Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

[HockeyMan2000]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

Either way, Providence sucks, way too small to host a FF.

Must have been why it was in the FF rotation and fans loved going to Providence for decades before the NCAA decreed that it needed to be held in NHL-sized arenas. Even now the city is absolutely perfect for a Frozen Four. Maybe you just suck in terms of figuring out where to go and what to do?

 

[CLS]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

Actually it would have been in season for three of four pro sports, plus golf and the marathon, so not surprising it got back burnered.

You're right, it would have been after opening day for the Red Sox, and as another post mentions, just before the NFL Draft, so you're really talking four of four pro sports. No wonder there wasn't a fifteen second block available to mention a national championship.

 

[davyd83]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

To be perfectly honest, I think Omaha would be a fantastic location for the Frozen Four. As mentioned earlier, I really enjoyed my time there. The CLink is big enough (17,100 for hockey), the city is big enough (800,000 metro pop), but not huge. We know they embrace NCAA championship events, they have hosted the College World Series for decades, which is an even bigger event (20,000+ avg per game for 14 games and 8 teams participating). I would expect all that hosting experience would make a Frozen Four there fantastically organized and the city is small enough that locals would be aware of and "embrace" the event. There is a lot to do, including one of the best zoos in the world, casinos in Council Bluffs. a ton of great restaurants, a batch of museums and music venues, in fact Kiplinger's named Omaha the "#3 city in the USA to live, work, and play." It is an easy place to drive to, and has a decent size airport with non-stop destinations that include Minneapolis, Denver, Detroit, DC, La Guardia, Newark, and Chicago.
Similar to how people were very pleasantly surprised about how great Tampa was, I think those who think Omaha is just "a small town in the middle of nowhere" would be very pleasently surprised as well.
(I have no personal affiliation with Omaha, I just think it would be a great host and would try very hard to attend if it did.)

I agree 100%. Terrific city, great arena, restaurants and bars galore within walking distance of the rink. Outstanding suffestion!

 

[Priceless]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

To be perfectly honest, I think Omaha would be a fantastic location for the Frozen Four. As mentioned earlier, I really enjoyed my time there. The CLink is big enough (17,100 for hockey), the city is big enough (800,000 metro pop), but not huge. We know they embrace NCAA championship events, they have hosted the College World Series for decades, which is an even bigger event (20,000+ avg per game for 14 games and 8 teams participating). I would expect all that hosting experience would make a Frozen Four there fantastically organized and the city is small enough that locals would be aware of and "embrace" the event. There is a lot to do, including one of the best zoos in the world, casinos in Council Bluffs. a ton of great restaurants, a batch of museums and music venues, in fact Kiplinger's named Omaha the "#3 city in the USA to live, work, and play." It is an easy place to drive to, and has a decent size airport with non-stop destinations that include Minneapolis, Denver, Detroit, DC, La Guardia, Newark, and Chicago.
Similar to how people were very pleasantly surprised about how great Tampa was, I think those who think Omaha is just "a small town in the middle of nowhere" would be very pleasently surprised as well.
(I have no personal affiliation with Omaha, I just think it would be a great host and would try very hard to attend if it did.)

Omaha has an Amtrak station and is located on the California Zephyr line from Chicago...works for me!

 

[The Rube]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

I agree 100%. Terrific city, great arena, restaurants and bars galore within walking distance of the rink. Outstanding suffestion!

I have not been to Omaha, but an F4 might draw me there. And depending on who else would go (from around Mpls/St Paul), I'd be tempted to road trip it, rather than fly. Take an extra day or two, and find some good diner/dives/etc along the way. Sample a bit of Americana. When I took my Traverse City (MI) trip last year, that's what we did, and it was so worth it.

 

[Hux]

You're right, it would have been after opening day for the Red Sox, and as another post mentions, just before the NFL Draft, so you're really talking four of four pro sports. No wonder there wasn't a fifteen second block available to mention a national championship.

Ironic, as it seems BC usually is the only school to get any airtime.

 

[CLS]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

Ironic, as it seems BC usually is the only school to get any airtime.

or newprint, if anyone remembers what a newspaper is.

 

[BUPhD]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

DC's issue with the Frozen Four is that it falls right around the Cherry Blossom/High School Spring Break tours season. The city is already seeing MASSIVE TOURIST INFLUX (please stop standing on the left side of the escalators in the Metro) and the additional draw that the Frozen Four brought simply won't stand out if places aren't looking for it. I'm sure the bars around the Phone Box knew about it and such, but expecting the city to put aside their fixation on the annual slam dunk tourism isn't realistic.

The East regional for the NCAA men's basketball tourney was out here this year in the same location. It got pretty much the same treatment inasmuch as you'd see signs in bars and stuff right around the Phone Box and people wearing their shirts and stuff. But it didn't feel like there was some unexpected 'sudden influx of people for some major event.' Because this time of year, we're always seeing a huge influx of people from out of town.

So, if you want the whole town to turn out and focus its tourism on the Frozen Four, DC isn't your city. If you want to have the Cherry Blossoms, museums, etc. etc. etc. to do between games, it's a great time to vacation in DC on the side.

 

[MavHockey14]

I have not been to Omaha, but an F4 might draw me there. And depending on who else would go (from around Mpls/St Paul), I'd be tempted to road trip it, rather than fly. Take an extra day or two, and find some good diner/dives/etc along the way. Sample a bit of Americana. When I took my Traverse City (MI) trip last year, that's what we did, and it was so worth it.

I can make Omaha in just under 5. You could make it a hair over six. Would drive it without question.

 

[brassbonanza]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

DC's issue with the Frozen Four is that it falls right around the Cherry Blossom/High School Spring Break tours season. The city is already seeing MASSIVE TOURIST INFLUX (please stop standing on the left side of the escalators in the Metro) and the additional draw that the Frozen Four brought simply won't stand out if places aren't looking for it. I'm sure the bars around the Phone Box knew about it and such, but expecting the city to put aside their fixation on the annual slam dunk tourism isn't realistic.

The East regional for the NCAA men's basketball tourney was out here this year in the same location. It got pretty much the same treatment inasmuch as you'd see signs in bars and stuff right around the Phone Box and people wearing their shirts and stuff. But it didn't feel like there was some unexpected 'sudden influx of people for some major event.' Because this time of year, we're always seeing a huge influx of people from out of town.

So, if you want the whole town to turn out and focus its tourism on the Frozen Four, DC isn't your city. If you want to have the Cherry Blossoms, museums, etc. etc. etc. to do between games, it's a great time to vacation in DC on the side.

Good point, forgot about that. It was tourist trap central there that weekend. Still was an enjoyable weekend, even outside of the game results, and it's a very, very easy city to get around, easy to get to, of course plenty to do, the event just will get lost in the shuffle to an extent. They still could've done a better job maybe throwing up some street lamp banners in the blocks surrounding the arena, and at least making an attempt to show that the event is there. Might not do much, but they pretty much made no effort whatsoever from what I saw.

 

[chickod]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

Still was an enjoyable weekend, even outside of the game results

Except that we drove back on Sunday so I missed the Masters...

 

[chickod]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

mookie can't believe he keeps reading peeps want nyc, but not san juan.

outside of the weather, there is no difference (er, and priceless can't take the train)

But he can take the ferry! (long trip, though)

 

[scsutommyboy]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

Has MSG ever bid on a frozen four? My guess is no because not even the NCAA is dum enough to pass up on that.

 

[iowabasedtraveler]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

Will add my two cents. Am a four-set priority ticket holder and refuse to buy tix for a temporary hockey rink (i.e. - Ford Field).
Refused to go to Anaheim (thinking that it shouldn't be in a southern city), but mellowed in my old age and loved Tampa.
Didn't like Columbus (lack of bars and restaurants near arena). Also enjoy break between Thursday games to go out and buy lunch.
My guess is that we will soon go to other NHL arenas in cities that we haven't been in awhile (southwest, northwest).
Having said all that, I am a regular at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha for UNO hockey and that city and venue would make GREAT hosts.

 

[mookie1995]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

if we need 'nhl sized rinks'

pittsburgh - trying
ny (city) - awaiting for a bid
ny (island/brooklyn) - hmmm. probably not
nj (city) - see above
philly - next year
montreal - canada
boston - been
toronto - canada
ottawa - canada
buffalo - been
washinton - been
winnipeg - canada
carolina - never. rink is out in the middle of nowhere.
tampa - been
florida - never. rink is out in the middle of nowhere
chicago - hmmmm
detroit - been, both in joe and ford field. hopefully will be back after new joe is built
st louis - been
columbus - kinda been, but used osu's rink on campus. odd.
nashville - hopeful. this would be kinda cool i'd venture a guess
vancouver - cananda
st paul - been
edmonton - canada
calgary - canada
denver - been
anaheim - been
los angeles - not been. can't see how this would work.
san jose - doubt it.
phoenix - glendale. would be a neat place in theory. but built out and away like miami.
dallas - near downtown. i'd give it a go.

others-
kansas city has built a rink.
seattle wants to built one.
milwaukee - been
houston - hmmmm

 

[brassbonanza]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

houston - hmmmm

Went there for the Final Four in 2011, not a good host city. Everything is ridiculously and unnecessarily spread out. For the 4th or 5th largest city in the country, there's nothing to do, outside of the generic bars/restaurants thing, there's very little difference between this and Buffalo except the buildings are taller. Hotels were spread out everywhere, public transportation is totally nonexistent, downtown area was boring and terribly generic. Were it not for the fact that our team hotel was directly across from the one enormous mall there, I would've been bored out of my mind on the off day. I would see this being a complete failure of a FF host city.

 

[Greg Ambrose]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

if we need 'nhl sized rinks'

pittsburgh - trying
ny (city) - awaiting for a bid
ny (island/brooklyn) - hmmm. probably not
nj (city) - see above
philly - next year
montreal - canada
boston - been
toronto - canada
ottawa - canada
buffalo - been
washinton - been
winnipeg - canada
carolina - never. rink is out in the middle of nowhere.
tampa - been
florida - never. rink is out in the middle of nowhere
chicago - hmmmm
detroit - been, both in joe and ford field. hopefully will be back after new joe is built
st louis - been
columbus - kinda been, but used osu's rink on campus. odd.
nashville - hopeful. this would be kinda cool i'd venture a guess
vancouver - cananda
st paul - been
edmonton - canada
calgary - canada
denver - been
anaheim - been
los angeles - not been. can't see how this would work.
san jose - doubt it.
phoenix - glendale. would be a neat place in theory. but built out and away like miami.
dallas - near downtown. i'd give it a go.

others-
kansas city has built a rink.
seattle wants to built one.
milwaukee - been
houston - hmmmm

Good list. Of the NHL cities that have never hosted a FF, only Chicago makes sense. NY way too expensive, NJ & Brooklyn, ditto. Chicago, centrally located, host school Notre Dame, games at the fabulous United Center, home of an original six team. I can't see why it would fail. Certainly better than St. Louis, Anaheim, Columbus or, god forbid, Nashville.

 

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

Chicago/Boston/St.Paul/Dallas/Detroit

 

[Greg Ambrose]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

Chicago/Boston/St.Paul/Dallas/Detroit

No reason to go to Dallas, ever. And not Detroit until they get a new facility. Unfortunately my favorite all time venue, Milwaukee, will never make it again because the Bradley Center (or whatever they call it now) is too small. Chicago is a nice substitute though.

 

[Ralph Baer]

Re: Frozen Four 2015 Where do we go from here?

DC's issue with the Frozen Four is that it falls right around the Cherry Blossom/High School Spring Break tours season. The city is already seeing MASSIVE TOURIST INFLUX (please stop standing on the left side of the escalators in the Metro) and the additional draw that the Frozen Four brought simply won't stand out if places aren't looking for it. I'm sure the bars around the Phone Box knew about it and such, but expecting the city to put aside their fixation on the annual slam dunk tourism isn't realistic.

The East regional for the NCAA men's basketball tourney was out here this year in the same location. It got pretty much the same treatment inasmuch as you'd see signs in bars and stuff right around the Phone Box and people wearing their shirts and stuff. But it didn't feel like there was some unexpected 'sudden influx of people for some major event.' Because this time of year, we're always seeing a huge influx of people from out of town.

So, if you want the whole town to turn out and focus its tourism on the Frozen Four, DC isn't your city. If you want to have the Cherry Blossoms, museums, etc. etc. etc. to do between games, it's a great time to vacation in DC on the side.

Having just returned from a bike ride, that included going through Cherry Blossom Land, I can vouch for this (not that I didn't know it before). The blossoms haven't even hit peak yet.