ECAC Finals attendance contest

[StayPuftMMcu]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

Would like to have been at the finals, but like others, too expensive to make the long trek to AC. If in Albany I would have been there. It seems to me - and others - that despite the lackluster environment in Albany, it is much more centrally located for ECAC teams (except Princeton). Don't know why they switched to essentially another sub-par venue way out in nowhere.

FWIW, I believe the Broome County Arena in Binghamton is the best facility for watching hockey and also is somewhat smaller and more intimate. I know Binghamton is no garden spot, but hey, it's worth it to have great sight lines and a crowd that fits the building. And Bing. is centrally located. Other than the old Garden on 8th Avenue in NYC, Bing. is the best IMHO.

Funny you bring that up. I was actually there watching Leggio and Biega play (and beat) the B-Sens last night and the exact same conversation took place. I would rather drive 6 hours to Lake Placid than the 10 minutes to Binghamton or 3 hours to Albany to watch an ECAC tournament. Atlantic City is such a huge joke, too - weekend hotel prices are outlandish. Like 200-300 bucks a night if you want to stay anywhere close to the arena. The Lake Placid Halloween Faceoff this year was a major success, the arena was pretty packed for a non-conference one day college showcase. Hopefully they turn it into a tournament next year. Lake Placid is a hockey Mecca for a lot of people, and on top of that, the townies LOVE COLLEGE HOCKEY. You aren't going to find a more receptive community than LP.

 

[LTsatch]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

I was at the games yesterday, and there could have been a total paid attendance for the two games of 3,300, people came and left during both matches.

As far as the expense argument goes, FWIW I stayed at a nice Best Western in Abescon N.J about ten minutes from the rink for $60, Yale fans had a $129 rate at Trump Plaza through the school which was a bargain compared to other nearby boardwalk hotels. Parking at Trump Plaza was also free. So for me to travel from CT it cost me
$30 gas
$60 hotel
$31 tickets- only attended semis
$40 food
$60 beers (met too many friends, and the $12 24 oz. Labatts at the venue were not cheap!)

So for $221 bucks I had a fantastic time

 

[ColSkate65]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

Funny you bring that up. I was actually there watching Leggio and Biega play (and beat) the B-Sens last night and the exact same conversation took place. I would rather drive 6 hours to Lake Placid than the 10 minutes to Binghamton or 3 hours to Albany to watch an ECAC tournament. Atlantic City is such a huge joke, too - weekend hotel prices are outlandish. Like 200-300 bucks a night if you want to stay anywhere close to the arena. The Lake Placid Halloween Faceoff this year was a major success, the arena was pretty packed for a non-conference one day college showcase. Hopefully they turn it into a tournament next year. Lake Placid is a hockey Mecca for a lot of people, and on top of that, the townies LOVE COLLEGE HOCKEY. You aren't going to find a more receptive community than LP.

I agree LP is a nice place, historic, the Olympic tie-in, and a hockey town, etc.....but...basically you can't get there from here! There is no direct interstate hiway to the area - it's all winding local raods, and in winter presents some issues a place like Hartford or Albany would not. Hard core ECAC fans just are not going to travel 6 hours to see the tourney IMHO. Ease of getting to the arena is a big factor. I know the attendance was always pretty good at LP, but I just don't buy it that today one would be able to replicate those figures. Unless your team is playing, I don't think the fans would make that long trek anymore.

 

[achillesrink-3-7-5]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

I know the attendance was always pretty good at LP, but I just don't buy it that today one would be able to replicate those figures. Unless your team is playing, I don't think the fans would make that long trek anymore.

I would have been at the games yesterday and today in LP (or Albany or probably anywhere else a little closer) with or without Union there and I know others who would do the same. For AC, I decided I'd only be able to justify the extra time and expenses if Union made it.

 

[vicb]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

March 20, 1999

Clarkson edges traveling-partner St. Lawrence 3-2 in the ECAC Championship in front of a crowd of 8,469 fans.

Seating for Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid is 7,700.

And if it had been Yale and Cornell that year you would have probably gotten 4000-5000. Placid blows and Atlantic City blows. Long live Albany. You want to sell out Placid you need Clarkson and SLU. You want a decent turnout in Albany Guarantee 4 out of these 5: Clarkson, SLU, RPI, Union and Cornell. You want Atlantic City to sell out invite all the hookers and johns and advertise free BJ's during intermission .

 

[Saints#1]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

And if it had been Yale and Cornell that year you would have probably gotten 4000-5000. Placid blows and Atlantic City blows. Long live Albany. You want to sell out Placid you need Clarkson and SLU. You want a decent turnout in Albany Guarantee 4 out of these 5: Clarkson, SLU, RPI, Union and Cornell. You want Atlantic City to sell out invite all the hookers and johns and advertise free BJ's during intermission .

4000-5000 in a 7700 seat arena is about 3/4 full, it takes almost 12000-13000 to do that in Albany. Atmosphere still would be much better. And Vicb I am shocked to here this Placid blows non-sense from a Clarkson fan

 

[vicb]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

4000-5000 in a 7700 seat arena is about 3/4 full, it takes almost 12000-13000 to do that in Albany. Atmosphere still would be much better. And Vicb I am shocked to here this Placid blows non-sense from a Clarkson fan

Never went to Placid for an ECAC Championship weekend. Way too far to travel from Merryland where I live especially if the weather turns the 2 lane back roads to crap. At least in Albany I can get there on 4 lane highways. I have been to Albany each time CCT played in both the ECAC's and the NC$$ and will go back there if they are there. If Clarkson makes it to AC next year (Yuk Yuk) or the following year I will go. If it is back to Placid I will stay home and watch on TV.

 

[Saints#1]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

Never went to Placid for an ECAC Championship weekend. Way too far to travel from Merryland where I live especially if the weather turns the 2 lane back roads to crap. At least in Albany I can get there on 4 lane highways. I have been to Albany each time CCT played in both the ECAC's and the NC$$ and will go back there if they are there. If Clarkson makes it to AC next year (Yuk Yuk) or the following year I will go. If it is back to Placid I will stay home and watch on TV.

I see your point, but there is always a good time at Lake Placid for the tournament and you don't know what you were missing (and hopefully we will get to experience again). I will travel anywhere my team goes for the championship round, including Atlantic City, but Lake Placid would be my personal choice for pretty much every reason combined into one.

 

[DrDemento]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

And if it had been Yale and Cornell that year you would have probably gotten 4000-5000. Placid blows and Atlantic City blows. Long live Albany. You want to sell out Placid you need Clarkson and SLU. You want a decent turnout in Albany Guarantee 4 out of these 5: Clarkson, SLU, RPI, Union and Cornell. You want Atlantic City to sell out invite all the hookers and johns and advertise free BJ's during intermission .

They could also have given tickets to the homeless for a place to bed down for a few hours. AC is just a horrible choice-it has no hockey feel about it. I am 45 minute from there and had a hard time convincing myself to buy tickets this year.

 

[vicb]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

My only beef with Placid is it's remoteness. Put Placid within reasonable driving distance on MAJOR ROADS of Albany, Syracuse, Binghamton (i.e Central NY) etc and I would go. Not where it is. And as I have said before, I go for the hockey. I could care less about having a good time outside of the games. The games are what I came to see and I consider it a good time just being at the games (and a great time when Clarkson wins ).

 

[Saints#1]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

Does anybody know (officially) the sights that bid for the ECAC Tournament last year and lost to Atlantic City? I know Lake Placid and Albany both bid for sure, but I am just curious what other sights lost out.

 

[vicb]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

They could also have given tickets to the homeless for a place to bed down for a few hours. AC is just a horrible choice-it has no hockey feel about it. I am 45 minute from there and had a hard time convincing myself to buy tickets this year.

I almost decided to go Doc just so I could finally meet you and Jenny but my practical engineer side (i.e cost benefit analysis without CCT) said no . Time to go watch the Championship game. GO ELI.

 

[unionbob]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

The thing I liked about LP was that is was a hockey "weekend" ...you had the games...then after you would go get a beer and meet fellow fans. And in the morning and during the day same thing...fans in their respective gear walking around people talking...getting together.....bands playing in the street heading to arena...was great time...I stayed at the Holiday Inn on top of hill and was invited to the SLU social...go figure (maybe they felt bad for me)

while I like albany because it is close to home those things were missing.....people came for games and left....what they needed to do was maybe host pre and post parties somewhere....not just the so called street festival....give the fans a reason to stay...

 

[UML]

Sounds like Lake Placid is a good time.

The thing I liked about LP was that is was a hockey "weekend" ...you had the games...then after you would go get a beer and meet fellow fans. And in the morning and during the day same thing...fans in their respective gear walking around people talking...getting together.....bands playing in the street heading to arena...was great time...I stayed at the Holiday Inn on top of hill and was invited to the SLU social...go figure (maybe they felt bad for me)

while I like albany because it is close to home those things were missing.....people came for games and left....what they needed to do was maybe host pre and post parties somewhere....not just the so called street festival....give the fans a reason to stay...

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

Does anybody know (officially) the sights that bid for the ECAC Tournament last year and lost to Atlantic City? I know Lake Placid and Albany both bid for sure, but I am just curious what other sights lost out.

If what I heard tonight is true (and I believe it to be), I now understand why we're in AC.

Two separate people close to the league told me this weekend that the league is NOT paying for the arena. Whoever brokered the deal felt they could give the ice time away for free and still make money on ticket sales, concessions and the like. I had heard this as a rumor back when the deal was announced so I guess this pretty much confirms it.

It's an experiment at best in my opinion. Personally I do not like the arena but one of my conversations this evening with someone in the know eluded to a "list" of fixes that need to be made for next year. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out.

For the record, it appeared to me that todays attendance wasn't much of an improvement over yesterday, if at all. For the first game the place was dead for the most part. For the championship, I think the bands made it feel like there were more people but there were still 3 empty seats for every filled one.

Whatever... the ECAC season is now over. Congrats to Union and Yale for there respective trophies, and best of luck to those teams taking part in the big dance!

 

[vicb]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

If what I heard tonight is true (and I believe it to be), I now understand why we're in AC.

Two separate people close to the league told me this weekend that the league is NOT paying for the arena.

The old proverbial adage: " YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR". In this case you paid NADA and we will leave it at that.

 

[critsports]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

As far as the expense argument goes, FWIW I stayed at a nice Best Western in Abescon N.J about ten minutes from the rink for $60, Yale fans had a $129 rate at Trump Plaza through the school which was a bargain compared to other nearby boardwalk hotels. Parking at Trump Plaza was also free. So for me to travel from CT it cost me
$30 gas
$60 hotel
$31 tickets- only attended semis
$40 food
$60 beers (met too many friends, and the $12 24 oz. Labatts at the venue were not cheap!)

So for $221 bucks I had a fantastic time

You forgot the hooker!!! Or was that included with the ticket price?? Also, you went to AC and didn't put a quarter or dollar in a slot machine??? Congrats on the Ylae victory by the by. Arguably the best team in the league won and that's the way it should end up.

I would rather drive 6 hours to Lake Placid than the 10 minutes to Binghamton or 3 hours to Albany to watch an ECAC tournament. Atlantic City is such a huge joke, too - weekend hotel prices are outlandish. Like 200-300 bucks a night if you want to stay anywhere close to the arena. The Lake Placid Halloween Faceoff this year was a major success, the arena was pretty packed for a non-conference one day college showcase. Hopefully they turn it into a tournament next year. Lake Placid is a hockey Mecca for a lot of people, and on top of that, the townies LOVE COLLEGE HOCKEY. You aren't going to find a more receptive community than LP.

The operative phrase there is a "receptive community". They used to roll out the red carpet for us. Granted it is out of the way and the roads are not great if the weather is bad.......AND I agree some people won't travel because of the distance. (Like Vic). BUT... a lot of people WOULD travel because the place you wind up is a lot more charming and hospitable that other places we have been or could pick.

The thing I liked about LP was that is was a hockey "weekend" ...you had the games...then after you would go get a beer and meet fellow fans. And in the morning and during the day same thing...fans in their respective gear walking around people talking...getting together.....bands playing in the street heading to arena...was great time...I stayed at the Holiday Inn on top of hill and was invited to the SLU social...go figure (maybe they felt bad for me)

while I like Albany because it is close to home those things were missing.....people came for games and left....what they needed to do was maybe host pre and post parties somewhere....not just the so called street festival....give the fans a reason to stay...

You have captured the "essence" of what was special about Lake Placid....when thousands of people go downtown Lake Placid, we are the downtown and we own the town.

I don't think other cities under consideration would have been very different from Albany. I'm from CT and if you held it in Hartford the atmosphere would be the same as Albany. Rink too big......people would scatter and leave afterward. The Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence would be a little better and the downtown has (IMO) more to offer than Hartford. We'd be lost in Boston.......I just think we need to convince the Indians to take some of that slot revenue and put ice in Mohegan Sun and that would be a great venue. Lot's to do without even leaving the complex......great highway access from lot's of different directions and let's not forget most of the original advertising to Mohegan Sun featured it as being the closest casino to NYC......so actually AC is further away from NYC than Mohegan Sun. But no ice other than in your drink at Mohegan Sun so that's a pipe dream.

I wish the league had more transparency in letting us fans know what and where they the venues were they considered and even let us vote or participate somehow.

 

[CHFAN222]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

The ECAC can probably get the tourney in Newark or the new arena in Brooklyn when its built(assuming it will have ice making abilities to lure the Islanders to play there). While Newark may not be the best it is easy to get to, right near NYC, and probably be alot cheaper of a destination than AC. Plus I'm sure the Devils would be willing to make a good deal since they are desperate to find events to fill the venue since they are competing with so many other venues in the area.

 

[kdiff77]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

The Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence would be a little better and the downtown has (IMO) more to offer than Hartford.

No, no - I love not being able to walk around at night for fear of my life. Hartford is much better in that regard.

 

[goblue78]

Re: ECAC Finals attendance contest

Hey, kdiff. My wife and I spent in the night in Providence across the street from the Donut Emporium the night before Yale's unfortunate afternoon at Meehan. We were actually quite favorably impressed with downtown Providence where I hadn't been for a couple of decades. Now maybe the snowdrifts scared off the local lowlifes, but I wouldn't have a problem with Providence... it's a short drive for Brown, Harvard, Yale and Quinnipiac. It's a little remote from ECAC Central, sure... though not much worse than AC. That's its only real problem, IMO. (To agree with some folks above, ice at Mohegan Sun would be even better on almost all counts.)