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Ok Penn State....but who is next???

V

Viva La Bam

Registered User
I love to see that Penn State will be joining Div 1 hockey but adding another northern team is not going to change much.

Talking from a perspective of growing the game.....when are we going to see southern Div 1 teams? There are NHL teams in the south and the grassroots programs in Texas, California and even Florida are seeing NHL prospects arise from these states but to take it to the next level we need to see Div 1 teams in the south.

No matter what happens as of now, the best US athletes will always play football and baseball. This is a major fact due to no southern US div 1 hockey teams. I don't know why the NHL, US Hockey or US College hockey has not put a bigger push forward on this.

Texas has the most professional teams in any state (upwards of 10) and still no Div. 1 College Hockey program. People are looking for answers to keep Atlanta, Florida, Tampa Bay, Dallas etc in the league. Well, there is your answer folks. Figure it out!!
 
Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

Viva La Bam said:
I love to see that Penn State will be joining Div 1 hockey but adding another northern team is not going to change much.

Talking from a perspective of growing the game.....when are we going to see southern Div 1 teams? There are NHL teams in the south and the grassroots programs in Texas, California and even Florida are seeing NHL prospects arise from these states but to take it to the next level we need to see Div 1 teams in the south.

No matter what happens as of now, the best US athletes will always play football and baseball. This is a major fact due to no southern US div 1 hockey teams. I don't know why the NHL, US Hockey or US College hockey has not put a bigger push forward on this.

Texas has the most professional teams in any state (upwards of 10) and still no Div. 1 College Hockey program. People are looking for answers to keep Atlanta, Florida, Tampa Bay, Dallas etc in the league. Well, there is your answer folks. Figure it out!!
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Indiana U. or U of Missouri seem like reasonable guesses. The 2007 FF and their recent outreach to hold college hockey in St. Louis would make one think Missouri could do it. Indiana appears a natural considering the area they play in.

I think the school that makes the most sense, though, is Syracuse. They play in hockey recruiting hotbed (Kane, Gionta, etc) and would make an easy transition into the ECAC (or even Hockey East)
 
Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

Slasher7 said:
Indiana U. or U of Missouri seem like reasonable guesses. The 2007 FF and their recent outreach to hold college hockey in St. Louis would make one think Missouri could do it. Indiana appears a natural considering the area they play in.

I think the school that makes the most sense, though, is Syracuse. They play in hockey recruiting hotbed (Kane, Gionta, etc) and would make an easy transition into the ECAC (or even Hockey East)
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University of Missouri would be a long shot, their DII club team has to travel about 40 mins to Jefferson City (the closest civic rink). Look to Lindenwood University in St. Charles Missouri. Their women's team is already moving to Division I in 3 years and a 1,000 seat ice arena. The city has offered a trade of a historic site for a 10,000 seat arena in the recent past. They explored playing in the CHA a few years ago- with that was exploring a 3,000-5,000 seat ice arena, as the 10,000-seat is a little large (Just ask Ohio State about big buildings :-P)

One thing that makes DI club hockey desireable is that schools can compete at a high level (close to NCAA DIII with some schools like LU and PSU) and also compete against big name and historic programs like Penn State while saving on the costs to build facilities, and scholarships for the men's team and a women's team/other women's sport to satisfy Title IX. IF the well run/organized teams that give the ACHA start to leave- look for other programs that relay on them to move to.

Navy, Rhode Island, and Penn already have the facilities and I believe Atlantic Hockey even tried to get Navy and Rhode Island on board about 5 years ago. Syracuse would be another good possibility. Also Illinois (another big 10 school) but has a long tradition of hockey like Penn State. Also with the hockey hotbed of Chicago metro area, the fanbase would be larges esp. in northern 2/3rd of Illinois.

College Hockey Inc has had talks with West Coast, Southwest/Texas schools and Southeast schools. The issue there is even if one school (Kennesaw State in suburban Atlanta comes to mind) wants to add hockey, it’s going to take at least 5-6 schools to create a league. One school will mean HUGE travel expenses and the probability of being stuck as an Indy as seen by the Alabama-Huntsville problem
 
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Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

I always thought Northwestern would be a logical location....Chicago is a big hockey market that is hot right now with the Hawks...easy conference choice too
 
Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

We can list schools that we think should have NCAA hockey, schools that have explored it in the past, schools that have really good club teams all we want but its just entertainment/pure speculation.

I do think Penn State is the start of expansion of NCAA DI hockey. Esp with the growth at the youth and Junior levels, and also lots of publicity and popularity hockey got from the Winter Olympics.
 
Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

sbkbghockey said:
We can list schools that we think should have NCAA hockey, schools that have explored it in the past, schools that have really good club teams all we want but its just entertainment/pure speculation.

I do think Penn State is the start of expansion of NCAA DI hockey. Esp with the growth at the youth and Junior levels, and also lots of publicity and popularity hockey got from the Winter Olympics.
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I think it's too late to the party, especially with the looming NHL strike in 2012.

Chicago is such an interesting sports market; three weeks before the return of the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks to the United Center, and all the papers/media are concerned with is:
1) Will the Bears win?
2) Who do the Bulls sign still?
3) advertising space
4) Has the bleeding stopped for the Blackhawks yet?
 
Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

aparch said:
I think it's too late to the party, especially with the looming NHL strike in 2012.

Chicago is such an interesting sports market; three weeks before the return of the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks to the United Center, and all the papers/media are concerned with is:
1) Will the Bears win?
2) Who do the Bulls sign still?
3) advertising space
4) Has the bleeding stopped for the Blackhawks yet?
Click to expand...

#4 doesnt help (Hardcore hockey fans know the core of the Cup winning team is still in CHI but to casual fans it looks like a mass exodus of the players.

The one thing adding schools like Northwestern and/or Illinois- they have large fanbases just from the schools name, alumni, current students (and their parents/families) etc...

Football, basketball ,hockey, baseball, whatever the sport if schools like Illinois or Northwestern add it- there will be fans! Something Penn State is banking on- they sell out their 1,400 seat arena for ACHA DI games, could they survive with a 3,000-5,000 seat arena in the NCAA- probably, but 6,000-8,000 gives some room for fanbase growth from general Nittany Lion sports fans!
 
Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

Too many bandwagon hockey fans in Chicago to assume that there would be any translation to the college game.

You need the following 7-step program to see if it can work before you can even bother dream of getting a team around Chicago.

Step 1: get Notre Dame to play someone at the United Center (or Allstate Arena or go back in time and use Wrigley on Jan 1, 2009). See if that works out.

Step 2: do it again the next year, but don't schedule an opponent that is too local. No Wisconsin. No Michigan. Maybe BC.

Step 3: Pray that you don't lose a ton of money doing steps 1 and 2. Hope that some school in the Chicagoland area is watching and actually gives a crap.

Step 4: Find a billionaire alumnus from said school. Kiss his *** until he gives you a rink.

Step 5: Be prepared to kill any basketball booster that wants to stop you.

Step 6: ?

Step 7: Profit.
 
Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

The AWESOME thing about any expansion- the more schools the more special it is to get to the Frozen Four and super special it is to win the title! right now you can be a top 50 school in DI hockey and be in the basement :-P
 
Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

Slasher7 said:
I think the school that makes the most sense, though, is Syracuse. They play in hockey recruiting hotbed (Kane, Gionta, etc)
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Kane is from Buffalo (so why not UB?)
Gionta is from Rochester (as is Reasoner)

And honestly, outside of the rare Gionta, Callahan, or Reasoner, the Rochester area (NY state's Section Five) H.S. hockey is a wasteland. Most of the few elite players from the area play at most one or two years of H.S. hockey before leaving to play for prep schools in N.E. or juniors in Canada.

Buffalo is a different story. Seems like they have much better hockey talent production than Rochester.

I don't know about Syracuse's talent pipeline much outside of Tim Connolly.
 
Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
Too many bandwagon hockey fans in Chicago to assume that there would be any translation to the college game.

You need the following 7-step program to see if it can work before you can even bother dream of getting a team around Chicago.

Step 1: get Notre Dame to play someone at the United Center (or Allstate Arena or go back in time and use Wrigley on Jan 1, 2009). See if that works out.

Step 2: do it again the next year, but don't schedule an opponent that is too local. No Wisconsin. No Michigan. Maybe BC.

Step 3: Pray that you don't lose a ton of money doing steps 1 and 2. Hope that some school in the Chicagoland area is watching and actually gives a crap.

Step 4: Find a billionaire alumnus from said school. Kiss his *** until he gives you a rink.

Step 5: Be prepared to kill any basketball booster that wants to stop you.

Step 6: ?

Step 7: Profit.
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You pretty much nailed it.



For the record, Notre Dame tried about three years ago to schedule Northern Michigan for the Allstate Arena, but the Arena rent couldn't be negotiated to a point that Notre Dame liked. I had also been told that Wisconsin tested the waters at the Allstate about ten years ago, but again, nothing since then.

The only thing that's come close is the hastily assembled Shillelagh Tournament that Notre Dame needed to find a home for once the Lightning Tourney in Tampa Bay got cancelled. It's been an okay event (went to the Championship game last year with ND vs UND), but the turnout isn't enough to make anyone excited about college hockey in Chicagoland.

Maybe more local marketing would help improve it, I don't know. But you'd think if there was enough interest in it that Northwestern, DePaul, NIU, or even UIC would be sick of having Notre Dame continue to use their backyard for Division 1 hockey...
 
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Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

Syracuse won't get a men's hockey team, or at least have one that does well. The Crunch aren't even selling all that well (5300 out of about 6000 on average); that's what happens in a squeakball town. The same thing will happen in the southern colleges.
 
Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

aparch said:
icon14.gif


But you'd think if there was enough interest in it that Northeastern, DePaul, NIU, or even UIC would be sick of having Notre Dame continue to use their backyard for Division 1 hockey...
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Northeastern already has a D-I hockey team!
:p :p ;)
But then again, I didn't know they had moved the campus to the Chicago area. :p
 
Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

FlagDUDE08 said:
Syracuse won't get a men's hockey team, or at least have one that does well. The Crunch aren't even selling all that well (5300 out of about 6000 on average); that's what happens in a squeakball town. The same thing will happen in the southern colleges.
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5300 is not all that bad by today's AHL standards. Rochester averages less than that in a larger market and larger arena (of course it helps that they suck right now, too).
I have a feeling if the Orange had a successful D-I team, they would become much more popular in that market than the Crunch. It seems to me to be much more of a big-time college sports town that would switch allegiances in a hurry (I could be wrong, though - I don't live there).
 
Re: Ok Penn State....but who is next???

TigerFan86-87 said:
Northeastern already has a D-I hockey team!
:p :p ;)
But then again, I didn't know they had moved the campus to the Chicago area. :p
Click to expand...

For once someone confused Northeastern and Northwestern, in the the other direction! Near a first!

Hell, even NESN once put 'Northwestern' for a Hockey East Friday Night Ice game on the Comcast description
 
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