Regionals - An argument for a one city, multi rink host

[58Hollow]

Format - All 16 teams in one city over 4 days
2 rinks with decent capacity (8,000+)

The top 10-12 teams will know weeks in advance that they are going to quality for the tournament. Fan can easily make plans to travel to a city like Detroit, Chicago, Las Vegas, Pittsburg, Minneapolis, Boston, St Louis, Dallas, etc. that have plenty of rink and lodging options.

Round 1 - Saturday 4 games staggered between the 2 rinks
Round 1 - Sunday 4 games staggered between the 2 rinks
Round 2 - Monday 2 games in prime time at 1 rink
Round 2 - Tuesday 2 games in prime time at 1 rink

Fans/Teams/Parents/Event Coordinators all win with predetermined location for all teams that qualify, no last minute wondering if your team is going to Sioux Falls or Albany.
TV wins with all production in 1 city and only 2 rinks

This can generate an atmosphere similar to the Frozen Four and the first 2 rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament. If I'm traveling from New England to watch my team, I'm definitely going to take the time to go watch Duluth vs Penn St on my teams off day.

 

[Russell Jaslow]

No.

 

[Gino]

Format - All 16 teams in one city over 4 days
2 rinks with decent capacity (8,000+)

The top 10-12 teams will know weeks in advance that they are going to quality for the tournament. Fan can easily make plans to travel to a city like Detroit, Chicago, Las Vegas, Pittsburg, Minneapolis, Boston, St Louis, Dallas, etc. that have plenty of rink and lodging options.

Round 1 - Saturday 4 games staggered between the 2 rinks
Round 1 - Sunday 4 games staggered between the 2 rinks
Round 2 - Monday 2 games in prime time at 1 rink
Round 2 - Tuesday 2 games in prime time at 1 rink

Fans/Teams/Parents/Event Coordinators all win with predetermined location for all teams that qualify, no last minute wondering if your team is going to Sioux Falls or Albany.
TV wins with all production in 1 city and only 2 rinks

This can generate an atmosphere similar to the Frozen Four and the first 2 rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament. If I'm traveling from New England to watch my team, I'm definitely going to take the time to go watch Duluth vs Penn St on my teams off day.

 

[Gino]

I agree with your suggestion,

 

[RENCEB]

No.

Well that's a succinct response. Love it

 

[Skate79]

Format - All 16 teams in one city over 4 days
2 rinks with decent capacity (8,000+)

The top 10-12 teams will know weeks in advance that they are going to quality for the tournament. Fan can easily make plans to travel to a city like Detroit, Chicago, Las Vegas, Pittsburg, Minneapolis, Boston, St Louis, Dallas, etc. that have plenty of rink and lodging options.

Round 1 - Saturday 4 games staggered between the 2 rinks
Round 1 - Sunday 4 games staggered between the 2 rinks
Round 2 - Monday 2 games in prime time at 1 rink
Round 2 - Tuesday 2 games in prime time at 1 rink

Fans/Teams/Parents/Event Coordinators all win with predetermined location for all teams that qualify, no last minute wondering if your team is going to Sioux Falls or Albany.
TV wins with all production in 1 city and only 2 rinks

This can generate an atmosphere similar to the Frozen Four and the first 2 rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament. If I'm traveling from New England to watch my team, I'm definitely going to take the time to go watch Duluth vs Penn St on my teams off day.

The problem with your suggestion is logistics. Las Vegas, St. Louis, Pittsburg and Dallas do not have alternate rinks (assuming you are counting the pro rinks as one of the choices). Boston has college rinks but parking is a problem for more than 3,000 fans, especially if you are talking about Harvard's Bright Landry Center or BU's Agganis (Lowell's Tsongas Arena could handle the fans but again, parking is an issue).

 

[58Hollow]

The problem with your suggestion is logistics. Las Vegas, St. Louis, Pittsburg and Dallas do not have alternate rinks (assuming you are counting the pro rinks as one of the choices). Boston has college rinks but parking is a problem for more than 3,000 fans, especially if you are talking about Harvard's Bright Landry Center or BU's Agganis (Lowell's Tsongas Arena could handle the fans but again, parking is an issue).

Lots of cities have 2 large buildings capable of hosting hockey.

Las Vegas - NHL rink, Orleans Arena 7,800
Omaha - Downtown arena 17,000, Baxter Arena 8,000
St Louis - NHL rink, Family Arena St Charles 10,000
Boston - NHL rInk, Conte Forum 8,000
Minneapolis - NHL rink in St Paul,Target Center in MPLS 17,500
Chicago - NHL rink and AHL Rink in Rosemont 18,000
Dallas - NHL rink and Dickies Arena Ft Worth 12,000
Atlanta - State Farm Arena downtown and ECHL arena in Duluth 13,000

Plus Indianapolis, NYC, Los Angeles, Columbus

 

[Sol Diablo]

Lots of cities have 2 large buildings capable of hosting hockey.

Las Vegas - NHL rink, Orleans Arena 7,800
Omaha - Downtown arena 17,000, Baxter Arena 8,000
St Louis - NHL rink, Family Arena St Charles 10,000
Boston - NHL rInk, Conte Forum 8,000
Minneapolis - NHL rink in St Paul,Target Center in MPLS 17,500
Chicago - NHL rink and AHL Rink in Rosemont 18,000
Dallas - NHL rink and Dickies Arena Ft Worth 12,000
Atlanta - State Farm Arena downtown and ECHL arena in Duluth 13,000

Plus Indianapolis, NYC, Los Angeles, Columbus

You missed Phoenix/Tucson -
Mullett Arena (Tempe): ~5,500 capacity. Home to ASU hockey.
Tucson Convention Center (Tucson): ~6,000+ (for hockey). Home to AHL Tucson Roadrunners.
Desert Diamond Arena (Glendale): ~17,125 for hockey.

 

[John J. MacInnes]

Putting six teams in a building was a logistics nightmare. Now you want eight?

Stupid idea.

 

[BUalum]

Two 8-team regional hubs would be half as complicated

 

[MilkUniversity]

Like the idea more than the current regional set up but a host city (or region) would need more than 2 arenas.

Boston you get TD/Agganis/Conte/Tsongas and a number of farther or smaller alternate sites. Shrinks the pool of hosts a bit but would have some cool Olympic/IIHF style hosting setups for tournaments. If hosting was narrowed to college rinks only, you'd also get Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Connecticut/Rhode Island for some regional hosting (still not even including AHL or other arenas elsewhere).

Still think opening rounds on campuses is the best way forward but just a thought.

 

[BUalum]

Teams spend the entire season playing F/S series, what is the driver of the day off in regionals? TV coverage? Time for more fans to get to a regional final?