Conference Tourney Attendance

[moose97]

Atlantic Hockey (Blue Cross Arena - Rochester, NY):

Semi's
4pm Canisius vs. Niagara - 1,095
7pm Mercyhurst vs. UConn - 1,095
Final
7pm Canisius vs. Mercyhurst - 887

CCHA (Joe Louis Arena - Detroit, MI)

Semi's
1pm (Sat) Notre Dame vs. Ohio State - 0
4:30pm (Sat) Michigan vs. Miami - 0
Final
2pm (Sun) Michigan vs. Notre Dame - 0

ECAECHL (Boardwalk Hall - Atlantic City, NJ):

Semi's
4pm Brown vs. Quinnipiac - 3,145
7:30 pm Union vs. Yale - 3,145
3rd Place
4pm Yale vs. Quinnipiac - 4,017
Final
7pm Brown vs. Union - 4,017

Hockey East (TD Garden - Boston, MA)

Semi's
5pm UMass Lowell vs. Providence - 14,855
8 pm Boston University vs. Boston College - 14,855
Final
7pm Boston University vs. UMass Lowell - 13,738

WCHA (Xcel Energy Center - St. Paul, MN)

Qtr's
2pm (Thu) Minnesota State vs. Wisconsin - 15,971
7pm (Thu) Colorado College vs. North Dakota - 17,038
Semi's
2pm Wisconsin vs. St. Cloud State - 16,555
7pm Colorado College vs. Minnesota - 18,949
Final
7pm Wisconsin vs. Colorado College - 18,782



What I'm wondering is - folks that were at various conference tourney's - what's your take on official attendance. Clearly, video and photographic evidence shows that the CCHA didn't play in front of an empty house... It' did look like a typical CCHA tourney, however, with several hundred/thousand empty seats. Quite disappointing considering it to be the final CCHA tourney ever, and that three of the biggest brands in the NCAA were in attendance. Also curious to hear reports on AHA and ECACHL attendance. I did read that the ECAC numbers were a bit inflated.

Finally, if folks want to speculate on future attendance (WCHA in Grand Rapids/St. Paul; NCHC in Minneapolis;Big 10 in St. Paul/Detroit;ECAC in Lake Placid), I'd love to hear it.

 

[ericredaxe]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

I only went to the Friday game for the Hockey East... and I'd guess those numbers are about right. Really hard to guage though as I think a majority of people stick are there for their teams game and only a little of the other game.... so the semis will pretty much always feel like the place is only 60% full.

 

[chickod]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

I only went to the Friday game for the Hockey East... and I'd guess those numbers are about right. Really hard to guage though as I think a majority of people stick are there for their teams game and only a little of the other game.... so the semis will pretty much always feel like the place is only 60% full.

I was also at the Hockey East tournament on Friday only. I thought the numbers were accurate. Most people stayed at least for the first period of the second game, and that's always when you can gauge the attendance the best, since many people who are there for the 2nd game don't show up until almost the end of the first game and many people leave after the first game. And I know we're going to get the usual "are you kidding me?" from the fans out West. But you have to understand, all four teams were within 40 miles of the arena (two of the teams, BU and BC were less than 5 miles away - Lowell was 20 miles and Providence 40). It's not like out West where you may have to fly to the games and you might as well stay for both because what else are you going to do? You can't go home anyway. Here, we can leave an hour before our game and be home and hour after. It's just different here...

 

[Charger #2]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

My son and I attended the CCHA Final on Sunday. A bit of a guess, but I would estimate the Joe to have been about 40% full, so I would say approximately 8000-9000 attendees at the game.

 

[moose97]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

And I know we're going to get the usual "are you kidding me?" from the fans out West. But you have to understand, all four teams were within 40 miles of the arena (two of the teams, BU and BC were less than 5 miles away - Lowell was 20 miles and Providence 40). It's not like out West where you may have to fly to the games and you might as well stay for both because what else are you going to do? You can't go home anyway. Here, we can leave an hour before our game and be home and hour after. It's just different here...

If I may point out - the HEA games started at 5 and 8pm while the WCHA games were at 2 and 7pm. In other words, WCHA folks had to find a reason to go back to the rink, rather than find a reason to leave, as HEA fans did. Not trying to start an argument, just pointing out that "just staying for both" isn't really accurate - it's more like "let's go back for the second game" considering that there were 2+ hours off between games and they cleared the rink.

 

[ericredaxe]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

If I may point out - the HEA games started at 5 and 8pm while the WCHA games were at 2 and 7pm. In other words, WCHA folks had to find a reason to go back to the rink, rather than find a reason to leave, as HEA fans did. Not trying to start an argument, just pointing out that "just staying for both" isn't really accurate - it's more like "let's go back for the second game" considering that there were 2+ hours off between games and they cleared the rink.

So it is 2 seperate tickets I assume?

HEA is one ticket for both games on the Friday night... but as chickod pointed out most people dont go to all of both games. Providence and Lowell fans probablly didn't want to get home at 1:00 AM and BU and BC fans didn't want (or were not able) to leave work early.

 

[chickod]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

If I may point out - the HEA games started at 5 and 8pm while the WCHA games were at 2 and 7pm. In other words, WCHA folks had to find a reason to go back to the rink, rather than find a reason to leave, as HEA fans did. Not trying to start an argument, just pointing out that "just staying for both" isn't really accurate - it's more like "let's go back for the second game" considering that there were 2+ hours off between games and they cleared the rink.

But my point is, where were you going to go anyway? Were you going to fly back to North Dakota or Minnesota or Colorado? When you book the trip you have to assume you're going to win in the semis, so you plan to stay both days, right? I'm just saying that we don't have to stay overnight anywhere, book a flight or anything. I can take the commuter rail from my home town (station is 1.7 miles from my house) right INTO the TD Garden (which is also North Station in Boston) where the game is. I literally drive 3.4 miles TOTAL to be able to go to both games and come home. Total time spent: 9 hours. So many people treat it as going to just watch the game that their team is in, because they can basically come and go whenever they feel like it. That's all... It's a densely populated area and one of the reasons the tourney is in Boston is because of its location and its accessibility via public transportation. Look at the attendence figures for the other two Eastern conferences and you'll see why it is ludicrous to have the games where they have them. Atlantic City? How many college hockey teams are even within 100 miles of Atlantic City? Rochester, NY?? Does Kodak have a team??

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

Finally, if folks want to speculate on future attendance (WCHA in Grand Rapids/St. Paul; NCHC in Minneapolis;Big 10 in St. Paul/Detroit;ECAC in Albany), I'd love to hear it.

ECAC attendance in Albany will be 0 because the ECAC tournament next year is going to Lake Placid.

 

[chickod]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

So it is 2 seperate tickets I assume?

HEA is one ticket for both games on the Friday night... but as chickod pointed out most people dont go to all of both games. Providence and Lowell fans probablly didn't want to get home at 1:00 AM and BU and BC fans didn't want (or were not able) to leave work early.

Good point. I didn't even mention that. We still work on the day of the game, because we can get to the game easily. I assume that for you guys you have to take the time off - sort of like vacation time because you can't be in two places at once. I admit, it's easier here because everything is closer. That's one of the reasons I like living in the East; even though there are many things that annoy me, I put up with it because the conveniences outweigh the negatives. That's probably also why the Eastern teams have traditionally not traveled well. We're just not used to making long road trips and the pace is faster here. If it's not convenient we're just not going to bother - or in many cases we just can't.

 

[chickod]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

ECAC attendance in Albany will be 0 because the ECAC tournament next year is going to Lake Placid.

Yeah, that's a great idea too. Now EVERYBODY has to drive six hours.

 

[moose97]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

So many people treat it as going to just watch the game that their team is in, because they can basically come and go whenever they feel like it. That's all...

And that's a fair point. The Final Five was a "destination" event (largely because of distance). If any conference moving forward has a chance to replicate that, I'd bet on the NCHC, if only because of North Dakota. Gopher fans can treat the Big 10 tourney HEA-style when it's in St. Paul (attendance for the Penn State/Ohio State game could be interesting), and we'll see how well it does in Detroit, with their history with the CCHA tourney.

ECAC attendance in Albany will be 0 because the ECAC tournament next year is going to Lake Placid.

Fixed. I had read it was moving out of NJ, but forgot to where...

 

[moose97]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

Rochester, NY?? Does Kodak have a team??

Um, RIT? Niagara is 90 miles away. Canisius (who won it) is 70 miles away...

We're just not used to making long road trips and the pace is faster here. If it's not convenient we're just not going to bother - or in many cases we just can't.

My funny east coast road trip story - went to the regional at UMass in 2005, checked into the hotel and asked the guy where a good seafood restaurant was and he replied, "we're not near the ocean - that's like a whole 2-3 hours away! Why would we have a seafood place?"

 

[SanTropez]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

So it is 2 seperate tickets I assume?

HEA is one ticket for both games on the Friday night... but as chickod pointed out most people dont go to all of both games. Providence and Lowell fans probablly didn't want to get home at 1:00 AM and BU and BC fans didn't want (or were not able) to leave work early.

It was 2 separate tickets, correct.

 

[QUAlum2004]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

The ECAC really should have this tournament in Springfield. Its within an hour for both Quinnipiac and Yale. Under 2 hours for Brown, Harvard, RPI and Union, a little more than 2 hours for Dartmouth. Princeton, Colgate, Cornell and the north country teams are more than 3 plus hours away.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

Fixed. I had read it was moving out of NJ, but forgot to where...

Western bias.

 

[5hole]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

Um, RIT? Niagara is 90 miles away. Canisius (who won it) is 70 miles away...

Yeah, disappointing but hardly surprising. Most of those in the stands were Niagara fans, only a small number of Canisius fans. I did not see many MC fans at the first game or any UConn but I left after Game 1 with a severe case of depression and needing to drown my sorrows.

 

[chickod]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

My funny east coast road trip story - went to the regional at UMass in 2005, checked into the hotel and asked the guy where a good seafood restaurant was and he replied, "we're not near the ocean - that's like a whole 2-3 hours away! Why would we have a seafood place?"

Did you post that last year? I could have sworn you told that story before (or maybe someone else told the same story). I don't know who that guy was - we have seafood everywhere in New England (and here's a secret - usually it's frozen anyway so even if you're not right on the coast it hardly matters). Now, finding a GOOD one may be another story...

 

[beaverhockeyfan]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

My funny east coast road trip story - went to the regional at UMass in 2005, checked into the hotel and asked the guy where a good seafood restaurant was and he replied, "we're not near the ocean - that's like a whole 2-3 hours away! Why would we have a seafood place?"

Or when we mentioned at the bar that we were considering going to Worcester to watch North Dakota play and we didn't have a hotel room booked over there, we were just going to drive over and back to our hotel near UMass. They thought we were nuts because it was like an hour and a half one way.

Or the fact that we had to drive four hours to get to our nearest major airport, while they had something like seven within four hours......

Ahhh, those spoiled Eastern folk!!!!

 

[chickod]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

Um, RIT? Niagara is 90 miles away. Canisius (who won it) is 70 miles away...

Fair point...

 

[chickod]

Re: Conference Tourney Attendance

Ahhh, those spoiled Eastern folk!!!!

You are right about that! We're not very tolerant (now you got me going)...and that's what's hysterical about that. Look up the word "liberal" in the dictionary and it means "<i>based on advocating the freedom of the individual</i>," except that here it means "<i>advocating the freedom of the individual as long as the individual agrees with <b>me</b></i>."