Northern Michigan University Wildcats 2016-17 Season Thread: Gotta Get Up And Try

[Wi.Huskies Fan]

Even when the team was off to a good start last year and 7-0-1 at home, they still only drew 1800.

The Copper Country has more true diehard hockey fans. I think we were second to Mankato in overall attendance in the conference last year.

 

[Wi.Huskies Fan]

Just about every one in the league has seen attendance drop without the more prominent schools in their leagues. Replacing UM, MSU, Norte Dame & Ohio St with Bemidji, Mankato, Anchorage and Huntsville has been responsible for an average drop of about 700 per night over the course of the season. Tech is still a sellout and the draw vs Ferris, LSSU, Fairbanks .& Bowling Green is down a little, but not a lot overall

True blue hockey fans will show up to the rink no matter what visiting team comes to town.

 

[davyd83]

The Copper Country has more true diehard hockey fans. I think we were second to Mankato in overall attendance in the conference last year.

Go back to the Russell era and check those attendance numbers. Or the Sertich era. Or Boxer, Brown, Nahrgang or Mancini. From the mid 90s until Mel's 3rd year, attendance was often less for a Tech-UMD game thand for a Houghton/ Hancock game at the Ice Arena. The year before Mel took over, they averaged 2100 of those die hards.

 

[davyd83]

True blue hockey fans will show up to the rink no matter what visiting team comes to town.

I agree 100%. You've got that right.

 

[manurespreader]

Re: Northern Michigan University Wildcats 2016-17 Season Thread: Gotta Get Up And Try

Go back to the Russell era and check those attendance numbers. Or the Sertich era. Or Boxer, Brown, Nahrgang or Mancini. From the mid 90s until Mel's 3rd year, attendance was often less for a Tech-UMD game thand for a Houghton/ Hancock game at the Ice Arena. The year before Mel took over, they averaged 2100 of those die hards.

they might have sold 2100 tickets but there were not that many in the seats.

 

[DonorRoomDrinker]

Re: Northern Michigan University Wildcats 2016-17 Season Thread: Gotta Get Up And Try

Does NMU's recent slide have anything to do with them practicing and playing on the bigger Olympic ice sheet at The Berry Events Center???? A standard hockey rink in North America is 200 feet long and 85 feet wide, with goal lines 11 feet from the end boards while Olympic size hockey rinks are 210 feet long and 98 feet wide, with goal lines 13 feet from the end boards. The extra room on an Olympic size rink can sometimes lead a team to play a more passive "positional" defense, angling attackers away from the goal rather than pursuing the puck carrier and it also entails a different offensive strategy with all that extra room.... Could it be a factor that maybe NMU's players have had a hard time adjusting to the bigger rink size???? Just a thought....

 

[davyd83]

Does NMU's recent slide have anything to do with them practicing and playing on the bigger Olympic ice sheet at The Berry Events Center???? A standard hockey rink in North America is 200 feet long and 85 feet wide, with goal lines 11 feet from the end boards while Olympic size hockey rinks are 210 feet long and 98 feet wide, with goal lines 13 feet from the end boards. The extra room on an Olympic size rink can sometimes lead a team to play a more passive "positional" defense, angling attackers away from the goal rather than pursuing the puck carrier and it also entails a different offensive strategy with all that extra room.... Could it be a factor that maybe NMU's players have had a hard time adjusting to the bigger rink size???? Just a thought....

Officially, Olympic rinks are 60 metres by 30 metres, or roughly 200 x 100. The Berry has been open since 1999. The team was relatively successful up until the past few years, and even then, they've been close to .500. The team had a very good home record last year.

 

[DonorRoomDrinker]

Re: Northern Michigan University Wildcats 2016-17 Season Thread: Gotta Get Up And Try

Those Olympic dimensions came from the internet after some research so not sure what the actual ice size of The Berry is.... I wonder how many of the 60 NCAA D1 hockey programs have Olympic sized rinks???? It's like comparing a CFL football field to a NFL field as it's a bigger sized rink.... Maybe the big rink was a home advantage for NMU last year then????

 

[davyd83]

Those Olympic dimensions came from the internet after some research so not sure what the actual ice size of The Berry is.... I wonder how many of the 60 NCAA D1 hockey programs have Olympic sized rinks???? It's like comparing a CFL football field to a NFL field as it's a bigger sized rink.... Maybe the big rink was a home advantage for NMU last year then????

Berry is 200 x 100. The only bigger rink I've ever been at was Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, NM, which was about 210 x 105 due to the seating configuration. Interestingly, I ran into the old New Mexico coach, now a Toronto scout, Thursday at an NAHL game in Cloquet, MN. New Mexico was always fun after playing the night before in El Paso where the sheet was 180 x 72!

 

[davyd83]

they might have sold 2100 tickets but there were not that many in the seats.

I've been in more than a few venues where the attendance count was eyeballs, not noses.

 

[aparch]

Does he get/have enough tools to improve the program enough? Why would a recruit come to NMU vs say Ferris State (add any school you want here)?

Chicken dinner.


Last I was made aware, the budget hasn't moved from the 2002 numbers.

MQT has been fickle the last two decades. As pointed out, the fans b*tched about the Berry, so they adjust the leg room. No attendance change. They b*tched about lack of beer. They got it. No attendance change. They b*tched about the food. It was improved. No attendance change. They got a winning start to last season. No attendance change. They got a new video board. No attendance change.

This is the same town that is on their *third* junior team in five years. And helped kill the Electricians at the same time.

And they *still* whine about not having the Palestra.

 

[davyd83]

Chicken dinner.


Last I was made aware, the budget hasn't moved from the 2002 numbers.

MQT has been fickle the last two decades. As pointed out, the fans b*tched about the Berry, so they adjust the leg room. No attendance change. They b*tched about lack of beer. They got it. No attendance change. They b*tched about the food. It was improved. No attendance change. They got a winning start to last season. No attendance change. They got a new video board. No attendance change.

This is the same town that is on their *third* junior team in five years. And helped kill the Electricians at the same time.

And they *still* whine about not having the Palestra.

The town didn't kill the Electricians. Being forced out of their league did. The loss of the Fall Classic to tournaments in more convenient markets did. Nate tried like heck to recruit a team, but could not get enough players to make it go and the team folded.

 

[John J. MacInnes]

Go back to the Russell era and check those attendance numbers. Or the Sertich era. Or Boxer, Brown, Nahrgang or Mancini. From the mid 90s until Mel's 3rd year, attendance was often less for a Tech-UMD game thand for a Houghton/ Hancock game at the Ice Arena. The year before Mel took over, they averaged 2100 of those die hards.

As a percentage of the local population, the Copper Country outdraws 'metro' Marquette on a regular basis. And not necessarily because lots of people are attending in Houghton. Agreed, davyd?

 

[gfmorris]

Re: Northern Michigan University Wildcats 2016-17 Season Thread: Gotta Get Up And Try

Even when the team was off to a good start last year and 7-0-1 at home, they still only drew 1800.

There is research that suggests that sports attendance, in general, lags sustained team success/failure by about a season or two, controlling for other factors. YMMV.

GFM

 

[noremorse1]

Re: Northern Michigan University Wildcats 2016-17 Season Thread: Gotta Get Up And Try

Chicken dinner.


Last I was made aware, the budget hasn't moved from the 2002 numbers.

MQT has been fickle the last two decades. As pointed out, the fans b*tched about the Berry, so they adjust the leg room. No attendance change. They b*tched about lack of beer. They got it. No attendance change. They b*tched about the food. It was improved. No attendance change. They got a winning start to last season. No attendance change. They got a new video board. No attendance change.

This is the same town that is on their *third* junior team in five years. And helped kill the Electricians at the same time.

And they *still* whine about not having the Palestra.

People in Marquette are weird. Trying to get people to live events can be rough. When I was at NMU, I started a student organization that puts on concerts. That organization is still around today and has been earmarked for a budget the past few years while NAE is no longer (college students dont want to see the Counting Crows and Train... end rant). It is sometimes very challenging to put on live entertainment and fill the house. You have to be VERY particular about when, where and who.

One thing I learned, perception is key. If people perceive that its going to sell out... they show up. We would tailor our promotions to that key... urging people not to wait to get their tickets, etc. We also did a **** good job on the production side of things making sure people got a good show.

I think NMU has the talent. Walt is a great coach. I think the Berry is offering a lot of great stuff now... food, beer and JUMBO TRONS!

What is left? The promotion. If they know its not going to sell out, start giving tickets away to elementary schools. Their parents will buy tickets... they will buy food. Start giving tickets away to senior centers. Go to some of the outlying communities and offer a bus back and forth. I bet enough people in Escanaba would fill a bus a few times a year to come up to Marquette, booze up and watch some hockey, and have a safe trip back home. I dont know. These are just the first things that come to mind. However, I am convinced that if more people start showing up, the Cats will react to that.

 

[DonorRoomDrinker]

Re: Northern Michigan University Wildcats 2016-17 Season Thread: Gotta Get Up And Try

Hockey rink size clarifications:

International hockey rinks are 200' x 100' with 13' behind the goal to the boards whereas North American hockey rinks are 200' x 85' with 11' behind the goal to the boards.... The neutral zone on International rinks is 58' long and it it's 50' long on North American rinks.... Thanks to Davyd83 for the heads up on this issue!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[gfmorris]

Re: Northern Michigan University Wildcats 2016-17 Season Thread: Gotta Get Up And Try

Hockey rink size clarifications:

International hockey rinks are 200' x 100' with 13' behind the goal to the boards whereas North American hockey rinks are 200' x 85' with 11' behind the goal to the boards.... The neutral zone on International rinks is 58' long and it it's 50' long on North American rinks.... Thanks to Davyd83 for the heads up on this issue!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think you asked about how many D-I rinks are bigger than 200x85. USCHO's team pages have this information should you want to do the research.

GFM

 

[NMU Fan]

People in Marquette are weird. Trying to get people to live events can be rough. When I was at NMU, I started a student organization that puts on concerts. That organization is still around today and has been earmarked for a budget the past few years while NAE is no longer (college students dont want to see the Counting Crows and Train... end rant). It is sometimes very challenging to put on live entertainment and fill the house. You have to be VERY particular about when, where and who.

I can attest to this as a current member of NAE. We bust our tails promotion wise and students still don't show. Our Dustin Lynch show in fall of 2015 in the BEC sold around 1,000 tickets. A little less than we expected but it was a Sunday night after Halloween with the Packers-Broncos game at the same time.

Our Papadosio show (after surveying campus) tanked a little too as we didn't get the ticket sales we expected. Students begged for a "jam band" genre and still didn't show. We had to consider moving it from Vandament to the Great Lakes Rooms but stuck with Vandament and walk-up sales were a little better. We thought we had a good date picked on a Thursday night where most would be done with classes for the week.

This past semester we had to go smaller and decided on a Second City comedy show (generally popular to campus in the past) and those two shows sold out on Family Weekend.

We have some solid ideas for this coming spring and are confident the name will bring a crowd.

I think the Athletic Department is headed in the right direction with promotion. I've seen several things this year I haven't seen in the past such as trying to push ticket deals and market student-athletes as "celebrities" on posters and such. It's just difficult to get the community out to events.

I wonder what toll an area high school playoff game, high school basketball game, the UP 200 or some other show/event has on NMU hockey when they're scheduled at the exact same time.

 

[davyd83]

Re: Northern Michigan University Wildcats 2016-17 Season Thread: Gotta Get Up And Try

I always found it interesting that whenever State or Michigan came to town, half the "home" crowd would show up wearing Michigan or MSU gear.

In reality, if Alabama Huntsville dressed like Sparty or Minnesota State showed up in Maize & Blue, most of the crowd wouldn't know the difference were it not for the coach behind the bench. It's that **** big time logo on the sweater that's the draw, not the quality of the team.

 

[giwan]

Re: Northern Michigan University Wildcats 2016-17 Season Thread: Gotta Get Up And Try

Chicken dinner.


Last I was made aware, the budget hasn't moved from the 2002 numbers.

MQT has been fickle the last two decades. As pointed out, the fans b*tched about the Berry, so they adjust the leg room. No attendance change. They b*tched about lack of beer. They got it. No attendance change. They b*tched about the food. It was improved. No attendance change. They got a winning start to last season. No attendance change. They got a new video board. No attendance change.

This is the same town that is on their *third* junior team in five years. And helped kill the Electricians at the same time.

And they *still* whine about not having the Palestra.

Agree the town is fickle. Though the electrician demise was not one due to attendance.
I believe much stems from the tops in the city and nmu leadership. The city govt could careless about about hockey at all levels.