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Big Ten Hockey Conference

Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

Frankly I don't think putting it in Chicago would be the right thing for other reasons.

Detroit and MSP are major markets in their own rights. And every year we see the big tourneys show up in Indy or Chicago. Not saying we need to move those other sports so much as not force a sport that has zero recognition in those markets to land there just because they always get the tourneys. I don't mind Milwaukee or even Cleveland (both which would also have serious attendance problems)....but naw, unless either state gets a serious college hockey prospect Chicago or Indy don't deserve this one.
 
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Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

Now, certainly Chicago won't work.

5 or 10 years from now? Who knows- the B1G landsape may change enough that it could make sense to add Chicago to the championship mix. Maybe not permanent, but perhaps add it.

Again, I like the idea/concept- as I'd much rather vacation in Chicago than MSP (as I fully expect Minny and Wisconsin fans feel exactly the same but for Detroit).

Considering that the whole college hockey landscape has changed with the B1G, it's hard to say anything is certain anymore.
 
alfablue said:
Now, certainly Chicago won't work.

5 or 10 years from now? Who knows- the B1G landsape may change enough that it could make sense to add Chicago to the championship mix. Maybe not permanent, but perhaps add it.

Again, I like the idea/concept- as I'd much rather vacation in Chicago than MSP (as I fully expect Minny and Wisconsin fans feel exactly the same but for Detroit).

Considering that the whole college hockey landscape has changed with the B1G, it's hard to say anything is certain anymore.
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Fair point. I think 5 years will still be too soon, but 10 years from now Illinois could have two B1G D1 hockey schools, which would make Chicago a viable option.
 
Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

Very true. You can't really put much of an argument for putting it outside of Minny or Detroit for the short term, but the moment that Northwestern/Illinois/Purdue/Indiana start thinking of starting something up, you'll see Chicago become a potential player. That goes triple if hell ever freezes over and Notre Dame joins up.
 
Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

5mn_Major said:
They could dabble with Chicago. But I think the tourney would be literally empty. With all the hockey going on here, to possibly include the NCHC and WCHA tourneys as well as total Gopher TV coverage here, I don't know how many would travel east. You might see some Bucky fans show.
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Chicago makes perfect sense. It has the highest concentration of Big Ten alumni of any city in the world, and--let's be completely frank about this--is the only truly global city in the region and thus offers far more entertainment, dining and cultural attractions to draw fans from outside of the city than Detroit and St. Paul combined. If Gopher fans want to sit home in protest, eff em. Trust me, there are more than enough Sparties roaming this town to snatch up their tickets.
 
Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

Sterling Cooper said:
Chicago makes perfect sense. It has the highest concentration of Big Ten alumni of any city in the world, and--let's be completely frank about this--is the only truly global city in the region and thus offers far more entertainment, dining and cultural attractions to draw fans from outside of the city than Detroit and St. Paul combined. If Gopher fans want to sit home in protest, eff em. Trust me, there are more than enough Sparties roaming this town to snatch up their tickets.
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No ones disagreeing that 3 to 4 Sparty fans would show up. But that really isn't going to sell out a 20k seat arena.
 
Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

Sterling Cooper said:
Chicago makes perfect sense. It has the highest concentration of Big Ten alumni of any city in the world, and--let's be completely frank about this--is the only truly global city in the region and thus offers far more entertainment, dining and cultural attractions to draw fans from outside of the city than Detroit and St. Paul combined. If Gopher fans want to sit home in protest, eff em. Trust me, there are more than enough Sparties roaming this town to snatch up their tickets.
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Tournaments are not made by sports fans with no interest in hockey. And can't speak for Detroit, but there's a ton of entertainment in the cities (as you're raising the topic)...MSP has some of the country's best shopping (MOA), excellent restaurants, a strong music scene and the third largest theater market in the US.

In the end, nobody will travel to Chicago and the BT braintrust knows this.
 
Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

mnstate0fhockey said:
Fair point. I think 5 years will still be too soon, but 10 years from now Illinois could have two B1G D1 hockey schools, which would make Chicago a viable option.
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FWIW, the reasoning behind the quasi/sort of optimisim/hope/wishful thinking on new Big Ten schools going D-1 is essentially the fact that 6 of the 12 schools are likely going to be monopolizing the Big Ten Network during prime time for a couple of nights a week every winter, and this could spur some schools to take a look at getting in on the action.
 
Sterling Cooper said:
Chicago makes perfect sense. It has the highest concentration of Big Ten alumni of any city in the world, and--let's be completely frank about this--is the only truly global city in the region and thus offers far more entertainment, dining and cultural attractions to draw fans from outside of the city than Detroit and St. Paul combined. If Gopher fans want to sit home in protest, eff em. Trust me, there are more than enough Sparties roaming this town to snatch up their tickets.
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Without a local team, they will not draw near well enough. It's as simple as that.
 
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Clifton said:
FWIW, the reasoning behind the quasi/sort of optimisim/hope/wishful thinking on new Big Ten schools going D-1 is essentially the fact that 6 of the 12 schools are likely going to be monopolizing the Big Ten Network during prime time for a couple of nights a week every winter, and this could spur some schools to take a look at getting in on the action.
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I can certainly see a few other schools adding hockey, but it won't be an easy decision. Hockey is a spendy sport, and doesn't bring in the revenue football or basketball do.
 
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Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

Sterling Cooper said:
Chicago makes perfect sense. It has the highest concentration of Big Ten alumni of any city in the world, and--let's be completely frank about this--is the only truly global city in the region and thus offers far more entertainment, dining and cultural attractions to draw fans from outside of the city than Detroit and St. Paul combined. If Gopher fans want to sit home in protest, eff em. Trust me, there are more than enough Sparties roaming this town to snatch up their tickets.
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That's a good one, without Gopher Hockey fans, Chicago may as well be Toledo.
 
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Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

Clifton said:
FWIW, the reasoning behind the quasi/sort of optimisim/hope/wishful thinking on new Big Ten schools going D-1 is essentially the fact that 6 of the 12 schools are likely going to be monopolizing the Big Ten Network during prime time for a couple of nights a week every winter, and this could spur some schools to take a look at getting in on the action.
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What is going on? Rational discussions related to the topic? :eek: Will wonders never cease? :)

Anyways, unfortunately I don't think hockey will be monopolizing the BTN too much of the time. I hope they would show at least one live game on Friday and Saturday but that could easily change if there is some big press conference about the latest football scandal going on.
 
Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

Tiggsy said:
What is going on? Rational discussions related to the topic? :eek: Will wonders never cease? :)

Anyways, unfortunately I don't think hockey will be monopolizing the BTN too much of the time. I hope they would show at least one live game on Friday and Saturday but that could easily change if there is some big press conference about the latest football scandal going on.
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Football-related snideness aside, don't underestimate this issue. If prime time programming every Friday night for 2-3 months per year is essentially an infomercial for the hockey programs, showing regular capacity crowds (well, except for the Schott ;)), I could see some AD's really wanting to get in on that action.
 
Clifton said:
Football-related snideness aside, don't underestimate this issue. If prime time programming every Friday night for 2-3 months per year is essentially an infomercial for the hockey programs, showing regular capacity crowds (well, except for the Schott ;)), I could see some AD's really wanting to get in on that action.
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Ohio State is currently losing $2.5+ million on hockey. I don't think many AD's want a piece of that action.

I can see some other schools adding hockey, but large donors are going to need to step up and endow the programs for it to happen IMHO.
 
Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

mnstate0fhockey said:
Ohio State is currently losing $2.5+ million on hockey. I don't think many AD's want a piece of that action.

I can see some other schools adding hockey, but large donors are going to need to step up and endow the programs for it to happen IMHO.
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Hence the comment from my original post that it is understood that big time donors will be needed :D
 
Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference

alfablue said:
1 post of information to 20-30 posts of taunts and arguments over pointless stuff?
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I can't necessarily speak for other Michigan fans on this board, but I do a lot of lurking anyway and I tend not to write something unless I think I have something worth writing about. At least, that's the theory. When I'm procrastinating I might write a bit more.

But long, involved taunt threads were old and pointless when I started using USCHO and haven't aged well.

So I'm going to write something:

I think shootouts are okay in the NHL. The defense is that they mean something and they produce a winner and that's good for the fans, and I think they're right. I don't like shootouts in college, because the criteria for success in college does not need shootouts; the pairwise handles ties just fine.

The classic western college format that will be continued in B1G play is to play a two-game series over a weekend. Each game counts separately in the standings, but this is one of the really neat features of college hockey that makes it unique and enjoyable. By having a weekend series you can judge a team's success not just by a single result but by a take from a weekend. They become miniature playoff series with carryover story lines. The basic potential results are sweep, split, or 3 points/1 point.

A weekend sweep is obviously the best result, and one can enjoy unqualified ecstasy over the result of a weekend even if your team didn't play as well as it should have; a sweep is a disaster that has season-long implications.

3 points (a win and a tie) is pretty good, especially on the road. And two ties is the same as a win-win split, so you can enjoy it the same way. Ties only add nuance to the story of a weekend. As a result the discerning hockey fan doesn't need to feel cheated if the game ends in a tie--it is a part of a larger, easily perceivable whole.

This is a beautiful phenomenon to the hockey fan. I love it. And the shootouts are basically a meaningless window-dressing that aren't necessary given that ties can get a useful part of judging a weekend series. If I'm actually watching a game and it goes to a shootout, I'll watch, but it's rather meaningless otherwise. It doesn't affect the PWR, and so it doesn't matter.
 
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