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B1G Championship in Detroit

Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

Handyman said:
Yeah like Mariucci has stuff going on this weekend too. All stadiums will have the logistical issue.

Hmmm...what if you do it where last years champion hosts. That way they get the reward from last year and have the time to plan around it.

If they did it that way I would then change the trophy and make it a travelling trophy, whoever hoists the trophy hosts the tourny.
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Not a bad idea. It still might not work for for Madison and Columbus if they traditionally have those dates booked with other events. But with that much advance timing, you might be able to find alternate sites like Gurt said.


Another problem it poses is if, say, Minnesota or Michigan win conference titles three or four or five years in a row....well you can imagine the other schools would be a little peeved about the same one or two schools getting to host every year. Simple answer is to win the conference, but that is easier said than done. And let's face it, this scenario isn't all that farfetched. Michigan St was in the mix going into the final weekend this year, but I don't think they are going to be a perennial contender for conference championships. Penn St is up and coming but I don't necessarily see them contending consistently, at least not for a few more years. Ohio St shows flashes, but they are never consistent enough to contend either. Wisconsin was horrendous this year and if Eaves goes, it could be ugly for a few years trying to rebuild.....
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

Darius said:
Watching on BTN I couldn't help thinking that some of college hockey's most storied programs are rotting away in the dark closet of the B1G conference.
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this. for sure. however, they did create it themselves. great time here in St. Paul. town has rolled out the red carpet for us. banners in the streets, posters in every restaurant and store, every wait staff knows exactly what you are talking about when you say "here for hockey".
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

gopher wes said:
Not a bad idea. It still might not work for for Madison and Columbus if they traditionally have those dates booked with other events. But with that much advance timing, you might be able to find alternate sites like Gurt said.


Another problem it poses is if, say, Minnesota or Michigan win conference titles three or four or five years in a row....well you can imagine the other schools would be a little peeved about the same one or two schools getting to host every year. Simple answer is to win the conference, but that is easier said than done. And let's face it, this scenario isn't all that farfetched. Michigan St was in the mix going into the final weekend this year, but I don't think they are going to be a perennial contender for conference championships. Penn St is up and coming but I don't necessarily see them contending consistently, at least not for a few more years. Ohio St shows flashes, but they are never consistent enough to contend either. Wisconsin was horrendous this year and if Eaves goes, it could be ugly for a few years trying to rebuild.....
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I agree, it is not a perfect idea, but right now there isnt one. Maybe make it a short term solution based on how much attendance increases...I dunno. Like I said I would rather cancel it and give the teams a weekend off ;)
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

One way to "minimize" the social media bashing of the weak crowds, embarrassing looks on TV, and somewhat improving the fan experience at the game may be to go the route the WCHA did, only selling the lower bowl seats.
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

I think the B1G failed to market this properly.

After what I saw from OSU, PSU, and Wisconsin last night you just need to market this correctly. Heck, is the old Silverdome still standing? You may need to move this event there for the extra seating capacity. And it would make for a great event name ...

May I humbly suggest:

The Pillow Fight In Pontiac
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

MavHockey14 said:
One way to "minimize" the social media bashing of the weak crowds, embarrassing looks on TV, and somewhat improving the fan experience at the game may be to go the route the WCHA did, only selling the lower bowl seats.
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Even then the lower bowl would be AT BEST half full.
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

Gurtholfin said:
I'd have no problem with campus sites.
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Reacting to what I saw on TV last night, I'm starting to think this is the way to go. While I greatly admire wT's positive attitude about last night's experience, such a small crowd in an NHL rink just isn't acceptable. Let's see how it plays out over the rest of the weekend, particularly tonight. But if crowds of 1,000 - 3,500 are going to be the norm, something different needs to be done.

Let the team that wins the regular season be the host. Reward them. Make the regular season mean something.
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Love the integrity of the suggestion. But hosting 5 hockey teams on short notice is going to burden most schools aren't going to want to take on, particularly in March. With at least a year's notice, it can work.

I think all of the teams have to be in, coz that's seems to be how college sports generally work.
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This is actually good thing, not something to be resigned to. I've never understood the desire to use regular season results to eliminate a small handful of teams from the playoffs. If you want to limit playoffs to teams with winning records, fine. Otherwise, just let everyone in and let the ice chips fall where they may. Settle things on the ice.

The only issue I see is places where the arenas are multi-use like Madison and Columbus.

In Madison, it could be moved to the Coliseum if there are conflicts. What about Columbus?
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In the long run, there will likely be a very nice answer to this. There are plans on the drawing board for a medium sized ice arena to replace the current Ice Rink. (The University is coveting the land the current Ice Rink sits on. For a dorm, IIRC.) But for better or worse, I'm guessing that's 10-15 years away. In the meantime, you'd get the Schottenstein Center with the Upper Level curtained off. The needed medium sized facility doesn't currently exist.

But maybe this isn't such an huge problem. If you rotated the event between all six campuses and put us at the end of the line, the Schott might only be called on to host the event once before the "next generation" Ice Arena becomes available. If B1G Hockey expands to 8 teams, odds for that scenario would be pretty favorable. And for that matter, you could even skip us once in the rotation and I don't think people here would be hugely offended.
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

Maybe the BIG should realize their place and look to Atlantic Hockey for a model for their post season tournament.
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

Attendance at LTs across the nation have been in decline since 2003, last year being the lowest in 15 years. The issues seem much more systemic than local and involve multiple factors, albeit ticket prices being one of the chief concerns for fans that are consistently purchasing regular season tickets.

I suspect the NCAA committee will looking at both the conference and regional attendance declines in recent years and find corporate and coordinated solutions that increase the college hockey experience for both the student-athlete and fan alike. The NCAA postseason is primarily driven by $$$ so I'm sure they'll take a hard and long look at how they can increase their revenue stream through restructuring their ticket pricing models, marketing strengths and limitations, venue standards, etc. Ultimately I can see the committee reworking the system in the next couple years to reward high seeded schools as campus site hosts for part of the post season with perhaps a new configuration that also involves an expansion of the 16 team field for the NCAA tournament (which needs to happen to accommodate both the AQs and parity in college hockey today).

The NCAA and its selection committee are taking a close look at how regional venues fare over the next few years. Only 2015 and 2016 hosts were awarded in the last round. “We awarded only two years on the regionals because discussions are going on for where do we want to be?” said Kristin Fasbender, the NCAA’s associate director of championships. “Is it going back to campus sites? Is it staying on neutral sites? Is it pre-determined [hosts]? According to Fasbender, all options are on the table, including the lacrosse format.
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This discussion here on attendance is beyond overkill. BTW, there are some very important hockey games today...remember??:D
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

The media down here was all about the basketball Buckeyes advancing but not a word about the hockey Buckeyes.
OSU is partnered with a number of the media outlets here and they don't even TRY to get them so even mention how we're doing the B1G tournament!
And you guys have to wonder why our fan base is what it is?
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

Handyman said:
The Big Ten will never be obscure. You have 3 of the winningest programs in college hockey history (one of which exists in the largest pool of American hockey players and hand picks from it) that play in it. The conference tournament is a joke but if you think Michigan/Minnesota/Wisconsin are going to fall off the map then you might want to stop huffing glue.
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To clarify my use of "obsurity", I mean that the hockey conference really has no "play." For two years now, I see lots of ink about "who is leading ECAC" or Hockey East. I am in Minny, and I rarely hear much about the Gophers hockey team as they fit into their conference.

I agree totally that MN/WI/MI and to a lesser extent the other schools, are not going to fade away. It's the artificial 'conference' thing that seems to fall flat.

One thing that seems to go with this discussion is that hockey fans from these schools still see others as their main rivals. I mean MN/NoDak or MI and MSU with the other Michigan schools. And, the assumption that "Big 10 pride" from football and basketball would simply transfer to hockey has turned out so far to be incorrect.
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

Gurtholfin said:
That place is still standing? :eek:


I guess I just assumed they would have taken it down.
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Nope. The sick part is is that it still is owned by the ******* Canadian that it was sold to for $950K in an auction not that long ago. He decided it costs too much to keep the roof inflated, so this is the result.

The eyesore of Oakland County, it is.
 
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