Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

[FerrisStateHockeyFan]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

After a "Sweep" in Miami (I know ties in National Polls) Do you think Ferris will be ranked, when they were "on the bubble" last weekend?

 

[hattrick16]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

Wow, this thread gets a lot more crowded when the Bulldogs tie (or win according to the CCHA standings) the #1 team in the nation.

I hate how the CCHA and national scoring systems are different, so stupid.

It would be nice if Ferris' recent momentum translated into a more crowded arena. Those 5 o'clock starts might begin to see bigger crowds once college football season is over, but still, whoever came up with that idea is extraordinarily dumb.

Over the last 4 games (okay, BGSU and Miami are very different teams but...) FSU has scored 5 PP goals and given up 1. As long as we don't lead the nation in PIMs again and our special teams continue to click I think we've got a good shot every weekend.

Keep it up, Go Dawgs!

 

[ferrisfan1]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

while walking through ewigleben last weekend i overheard a group of middle aged Ferris fans discussing the 5:00 start. from what I could tell, they were very happy about it. i know it doesn't get much support in this forum but apparently it is liked by others.

as far as butts in the seats are concerned, i have to compare this season to the 02-03 campaign which i'm certain had the best numbers of the decade. early that season, Ferris hosted a bad BGSU team and routed them the whole weekend. i think they even scored 10 in one game. but the arena was far from full. the turning point came when OSU came to Big Rapids. I think both teams were 6-0 in conference play and the arena was full. Ferris ended up sweeping OSU in two GREAT games. from then on, it was hard to find an empty seat that season. so, there is now quite a bit of hype and the flood gates might open this weekend but the product on the ice has to be awesome. by this time in the '02 season, Kunitz, Legue, and Brown were household names in Big Rapids. I'm not sure that this team has the same cachet.

in the end, people will come if they know there is a good chance to see a Bulldog win.

 

[Hammer]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

I was at that second game where we beat OSU in overtime. That was my first trip back to Ewigleben since my graduation. That was a helluva game. I knew that night that team was different and special.

As for this team, that's why I think it's so imperative to at least get splits the next three weekends, to get us to the break. I don't know what to make of Ohio State yet, but we should be able to get a win from them. Same with UNO, and although Western seems to be improved a little bit (or maybe not, upon further review), there's no reason we can't get a win or two there either.

 

[FerrisStateHockeyFan]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

Are you sure? When we look back to Ferris State University's attendance numbers: http://www.ferris.edu/sports/hockey/0809yearbook/Pg 37.pdf

Yes, you are right it has been the most in the decade, but not to where you say you couldn't find a seat in the house. In 2002-2003 1,927 in a 2,493 seat arena. Still lacking 556 seats. In a small arena like that, that is a LOT of seats. Almost that whole right side of the arena opposite the student section.

And it just seems like the community doesn't care, or doesn't know the level of Hockey Ferris State has. Ok, so we "Sweep" Miami this weekend. Do you believe the entire community knows about the games? I am seriously asking the question, I would like to know.

Do you think all 13,800 students know about this past weekend, and the 6-0 home mark?

I hope so.

 

[hattrick16]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

while walking through ewigleben last weekend i overheard a group of middle aged Ferris fans discussing the 5:00 start. from what I could tell, they were very happy about it. i know it doesn't get much support in this forum but apparently it is liked by others.

I'm sure there are some supporters of it, but I think the middle aged people in the lobby would be at the games whether it started at 5 or 7. My middle aged parents who happen to be season ticket holders often go to the games that start at 5 late (or not at all) because they're watching Michigan or MSU football, doing yard work/spending time with family. And 5 o'clock starts definitely do not help student attendance, which is what we should be focused on.

Does any other school have regular 5 PM starts? I find it hard to believe that the FSU athletic department has conducted some sort of research that shows earlier starts draw bigger crowds and yet no other hockey program (that I'm aware of) does this.

 

[FerrisStateHockeyFan]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

Michigan State moved quite a few games to 5pm starts. One 6pm start.

Notre Dame has a few 4:00pm games, but those are on sunday I believe.

 

[hattrick16]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

Michigan State moved quite a few games to 5pm starts. One 6pm start.

Notre Dame has a few 4:00pm games, but those are on sunday I believe.

Yeah, you're right. MSU has two home 5 PM starts one of which is against... you guessed it, Ferris State. It also appears that BGSU has a few 5 PM starts. I still don't like going to hockey games in the middle of my day. But I guess I can move off this topic and onto how good our team actually looks.

 

[FerrisStateHockeyFan]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

Are you sure? When we look back to Ferris State University's attendance numbers: http://www.ferris.edu/sports/hockey/...ok/Pg 37.pdf

Yes, you are right it has been the most in the decade, but not to where you say you couldn't find a seat in the house. In 2002-2003 1,927 in a 2,493 seat arena. Still lacking 556 seats. In a small arena like that, that is a LOT of seats. Almost that whole right side of the arena opposite the student section.

And it just seems like the community doesn't care, or doesn't know the level of Hockey Ferris State has. Ok, so we "Sweep" Miami this weekend. Do you believe the entire community knows about the games? I am seriously asking the question, I would like to know.

Do you think all 13,800 students know about this past weekend, and the 6-0 home mark?

I hope so.

...?

 

[hanasoni]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

And yes, in the eyes of the NCAA, these two games this weekend are ties. The extra points are gravy.

So this is how one Miami fan feels about shoot-outs????


"""BLOG: REDHAWKEY
Miami and Ferris play to another tie
By John Lachmann on November 15, 2009 11:27 AM

I understand hockey is trying to attract new fans, but did any of the 3,400-plus at Cady Arena last night honestly show up because of the possibility of watching 86 percent of skaters fail in a shootout? If the league truly wanted to do something to generate fan interest, ban Ferris State's stall hockey system. Prohibit teams from having more than two skaters in the neutral zone. Or prevent them from having all five in their own attack zone on defense."""

Some refs and linesmen have a hard enough time keeping track of bodies on the ice, now we got to count how many are in each zone?? OH, NO >> It's soccer???

Interesting thoughts, do we need a new thread, here? WOW!

 

[Hammer]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

You can allocate a lot of that 02-03 attendance figure to the fact that we did not draw well prior to the Christmas break. The prior year we had finished 15-20-1, and 9th in the conference. While Kunitz returned, there wasn't much expected out of the rest of team, including sophomores Matt York and Mike Brown.

We have seen hot starts before. In the 98-99 season, not that far removed from the 02-03 team, we had started 9-3-3. We led the CCHA and we were ranked #8 in the country. We crashed and burned after that. We won exactly 5 games after December 5th that year (5-13-3). You'll have to excuse people for being skeptical after that "performance".

If you look closer, after Christmas break, people seemed to realize that this team was for real and wasn't going to repeat that performance. I submit to you the attendance totals after the first of the year:

1/10/03 Notre Dame: 1741. Ok, fine. MLK weekend and no classes? Maybe?
1/11/03 Notre Dame: 2493. Sellout
1/17/03 NMU: 2042
1/18/03 NMU: 2160. Not a sellout, but not a bad weekend
2/1/03: Michigan: 2493. Sellout, effectively with the CCHA title on the line
2/15/03: WMU: 2493. Sellout
2/28/03: UNO: 2413. Close enough for me
3/1/03: UNO: 2243
3/14/03: LSSU: 1424 Students on break for playoff series
3/15/03: LSSU: 1845 See above

Average attendance over the 2nd half of the regular season: 2,134.7 (86% of capacity)
Average attendance including the playoff games, during break without a majority of the student section: 2259.75 (90.6%)

Notre Dame was not good then, and that particular LSSU team was perhaps one of the 5 worst CCHA teams I've even seen. They were just this side of putrid. UNO and NMU were decent, if memory serves me right, but nothing to get excited over.

Also note that 12/6/02, the game against MSU, was also a sellout and was the final home game before break. Also, before Christmas, we were treated to St. Cloud, Wayne State, BG and Western Michigan. WOOOOO!!

The first half of the year, people might have been waiting for the roof to cave in, and quite frankly, given this team's history, you really can't blame them. However, once I saw them in the 2nd Ohio State game, I was sold. I suspect that I wasn't the only one.

Here's where I get my info from. Click on the respective box scores

Also, I'll question that 1994-1995 attendance. That team was bad. I was a junior at Ferris at the time, and those totals are probably a bit inflated, even though that season we got two home dates each with Michigan and Michigan State.

 

[Hammer]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

So this is how one Miami fan feels about shoot-outs????


"""BLOG: REDHAWKEY
Miami and Ferris play to another tie
By John Lachmann on November 15, 2009 11:27 AM

I understand hockey is trying to attract new fans, but did any of the 3,400-plus at Cady Arena last night honestly show up because of the possibility of watching 86 percent of skaters fail in a shootout? If the league truly wanted to do something to generate fan interest, ban Ferris State's stall hockey system. Prohibit teams from having more than two skaters in the neutral zone. Or prevent them from having all five in their own attack zone on defense."""

Some refs and linesmen have a hard enough time keeping track of bodies on the ice, now we got to count how many are in each zone?? OH, NO >> It's soccer???

Interesting thoughts, do we need a new thread, here? WOW!

No.

That blogpost is idiotic. Notre Dame isn't exactly prolific offensively. Neither were the last of Ron Mason's teams at MSU. In fact, as you remember as well as I do, Mason's teams would put you to sleep once they got 2 on the board.

But, hmmmm. Both won CCHA championships and both have seen the inside of the Frozen Four. This isn't Disney on Ice. You don't get points for being cute.

 

[FerrisStateHockeyFan]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

Hammer...Please...Your thoughts:

And it just seems like the community doesn't care, or doesn't know the level of Hockey Ferris State has. Ok, so we "Sweep" Miami this weekend. Do you believe the entire community knows about the games? I am seriously asking the question, I would like to know.

Do you think all 13,800 students know about this past weekend, and the 6-0 home mark?

 

[Hammer]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

Hammer...Please...Your thoughts:

And it just seems like the community doesn't care, or doesn't know the level of Hockey Ferris State has. Ok, so we "Sweep" Miami this weekend. Do you believe the entire community knows about the games? I am seriously asking the question, I would like to know.

Do you think all 13,800 students know about this past weekend, and the 6-0 home mark?

I think it's a little bit of both, and maybe a little hurting in the checkbook, too.

For starters, let's be careful about that 13,800 number. Are we sure that those students are all on campus in Big Rapids? Does that number include the Kendall College in Grand Rapids? I don't know the answers to that question one way or the other.

If the majority of those students don't know, then it is the job of the students that DO know to get the message out there. At this point I'm looking squarely at the Torch. Let's face it, there's a group of students that don't know, don't care, and don't WANT to know or care, and you're not going to change them. Fine. Work on the others.

I do think that people will come out in the 2nd half of the season, after Christmas break, as the schedule gets much more attendance-friendly (read: Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame). Unless Ferris has a team loaded to the high heavens, you're simply not going to sell out when the likes of Robert Morris and UConn come into town. And I'm not sure what can be done about that. Connecticut, while a Division I power in basketball, doesn't have any kind of pull in the hockey community. I'd be willing to bet a pitcher of beer that a good majority of the fans wouldn't know if Robert Morris was a person or a college. So no draw there, either.

I hate to beat on this again, but this is why the next three weeks are so ****ed important for this team this season. A good showing leading up to the break is going to give the students and fans more reason to come to Ewigleben after the break. If we crap out now, Notre Dame, Michigan (even with their problems this year) and Miami will absolutely bury us in January and we'll be fighting for 10th place. The season will effectively be over by February 1st, both in the standings and at the box office.

 

[FerrisStateHockeyFan]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

I'm sure FSU Athletic Department might be reading this board. Any reccomendations for them?

The torch comes out on Wednesday, they will have an article about Ferris Hockey for sure.

The Pioneer will definitely have articles leading up to the weekend.

I know they put signs up in the main spots on campus, and intersections saying "Hockey Home this weekend!"

They put flyers in all the dorms showing who their playing, what time, what day, etc. every monday.

They have a Ferris State Hockey Student Section Facebook group with well over 1,300+ members in it that they message every week for the games.

They have a cell phone text messaging program that texts messages to students numbers. But i believe it's small, it's only on a sign up basis, not supplied by the university.

Of course, they have the Twitter feeds.

They have a TV Commercial that plays on Fox, Fox News, TBS, USA, ESPN, CNN and others Monday-Thursday on Home Hockey weekends. The same one on the website (www.FerrisStateBulldogs.com/Sports/Mice)

Anything else you, or others have in mind, to promote Bulldog Hockey around the community?

 

[bueller]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

BTW, what would've happened had the shoot-out been longer with Ferris being down two skaters due to penalties? Do we forfeit? Do they get two 'free' shots? Or does our line-up of shooters just role over before Miami's?

 

[Hammer]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

Wow. FSHF, I don't know how much more you can do, short of smoke signals and neon lights. Just keep pushing, I guess. Maybe suggest that we've got a couple NHL draft picks. I don't know. You're doing about everything you can at this point.

Keep fighting, though.

As for the shootout, I think the shooters roll over once we've gone through everyone that's eligible. I may have to dive into a rule book to see.

 

[bigmrg74]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

I'm sure FSU Athletic Department might be reading this board. Any reccomendations for them?

The torch comes out on Wednesday, they will have an article about Ferris Hockey for sure.

The Pioneer will definitely have articles leading up to the weekend.

I know they put signs up in the main spots on campus, and intersections saying "Hockey Home this weekend!"

They put flyers in all the dorms showing who their playing, what time, what day, etc. every monday.

They have a Ferris State Hockey Student Section Facebook group with well over 1,300+ members in it that they message every week for the games.

They have a cell phone text messaging program that texts messages to students numbers. But i believe it's small, it's only on a sign up basis, not supplied by the university.

Of course, they have the Twitter feeds.

They have a TV Commercial that plays on Fox, Fox News, TBS, USA, ESPN, CNN and others Monday-Thursday on Home Hockey weekends. The same one on the website (www.FerrisStateBulldogs.com/Sports/Mice)

They have radio commercials on 3 of the 4 radio stations in big rapids.

Anything else you, or others have in mind, to promote Bulldog Hockey around the community?

I mean, you look at all the above up there, all that promoting. The ONLY division 1 sport around, NOTHING to do in Big Rapids, WHAT IS THE DEAL with 1,200 a night in a 2,493 seat arena!?


I was thinking of maybe, giving away a few tickets in hopes of free advertising on the big Grand Rapids sports station, WBBL. Maybe take an ad out in the Grand Rapids Free Press?

You might also what to try facebook as well. Invite as many people as you can to a group or page, and well, be a squeaky will. Nobody will follow a page or group if there's no updates on it.

 

[Hammer]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

You might also what to try facebook as well. Invite as many people as you can to a group or page, and well, be a squeaky will. Nobody will follow a page or group if there's no updates on it.

They have a Ferris State Hockey Student Section Facebook group with well over 1,300+ members in it that they message every week for the games.

Not exactly your best moment there...

 

[FerrisStateHockeyFan]

Re: Ferris State Hockey 2009-10 - 2 minutes for slashing

Lol..ahh I love chat rooms -

Ferris State Hockey Student Section (1,300+ Members) http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=71845055460