All Things Denver XXIX

[Puck Swami]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Now that we're talking about Magness, we need to remind ourselves and our administration that Magness is no longer new. It is 10 years old now, and in need of some updating in places if DU want's to stay current with the other WCHA teams. Arenas generally have 40-50 year life spans, and you need to update them every 10 years or so.

1) Ice Making: As a multipurpose arena, DU's ice surface won't be the best in the league. But that doesn't mean it can't be improved. I am sure ice technology has advanced in the last 10 years, and perhaps its time to do some updating here.

2) Lighting: If you ever watch a DU game on TV, you notice the big shadows on the ice. That shouldn't happen in a modern arena. Fix and upgrade the lights.

3) Sound: DU's PA system is substandard in many parts of the building. There is no reason that in 2010, arenas should have PA systems that cannot be heard. Upgrade the PA.

4) Display: We know that DU has produced 60+ NHL players. It sure would be nice to show our fans who they are, and consider duplicating the NHL payer pictures in the locker room area to the concourse where the fans can see them. Building a trophy case in the public area would be nice, too. Non-Gold Club members should see DU Hardware, too. It pains me that our best concourse display case is for Ron Moore, a deceased donor and golf team sponsor. I am certainly appreciative of the Moore family for what they've done for DU, but there are many more deserving DU honorees that deserve this level of treatment.

 

[dggoddard]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

1st expenditure needs to be for a new scoreboard and video. Its hopelessly outdated.

The lighting doesn't seem to be a problem for Hoops. I'll check the DVR tonight. Its terrible for hockey on TV.

Games this season in hockey & hoops have been in High-Def. Huge upgrade.

When they built Magness they never could have imagined that end zone netting would become required in hockey. Now over 50% of the seating in Magness is significantly impaired. If I were DU, I'd try and raise $25 million, add a new video scoreboard, Advertising video ring, knock out the East Wall and build 2,500 new seats & real luxury boxes. Then take 1,000 seats out of the South Stands and make them Standing Room only with 4' high tables for the students, alumni and General Admission. Without seating in the South Stands you might increase capacity by a couple of hundred.

All this being said, has anyone checked out the remaining hockey schedule. DU has one sellout remaining. The game against CC. There are nine dud games left plus two or three playoff games against another sucky team. (NMU, UAA, CC, MTU, SCSU & Playoffs). The Athletic Department is going to take a huge financial hit this season.

 

[Old Pio]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Now that we're talking about Magness, we need to remind ourselves and our administration that Magness is no longer new. It is 10 years old now, and in need of some updating in places if DU want's to stay current with the other WCHA teams. Arenas generally have 40-50 year life spans, and you need to update them every 10 years or so.

1) Ice Making: As a multipurpose arena, DU's ice surface won't be the best in the league. But that doesn't mean it can't be improved. I am sure ice technology has advanced in the last 10 years, and perhaps its time to do some updating here.

2) Lighting: If you ever watch a DU game on TV, you notice the big shadows on the ice. That shouldn't happen in a modern arena. Fix and upgrade the lights.

3) Sound: DU's PA system is substandard in many parts of the building. There is no reason that in 2010, arenas should have PA systems that cannot be heard. Upgrade the PA.

4) Display: We know that DU has produced 60+ NHL players. It sure would be nice to show our fans who they are, and consider duplicating the NHL payer pictures in the locker room area to the concourse where the fans can see them. Building a trophy case in the public area would be nice, too. Non-Gold Club members should see DU Hardware, too. It pains me that our best concourse display case is for Ron Moore, a deceased donor and golf team sponsor. I am certainly appreciative of the Moore family for what they've done for DU, but there are many more deserving DU honorees that deserve this level of treatment.

All good ideas. Don't forget honoring Masterton and Magnuson, scandalous that we don't. And I want to retch every time I see the shot of the DU lockerroom with the jelly donut prominently displayed on the carpet. Out with you, donut

Over the years I've said many times that DU is the only D1 school that runs from its traditions, hides them, ignores them, downplays them. It is inexplicable. For the longest time we refused to play our fight song. Even had a chancellor who thought his mandate included coming up with a new song. Do we ever play the Alma Mater? Ever? However often it's played, it's not enough. It's always a huge emotional highlight when the band plays "Hail to the Orange," "Varsity" or "Carmen Ohio" at sporting events. Why can't we do that? What separates the college sporting experience from the pros is tradition, the music, the enthusiasm of the kids, etc. We've gotten much much better. And I'm eternally grateful to those of us who've worked so hard on the problem. More work needs to be done.

 

[Old Pio]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

1st expenditure needs to be for a new scoreboard and video. Its hopelessly outdated.

The lighting doesn't seem to be a problem for Hoops. I'll check the DVR tonight. Its terrible for hockey on TV.

Games this season in hockey & hoops have been in High-Def. Huge upgrade.

When they built Magness they never could have imagined that end zone netting would become required in hockey. Now over 50% of the seating in Magness is significantly impaired. If I were DU, I'd try and raise $25 million, add a new video scoreboard, Advertising video ring, knock out the East Wall and build 2,500 new seats & real luxury boxes. Then take 1,000 seats out of the South Stands and make them Standing Room only with 4' high tables for the students, alumni and General Admission. Without seating in the South Stands you might increase capacity by a couple of hundred.

All this being said, has anyone checked out the remaining hockey schedule. DU has one sellout remaining. The game against CC. There are nine dud games left plus two or three playoff games against another sucky team. (NMU, UAA, CC, MTU, SCSU & Playoffs). The Athletic Department is going to take a huge financial hit this season.

I like it, I like it. IIRC when what ultimately became Magness was being conceived, there was discussion that the "big cigars" didn't want luxury boxes and that we didn't need additional seating, we had a fan base of around 6 thousand and that's that. I always disagreed with that, but then I didn't drop millions into the hat, so nobody much cared what I thought.

Certainly things like lighting, scoreboards, replay boards all must be first rate. Ice is a no brainer. We had problems this weekend and it was explained away as a function of unseasonably warm weather and two games in one day for the Cup. Maybe. I've watched our games on Fox at my brother's house and his comment has been, "looks like a nice place to play, why is the lighting so bad?" I have no answer. Whatever it takes, lighting and ice aren't exactly optional.

DG seems to have great ideas here, the SRO area would be killer, a real DU tradition, unique and a breeding ground for school spirit. We've made great strides in that area, and that area would just take us to the next level (assuming the mossbacks could stand a loud, enthusiastic student section--we might lose some of their season ticket business as they trade in DU hockey for the symphony!).

When he was trying to upgrade the Arena, and was showing me around the new team lounge, Frank Serratore made the point that we don't have to be better than everyone else--if they have a 50 inch TV in the player lounge, we aren't required to have a 50 incher too. But we've gotta have a player lounge and it's gotta have a TV. We just have to be in the ballgame. We'll never be able to match that gold plated vomitorium they have in Grand Forks, but we can close the gap a bit. And improvements in ice, lighting, score boards, replay boards, student seating, luxury boxes, etc. will go a long way.

Then there's the matter of that DU "base," which would seem to argue against increasing capacity. It's a chicken or egg argument. You can't increase the base if you don't have the seats. There's a little concept known as marketing which could help fill new seats and luxury boxes. I have no earthly idea whether there's even a budget for that now or what it might be. But budgets and staff can be increased. And with luxury seating and increased overall seating, it can be done.

Illinois recently upgraded Memorial Stadium significantly and I know they had 95% of the luxury seating sold before they started. And Denver certainly has a corporate community that far exceeds Champaign's, even in tough economic times. Reach out to those folks. Tailor an appeal that will get their attention. Give 'em sinage, program mentions, whatever it takes. And the cost of a luxury box at Magness would be a fraction of the cost of a box at at Big 10 football stadium, with many more games. Booze and really good food would have to be part of the package.

Anyway, DG's on to something here. We've got to think out of the box. And we've got to keep up with the Jones in terms of whistles and bells. Standing pat is a bad idea and will slowly strangle the tremendous improvements we've seen in recent years.

 

[du78]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

For the stat feaks out there

DU up to #10 in the USCHO Poll.

DU up to #9 in the all important Pairwise.

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

I like it, I like it. IIRC when what ultimately became Magness was being conceived, there was discussion that the "big cigars" didn't want luxury boxes and that we didn't need additional seating, we had a fan base of around 6 thousand and that's that. I always disagreed with that, but then I didn't drop millions into the hat, so nobody much cared what I thought.

Certainly things like lighting, scoreboards, replay boards all must be first rate. Ice is a no brainer. We had problems this weekend and it was explained away as a function of unseasonably warm weather and two games in one day for the Cup. Maybe. I've watched our games on Fox at my brother's house and his comment has been, "looks like a nice place to play, why is the lighting so bad?" I have no answer. Whatever it takes, lighting and ice aren't exactly optional.

DG seems to have great ideas here, the SRO area would be killer, a real DU tradition, unique and a breeding ground for school spirit. We've made great strides in that area, and that area would just take us to the next level (assuming the mossbacks could stand a loud, enthusiastic student section--we might lose some of their season ticket business as they trade in DU hockey for the symphony!).

When he was trying to upgrade the Arena, and was showing me around the new team lounge, Frank Serratore made the point that we don't have to be better than everyone else--if they have a 50 inch TV in the player lounge, we aren't required to have a 50 incher too. But we've gotta have a player lounge and it's gotta have a TV. We just have to be in the ballgame. We'll never be able to match that gold plated vomitorium they have in Grand Forks, but we can close the gap a bit. And improvements in ice, lighting, score boards, replay boards, student seating, luxury boxes, etc. will go a long way.

Then there's the matter of that DU "base," which would seem to argue against increasing capacity. It's a chicken or egg argument. You can't increase the base if you don't have the seats. There's a little concept known as marketing which could help fill new seats and luxury boxes. I have no earthly idea whether there's even a budget for that now or what it might be. But budgets and staff can be increased. And with luxury seating and increased overall seating, it can be done.

Illinois recently upgraded Memorial Stadium significantly and I know they had 95% of the luxury seating sold before they started. And Denver certainly has a corporate community that far exceeds Champaign's, even in tough economic times. Reach out to those folks. Tailor an appeal that will get their attention. Give 'em sinage, program mentions, whatever it takes. And the cost of a luxury box at Magness would be a fraction of the cost of a box at at Big 10 football stadium, with many more games. Booze and really good food would have to be part of the package.

Anyway, DG's on to something here. We've got to think out of the box. And we've got to keep up with the Jones in terms of whistles and bells. Standing pat is a bad idea and will slowly strangle the tremendous improvements we've seen in recent years.

Agree with everything you said here, and DGs ideas are great, too.

I think the challenge the athletic dept has right now is one of bandwidth. They have spent much of their recent efforts securing a new conference affiiition (WAC) which is on shaky ground as the musical chairs of conference affiliation play out. Right now, DU has a small butt compared to the big butts of those schools with football and the fear is that they might not fill a chair if the WAC goes down. They are trying to invest some resources into basketball to give them more options in case the WAC falls through at some point, but likely the WAC will find some more schools like Sacramento State, Portland State and Seattle to replace the departures. Right now, the basketball bet looks a little tenuous - DU needs to start winning, and they are not this year, at least yet. I am sure Joe Scott is feeling some pressure in year three.... Sponsorships are also tight right now - DU recently lost a major sponsor that recently pulled all of its college sponsorships, and right now, colleges chasing sponsorship money are finding closed doors in this economy. They also are going to have to face the Gwoz re-signing at some point, which to me seems far cheaper to sign him vs the risk of letting him go elswhere and risking the wrath of the hockey fans...Additionally, if Tierney's Lax teams makes the Lax Stadium obsolete in 3-5 years, they are going to need more money to expand that facility.

Finally, DU just started a the public face of a general University-wide capital campaign called "Ascend" that is supposed to go through 2014 and raise $500 million, about $250 million of which was already raised in the 'quiet period' over the last couple of years. Most of the Ascend money will probably go to the endowment to fund scholarships/financial aid and endowed faculty chairs, but they are spending $30 million to redo Penrose Library both inside (taking many of the rarely-accessed books to an on-demand warehouse off campus and making more space for group study (and redoing the outside to fit with the current campus aesthetic) and set aside another $20 million for a new engineering building. I would bet the long term plan is also for the Communications School to someday occupy the sleek Cable Center Building (near the Lax stadium), which probably won't be the Cable Center 3-5 year from now, given where that industry may be headed...

When you add it all up, I'm not hearing about any major new capital expenditures planned for athletics. I would think that if this does happen, it's going to take a large personal donation (Hello Pat Bowlen? Legacy time. You want to be remembered for more than a nice varsity training room at DU, don't you?) or a corporate lead donation (Hello Pete Coors? - Your family has gave a nice Organ at the Newman Center and a nice gym for the students, but wouldn't you like a bigger branded beer-selling presence on campus? How does Coors-Magness Arena sound for $15 million ? Write a big enough check ($25 million) and we can re-name the building after you alone and relegate the Magness name to the rink inside - e.g. Magness rink at Coors Arena.

 

[mwade]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Forcing myself to "spam" everyone today (well the threads of teams I've shot this season at least).

Having a Cyber Monday sale on http://HockeyPhotography.com - 10% off prints with coupon code 2010-10 (enter on checkout page) or 15% off orders of $150 or more with coupon code 2010-15.

Denver galleries can be found here - http://hockeyphotography.photoshelt...niversity-of-Denver-Pioneers/P000012.5KNZ5HKs - or enter your favorite player's name in the search box here - http://hockeyphotography.photoshelter.com/search-page

Prints make great holiday gifts for yourself or someone else.

Thanks,
-Melissa

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Forcing myself to "spam" everyone today (well the threads of teams I've shot this season at least).

Having a Cyber Monday sale on http://HockeyPhotography.com - 10% off prints with coupon code 2010-10 (enter on checkout page) or 15% off orders of $150 or more with coupon code 2010-15.

Denver galleries can be found here - http://hockeyphotography.photoshelt...niversity-of-Denver-Pioneers/P000012.5KNZ5HKs - or enter your favorite player's name in the search box here - http://hockeyphotography.photoshelter.com/search-page

Prints make great holiday gifts for yourself or someone else.

Thanks,
-Melissa

Great shots, Melissa!

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Team Canada named its camp roster for the World Juniors, and Brittain was not invited. Frankly, I bet he'd be in the mix if Team Canada was not so tied to the CHL as a player source. Only 4 current NCAA guys were invited, including CC's Jaden Schwartz, and two ex-NCAA gus, Brandon Pirri, who played at RPI and is now in the AHL, and ex Harvard man Louis LeBlanc, now in the QMJHL.

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/hockey/2010/11/29/16362821.html

Team USA announces it's 29 man roster on Dec 7, and that will be trimmed to 22 players who will make the final team after a camp and some mid December and late December exhibition games in New Yrok state, prior to the tourney start on Dec. 26th.

 

[cross cheque]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

I don't know how George does it but even when DU loses a big class he still manages to put together a great team. Gwoz might be a bullseye for ridicule but when you look at what he's done it's pretty amazing, ok I'm off to shine someone else's knob . Good luck this weekend Plyos.

 

[Old Pio]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Agree with everything you said here, and DGs ideas are great, too.

I think the challenge the athletic dept has right now is one of bandwidth. They have spent much of their recent efforts securing a new conference affiiition (WAC) which is on shaky ground as the musical chairs of conference affiliation play out. Right now, DU has a small butt compared to the big butts of those schools with football and the fear is that they might not fill a chair if the WAC goes down. They are trying to invest some resources into basketball to give them more options in case the WAC falls through at some point, but likely the WAC will find some more schools like Sacramento State, Portland State and Seattle to replace the departures. Right now, the basketball bet looks a little tenuous - DU needs to start winning, and they are not this year, at least yet. I am sure Joe Scott is feeling some pressure in year three.... Sponsorships are also tight right now - DU recently lost a major sponsor that recently pulled all of its college sponsorships, and right now, colleges chasing sponsorship money are finding closed doors in this economy. They also are going to have to face the Gwoz re-signing at some point, which to me seems far cheaper to sign him vs the risk of letting him go elswhere and risking the wrath of the hockey fans...Additionally, if Tierney's Lax teams makes the Lax Stadium obsolete in 3-5 years, they are going to need more money to expand that facility.

Finally, DU just started a the public face of a general University-wide capital campaign called "Ascend" that is supposed to go through 2014 and raise $500 million, about $250 million of which was already raised in the 'quiet period' over the last couple of years. Most of the Ascend money will probably go to the endowment to fund scholarships/financial aid and endowed faculty chairs, but they are spending $30 million to redo Penrose Library both inside (taking many of the rarely-accessed books to an on-demand warehouse off campus and making more space for group study (and redoing the outside to fit with the current campus aesthetic) and set aside another $20 million for a new engineering building. I would bet the long term plan is also for the Communications School to someday occupy the sleek Cable Center Building (near the Lax stadium), which probably won't be the Cable Center 3-5 year from now, given where that industry may be headed...

When you add it all up, I'm not hearing about any major new capital expenditures planned for athletics. I would think that if this does happen, it's going to take a large personal donation (Hello Pat Bowlen? Legacy time. You want to be remembered for more than a nice varsity training room at DU, don't you?) or a corporate lead donation (Hello Pete Coors? - Your family has gave a nice Organ at the Newman Center and a nice gym for the students, but wouldn't you like a bigger branded beer-selling presence on campus? How does Coors-Magness Arena sound for $15 million ? Write a big enough check ($25 million) and we can re-name the building after you alone and relegate the Magness name to the rink inside - e.g. Magness rink at Coors Arena.

It's funny, back in the day we used to have these long, involved discussions about whether it was possible to sell beer on campus, and if so, whether it had to be 3.2. Back and forth, endlessly, for years. That's been settled. Now, let's make Coors the official beer of the University of Denver, or whatever it takes to get Pete enthused about coughing up a huge donation. University of Denver, Coors Seminary, may be going a bit too far. LOL.

I'm thinking if the Tierney plan works out, we can find some east coast alums to fund an expansion there. Wow, that would be terrific. And those concerns about basketball are valid, as you've pointed out, there's a huge pot of money available for just being somewhat better than awful. Conference affiliation, even though we're still not in the right one, is also important.

Penrose has long been on my short list of the ugliest buildings around (what were they thinking?) so a rennovation is long overdue. It would be nice if we could figure out a way to implode J-Mac since it IS the ugliest building around. And an engineering building has been part of the plan. Happy to hear Mass Comm might move, I'm sure the students would gladly give up their daily walk to Aurora to a building that was way too small and out of date when I was a student.

And, of course, hockey doesn't fit into the "big name conference" scenario anyway. But I keep coming back to what Darrel Royal said in another context: Dance with the one that brung you. And hockey brung us and should continue in the role (unless we don't pay attention to the facilities and/or screw the pooch with Gwoz.)

So it's tough but not impossible. Some of the fixes for Magness are cheaper and shorter term. Some are longer term, and frankly very exciting. The more I think of that standing room area, the more I like it. I've been thinking about Cameron Indoor and I really like the idea. Maybe we could arrange for alumni to shovel Pete's driveway!

 

[vizoroo]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Canadian invitees:

Dylan Olsen - Minnesota-Duluth

Know the school, but not the conference.

Jaden Schwartz - Colorado (WCHA)

Know the conference, but not the school

Riley Sheahan - Notre Dame (NCAA)

Reilly Smith - Miami University (NCAA)

Guess they don't recognize the CCHA as a conference.

 

[vizoroo]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Team Canada named its camp roster for the World Juniors, and Brittain was not invited. Frankly, I bet he'd be in the mix if Team Canada was not so tied to the CHL as a player source. Only 4 current NCAA guys were invited, including CC's Jaden Schwartz, and two ex-NCAA gus, Brandon Pirri, who played at RPI and is now in the AHL, and ex Harvard man Louis LeBlanc, now in the QMJHL.

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/hockey/2010/11/29/16362821.html

Team USA announces it's 29 man roster on Dec 7, and that will be trimmed to 22 players who will make the final team after a camp and some mid December and late December exhibition games in New Yrok state, prior to the tourney start on Dec. 26th.

Canadian Goalies: Visentin-1st rnd choice, Pickard 2nd rnd choice by the Avs, Roy--no relation to Patrick--5th rnd, and Anderson was not drafted, but later signed with San Jose. He does play for the Team Canada Coach.
Don't think they have ever considered Brittain, good for us!

 

[dggoddard]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Brittain didn't exactly light it up in the AJHL last season. Canada isn't about to hand over the goaltending reins to the national team based on half of an NCAA season.

That being said, his name was mentioned up there.

DU has a new recruit. Brad Hawkinson from the Colorado Thunderbirds. He's the fourth player from the Under 16 National Championship team to commit to DU.

2011 Recruiting Class
D Scott Mayfield (Youngstown, USHL)
F Zac Larraza (U.S. Under-18)
F Garrett Allen (Fargo, USHL)
D Matt Van Voorhis (U.S. Under-18)
D Joey LaLeggia (Penticton Vees, BCHL)
F Larkin Jacobson (Janesville Jets, NAHL)

2012 Recruiting Class
F Tyler Pham (Colorado Thunderbirds-U18)
D Dakota Mermis (U.S. Under-17)
D Josiah Didier (Cedar Rapids, USHL)
F Daniel Doremus (Sioux Falls, USHL)

2013 Recruiting Class
F Brad Hawkinson (Colorado Thunderbirds-U18)

 

[Dmann]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

DU has a new recruit. Brad Hawkinson from the Colorado Thunderbirds. He's the fourth player from the Under 16 National Championship team to commit to DU.

Who were the other 3?, and the U16 team, are they the same players in the U18 team just 2 years older?

 

[dggoddard]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Who were the other 3?, and the U16 team, are they the same players in the U18 team just 2 years older?

Pham, Didier, Doremus & Hawkinson.

Hawkinson is 16 but he is playing on the Under 18 team this season with Pham. Didier & Doremus are playing in the USHL this season. Hawkinson scored a goal in the National Championship game.

http://tbirdhockey.org/news2.php?news_id=277539&team_id=12116

 

[vizoroo]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Drew Shore named Player of the Week by INCH.

Who do you think gets invited to play at the WJC?
How about 3 Pioneers--Zucker, Shore and Bennett?
http://noalibisnoregrets.blogspot.com/2010/11/projecting-united-states-wjc-roster.html

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Drew Shore named Player of the Week by INCH.

Who do you think gets invited to play at the WJC?
How about 3 Pioneers--Zucker, Shore and Bennett?
http://noalibisnoregrets.blogspot.com/2010/11/projecting-united-states-wjc-roster.html

It all depends on what kinds of players they want to build the kind of team they want. Bennett is improving rapidly, but I would think he might be a longshot given his style of play, but Zucker and Drew Shore certainly deserve to be there, given they are playing excellent two way hockey right now, and are both well known within the US program.

 

[du78]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Drew Shore named Player of the Week by INCH.

Who do you think gets invited to play at the WJC?
How about 3 Pioneers--Zucker, Shore and Bennett?
http://noalibisnoregrets.blogspot.com/2010/11/projecting-united-states-wjc-roster.html

Interesting that the blogger has Bennett making the team. I also heard a rumor that incoming DU recruit Scott Mayfield might get an invitation to the camp. Tough line-up to crack for him but the camp experience would be good.

 

[vizoroo]

Re: All Things Denver XXIX

Interesting that the blogger has Bennett making the team. I also heard a rumor that incoming DU recruit Scott Mayfield might get an invitation to the camp. Tough line-up to crack for him but the camp experience would be good.

Shore and Zucker were no surprise, but Bennett hasn't really set the net on fire--yet.
Zucker was a surprise last year. Who knows maybe Mayfield could be the surprise this year.