What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

I For One Welcome Our New Big Ten Hockey Overlords

Re: I For One Welcome Our New Big Ten Hockey Overlords

Grainbelt said:
With only 14 to use up
Click to expand...

"only 14"? Considering most schools only get 5-10 currently, and even the non-Ivy ECAC teams getting a whopping 12, the Big Ten will have more non-conference games to go around than anyone else.

In fact, I would love to see smaller conferences overall just to increase the number of non-conference games, if nothing else.
 
Re: I For One Welcome Our New Big Ten Hockey Overlords

unofan said:
"only 14"? Considering most schools only get 5-10 currently, and even the non-Ivy ECAC teams getting a whopping 12, the Big Ten will have more non-conference games to go around than anyone else.

In fact, I would love to see smaller conferences overall just to increase the number of non-conference games, if nothing else.
Click to expand...

This is a big upside to the new conference arrangement. Non-conference games are currently so sparse that good programs can go decades without playing each other except for chance NCAA tournament meetings. The increased crossover will also improve the quality of the Pairwise or whatever ranking system is used by providing more cross-conference data. As it is the data set that determines conference strength is quite small given how important it is.
 
Re: I For One Welcome Our New Big Ten Hockey Overlords

Wreckincrew said:
Ug, I hope this doesn't catch on....... That is NOT some of your best work.
Click to expand...

I dunno ... I love BHHC. I think it plays off of BTHC so very well and when it first occurred to me it seemed like fate to me.

It isn't exactly catching on like fire ... but I'm expecting when/if DU tries to lead it's "mid-major" anti-BTHC that it'll become the default acronym. I think there are some people that "dig it" ... even if they don't admit it yet. I know DU fans fear it's use. So with that going for it ... well you see it has great potential.
 
Re: I For One Welcome Our New Big Ten Hockey Overlords

Osorojo said:
Do you think a Big-Ten conference will increase or decrease the "amateur" standing of college hockey, or, in fairness, will the creation such a league have no impact upon the guts of college hockey: revenue and investment? No? Don't believe in capitalism?

The minimum score of 600 (zero) on the College Boards Entrance Examinations* mandated by the NCAA to be eligible for participation/scholarships in varsity college sports insures the recruitment of college hockey players will hurt the major juniors as much as NHL raids hurt college programs.

* A policy chiefly designed to expand access of racial minority athletes to college educations - and a policy which has little legitimate application to college hockey.
Click to expand...

ayecarumbaoj3.jpg
 
Re: I For One Welcome Our New Big Ten Hockey Overlords

Grainbelt said:
I wonder whether the fri-saturday format will be in place for non-conference games. With only 14 to use up, I could see paired weekend series with MN and WI traveling to CC / DU, SCSU / UND. Maybe a big weekend tourney with SCSU, UMD, & Mankato. I'd love to see a trip out east to play the Boston teams.
Click to expand...
Combining weekend trips is one possible way to get more interaction between teams. UND has done this in the past on trips to Boston, where they have played BC one night and Northeastern the other. BSU/UND would probably be a better pairing, with SCSU/MSU-M being a natural pairing for such trips.
Grainbelt said:
The WCHA will have to consider whether St. Paul remains the best place for the Final Five - I'd like to see it in Colorado every other year, at a minimum.
Click to expand...
The big question with Colorado is how well will the community support a WCHA tourney? The Pepsi Center certainly would provide a suitable neutral site venue, but I have serious questions about fan numbers/support. If you are in St Paul, you would still have UMD, SCSU, BSU, and MSU-M all quite close, and many many many UND fans will make the drive to St. Paul. Denver has DU and CC nearby, so 2 schools vs 4-5. In terms of student numbers, UMD has 10,500, SCSU has 14,250, BSU has 5,170, MSU-M has 14,000, and UND has 13,000. By contrast, Denver has 9,500 and CC has 1,950. So student numbers are 56,920 in the schools near St. Paul (43,920 without UND) vs only 11,450 at the Colorado schools. Plus, all of the Minnesota schools and UND have lots of alumni in the Twin Cities, while there are fewer alums of WCHA schools working in Denver than in the Twin Cities. Finally, above and beyond that Minnesota is a hockey-crazed state. Some college hockey fans will probably still show up just to see good hockey. If you want a neutral venue I think the X is still the best bet for a Big 10-less WCHA.
 
Re: I For One Welcome Our New Big Ten Hockey Overlords

Colorado would make more sense if the WCHA made one of these completely hypothetical west coast expansions. It's a lot closer to California than the X. Until then, the X is a brilliant facility and draws well whether the Gophers are there or not--no way the WCHA leaves if the X doesn't kick them out. This is a much surer slam dunk than Joe Louis Arena, which will likely wave goodbye to the CCHA at the same time that Michigan and Michigan State do.
 
Re: I For One Welcome Our New Big Ten Hockey Overlords

The Final Five will have to leave the X after the Big Ten Overlords buy the arena, and keep it for themselves!

(insert evil laugh here)

4 Big Ten National Championships in the last 10 years. 0 for the Flickertails.
 
Last edited:
Re: I For One Welcome Our New Big Ten Hockey Overlords

I am in the minority of Gopher fans....but, I love the Big Ten HC! What's not to like. Gophers get even more advantages and it hoses UND recruiting by leaving them in a watered down WCHA.

I hope we never play the dirty Sue again. I just wish the BTHC could start next year.
 
Re: I For One Welcome Our New Big Ten Hockey Overlords

Caustic Undertow said:
College hockey has been stagnating in its current conference alignments
Click to expand...

It has?

Bigger / more professional / more TV obviously does not necessarily equate to better -- growing to where you become ESPN'S bitch is highly overrated. One of the best attributes of college hockey until recently has been the relatively even playing field between the factory schools and the small colleges. To the extent that this is a step away from that, it's likely a step in the wrong direction.

It's going to happen, but other than the BT schools themselves who is better off for it?
 
Art VanDelay said:
The Final Five will have to leave the X after the Big Ten Overlords buy the arena, and keep it for themselves!

(insert evil laugh here)

4 Big Ten National Championships in the last 10 years. 0 for the Flickertails.
Click to expand...
So, we are comparing a conference versus a school? Sounds reasonable.
 
Re: I For One Welcome Our New Big Ten Hockey Overlords

RinkPig said:
Your opinion might matter if you weren't from Edina...go away cake eater!
Click to expand...

Two things:

1. It is not only my opinion - check out some other Gopher fan responses to your moronic posts.
2. You WISH you could eat some cake. :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top