Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

[Alton]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

This is my favorite part. This is the same network that left an in progress hockey game to go to a basketball press conference. While they did that they provided NO UPDATES to the hockey game that was in progress.

Now they're one of the main drivers of a Big 10 Hockey Conference. It's comical.

Remember when Fox Sports North did the exact same thing? It was during the NCAA hockey playoff game between Denver and Boston University in 1997, and MSC (the former name of FSN) cut away from the game to show the Minnesota basketball team's plan landing at the airport! They did not show the third period and the overtime of the hockey game, just so they could show Minnesota basketball fans looking at an empty basketball court waiting for the team to get there and wave to them. Now that was comical. I hope that channel won't have the rights to show any more college hockey.

Or maybe college hockey fans will be screwed over no matter who has the rights to the games.

Reference: http://lists.maine.edu/cgi/wa?A2=ind...-l&T=0&P=77474 and many other posts to the same list.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

Remember when Fox Sports North did the exact same thing? It was during the NCAA hockey playoff game between Denver and Boston University in 1997, and MSC (the former name of FSN) cut away from the game to show the Minnesota basketball team's plan landing at the airport! They did not show the third period and the overtime of the hockey game, just so they could show Minnesota basketball fans looking at an empty basketball court waiting for the team to get there and wave to them. Now that was comical. I hope that channel won't have the rights to show any more college hockey.

Or maybe college hockey fans will be screwed over no matter who has the rights to the games.

Reference: http://lists.maine.edu/cgi/wa?A2=ind...-l&T=0&P=77474 and many other posts to the same list.

Awesome story, Alton. I didn't know that. I think you're right, hockey fans get screwed no matter what.

But, it's still funny. A TV network is driving the Big 10 Hockey Conference?? No one watches hockey on TV.

[bigmrg74]

It's comical because Jackson is wrong. Penn State is the driver of this move.

Of course the Big Ten Network is a large piece of the puzzle, but it is a symptom, not a cause. The WHCA is delightfully anachronistic in how it matches a small college like CC with big universities like Minnesota and Wisconsin, but that kind of alignment just can't survive long term. There's a reason most conferences bridge across multiple sports - the efficiencies are too great to ignore.

Naw, if anything, Penn State is more of a Jar-Jar Binks in all of this. Universally hated for being super annoying and then being used by darker forces to start the process of turning the old republic into the Galactic Empire.

[dggoddard]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

No one watches hockey on TV.

Many WCHA fans watch the Gophers on FS-North to see teams in the conference play even when they don't have a direct rooting interest. If the BTN is expecting similiar viewership numbers they may be in for a surprise.

[4four4]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

This is my favorite part. This is the same network that left an in progress hockey game to go to a basketball press conference. While they did that they provided NO UPDATES to the hockey game that was in progress.

Now they're one of the main drivers of a Big 10 Hockey Conference. It's comical.

IMO, the Big Ten Network probably wasn't the main driver of the BTHC forming. The BT head office has said if their are 6 or more BT teams playing a sport they will form a league no where in the history of the Big Ten have they not had a conference of 6 or more teams not in the same conference. It has never happened.

[4four4]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

I posted this in the last thread and it probably should be seen here also.

Pioneer Press

The transition to Big Ten hockey is a natural one, said Big Ten associate commissioner Jennifer Heppel, the conference's point person on hockey. Every sport played by at least six conference schools, she pointed out, plays a Big Ten schedule.

People don't like change but this sounds like it was inevitable. I am getting closer to moving on because they are not going to change it back.

[scsutommyboy]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

I posted this in the last thread and it probably should be seen here also.

Pioneer Press



People don't like change but this sounds like it was inevitable. I am getting closer to moving on because they are not going to change it back.

You needed to read that to realize they are not going to change it back?

If they go ahead with the scheduling arrangement they have been discussing this changed isn't going to affect WCHA teams much at all. Obviously there could be a loss of revenue with the final five, but if UND fans keep come out in those numbers and the other Minnesota schools fans come out a little more everything should be fine.

Of course I will be believe that arrangement is going to happen when the papers are signed. nothing is set in stone and things can change in a hurry.

[state of hockey]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

People don't like change but this sounds like it was inevitable. I am getting closer to moving on because they are not going to change it back.

Agreed. It stinks, but no one is going to stop this. I am looking forward to playing Michigan and Michigan State more often. Plus, we'll finally get to beat OSU and PSU in something. Maybe.

[Sterling Cooper]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

Some reactions to the BTHC around the NCAA D1 Men's hockey community:

*****http://netrightdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Baghdad-Bob.jpg******

[Gurtholfin]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

This is what I was getting at yesterday & Gurtholfin disagreed. This whole situation has been handled poorly and they Big Ten schools have stepped in the doo-doo.

They thought this announcement would be welcomed by their fans and they wanted to get the maximum exposure by making the announcement when the most eyeballs were on college hockey during the NCAA Tournament. They would have been better off doing this during the dog days of summer after the Stanley Cup playoffs were over, when quite frankly, no one cares about hockey.

Now maybe their meetings and schedules of the B1G presidents precluded this, but its an inauspicious start. Maybe they just don't care what their fans (customers) think?

I've said all along that I'm not in favor of this change. What I disagree with you on is what impact it will have on those who don't like it.

I believe there will be no noticeable impact and I believe that the vast majority of fans' support will not change at all.

[Tiggsy]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

I've said all along that I'm not in favor of this change. What I disagree with you on is what impact it will have on those who don't like it.

I believe there will be no noticeable impact and I believe that the vast majority of fans' support will not change at all.

*sigh* There you go being right again... at least partially.

I don't think this will effect MN and WI fans. There will be some grumbling for the first year or so about missing some rivalry games, but that will fade pretty quickly. Both teams have strong bases that will follow the team no matter where it goes. However I still believe it will impact the smaller schools left in the dust of these mighty big ten schools and do think some may be in danger of folding. That's where the bad blood will come into play.

[HarleyMC]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

Tom Serratore chimes in on B1G:

“We were all prepared for it,” Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore said. “We all knew it was going to happen when Penn State announced they were going to have a varsity program. I think it can be a positive thing for hockey if more schools can come on board because the Big Ten is going to be a very high-profile league.”

“From a WCHA standpoint it is tough to lose two high-profile teams, there’s no question about it,” Serratore said. “Those two programs brought a lot of visibility to the WCHA and it’s going to be tough to see them leave.”

“There are things that are out of your control and you can’t worry about things that are out of your control,” Serratore said. “For us (BSU) it’s going to be business as usual.”

Serratore expects the competition for college hockey prospects to remain the same with the existence of the Big Ten. Each fully funded NCAA Divsion I hockey team has a maximum of 18 scholarships, so drawing a blue-chip player ultimately comes down to each program’s recruiting efforts, facilities and a player’s personal choice.

“Those kids were going to go to those schools anyway (Minnesota, Wisconsin),” Serratore said. “I think we have 10 strong members in this league and we are still going to be a very strong league.”

[bigmrg74]

*****http://netrightdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Baghdad-Bob.jpg******

Most spread rep!

[Gurtholfin]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

*sigh* There you go being right again... at least partially.

I don't think this will effect MN and WI fans. There will be some grumbling for the first year or so about missing some rivalry games, but that will fade pretty quickly. Both teams have strong bases that will follow the team no matter where it goes. However I still believe it will impact the smaller schools left in the dust of these mighty big ten schools and do think some may be in danger of folding. That's where the bad blood will come into play.

I don't disagree with that at all.

It just seems that some on here want us to say that we won't follow our team anymore. That we are more loyal to college hockey or a conference or these boards than we are to our teams.

Not gonna happen.

[scsutommyboy]

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference Pt III - Revenge of the Sith.

I don't disagree with that at all.

It just seems that some on here want us to say that we won't follow our team anymore. That we are more loyal to college hockey or a conference or these boards than we are to our teams.

Not gonna happen.

Who said that?