ericredaxe
Veteran
I did not take the survey - but for fun here would be my answers (and some don't fit into a clean yes or no which is perhaps why i did not take the survey).
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.
BU 2021-22: Albie's Great Adventure
- Thread starter Harry Cleverly
- Start date
- Status
My glasses are always colorless.
Here goes:
As compared to almost all Eastern teams, we have these advantages:
1. 100 years of historically very good to great hockey history - i.e. winning pedigree.
2. A strong line of excellent coaches
3. A strong line of excellent players
4. A large student population and alumni base that cares about the program and its players
5. The best hockey facility in the East
6. A hockey-first mentality within the AD and the University administration
7. A pipeline of local hockey talent to recruit from
8. A strong reputation across the rest of America, Canada, and Europe to recruit from
9. A rich history of players finding success in the pros (both as players and/or coaches and administrators)
Those are the forerunners in my mind right now; I probably missed a few.
defkit
New member
Yes, I forgot about Joe. I wonder if he wants another HC job or if he has decided that AC is the right job for him.
Friend_of_BU_Hockey
Registered User
My glasses are always colorless.
Here goes:
As compared to almost all Eastern teams, we have these advantages:
1. 100 years of historically very good to great hockey history - i.e. winning pedigree.
2. A strong line of excellent coaches
3. A strong line of excellent players
4. A large student population and alumni base that cares about the program and its players
5. The best hockey facility in the East
6. A hockey-first mentality within the AD and the University administration
7. A pipeline of local hockey talent to recruit from
8. A strong reputation across the rest of America, Canada, and Europe to recruit from
9. A rich history of players finding success in the pros (both as players and/or coaches and administrators)
Those are the forerunners in my mind right now; I probably missed a few.
I slightly disagree with #4 and moderately disagree with #6.
For #4, in recent years I feel those who followed the program closely as students haven't done the same when they graduate and transition to young alumni. I think there are several factors contributing to this, but the diminished support from the Millennial / Gen Z BU community poses a long-term risk for sustaining the program's fan and donor base. The majority of the BU alumni population now falls under Millennial and Gen Z, whereas it seems the vast majority of the alumni base that "cares most" about the program thru STH renewals and FOH donations are Boomers and Gen Xers.
For #6, the uppermost reaches of BU's administration doesn't care as much about hockey (nor athletics as a whole) as some of us would want / like to believe. To some extent this has influenced the AD's governance over the Athletics department in terms how much of a priority men's ice hockey is over all other athletics programs. I'd argue that hockey became less of a top priority the past 4 years and regardless of whom the next head coach is, I'm not overly confident that the "hockey-first" mentality prevalent during Coach Parker's era will fully return.
ColinWilsonFan
Registered User
My glasses are always colorless.
Here goes:
As compared to almost all Eastern teams, we have these advantages:
1. 100 years of historically very good to great hockey history - i.e. winning pedigree.
2. A strong line of excellent coaches
3. A strong line of excellent players
4. A large student population and alumni base that cares about the program and its players
5. The best hockey facility in the East
6. A hockey-first mentality within the AD and the University administration
7. A pipeline of local hockey talent to recruit from
8. A strong reputation across the rest of America, Canada, and Europe to recruit from
9. A rich history of players finding success in the pros (both as players and/or coaches and administrators)
Those are the forerunners in my mind right now; I probably missed a few.
I would say at one point this was all true. Sadly for the most part most of this is not true for the time being. especially 4,5,6,7,8
I 100% agree with this, but I should also say that I don't believe BU is alone in this development. In general, many of the Eastern institutions have focused more on academics and less on sports. That is probably because the student populations have become more "international" and many of these students have not been exposed to/brought up with/grown up with/are as passionate about a sport such as hockey, which I will STILL argue is a "niche" sport except for the hotbed areas (Northern Europe, USA and Canada). Yes, I know they "play" it other places (someone came on here a few years ago and posted a link to a hockey league in the Philippines, as if that detracts from my overall point). The "heyday" of BU hockey (and, to be fair, "Boston" college hockey - how many Harvard fans go to games? There are practically none at the Beanpot, just to use one example) was when BU was largely a commuter school with a more local student population...this was sustained through the Parker years...a carryover because of the success of the program. But it will NOT continue to be sustained forever unless a "winning" culture can be re-established, IMO. And this doesn't even take into account the "overall" trend of students tending to stay home and "collect" data/information from their mobile devices instead of attending in person, as previously discussed. So the people saying that some life needs to be injected into the program (or, to put it another way, light a fire under certain "behinds") are accurate, I believe.
The Sicatoka
Kicizapi Cetan
Dean Blais was a Minnesota Gopher; he was a UND assistant under Gino Gasparini; he won two NCAA titles as head coach at North Dakota.
It can happen.
The Sicatoka
Kicizapi Cetan
Be nice.
One of your most famous millennial alumni needs to take care of her abuela before BU Hockey.
The Sicatoka
Kicizapi Cetan
Fans and fan support is changing.
Why? The meaning of "social" changed.
Before, social was going out to events and being with people.
Today, social is media and more I/me focused (what am I doing and posting).
Add in the short attention span, eight second sound byte, world we live in and one hundred and fifty minutes in one chair in some arena watching one hockey game is unfathomable.
It's happening everywhere.
Why? The meaning of "social" changed.
Before, social was going out to events and being with people.
Today, social is media and more I/me focused (what am I doing and posting).
Add in the short attention span, eight second sound byte, world we live in and one hundred and fifty minutes in one chair in some arena watching one hockey game is unfathomable.
It's happening everywhere.
AllstonChristmas
New member
I would stop short of blaming it on the "young people" or international students (that's pretty messed up IMO). But I do think social media and the internet has helped drive down attendance because it's so much easier to find things to do now. A quick search will show dozens of events in Boston on most nights, especially weekends, when it used to be that hockey was the main attraction and it was more difficult to find something else "cool" going on. I'm sure the ticket office has this data but I'd imagine that the students who attend games do not go to all or most of them as often as they used to, but probably a handful when there isn't a concert or party or whatever other event that takes precedence for a lot of kids. Couple that with the ease of streaming games from your room if you've got a paper due or something, and I can also see kids staying home because of that.
Sports attendance is down across most sports, I think this applies to a lot of people.
Sports attendance is down across most sports, I think this applies to a lot of people.
You act as if I'm disparaging them. Not the case. But my Dad brought me up with sports...he took me to Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins and Patriots games. It's one of the reasons I DIDN'T look at schools like, say, USC or Texas or Michigan or Ohio State. I wanted to stay in Boston. Add to that the fervor created by the Bruins (Orr's cup-winning goal in 1970) and the hockey "madness" that was going on at the time, and all other things being equal, BU was a place where I would be able to get a great education and also maintain what I experienced culturally with my upbringing (besides going to musicals, etc., which are all also available in Boston). I don't think I'd be watching much hockey if I went to school in, say, Italy. Everyone is so quick to pounce on any little word...it's ridiculous. If you like water polo you might have gone to Pepperdine. Does that make someone a racist? Jesus.
I get it. Technology is making us less "human." We are evolving...whether you or I "like" what we are becoming is rather moot...1) because we can't do anything about it and 2) there are eight billion people so what we think hardly matters. Many people would rather experience virtual reality (play a video game or simulation) than actual reality. They don't require other humans to gain fulfillment or enjoyment and would prefer to be alone in their own world. Again, not a CRITICISM. It's just the way it is. Technology has enabled us to choose for ourselves whether we want a lot of interaction with others, where previously it was required to survive. You don't even have to leave the house to work, shop or anything else. But my point was, when you add to that a smaller pool to draw from, it's no surprise attendance is down. I SAID that in my post "I don't believe BU is alone in this development".
Last edited:
The large international student body (over 10,000 international students) is absolutely a factor in attendance. Hockey being a niche sport already combined with the lack of hockey in international countries contributes to a lack of interest in a large percentage of the student body. Thats a pure fact.
AllstonChristmas
New member
I had a friend from Asia who went to almost every game and became a big hockey fan. He couldn’t have been the only one.
How many seats are for students at Agganis? Maybe 2k out of 6,000? Just a guess.
BU’s site says there are “11,000+” international students out of nearly 34,000 total. The int’l figure doesn’t specify grad/undergrad so let’s assume the international undergrad population is the same ratio as the overall, about 1/3. That means there are roughly 11,000 “American” undergrads, yet they can’t fill 2,000 seats? Add a few grad students from wherever (I went to almost every basketball and football game as a grad student at Syracuse), and I just don’t see how you can blame international students for the lack of attendance. I was not an international student, btw, just find this a poor argument.
Of course there are some international students that go to to games but its not part of their normal culture. The same can be said for students that go to football games in the south - its part of their culture and thus attend at a higher rate than say BC football whereas football isnt as big as a sport in the upper east coast. If a student is from England - there is a better chance he attends a soccer match than a hockey game.
A key feature of the changes in the demographics of the student body over the past few decades is that there is a considerably smaller percentage of undergraduates from Massachusetts than there used to be. My class was over 50% from MA when we arrived in 1984; I can't recall what the more recent data showed, but it's closer to 30%. In any case, that is one potential factor for a lower level of interest (under the assumption that MA kids are more familiar with hockey).
mookie1995
there's a good buck in that racket.
My glasses are always colorless.
Then how you see through them?? :/p
ericredaxe
Veteran
My glasses are always colorless.
Here goes:
As compared to almost all Eastern teams, we have these advantages:
1. 100 years of historically very good to great hockey history - i.e. winning pedigree.
2. A strong line of excellent coaches
3. A strong line of excellent players
4. A large student population and alumni base that cares about the program and its players
5. The best hockey facility in the East
6. A hockey-first mentality within the AD and the University administration
7. A pipeline of local hockey talent to recruit from
8. A strong reputation across the rest of America, Canada, and Europe to recruit from
9. A rich history of players finding success in the pros (both as players and/or coaches and administrators)
Those are the forerunners in my mind right now; I probably missed a few.
So - yes, those are all (or were) true statements. As others have mentioned some of them from #4 to #8 may not be so true anymore. However, especially that some are no longer true, I'm not really that sure that these are "advantages" in the sense of helping to create future highly competitive teams. I think we all look back at history and past coaches and players with great fondness and assume that should be something that attracts kids here. In truth, I'm not sure incoming recruits really care that we won national championships and had all star players in the years before any of them were even born - they are looking at what they will get out of the program and university now.
- Status