rvd5star69
hockey
By Far If Rpi Union Cornell Got There It Would Be The Biggest Crowd They Have Seen In Albany...........
Lets Hope For That
Lets Hope For That
I don't want to hope for that.
But going into this week I would predict a Yale/Cornell/Union/SLU foursome which would draw great crowds.
Yale was in it last year and brought a few hundred fans, maybe.
SLU is good for bringing parents, girlfriends and a few townies.
Cornell and Union would draw well.
I'm glad you included at least one of the two teams that cleaned Q's clock this weekend in your tourney handicapping.
Nate Leaman has done a gret job at Union and should be coach of the year, but they will not bring many fans to the ECAC tournament no matter where it is held. I don't know why anyone would expect that they would suddenly draw a lot of people when they barely get 1,500 at home.
Cornell, Clarkson and RPI are the only programs in the league that will draw crowds. Union may build a following if they can keep up their winning ways for two or three years. Look at the crowds they draw for football. They regularly draw close to 2,000 a game when the football team is having a good season. The hockey team averages about 1,500 a game. They get up to 2,000-2,200 for RPI and perhaps Cornell, but that is due to the visitors' fans.
At the risk of starting a love fest , I agree with Wicked. I'd also have to throw SA into the mix if RPI continues to bring it as they have of late. As far as the goalies are concerned I have heard Leaman say that he would ideally prefer to rotate them. We'll see how that plays out.Leaman is indeed doing an excellent job, but I'm not nearly ready to start handing out end of the year hardware just yet. U has apparently switched back to Milan in goal, and if he stumbles, you're back to the guessing game in net for them.
SLU is good for bringing parents, girlfriends and a few townies.
SLU draws well.
In Albany an RPI, Union, Cornell, Clarkson draw would be optimal.
i thought y'all were going to AC?!?!!?
March 2011.
I think Union would bring a pretty large crowd. Scenectady is only about 20 minutes from Albany, so I don't think it's much of a stretch to guess that at the very least, 2,000 fans would come. They draw 1,500 for a home game, and I assume their qualification would raise a significant buzz, and that the school will provide transportation from campus to get the students there and back.
Speaking from personal experience, when a team puts a good product on the ice, people will go to the games and hop on the bandwagon. This happened to Brown from 02-04, when we were actually good. It wasn't unusual to see over 2,000 fans there for a game against Yale or Dartmouth, for instance, who now we draw at most 1,400 for. I imagine something similar will happen to Union this season if they continue their success, and cannot imagine that those fans wouldn't make a 20 minute roadtrip to see their team in the final four. These aren't Rhode Islanders- 20 minutes isn't a day trip for them.