USCHO Fan Forum
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
-
The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.
Atlantic Hockey Summer News
- Thread starter BC/HE
- Start date
BeloBrasil
Tristeza nao tem fim felicidade sim
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
I do not know if this query has been brought up elsewhere in this thread or somewhere else in this forum but does anyone know if the Atlantic Hockey Association has considered (or is considering) using alternate venues to host the league championship tournament?
I know that Rochester, N.Y. is a fairly convenient location for at least half the teams in the league, but it is a long haul for those of us in New England (and perhaps even for the followers of the Army hockey program as well).
There is another thread on this forum that is discussing the possibility of Hockey East moving its league championship game out of Boston's TD Garden. I do not know the reason why Hockey East is considering changing the venue (if in fact this is actually true), but it has created some spirited discussion regarding the merits of utilizing alternate locations.
In light of the foregoing I was just wondering if the league has a long term commitment to the Blue Cross Arena or might we be seeing the championship tournament at perhaps the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA, the DCU Center in Worcester, MA, or the XL Center in Hartford, CT - all of said venues being convenient to league member schools located in New England and eastern New York.
I do not know if this query has been brought up elsewhere in this thread or somewhere else in this forum but does anyone know if the Atlantic Hockey Association has considered (or is considering) using alternate venues to host the league championship tournament?
I know that Rochester, N.Y. is a fairly convenient location for at least half the teams in the league, but it is a long haul for those of us in New England (and perhaps even for the followers of the Army hockey program as well).
There is another thread on this forum that is discussing the possibility of Hockey East moving its league championship game out of Boston's TD Garden. I do not know the reason why Hockey East is considering changing the venue (if in fact this is actually true), but it has created some spirited discussion regarding the merits of utilizing alternate locations.
In light of the foregoing I was just wondering if the league has a long term commitment to the Blue Cross Arena or might we be seeing the championship tournament at perhaps the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA, the DCU Center in Worcester, MA, or the XL Center in Hartford, CT - all of said venues being convenient to league member schools located in New England and eastern New York.
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
I believe they just put an extension in place that carries through 2011.
To be successful, (i.e., decent attendance), you have to make it convienent for the largest number of fans who will support a championship, not necessisarily in the center of the footprint of the league. If you look at regular season attendance figures for the league, that would probably be somewhere in NY. If not Rochester, then Syracuse, Buffalo, or maybe Binghampton. Albany opens up this year.
Take a look at what happened to the ECAC championship when it moved from Lake Placid (where it drew well from the St Lawrence, Clarkson, and RPI fan bases. In Albany it went down and down. Now they're trying Atlantic City. Also, the TUC is too big a facility. Even the biggest AHA championship crowds would get lost in there.
I believe they just put an extension in place that carries through 2011.
To be successful, (i.e., decent attendance), you have to make it convienent for the largest number of fans who will support a championship, not necessisarily in the center of the footprint of the league. If you look at regular season attendance figures for the league, that would probably be somewhere in NY. If not Rochester, then Syracuse, Buffalo, or maybe Binghampton. Albany opens up this year.
Take a look at what happened to the ECAC championship when it moved from Lake Placid (where it drew well from the St Lawrence, Clarkson, and RPI fan bases. In Albany it went down and down. Now they're trying Atlantic City. Also, the TUC is too big a facility. Even the biggest AHA championship crowds would get lost in there.Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
Same with HSBC in Bufffalo. And Syracuse, Binghamton, and Albany are not near any AHA schools, which would depress turnout. As for New England -- the average attendance of the five New England schools combined is less than 3,000 per game.
It just doesn't make economic sense to move the tournament away from a city where a) it's been, by all accounts, about as successful as could be expected, and b) where it's starting to make a name for itself as an annual event the hockey community can look forward to.
Unless a reasonable case can be made that attendance will be at least comparable to the attendance in Rochester, I think the AHA would be foolish to try to move anytime soon.
Powers &8^]
Same with HSBC in Bufffalo. And Syracuse, Binghamton, and Albany are not near any AHA schools, which would depress turnout. As for New England -- the average attendance of the five New England schools combined is less than 3,000 per game.
It just doesn't make economic sense to move the tournament away from a city where a) it's been, by all accounts, about as successful as could be expected, and b) where it's starting to make a name for itself as an annual event the hockey community can look forward to.
Unless a reasonable case can be made that attendance will be at least comparable to the attendance in Rochester, I think the AHA would be foolish to try to move anytime soon.
Powers &8^]
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
Here's a real scary article on the current state of college finances. The article cites ten schools as examples. Most are in the northeast, and one is a D-1 hockey school.
Check out the slideshow showing some examples.
Forbes Magazine - More Colleges See Bonds Downgraded
Here's a real scary article on the current state of college finances. The article cites ten schools as examples. Most are in the northeast, and one is a D-1 hockey school.
Check out the slideshow showing some examples.
Forbes Magazine - More Colleges See Bonds Downgraded
CARDS_rule_the_Burgh
Nate LePage, Siena '13
BeloBrasil
Tristeza nao tem fim felicidade sim
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
Interesting article on the down-grading of bond ratings at certain colleges and universities across the country.
When it was mentioned that one of the colleges was a D-1 hockey school my heart sank for I do not want to see yet another D-1 program go the way of Wayne State and Findlay University. I was, however, relieved to see that it was Quinnipiac University whose bond-rating was down-graded. The article got it right. Anyone who has been down there lately can give witness to the school's ambitious expansion plans and obviously the cash outlay that the school has had to assume during a down economy is going to lead to this result.
Give the "Bobcats" credit. They are proceeding "full steam ahead" with their expansion plans in this lousy economy and I think it will invariably pay dividends to them in the future. You cannot grow without assuming some risk so kudos to Quinnipiac.
By the way, Quinnipiac has built one of the slickest new arenas in New England. What a beautiful venue and what makes it even nicer is that the hockey rink is not a per se multi-use facility. When they built the arena they built a separate basketball arena so the facility is essentially two arenas in one (like Notre Dame's Joyce Center). If you are in the Hamden/New Haven, CT area check it out. Definitely worth the price of admission for either hockey or basketball.
Interesting article on the down-grading of bond ratings at certain colleges and universities across the country.
When it was mentioned that one of the colleges was a D-1 hockey school my heart sank for I do not want to see yet another D-1 program go the way of Wayne State and Findlay University. I was, however, relieved to see that it was Quinnipiac University whose bond-rating was down-graded. The article got it right. Anyone who has been down there lately can give witness to the school's ambitious expansion plans and obviously the cash outlay that the school has had to assume during a down economy is going to lead to this result.
Give the "Bobcats" credit. They are proceeding "full steam ahead" with their expansion plans in this lousy economy and I think it will invariably pay dividends to them in the future. You cannot grow without assuming some risk so kudos to Quinnipiac.
By the way, Quinnipiac has built one of the slickest new arenas in New England. What a beautiful venue and what makes it even nicer is that the hockey rink is not a per se multi-use facility. When they built the arena they built a separate basketball arena so the facility is essentially two arenas in one (like Notre Dame's Joyce Center). If you are in the Hamden/New Haven, CT area check it out. Definitely worth the price of admission for either hockey or basketball.
AICBroadcaster
New member
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
Hopefully this season we will have a +.500 season.... although we haven't one under his watch for a long time. The plus side though I like to this roster.. which might come back if there are any injuries.. is that the bench isn't deep. We had numerous players last season that only saw action in less than a dozen games, some on senior night (who almost had his first NCAA goal.. which from where I was.. I would have given it to him)... a few decided not to come back this year because they barely got any playing time.
Hopefully this season we will have a +.500 season.... although we haven't one under his watch for a long time. The plus side though I like to this roster.. which might come back if there are any injuries.. is that the bench isn't deep. We had numerous players last season that only saw action in less than a dozen games, some on senior night (who almost had his first NCAA goal.. which from where I was.. I would have given it to him)... a few decided not to come back this year because they barely got any playing time.
AFHockeyFan
Registered User
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
RIT gets to host the championship in exchange for keeping the tournament afloat. There's nowhere else you could put it that would draw anywhere near as close. They lead the league in attendance (Army and Air Force don't count because a good chunk of their attendance are cadets who can't physically leave the campus and have nothing better to do) and have the most fans who are willing to travel and shell out a few bucks for tickets. (See the threads on this forum and find another school's thread with 1/10 of the pages.)
If RIT goes into a slump (unlikely) or gets an invite to the ECAC (slightly less likely) then the tournament might go looking for a new home. But for now, it's there to stay.
Besides, Rochester isn't such a bad place. The train station, hotels, Dinosaur BBQ, and a few other decent bars are all within walking distance of the rink. Try a trip once before you start with the "it's too far from Boston" crap.
RIT gets to host the championship in exchange for keeping the tournament afloat. There's nowhere else you could put it that would draw anywhere near as close. They lead the league in attendance (Army and Air Force don't count because a good chunk of their attendance are cadets who can't physically leave the campus and have nothing better to do) and have the most fans who are willing to travel and shell out a few bucks for tickets. (See the threads on this forum and find another school's thread with 1/10 of the pages.)
If RIT goes into a slump (unlikely) or gets an invite to the ECAC (slightly less likely) then the tournament might go looking for a new home. But for now, it's there to stay.
Besides, Rochester isn't such a bad place. The train station, hotels, Dinosaur BBQ, and a few other decent bars are all within walking distance of the rink. Try a trip once before you start with the "it's too far from Boston" crap.
Last edited:
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
And a Famous Dave's over in Chili or Greece, I don't remember
6.5 hours from Portsmouth, 5 hours from N. Andover if you keep the left door closed and hit the McDonald's drive thru's on the thru-way....... Half way is the baby food factory, going to miss it. plus......if your team win's the AH tourney, more than likely your going to Albany, Worstershire Sauce or Manchvegas for the NCAA;s
And a Famous Dave's over in Chili or Greece, I don't remember
6.5 hours from Portsmouth, 5 hours from N. Andover if you keep the left door closed and hit the McDonald's drive thru's on the thru-way....... Half way is the baby food factory, going to miss it. plus......if your team win's the AH tourney, more than likely your going to Albany, Worstershire Sauce or Manchvegas for the NCAA;s
CornwallAce
Patron Saint of Defunct Teams
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
I still want to see that scheduling issue, 1 game in 3 weeks, fixed a little.
Someone in the east has to have an open date, even a Tuesday/Wednesday game would work. Do any of the in league teams have open games available, even a game vs a league team would be ok now.
Maybe Bentley or Holy Cross can save their last OOC game for AIC =]
I still want to see that scheduling issue, 1 game in 3 weeks, fixed a little.
Someone in the east has to have an open date, even a Tuesday/Wednesday game would work. Do any of the in league teams have open games available, even a game vs a league team would be ok now.
Maybe Bentley or Holy Cross can save their last OOC game for AIC =]
Last edited:
beaverhockeyfan
Well-known member
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
LOL! Everytime I see easterners complain about traveling, I have to laugh. When BSU made their first NCAA tournament and were placed in Amherst, a bunch of us made the trip. When we checked into the hotel, we asked the front desk if there was a fresh seafood place around, and we were told that we were two hours from Boston and that fresh seafood didn't make it this far west. Well, sorry, we were a helluva lot closer than we were in Minnesota.
Then, while at the bar, we talked about making the trip to Worcester to watch North Dakota play since Bemidji lost in OT to Denver. People were asking us if we had a hotel, and we said yeah, we still had a room here in Amherst. They thought we were crazy if we were going to drive the hour and a half to Worcester, watch a hockey game and the drive back, all in the same day. We informed them that it was not uncommon for us out west to travel two, three, four or eight hours to watch our teams.
The locals also found it hard to believe that we only had ONE major airport (Minneapolis-St Paul) within four hours of Bemidji, while they had seven.
Man, they are spoiled out east.....
LOL! Everytime I see easterners complain about traveling, I have to laugh. When BSU made their first NCAA tournament and were placed in Amherst, a bunch of us made the trip. When we checked into the hotel, we asked the front desk if there was a fresh seafood place around, and we were told that we were two hours from Boston and that fresh seafood didn't make it this far west. Well, sorry, we were a helluva lot closer than we were in Minnesota.
Then, while at the bar, we talked about making the trip to Worcester to watch North Dakota play since Bemidji lost in OT to Denver. People were asking us if we had a hotel, and we said yeah, we still had a room here in Amherst. They thought we were crazy if we were going to drive the hour and a half to Worcester, watch a hockey game and the drive back, all in the same day. We informed them that it was not uncommon for us out west to travel two, three, four or eight hours to watch our teams.
The locals also found it hard to believe that we only had ONE major airport (Minneapolis-St Paul) within four hours of Bemidji, while they had seven.
Man, they are spoiled out east.....
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
That's not complaining.
THAT's complaining.
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
BSU, who got the CHA at large, got it because they won some big non-conference games. Had RIT won a couple of their non-conference games, they would have been in no matter what. Close losses to Colgate, St. Lawrence, and Niagara turing to wins might have been enough.
BSU, who got the CHA at large, got it because they won some big non-conference games. Had RIT won a couple of their non-conference games, they would have been in no matter what. Close losses to Colgate, St. Lawrence, and Niagara turing to wins might have been enough.
Tom Naeger
"Happy Talk" Ends Here...
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
I do believe Air Force finished with high enough number the year before this past to get an at large bid, but of course they got the auto and what make this point even more moot point is that they probably would have been out side of the top 16 if they had not won the AHA tournament.
Teams back east have been a problem, but even the top teams had a very bad year out of conference. RIT had not won any out of conference game untill the NCAA Regionals this past year. Which caused a big panic in the brick city, hopefully now people have learn not to question the big dog, cause the big dog is always right
Out of conference games are stacked against AHA teams, many of them are early and on the road. OOC teams are more willing to go into arenas like at Air Force, Army, and RIT, but not so much to places like Sacred Heart, Bentley and Canisius. Yes Griffs I know you got Ferris St. to come there last year and no one showed up...
The spilt in the league may end up helping strength of schedule for the Western teams, be interesting to see how that works out...
I do believe Air Force finished with high enough number the year before this past to get an at large bid, but of course they got the auto and what make this point even more moot point is that they probably would have been out side of the top 16 if they had not won the AHA tournament.
Teams back east have been a problem, but even the top teams had a very bad year out of conference. RIT had not won any out of conference game untill the NCAA Regionals this past year. Which caused a big panic in the brick city, hopefully now people have learn not to question the big dog, cause the big dog is always right
Out of conference games are stacked against AHA teams, many of them are early and on the road. OOC teams are more willing to go into arenas like at Air Force, Army, and RIT, but not so much to places like Sacred Heart, Bentley and Canisius. Yes Griffs I know you got Ferris St. to come there last year and no one showed up...
The spilt in the league may end up helping strength of schedule for the Western teams, be interesting to see how that works out...
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
Air Force finished high enough that year BECAUSE they won the AHA tournament. A loss would have dropped them too far to get an at large.
That is the real "issue". The elite conference teams cannot afford to lose many conference games to have a chance for the at large.
Air Force finished high enough that year BECAUSE they won the AHA tournament. A loss would have dropped them too far to get an at large.
That is the real "issue". The elite conference teams cannot afford to lose many conference games to have a chance for the at large.
BeloBrasil
Tristeza nao tem fim felicidade sim
Re: Atlantic Hockey Summer News
First and foremost who mentioned anything about Boston? My contention was (and still is) that the Atantic Hockey Association is a conference clearly on the rise and that perhaps the conference might benefit by staging its conference championship tournament at a venue within close proximity to the six (6) league members located within or close to New England.
There was no suggestion that the conference should forever forgo Rochester, N.Y. as a host city. All that was suggested was (and is) that maybe on an every-other-year basis the championship tournament be moved east to accommodate those schools (and their fans) who are not located within the Rochester, N.Y. area.
I know that perhaps to those who like Rochester, N.Y., what with its train station, hotels, and some place called "Dinosaur BBQ", that my words might seem blasphemous (for who would not want to go to a place that is best described as being "[not] such a bad place" <--- talk about ****ing a place with faint praise). However, AHA members here in New England (especially here in Massachusetts) are up against some stiff competition. UMass-Amherst, UMass-Lowell, B.U., B.C., and UNH all play in modern high capacity venues while AHA members continue to "slum it" in antiquated rinks. I realize that attendance at AHA games here in the east is modest (at best), but unless you start sharing the wealth a bit and start cultivating some interest in the league the AHA will continue to play "third fiddle" to Hockey East and the ECAC here in New England.
First and foremost who mentioned anything about Boston? My contention was (and still is) that the Atantic Hockey Association is a conference clearly on the rise and that perhaps the conference might benefit by staging its conference championship tournament at a venue within close proximity to the six (6) league members located within or close to New England.
There was no suggestion that the conference should forever forgo Rochester, N.Y. as a host city. All that was suggested was (and is) that maybe on an every-other-year basis the championship tournament be moved east to accommodate those schools (and their fans) who are not located within the Rochester, N.Y. area.
I know that perhaps to those who like Rochester, N.Y., what with its train station, hotels, and some place called "Dinosaur BBQ", that my words might seem blasphemous (for who would not want to go to a place that is best described as being "[not] such a bad place" <--- talk about ****ing a place with faint praise). However, AHA members here in New England (especially here in Massachusetts) are up against some stiff competition. UMass-Amherst, UMass-Lowell, B.U., B.C., and UNH all play in modern high capacity venues while AHA members continue to "slum it" in antiquated rinks. I realize that attendance at AHA games here in the east is modest (at best), but unless you start sharing the wealth a bit and start cultivating some interest in the league the AHA will continue to play "third fiddle" to Hockey East and the ECAC here in New England.