Buccigross and Melrose

[ticapnews]

If there's a real indicator of the decline of college hockey it's the small problem that there are no regional threads to talk about the games, live. That was fun.

There are NO live posts about this MSU-ND game right now. Nor was there one for Denver- UMD. And I doubt there will be ones for the games tomorrow.

This used to be a very lively place to talk the games as they were happening. Now? Nothing. Nothing at all.

At best, there are some random posts here or one of the "my team got screwed" or "boring bracket talk" threads.

For all of the whining about the coverage, who wants to talk actual, live hockey?

Those conversations have moved to Twitter. Maybe TikTok, but I don't Tik...or Tok...or whatever you do on that platform.

 

[J.D.]

If I'm being honest, I like this new format from a TV perspective. Very little overlap in games. I took Thu/Fri off and went to Worcester yesterday. Watched Michigan game in between and got home to see end of Quinnipiac/St. Cloud. The being able to leave in between games and come back was a success. Still sucks seeing empty buildings though. Worcester won't be pretty tomorrow.

 

[MichVandal]

Twitter and other social media exist. We are the dinosaurs on message boards.

Call be a dinosaur, but IMHO, both of those suck. First of all it's freaking twitter and FB. Neither of which are well known for their privacy.

Second, has there ever been a FB get together at games, or a twitter hockey game at a tournament? This group is "small" enough to the point where many of us have actually met face to face.

Third, and most important, given that THIS is a college hockey board, the kind if people who would be participating are far, far more likely to be college hockey fans.

Like most other things, the mass social media systems makes things suck worse. Like the last two elections.

 

[MichVandal]

Those conversations have moved to Twitter. Maybe TikTok, but I don't Tik...or Tok...or whatever you do on that platform.

One other thing about those platforms- one has to know who to follow to actually have a conversation about a hockey game- as far as I know. Unless you can randomly find a ticker or a tweeter talking about a game. But even then, you are following an individual.

I'm not on either, and will not ever be. Nor the book of faces.

This group used to be filled with college hockey fans. Talk about decline of the sport.

 

[Drew S.]

One other thing about those platforms- one has to know who to follow to actually have a conversation about a hockey game- as far as I know. Unless you can randomly find a ticker or a tweeter talking about a game. But even then, you are following an individual.

I'm not on either, and will not ever be. Nor the book of faces.

This group used to be filled with college hockey fans. Talk about decline of the sport.

The biggest change here, and really across all sports, is that gen z isn’t anywhere close to as interested in sports as millennials were at the same age. There was a day when there were quite a few college students and kids in their 20’s posting here and there are hardly any now. I don’t think it’s that people have gone elsewhere, there just isn’t the interest there used to be.

 

[J.D.]

Agree with that which is a shame because the game itself is growing. But the interest isn't growing with it.

 

[njmav1]

Call be a dinosaur, but IMHO, both of those suck. First of all it's freaking twitter and FB. Neither of which are well known for their privacy.

Second, has there ever been a FB get together at games, or a twitter hockey game at a tournament? This group is "small" enough to the point where many of us have actually met face to face.

Third, and most important, given that THIS is a college hockey board, the kind if people who would be participating are far, far more likely to be college hockey fans.

Like most other things, the mass social media systems makes things suck worse. Like the last two elections.

You forgot to yell at us to get off your lawn.

 

[MichVandal]

The biggest change here, and really across all sports, is that gen z isn’t anywhere close to as interested in sports as millennials were at the same age. There was a day when there were quite a few college students and kids in their 20’s posting here and there are hardly any now. I don’t think it’s that people have gone elsewhere, there just isn’t the interest there used to be.

Have you been to a college game of any type recently??? That's complete BS.

I've been going to games ever since I graduated, and I've never seen the student section ever get smaller. They are just as loud as we were +30 years ago, just as they were 20, 10, and 5 years ago.

Let alone the issue that people have left here. Not died, but just left. If anything, it's genz and the younger baby boomers that have gotten tired of the game and don't want to talk about it anymore.

 

[MichVandal]

You forgot to yell at us to get off your lawn.

And what of that was actually incorrect?

 

[Drew S.]

Have you been to a college game of any type recently??? That's complete BS.

I've been going to games ever since I graduated, and I've never seen the student section ever get smaller. They are just as loud as we were +30 years ago, just as they were 20, 10, and 5 years ago.

Let alone the issue that people have left here. Not died, but just left. If anything, it's genz and the younger baby boomers that have gotten tired of the game and don't want to talk about it anymore.

I’ve been to two in the last month. I assume you are talking about Yost? UMI is a huge school and Yost only has 6k seats so it is no surprise the student section is always packed there.

I think gen z has interest in going to events which will help attendance but just don’t see the love for sport that millennials had.

 

[J.D.]

Could part of this be the product? The overcoached product. Fans do want to see goals. Now try staying awake during the two games Notre Dame played this weekend. Even Duluth and UMass for as good as they are...I wouldn't say they're the most enjoyable to watch.

 

[Slap Shot]

This tournament, frankly, has shown a lot of issues with the health of college hockey.

The replay system is a complete trash fire. Empty seats galore at most of the regionals. ESPN clearly phoning it in. When your highest stakes games are showcased so poorly, is it much of a surprise when the sport continues to kind of go backwards in relevance outside of us diehards?

And as someone else said in here, hyperfocusing on NHL relevance makes things less interesting. I honestly believe prospect gazers are the worst part of following this sport right now. There's nothing wrong with watching games just to watch good, fun hockey!

Based upon the most recent number I found from 2 seasons ago, 33% of NHL players that season came from the NCAA. That number has improved the past few decades and not regressed. Regional games are harder to manage, but iirc conference playoff games did fairly well and the Frozen Four will be packed.

As far as someone else mentioned "Generation Z", while I can't speak for other programs, Gophers hockey after sputtering the past few years had more students in attendance this season in a very long time, sold out 5 sections for the B1G title game vs. UMICH, and even the Gophers football team (not exactly a blue blood program) had 2,000+ students at some of the games last year.

 

[The Zlax45]

Could part of this be the product? The overcoached product. Fans do want to see goals. Now try staying awake during the two games Notre Dame played this weekend. Even Duluth and UMass for as good as they are...I wouldn't say they're the most enjoyable to watch.

I can tell you I struggled all year watching Providence play...it was terribly boring with the only goals being scored on a deflection or rebound on accident. The talent wasn't there. UMass was one of those games and they were one of the top teams in Hockey East and were brutal to watch.

 

[Split-N]

...I've never seen the student section ever get smaller. They are just as loud as we were +30 years ago, just as they were 20, 10, and 5 years ago...

That may be true at the Gi-normous state university you seem to favor but it's not true elsewhere, even among some of the B1Gs. Minnesota, for one, isn't packing them in like it used to despite a storied program. And it's certainly not true in the east, with the possible exceptions of Maine, Cornell, and Clarkson. Student attendance at BC/BU/NU is nothing like it was just a few years ago.

The sad fact is that GenZ is the Connected Generation. Their lives revolve around online gaming and similar stuff. Sports generally hasn't been a big part of their lives, ergo the indifference.

 

[MichVandal]

I’ve been to two in the last month. I assume you are talking about Yost? UMI is a huge school and Yost only has 6k seats so it is no surprise the student section is always packed there.

I think gen z has interest in going to events which will help attendance but just don’t see the love for sport that millennials had.

Yost, Crisler, the Big House. They are all the same.

BTW, Michigan isn't even close to the largest school in the B1G. So...

But if you all want to blame other generations, feel free- you are just like your parents. And their parents. And their parents.

 

[MichVandal]

That may be true at the Gi-normous state university you seem to favor but it's not true elsewhere, even among some of the B1Gs. Minnesota, for one, isn't packing them in like it used to despite a storied program. And it's certainly not true in the east, with the possible exceptions of Maine, Cornell, and Clarkson. Student attendance at BC/BU/NU is nothing like it was just a few years ago.

The sad fact is that GenZ is the Connected Generation. Their lives revolve around online gaming and similar stuff. Sports generally hasn't been part of their lives, ergo the indifference.

Ironic that this is posted on line....

Which is still better than it was when I started watching hockey- this board didn't come along until after we won in '98.

 

[Thiessen'sBetter]

Could part of this be the product? The overcoached product. Fans do want to see goals. Now try staying awake during the two games Notre Dame played this weekend. Even Duluth and UMass for as good as they are...I wouldn't say they're the most enjoyable to watch.

Absolutely. Just looking at Hockey East and 10-15 years ago when it was the "big 4" at the top, all those teams were much more fun to watch than some of the top teams in HE now (PC, Lowell, UMass). Definitely seems like a shift in mentality that coaches would rather win 2-1 than 4-3 nowadays.

 

[Drew S.]

Yost, Crisler, the Big House. They are all the same.

BTW, Michigan isn't even close to the largest school in the B1G. So...

But if you all want to blame other generations, feel free- you are just like your parents. And their parents. And their parents.

Lol, there is nothing right or wrong about being interested or not interested in sports. I’m just saying based on the kids I know, and my wife’s observations(she’s a hs teacher), gen z just isn’t as into it. I’m not sure basing interest solely on student attendance at one big school is a great metric.

Thiessen’s Better is 100% right about the big four era in Hockey East. There was so much excitement in those days that is missing now.

 

[Scrum Bucket]

Talking about dumb things that commentators say...... one of them in the MSU-ND game actually said that if Notre Dame wins, it isn’t really an upset. I’m wondering if he was watching the same game as the rest of us? Or had looked at the pairwise? Lol

 

[MichVandal]

Western has a pretty deep hole to climb out of now.

edit- and they are just a little off getting the stick on the puck when they really need it. Just inches- like how the offsides was inches that took away their goal.