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Minnesota Cup

Re: Minnesota Cup

beersong said:
I don't think they are mutually exclusive. They hope the prestige and brand recognition will make them money in the long run.. much more than a flight somewhere costs. It's all about spreading your name around these days in hopes of making more money.
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"Around the country" isn't going to increase TV revenue, ins't coming to Mariucci, they hardly ever leave the border to recruit and they already have prestige. Yet I think it's foolish to think they'd want to be the only D1 team in the state - competition is healthy and better for the sport overall. I think it's pretty clear it's all about the money, which doesn't mean that they wouldn't like to find a way to schedule MN teams - unfortunately sometimes what they need gets in the way of what they want. I think we'll have to agree to disagree about how evil they are. :)
 
Re: Minnesota Cup

StateOfGophers said:
The Hall of Fame Game is another in-season exception and why Minnesota plays 37 games in the regular season.
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Right, I know. tUMD's arena opener was also a HHOF game. I just meant I didn't know of any other tournaments.

beersong said:
Actions speak louder than words (or lack of words). They'd rather schedule series versus Notre Dame, Boston College and Boston U than Bemidji or Mankato (I don't blame them). A bus ride to Bemidji, Mankato, St. Cloud or Duluth would be cheaper for them than flying out east and make more sense financially, but they want the "prestige" and "brand recognition" instead. This is exactly what the NCHC schools did as well when they broke away from tWCHA.
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Beersong articulates what I could have said, but I opted for the snide, facetious answer instead. tUMD/SCSU/BSU/MSUM are not worthy of a Gopher away game, and ND, BC and BU are, no matter what Maturi/Lucia/anyone says about how they care about the other MN schools. Maybe the new AD won't bother to fake it. That would be nice.
 
Re: Minnesota Cup

scsutommyboy said:
It will be interesting 5 or 10 ten years down the road and see what it really will be like. One thing I have always said is college hockey really took off in this state when SCSU and then Mankato went D1. The Gophers will always be #1 in the state, but I truly believe the general public becoming Gopher hockey fans has a lot to do with the Final Five and the instate rivals that have been formed. a lot of talk and excitement gets worked up at the water cooler when instate rivals play at a lot of companies in this state. that lead to a lot more media exposure than college hockey ever use to get 25-30 years ago.

It will be interesting to see if the same amount of interest is there 10 years from now if they are never playing any of the in state teams. Don't get me wrong they will still sell out every game and be the place everybody wants to play at, but will interest go down a lot when there is not final five, no in state rival games?
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If another Big Ten starts up a team and eats up more conference games I believe it will more difficult to schedule the other schools in the state. If the fans of the other Minnesota schools want to see the Gophers they should be concerned if more Big Ten schools join the icebox.
 
Re: Minnesota Cup

For what it's worth, I heard this weekend that the way it's looking right now MSU will play in the Minnesota Cup (BSU will be the first one to sit out) AND will still play both MN, SCSU and UNO. As I'm understanding it, those series would have MN and SCSU still coming to Kato, but I don't know how often. There potentially will be matchups with UND and UMD mixed in there as well, but not as often. I dont' know how long the agreements are for, but that's what it's looking like in 2013. This isn't just rumor, it's coming straight from the mouth of people within the administration.

Like I said, if this shapes up the way that it's looking right now, I like the position MSU is in. I thought this could be the nail in the coffin, but I could be wrong.
 
Re: Minnesota Cup

I watched some of the MSU/MTU game Friday night and it was downright sad to see the empty arena in Mankato. Michigan Tech would be one of the top teams in the new WCHA this season too... I hope for Mankato's sake they can get some of those non-con opponents that increase their gate. I can't see UMD playing there any year they both are in the "Minnesota Cup" tourney, which is unfortunate since so many Twin Cities Bulldog fans make the short trip down.
 
beersong said:
I watched some of the MSU/MTU game Friday night and it was downright sad to see the empty arena in Mankato. Michigan Tech would be one of the top teams in the new WCHA this season too... I hope for Mankato's sake they can get some of those non-con opponents that increase their gate. I can't see UMD playing there any year they both are in the "Minnesota Cup" tourney, which is unfortunate since so many Twin Cities Bulldog fans make the short trip down.
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Those empty seats will fill up with some sort of winning. This year has caused the apathy to an all time high.

As for umd coming to kato, I don't see it happening often. Those, from my understanding will happen very rarely and only every couple of years.
 
Re: Minnesota Cup

scsutommyboy said:
It will be interesting to see if the same amount of interest is there 10 years from now if they are never playing any of the in state teams. Don't get me wrong they will still sell out every game and be the place everybody wants to play at, but will interest go down a lot when there is not final five, no in state rival games?
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Were you a college hockey fan before SCSU joined the fray? Having been at the old Mariucci in the late 70s and 80s before the SCSU and Mankatos were around, the fan interest was very high. The only difference is they didn't have 10 different message boards to discuss things on.
 
Re: Minnesota Cup

Runninwiththedogs said:
Hammy.
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Not sure what qualifies as condescending. I never said to stop playing any of the other MN teams (either home or away). What I did say is I like the idea of playing a wider variety of good programs in the future (and that means we would have to use up some of the non-conference away games on those teams). I don't think there is anything condescending about that.
 
Re: Minnesota Cup

Hammy said:
Were you a college hockey fan before SCSU joined the fray? Having been at the old Mariucci in the late 70s and 80s before the SCSU and Mankatos were around, the fan interest was very high. The only difference is they didn't have 10 different message boards to discuss things on.
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I was thinking the same thing. Ever since I was a kid going to the mooch through the 70's and 80's the place was jam packed. I dont see that changing any time soon.
 
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