHC made a statement when they denied both indicating they are doing just fine.

          There doesn't appear to be any rumblings lately from MSUM to make a move. I'd be surprised if they try to apply again soon. MSUM was the #1 goal scoring team in the NCAA last season and they seem content to win RS championships, make the NCAAs, and try to win their first Natty under Hastings in the WCHA for now.

          ASU walked away from negotiations with NCHC content to wait it out as an Independent until the arena is built. Then I think they'll opt to apply again for entry into the NCHC first over the WCHA.

          In talks with the WCHA over travel subsidies, ASU walked away feeling they were being financially exploited as a large school with a large budget. But if the NCHC doesn't open up, they may cave on the deal with the WCHA afterall. The arena is scheduled for completion by Nov. 2020. My guessimate is they'll be in a conf. by the 2020-21 season.

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          • Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

            According to letsgodu.com, here are the top 5 reasons the NCHC should accept ASU after they complete their new arena:

            1) Any fear that ASU would hurt the power rating of the NCHC is unfounded. Just look at what Penn State has done and realize that there are more Division I players available to play college hockey than there are spots on teams. Add a power 5 school with a great campus and new facility – they are not going to have a problem drawing quality coaches and players.

            2) There are no guarantees that the NCHC will remain unchanged. At various times there have been rumors of the Big 10 pursuing North Dakota, Colorado College dropping hockey, and Miami leaving the conference. Other members have had financial challenges such as Omaha, Western Michigan and St. Cloud State which have faced athletic department cuts. It quickly becomes clear that things can change quickly in college athletics. This is no time to be complacent.

            3) The hockey landscape is shifting along with the population. The reality is that places like Nashville, Phoenix and Las Vegas have solid demand for hockey. While Ohio, Michigan, North Dakota and Minnesota are traditional hotbeds, the growth is going to come in the west and southeast. The NCHC would be smart to seize the moment and secure a major market(s) while they have the power to do so.

            4) If the concern, longer term, is ASU and/or UNLV leaving the NCHC for Power-5 conferences, build in a substantial penalty for any new entrant that decide to exit the conference. Plus, the reality is that it would be an extremely long time before the Pac-12 would have the resources or desire to add the necessary six teams to form a stand-alone conference.

            5) Finally, no offense to Grand Forks, Duluth, or Staughton but many of the current NCHC schools are not exactly located in ideal winter destinations. Adding warm weather sites would create some winter destination trips that, from a Denver standpoint, would get fans on airplanes and in their cars to watch their team on the road. We got a taste of what that was like at the Frozen Four in Tampa.

            #3 caught my attention and seems like a good marketing move considering the NHL has committed recently to supporting college hockey more in the future, ergo the IU feasibility study. Not sure what plans UNLV have for a D1 program, but with the upstart success of the Vegas Golden Knights, that seems like a viable option for UNLV to explore.

            They've got a club team called the UNLV Rebels, a team I played against in the minors. Good team and they play at City National Arena where the Golden Knights practice. It only seats 600 though, so an arena option is one big missing piece of that puzzle.

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            • 5) Finally, no offense to Grand Forks, Duluth, or Staughton but many of the current NCHC schools are not exactly located in ideal winter destinations. Adding warm weather sites would create some winter destination trips that, from a Denver standpoint, would get fans on airplanes and in their cars to watch their team on the road. We got a taste of what that was like at the Frozen Four in Tampa.
              Good to know Denver’s 5 fans would travel if it meant warmer weather. What a boon that’ll be!

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              • Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

                Originally posted by joecct View Post
                I would not call Mankato and Bemidji close or even nearby. Ditto for UND and (UNO/SCSU).
                UND and UNO are 500 miles away, shorter than UAH/BGSU (around 550), and easily done in a day, having gone from North Dakota to Omaha myself during the winter. UND/SCSU is 250, and Mankato/Bemidji about the same. However it's not like they're looking to become travel partners or anything, similar to the ECAC. They'll still do 2 game series for the most part.

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                • Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

                  Originally posted by SteveO View Post
                  I read that apparently the ASU and MSUM apps were intentionally delivered to the NCHC together as an attactive package that would immediately balance the conf. to 10 teams for scheduling purposes.

                  ASU applying alone had no added value to the NCHC in terms of adding to their number of members, a long standing and competitive hockey tradition, a suitable arena, and travel costs.

                  The NCHC made a statement when they denied both indicating they are doing just fine.

                  There doesn't appear to be any rumblings lately from MSUM to make a move. I'd be surprised if they try to apply again soon. MSUM was the #1 goal scoring team in the NCAA last season and they seem content to win RS championships, make the NCAAs, and try to win their first Natty under Hastings in the WCHA for now.

                  ASU walked away from negotiations with NCHC content to wait it out as an Independent until the arena is built. Then I think they'll opt to apply again for entry into the NCHC first over the WCHA.

                  In talks with the WCHA over travel subsidies, ASU walked away feeling they were being financially exploited as a large school with a large budget. But if the NCHC doesn't open up, they may cave on the deal with the WCHA afterall. The arena is scheduled for completion by Nov. 2020. My guessimate is they'll be in a conf. by the 2020-21 season.
                  I think ASU's biggest mistake in that whole thing was to try to go in as a package at this time with someone not even close to them in distance (USAFA could have been a juicier sell, since they've been whupping butt in Atlantic, and the CHA proved no loyalty to Army). This will probably be treated similar to UAH's fight to get into a conference, although they had a little bit of help with BGSU having somewhat of a direct route, and ASU actually has full backing of the athletic administration (tl;dr Puck Fortera). However, going in alone could actually work to their advantage now, as we are seeing some good examples of odd team scheduling from the west with B1G's experiment, and then more so with HEA (including their days with ND although they immediately wanted 12 at the time) and Atlantic (remember USAFA is 1400 miles from their closest opponent, and the league is quite budget conscious). Yes, USAFA had to make a number of concessions when they first joined when it came to eastern teams traveling, but it seems a bit stabilized now with everyone having an equal number of home/away games.
                  Last edited by FlagDUDE08; 06-25-2018, 06:20 AM.

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                  • Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

                    Originally posted by BGDrew View Post
                    I think the wording they used was “tabled.” It wasn’t outright refused, just kept on file.
                    Kind of like what companies say after they receive your resume...
                    Russell Jaslow
                    [Former] SUNYAC Correspondent
                    U.S. College Hockey Online

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                    • Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

                      Originally posted by SteveO View Post
                      The arena is scheduled for completion by Nov. 2020. My guessimate is they'll be in a conf. by the 2020-21 season.
                      An arena for ASU is still a pipe dream. The only real plans for the rink exist on message boards and chat rooms developed by hockey fans. Six months ago they said the new rink was a go, yet nothing of any real sustance has happened in those six months. Even last Jan when the "plan" was announced, they said nothing was going to happen until Feb 2019. If they don't start moving some dirt soon, ASU may not have a hockey team in 2020, much less a conference home. To this point, ASU hasn't done anything except stir the media pot with "It's coming soon..." and "We're working on it..."

                      At this point, ASU is barely ahead of Illinios or UNLV or whoever else wants to be thrown out to the media as the next hotbed college hockey market and ASU has had a four year head start. For all of ASU's resources, they have been all talk and no action to this point. The NCHC doesn't want a deadbeat program even if they are next door neighbors with DU/CC and the WCHA doesn't want another long road trip unless ASU is going to cough up the money to pay the WCHA teams to make the trip on a regular basis.

                      Ryan
                      Preserving Michigan Tech's Hockey History
                      https://www.johnsonsjerseys.net
                      Originally posted by geezer
                      Tech has the best of everything, even the best jersey nerd.
                      Originally posted by manurespreader
                      ...I really enjoyed listening to Ryan Johnson. He sounded intelligent.

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                      • Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

                        It's beyond talk at this point. Plans for a 180,000 sq. ft. hockey arena and a renovation to Wells Fargo Arena were approved by the ASU Board of Regents in Feb. and design bids were scheduled for award last month to begin construction early 2019. About half of the 160M will be for arena construction. Anderson says it'll be done by the 2020-21 season > ARTICLE.

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                        • Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

                          Originally posted by SteveO View Post
                          It's beyond talk at this point.
                          And so back to my original question...
                          Q: What have we seen out of ASU since that "approval" announcement?
                          A: ???? Rink plans? Renderings? Construction timeline? Name of the general contractor? Anything?

                          They were supposed to put plans together and then bring those back for approval and there hasn't been peep about the rink since. Thus my point, it's still all talk if they have nothing new 5+ months after the approval to go forward with the project. If they had anything ready, even proposed, they would be showing it all over hyping up their new building.

                          Unless they are building a pole barn with 5,000 bench seats, they are not going to have a new rink for the 2020-21 season based on what progress they have made thus far.

                          Ryan
                          Preserving Michigan Tech's Hockey History
                          https://www.johnsonsjerseys.net
                          Originally posted by geezer
                          Tech has the best of everything, even the best jersey nerd.
                          Originally posted by manurespreader
                          ...I really enjoyed listening to Ryan Johnson. He sounded intelligent.

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                          • Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

                            Originally posted by SteveO View Post
                            EDIT:

                            Grand Forks, Oxford and Duluth are all further than BG.
                            Further from where, exactly? Grand Forks (1719), Oxford (1776) and Duluth (1786) are all 100+ miles closer to Tempe than Bowling Green (1902)
                            Can't we all just get along?
                            Always remember... This is just a game we're talking about here. Let's not take it all too seriously.

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                            • Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

                              Originally posted by TigerFan86-87 View Post
                              Further from where, exactly? Grand Forks (1719), Oxford (1776) and Duluth (1786) are all 100+ miles closer to Tempe than Bowling Green (1902)

                              Depends on whether you measure by geography or time spent traveling. BG is an hour bus ride from DTW, Miami State is an hour from CVG (meaning no connections). I'm guessing Grand Forks/Duluth/K'zoo requires a connection to PHX? If so, then it's arguably "shorter" in travel time from BG or Oxford compared with the others. Not sure about costs, but I assume airfare is not materially different across all these schools. But honestly, we're splitting the atom here. 100 mi on an airline trip to Phoenix isn't the deciding factor in any of this, it's whether you want to fork over the $15-20k for the trip in the first place.

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                              • Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

                                Originally posted by TigerFan86-87 View Post
                                Further from where, exactly? Grand Forks (1719), Oxford (1776) and Duluth (1786) are all 100+ miles closer to Tempe than Bowling Green (1902)
                                Are these road map distances or great circle distances?
                                "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." George Orwell, 1984

                                "One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume." Boromir

                                "Good news! We have a delivery." Professor Farnsworth

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