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B1G Championship in Detroit

gopher wes said:
You could do like UND fans and just claim that it's a 50/50 ratio like when they used to come to Mariucci even though it was 70/30 at best:rolleyes:
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Try reminding them that the Gophers used to play games in a half empty old Ralph in the mid 90's and they'll plug their ears and deny that ever happened.
 
wolverineTrumpet said:
Too much. It was $15 last night.
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Oh you poor kids. I'm going to have to pay $42 to park at the TD Garden tonight. $42!!!! Argh.

I read through this thread on my commute home tonight enjoying the back and forth. As a somewhat disinterested third party, indulge me for a few minutes as I think you both have some valid points.

First off - I will be really curious to see what the crowd is tonight for the UM-MSU game. I believe the regular season game that was played there back in late January/early February was sold out, was it not? Based on that, you should see a similar crowd. I don't care if it was advertised or not. You have to know when your teams are playing, that they're playing in the playoffs and you go. Disappointing that there were so few Michigan fans there. Shame on the school itself for not pushing it more, especially since you have no conflict with basketball.

Second - Minnesota fans. How many Minnesota fans traveled to Detroit? Why on earth, if you are a die hard Gopher fan, would you stay home in Minnesota to watch teams that you don't root for? I get the lack of funds/lack of time off issue. I do. But you cannot use the "our high school hockey tournament draws eleventy billion people" as a reason. I thought fans of these big midwest schools travel really well. I was at the NCAA Regional in St. Paul and was amazed at how many North Dakota fans there were. And don't use the "they're the next state over" excuse. It's not a quick ride.

The biggest issue with your tournament I see is the three days. Because fan bases need to travel, it's difficult to plan for time off and flights when you need to plan for three nights of games, and then if you lose the first night, you're stuck there. Especially if you have a flight. It seems like all B1G schools had bye weeks at some point during the season, so tighten up the schedule to shorten it by a week. Have teams 3-6 play a 2 of 3 series on campus sites with 1 and 2 getting a week bye. Then have the 2 winners that played and teams 1 and 2 play a regular semi/finals tournament on a Friday Saturday in a place like JLA or the X or wherever like everyone else.

I think it will stay this way till more school become a part of your conference and you can make the playoffs a little more normal (for lack of a better term).
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

Scarlet said:
Oh you poor kids. I'm going to have to pay $42 to park at the TD Garden tonight. $42!!!! Argh.

I read through this thread on my commute home tonight enjoying the back and forth. As a somewhat disinterested third party, indulge me for a few minutes as I think you both have some valid points.

First off - I will be really curious to see what the crowd is tonight for the UM-MSU game. I believe the regular season game that was played there back in late January/early February was sold out, was it not? Based on that, you should see a similar crowd. I don't care if it was advertised or not. You have to know when your teams are playing, that they're playing in the playoffs and you go. Disappointing that there were so few Michigan fans there. Shame on the school itself for not pushing it more, especially since you have no conflict with basketball.

Second - Minnesota fans. How many Minnesota fans traveled to Detroit? Why on earth, if you are a die hard Gopher fan, would you stay home in Minnesota to watch teams that you don't root for? I get the lack of funds/lack of time off issue. I do. But you cannot use the "our high school hockey tournament draws eleventy billion people" as a reason. I thought fans of these big midwest schools travel really well. I was at the NCAA Regional in St. Paul and was amazed at how many North Dakota fans there were. And don't use the "they're the next state over" excuse. It's not a quick ride.

The biggest issue with your tournament I see is the three days. Because fan bases need to travel, it's difficult to plan for time off and flights when you need to plan for three nights of games, and then if you lose the first night, you're stuck there. Especially if you have a flight. It seems like all B1G schools had bye weeks at some point during the season, so tighten up the schedule to shorten it by a week. Have teams 3-6 play a 2 of 3 series on campus sites with 1 and 2 getting a week bye. Then have the 2 winners that played and teams 1 and 2 play a regular semi/finals tournament on a Friday Saturday in a place like JLA or the X or wherever like everyone else.

I think it will stay this way till more school become a part of your conference and you can make the playoffs a little more normal (for lack of a better term).
Click to expand...

The two Michigan v. state games were special cases.

The GLI Championship, which is a 50 year tradition, had 18K. The Duel in the D, a 25 year tradition, was properly advertised unlike this dumb tournament. You saw commercials for the DitD game about a month straight on all sports networks as local spots. That game sold out with over 20K, like it usually does.
 
MGoBlueHockey said:
The two Michigan v. state games were special cases.

The GLI Championship, which is a 50 year tradition, had 18K. The Duel in the D, a 25 year tradition, was properly advertised unlike this dumb tournament. You saw commercials for the DitD game about a month straight on all sports networks as local spots. That game sold out with over 20K, like it usually does.
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One was part of a tournament that happens every year so it has its own fan base. But the other is just a regular season game. Shouldn't matter that you do it every year. This game tonight matters. Like, win or go home matters. And if you're a fan of either school you should know that and not need advertising to get you there.
 
Tipsy McStagger said:
How did you glean that from my 4 words? You are wrong. I think its great that you went. But the "we know the stadium won't be empty" couldnt have been more wrong. I thought that was hilarious. You can get angry about it or have fun with it. Your choice.
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Fair enough.

It was odd to see the ticket chart with not that many available when we bought them.

At the game now, nice to see the gopher band. Wearing cloaking devices, of course.
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

Scarlet said:
Second - Minnesota fans. How many Minnesota fans traveled to Detroit? Why on earth, if you are a die hard Gopher fan, would you stay home in Minnesota to watch teams that you don't root for?
Click to expand...

Minnesota, with two local competing conference playoffs and a women's team playing locally in the Frozen Four at the same time, will send more fans to Detroit than Michigan, with twice the schools playing at the tourney and twice the population, sent to Minnesota last year.
 
Re: B1G Championship in Detroit

Who cares about the local competing conference playoffs? It's not Minnesota. If they played the Hockey East tournament in Connecticut and the ECAC tournament was at the Garden, I would not go to the ECAC tournament because it's closer and good hockey. I'd go where BU was playing, because that's my school. The women's FF I get. Totally forgot about that.

And I'm watching the MN-OSU game and I can't tell that there are many Gopher fans there. There could be.
 
Scarlet said:
Oh you poor kids. I'm going to have to pay $42 to park at the TD Garden tonight. $42!!!! Argh.

I read through this thread on my commute home tonight enjoying the back and forth. As a somewhat disinterested third party, indulge me for a few minutes as I think you both have some valid points.

First off - I will be really curious to see what the crowd is tonight for the UM-MSU game. I believe the regular season game that was played there back in late January/early February was sold out, was it not? Based on that, you should see a similar crowd. I don't care if it was advertised or not. You have to know when your teams are playing, that they're playing in the playoffs and you go. Disappointing that there were so few Michigan fans there. Shame on the school itself for not pushing it more, especially since you have no conflict with basketball.

Second - Minnesota fans. How many Minnesota fans traveled to Detroit? Why on earth, if you are a die hard Gopher fan, would you stay home in Minnesota to watch teams that you don't root for? I get the lack of funds/lack of time off issue. I do. But you cannot use the "our high school hockey tournament draws eleventy billion people" as a reason. I thought fans of these big midwest schools travel really well. I was at the NCAA Regional in St. Paul and was amazed at how many North Dakota fans there were. And don't use the "they're the next state over" excuse. It's not a quick ride.

The biggest issue with your tournament I see is the three days. Because fan bases need to travel, it's difficult to plan for time off and flights when you need to plan for three nights of games, and then if you lose the first night, you're stuck there. Especially if you have a flight. It seems like all B1G schools had bye weeks at some point during the season, so tighten up the schedule to shorten it by a week. Have teams 3-6 play a 2 of 3 series on campus sites with 1 and 2 getting a week bye. Then have the 2 winners that played and teams 1 and 2 play a regular semi/finals tournament on a Friday Saturday in a place like JLA or the X or wherever like everyone else.

I think it will stay this way till more school become a part of your conference and you can make the playoffs a little more normal (for lack of a better term).
Click to expand...

Most of those North Dakota fans didn't "travel" to the game. The Twin Cities has a pretty big North Dakota alumni base. Once again, apples to oranges. The University of Minnesota doesn't have a big alumni base in Detroit.

Drive from Grand Forks to Minneapolis: 4.5 hours
Drive from Minneapolis to Detroit: 10.5 hours

Gopher fans travel about as well as any fan base, but driving to Detroit for a weekend isn't exactly an easy trip. Chicago is 6+ hours and there were thousands (if not more) Gopher fans in Chicago for the Hockey City Classic.

And yes, the turnout for the high school tournament is absolutely relevant. Why? Because you out the tourney here and we'll bring in more than 2,000 fans to watch the games. Granted, turnout last year wasn't staggering in St Paul, but it was a far cry from the embarrassing turnout we have seen so far in Detroit. And "embarrassing" is putting it politely.
 
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