Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

[AMC]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

You got that right...we were all spoiled back then...now after the Whitehead ERA and into Gendrons...we are all feeling the pains that go with rebuilds/retooling/etc. --- PAINFUL is a under-statement to say the least...all we can do now a days is hope/wish.

The big danger is that with the mediocrity/average results of the past decade, the students aren't going to connect with the program like they used to. To remember Anaheim, you had to have been, what, 6 years old at the youngest? So, born in 1993- 22 years old right now.

Those are the future donors, the future boosters, the future season ticket holders. And if they attended UMaine and graduated in 2011 or later.... they didn't see much good hockey if they saw it at all (when I went through in the mid 2000's the Maine-iacs were already seen as dorks who had nothing better to do on Friday/Saturday nights, I can't imagine what it's like when the team isn't even winning).

Alfond used to be packed full of kids and families, breeding the next generation of Maine fans. The crowd is certainly grayer these days.

I hate to be the perennial pessimist of Maine ice hockey fandom, but the hurdles to get back to being a perennial power are immense.

 

[Drew S.]

The big danger is that with the mediocrity/average results of the past decade, the students aren't going to connect with the program like they used to. To remember Anaheim, you had to have been, what, 6 years old at the youngest? So, born in 1993- 22 years old right now.

Those are the future donors, the future boosters, the future season ticket holders. And if they attended UMaine and graduated in 2011 or later.... they didn't see much good hockey if they saw it at all (when I went through in the mid 2000's the Maine-iacs were already seen as dorks who had nothing better to do on Friday/Saturday nights, I can't imagine what it's like when the team isn't even winning).

Alfond used to be packed full of kids and families, breeding the next generation of Maine fans. The crowd is certainly grayer these days.

I hate to be the perennial pessimist of Maine ice hockey fandom, but the hurdles to get back to being a perennial power are immense.

Attendance isn't going to improve until they charge a reasonable price for tickets. Hopefully at some point administration figures this out and fixes it.

 

[AMC]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

Attendance isn't going to improve until they charge a reasonable price for tickets. Hopefully at some point administration figures this out and fixes it.

Students get in free. The vast majority of them will never go to a game. That's a problem.

 

[Drew S.]

Students get in free. The vast majority of them will never go to a game. That's a problem.

Why on earth is that a problem? Should everyone who gets accepted at UMaine have to be a hockey fan? That's a ridiculous statement to make. The problem I have is that people who would potentially attend games not attend them because prices are too high. UMaine can charge whatever they want as long as games sell out, but when the arena is less than half full they are clearly charging too much.

 

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

Why on earth is that a problem? Should everyone who gets accepted at UMaine have to be a hockey fan? That's a ridiculous statement to make. The problem I have is that people who would potentially attend games not attend them because prices are too high. UMaine can charge whatever they want as long as games sell out, but when the arena is less than half full they are clearly charging too much.

When the PRODUCT on the ice stinks and is not up to par except with the Bottom feeders of Hockey East...that's one real problem...solve that with 20-22 wins a year,trips to Boston for Hockey East Post Season, NCAA appearences and no one will care about the cost of Hockey @ Alfond Arena...winning CURES ALL...losing gets old along with excuses and poor recruiting...send your Comments to the A.D. and others...a lot of people have and nothing has come from it. Like I said you have to win and money is second.

 

[TERRIERFANinLA]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

When the PRODUCT on the ice stinks and is not up to par except with the Bottom feeders of Hockey East...that's one real problem...solve that with 20-22 wins a year,trips to Boston for Hockey East Post Season, NCAA appearences and no one will care about the cost of Hockey @ Alfond Arena...winning CURES ALL...losing gets old along with excuses and poor recruiting...send your Comments to the A.D. and others...a lot of people have and nothing has come from it. Like I said you have to win and money is second.

winning will not cure all. I am with Drew.
If maine were 23-3 in January (or Feb), and tickets were $30 apiece, the place would be half full. penboscot county cannot afford $30 tickets for a family.
Maine is crazy not to just give tickets away at the local middle schools

 

[blackbearbandie]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

UMaine is in the news again for anticipating a 90 million deficit by 2020 if current trends hold and they aren't able to right the (flag)ship. Ticket prices do seem too high right now to expect sell outs every game given the poor economy, but perhaps winning and marketing will allow the university to raise prices even further to cover expenses. Maine Hockey is an institution of its own, but its affiliation with the University is holding it back. Unless the economy improves drastically soon, Maine would be better off selling off its logo and naming rights to the AHL and moving to Portland on a permanent basis and getting rid of college hockey altogether. The athletic department has been mismanaged for far too long, and Creech certainly has a monumental task ahead of him if he wants to keep UMaine athletics competitive in our current economic climate. I want to see Maine Hockey stay in Orono and compete for and win National Championships, but in a worse case scenario I want Maine Hockey to live on even if it transforms into a professional hockey team unaffiliated with UMaine.

 

[TripleE]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I agree that ticket prices are a problem for the market. You're probably shelling out over $100 if you're a family of 4 looking for single game tickets and concessions. For a county whose median family income is 7% lower than the overall state's (and the state's in turn is almost 8% lower than national) ... it's crazy to be on the higher end of ticket prices around the league.

On straight ticket sale alone, selling 5,000 tickets at $12 a whack is financially similar to selling around 3,000 tickets at $20. Then you have to ask what additional revenue is generated through concessions and merchandise with the extra 2,000 people, as well as ponder the investment value of expanding your fan base to more people. Maine always prided itself on a unique atmosphere for college hockey - so if you're trying to win potential recruits on those grounds, it's helpful to get people to the gate. It's a two way street, but Maine needs to stop lollygagging on the curb.

 

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

winning will not cure all. I am with Drew.
If maine were 23-3 in January (or Feb), and tickets were $30 apiece, the place would be half full. penboscot county cannot afford $30 tickets for a family.
Maine is crazy not to just give tickets away at the local middle schools

Don't hold your breath on Ticket Prices going down...if so they would have the last two seasons...and "IF" Maine was 23-3 in January, every Band-Wagon Fan would be there and SAY they were there through all the hard times in recent years...I'd be foolish to say lower prices would not hurt, yes it would help and create a better atmosphere in the old building...but will it happen...well not this season. IMO all games should be $15 per and Exhibition games free to Season Ticket Holders and the rest sold @ $5 per fan. So in the long run nothing has come about in the last 2 seasons don't expect to much next year or beyond. Just another SAD FACT @ the "U".

 

[AMC]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

Why on earth is that a problem? Should everyone who gets accepted at UMaine have to be a hockey fan? That's a ridiculous statement to make. The problem I have is that people who would potentially attend games not attend them because prices are too high. UMaine can charge whatever they want as long as games sell out, but when the arena is less than half full they are clearly charging too much.

No. But some of them need to be. Tiny student crowds lead to tiny future donor bases. The program can't rely on just locals alone. Need alumni support.

That's without the larger question of whether a school should be pouring millions of dollars into an endeavor its students don't care about.

 

[Drew S.]

No. But some of them need to be. Tiny student crowds lead to tiny future donor bases. The program can't rely on just locals alone. Need alumni support.

That's without the larger question of whether a school should be pouring millions of dollars into an endeavor its students don't care about.

I haven't been to a ton of games in recent times but the student crowd has seemed okay to me. I think some maybe it's been lower than you would like for some of the rubbish games but it seems like the turn up for the important games.

I think it's important the school have decent athletics, it's a big part of being a world class university. The publicity can help a lot as far as attracting students. There is no doubt in my mind the true cost of Athletics is overstated.

 

[AMC]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I think it's important the school have decent athletics, it's a big part of being a world class university. The publicity can help a lot as far as attracting students. There is no doubt in my mind the true cost of Athletics is overstated.

I don't necessarily disagree with any of this. I feel, though, that in order to receive truly commensurate value from your athletics department as compared to what you spend on athletics, you need a comprehensive plan and purpose. I don't think that's something UMaine has had since at least the early 1990's. Since then, the department (and frankly the whole university and system) have just lurched from crisis to crisis.

The University isn't what it was back when it was drawing a dynamic student body in multiple disciplines from all over New England and the Mid-Atlantic. Constant bad press about budget battles, decrepit infrastructure and a disgruntled faculty have watered down the whole campus. And now the state flagship is basically a safety school solely for kids from north of Augusta. The athletic department has slid in the same direction. If athletics aren't going to be used as a tool to improve the University, what are we spending millions of dollars on them for? For the nine of us still left here to be perennially disappointed?

 

[BBDiehard14]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

I haven't been to a ton of games in recent times but the student crowd has seemed okay to me. I think some maybe it's been lower than you would like for some of the rubbish games but it seems like the turn up for the important games.

I think it's important the school have decent athletics, it's a big part of being a world class university. The publicity can help a lot as far as attracting students. There is no doubt in my mind the true cost of Athletics is overstated.

When the big boys like UNH, BU, BC, Notre Dame, et al come in, the balcony is usually full, as is the case during the middle of a semester as well. Yet at the same time, you don't see kids waiting 12 hours for a ticket to a UNH game or a BU game like they did say 10-15 years ago. A raucous balcony is a huge factor when it comes to landing recruits...a lot of guys that have committed to Maine in recent years have spoken about how much they love the atmosphere in the balcony and the Alfond in general.

 

[walrus]

The state above brunswick is just about dead. Rte1 corridor to Ellsworth is the only exception to that. My business keeps shrinking as customers close up shop left and right. This place is dying so why wouldn't you expect the U to die also. I'm amazed at the changes I've seen in the last few years.

 

[blackbearbandie]

The state above brunswick is just about dead. Rte1 corridor to Ellsworth is the only exception to that. My business keeps shrinking as customers close up shop left and right. This place is dying so why wouldn't you expect the U to die also. I'm amazed at the changes I've seen in the last few years.

Economic warfare is how modern genocide is waged against first world countries as we are all entertained to death while austerity ramps up and more and more people are feeling the squeeze.

 

[Fishman'81]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

The state above brunswick is just about dead. Rte1 corridor to Ellsworth is the only exception to that. My business keeps shrinking as customers close up shop left and right. This place is dying so why wouldn't you expect the U to die also. I'm amazed at the changes I've seen in the last few years.

Same goes for nearly all of the Rust Belt. I expect that everyone East of the Mississippi will live in North Carolina by 2018 at the latest.

 

[walrus]

Same goes for nearly all of the Rust Belt. I expect that everyone East of the Mississippi will live in North Carolina by 2018 at the latest.

I may be, jobs worth spit around here are few and far between

 

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

So what is the time line in knowing IF Chase Pearson will be playing for UMaine Hockey this fall, or if he will come in for 2016..? End of August before the start of School..? Usually doesn't the NEW Recruits come in 4 weeks before Classes..?

 

[Maine Event]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

So what is the time line in knowing IF Chase Pearson will be playing for UMaine Hockey this fall, or if he will come in for 2016..? End of August before the start of School..? Usually doesn't the NEW Recruits come in 4 weeks before Classes..?

Per Matt Murray, Director of Sports Performance at the University of Maine< on Twitter today: "Big day for @MaineIceHockey as we welcome our incoming class today #letsgo"

 

[Ma#1ne Hky]

Re: Maine Recruit Updates: All Are Welcome.......

Per Matt Murray, Director of Sports Performance at the University of Maine< on Twitter today: "Big day for @MaineIceHockey as we welcome our incoming class today #letsgo"

I guess that answer one question, was Chase Pearson in attendance with the group..?