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RUMOR: Michigan to add Women's Hockey in 2015-16
- Thread starter MGoBlueHockey
- Start date
AggiesHockey
New member
Re: RUMOR: Michigan to add Women's Hockey in 2015-16
I don't know the particulars in Michigan, but I suspect they could make it work for a few years until they were able to get a new rink established. Look how long it took Wisconsin to get a women's rink. UMD men & women shared a fairly dumpy (by today's standards) rink for years before the new Amsoil popped up. Bemidji State--same deal until Sanford. Hard to build a rink without a program.
I don't know the particulars in Michigan, but I suspect they could make it work for a few years until they were able to get a new rink established. Look how long it took Wisconsin to get a women's rink. UMD men & women shared a fairly dumpy (by today's standards) rink for years before the new Amsoil popped up. Bemidji State--same deal until Sanford. Hard to build a rink without a program.
AggiesHockey
New member
Re: RUMOR: Michigan to add Women's Hockey in 2015-16
Maybe. While women's hockey doesn't have the same following as women's hoops, part of the problem is the chicken vs. egg syndrome. If the olympics relegates women's games to MSNBC2.6 instead of NBC, it's going to limit the audience. If the local paper (for me the Mpls Stribune) publishes six pages of Vikings coverage on a Wednesday, but barely notices that they have a national champion hockey team in their back yard, it limits the exposure.
I remember going to a local pub a few olympiads ago and requesting they put the USA vs Canada hockey game on. Their policy was "if a Minnesota team is playing, they put that on instead." So a very dull early season Gopher men's hoops game was on all the big screens, while Team USA vs. Team Canada was blacked out by this pub. I heard about 5 other patrons request the hockey game--this was Minnesota after all, and we had some great hockey players on the national team. Finally the manager came over to my table and said "Gosh, maybe I should have put the hockey game on. You can be sure we'll have the men's game on tomorrow night!"
Needless to say, I was not impressed with the attitude toward women's Olympic Gold Medal hockey. Neither were my daughters.
Oh wait, is this the Michigan thread???
Maybe. While women's hockey doesn't have the same following as women's hoops, part of the problem is the chicken vs. egg syndrome. If the olympics relegates women's games to MSNBC2.6 instead of NBC, it's going to limit the audience. If the local paper (for me the Mpls Stribune) publishes six pages of Vikings coverage on a Wednesday, but barely notices that they have a national champion hockey team in their back yard, it limits the exposure.
I remember going to a local pub a few olympiads ago and requesting they put the USA vs Canada hockey game on. Their policy was "if a Minnesota team is playing, they put that on instead." So a very dull early season Gopher men's hoops game was on all the big screens, while Team USA vs. Team Canada was blacked out by this pub. I heard about 5 other patrons request the hockey game--this was Minnesota after all, and we had some great hockey players on the national team. Finally the manager came over to my table and said "Gosh, maybe I should have put the hockey game on. You can be sure we'll have the men's game on tomorrow night!"
Needless to say, I was not impressed with the attitude toward women's Olympic Gold Medal hockey. Neither were my daughters.
Oh wait, is this the Michigan thread???
"Dominate" may be a bit of a stretch. The last time they won the mens title was in 1998.
Re: RUMOR: Michigan to add Women's Hockey in 2015-16
"In a hurry" is also quite a stretch, if not LOL funny. For the moment I'll leave my own rooting interest out of this, and just say that MN, WI & UMD are superb programs that will have a 16+ year head start on you at that point. Just to pick two recent tournament participants from the East, BC and BU will also have significant head starts. Note also that despite their resources, talent pools and brand names, BU and BC haven't be able to break the stranglehold of of the "Big Three" at the National level yet.
If Michigan does enter the world of Women's D-1 Hockey, I'd expect them to do so in a successful, first class way. But I'd also expect it to take 3-4 years before they had a realistic chance to crack the Top 5. My point being that any school is going to need to go through at least one full recruiting cycle before having a real shot at getting to the top. Or are you going to backpedal on that part too, and say that 3-4 years qualifies for "in a hurry?"
If you really want to roll the dice, there is one high risk strategy that might accelerate the schedule: Offer the full complement of scholarships the first year, and never mind what happens after Year 4. But I've got to believe that anyone hired to coach at Michigan would be shrewder than that.
"In a hurry" is also quite a stretch, if not LOL funny. For the moment I'll leave my own rooting interest out of this, and just say that MN, WI & UMD are superb programs that will have a 16+ year head start on you at that point. Just to pick two recent tournament participants from the East, BC and BU will also have significant head starts. Note also that despite their resources, talent pools and brand names, BU and BC haven't be able to break the stranglehold of of the "Big Three" at the National level yet.
If Michigan does enter the world of Women's D-1 Hockey, I'd expect them to do so in a successful, first class way. But I'd also expect it to take 3-4 years before they had a realistic chance to crack the Top 5. My point being that any school is going to need to go through at least one full recruiting cycle before having a real shot at getting to the top. Or are you going to backpedal on that part too, and say that 3-4 years qualifies for "in a hurry?"
If you really want to roll the dice, there is one high risk strategy that might accelerate the schedule: Offer the full complement of scholarships the first year, and never mind what happens after Year 4. But I've got to believe that anyone hired to coach at Michigan would be shrewder than that.
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sbkbghockey
Registered User
Re: RUMOR: Michigan to add Women's Hockey in 2015-16
I think there's both good and bad about Michigan joining.
I have suspected that Michigan and Michigan State will add NCAA women's hockey in the near future. When one does, the other will soon follow! It is a boost to the sport to add more high profile schools. But, after those two schools get rolling, it would be enevitable that the BigTen sponsors women's ice hockey. BigTen Women's Hky will be far more dominant than men's hockey. In Men's hockey there's more high end talent than Big10 programs so other conferences can continue to contend with the BigTen; women's hockey is a smaller sport in terms of participation, etc... Teams like Wisconsin and Minnesota will only get better and so will the new programs, esp Michigan and Michigan State. Women's hockey champinships could become mundane if the BigTen is winning almost every season like the SEC in the BCS or women's gymnastics.
I think there's both good and bad about Michigan joining.
I have suspected that Michigan and Michigan State will add NCAA women's hockey in the near future. When one does, the other will soon follow! It is a boost to the sport to add more high profile schools. But, after those two schools get rolling, it would be enevitable that the BigTen sponsors women's ice hockey. BigTen Women's Hky will be far more dominant than men's hockey. In Men's hockey there's more high end talent than Big10 programs so other conferences can continue to contend with the BigTen; women's hockey is a smaller sport in terms of participation, etc... Teams like Wisconsin and Minnesota will only get better and so will the new programs, esp Michigan and Michigan State. Women's hockey champinships could become mundane if the BigTen is winning almost every season like the SEC in the BCS or women's gymnastics.
ARM
Fan of chipmunk-like mascots.
Re: RUMOR: Michigan to add Women's Hockey in 2015-16
Do you consider women's hockey championships to be mundane now?
sbkbghockey
Registered User
Re: RUMOR: Michigan to add Women's Hockey in 2015-16
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Duluth have dominated the Championship, but it's still one of the newest NCAA championships, although those three teams have won the majority, it doesn't mean it'll stay that way through a longer history. Also right now, other conferences have had success getting runner-up spots.
If Michigan/Michigan State add women's ice hockey and Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Penn State are together in the BigTen, you'll see those programs securing the top recruits, having the most media exposure, and probably a lot more All-BigTen national championship games like last seasons MN-Wis.
The other thing to clarify, a lot of the posters on here are hardcore hockey fans like me, hockey will never be mundane! But all-BigTen finals 4-out-5 years or more could lower interest from outside the hockey community and slow new interest.
Do you consider women's hockey championships to be mundane now?
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Duluth have dominated the Championship, but it's still one of the newest NCAA championships, although those three teams have won the majority, it doesn't mean it'll stay that way through a longer history. Also right now, other conferences have had success getting runner-up spots.
If Michigan/Michigan State add women's ice hockey and Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Penn State are together in the BigTen, you'll see those programs securing the top recruits, having the most media exposure, and probably a lot more All-BigTen national championship games like last seasons MN-Wis.
The other thing to clarify, a lot of the posters on here are hardcore hockey fans like me, hockey will never be mundane! But all-BigTen finals 4-out-5 years or more could lower interest from outside the hockey community and slow new interest.
Re: RUMOR: Michigan to add Women's Hockey in 2015-16
By the time you get to the title game, each team has won a couple of high profile match-ups -- very much earning their chance to play for the title. If a fan has at least followed the scores from the earlier rounds, seeing the two hottest teams play for the title should be inherently interesting.
So who are these new fans we're trying to attract? People that will only watch one game all year, and can't even be bothered to check the scores of the national semi-finals? I'll grant that we need every fan we can get. But I sure wouldn't change much to cater to the very least informed group.
I get your point; casual fans from outside the WCHA/Big Ten may complain that "there's no one to root for." But for me, having intraconference match-ups in the first round of the NCAAs is a much greater problem.
By the time you get to the title game, each team has won a couple of high profile match-ups -- very much earning their chance to play for the title. If a fan has at least followed the scores from the earlier rounds, seeing the two hottest teams play for the title should be inherently interesting.So who are these new fans we're trying to attract? People that will only watch one game all year, and can't even be bothered to check the scores of the national semi-finals? I'll grant that we need every fan we can get. But I sure wouldn't change much to cater to the very least informed group.
MGoBlueHockey
Wolverine Devotee
Re: RUMOR: Michigan to add Women's Hockey in 2015-16
Since it was homecoming today, I had a chance to talk with the AD Dave Brandon. When asked, he said it was "strongly being considered" and IF it does happen, expect an announcement in May. I asked if there would be a separate facility, and he said that as of right now no but there are several buildings that are already up that would/could serve as the home. Those include the Ann Arbor Ice Cube (1K seat building home to the US NTDP) and the old Coliseum. Formerly the Weinburg Coliseum, the building was home to the Men's team from 1921-22 - 1972-73. The building is well over 100 years old and had a 1K capacity back when it was last used. It's still used as a intramural building today.
This is absolutely thrilling news that also adds to a great day
(45-0 win over illinois in football).
The 'Cube-
Really, really, really, really old picture of the Coliseum-
Since it was homecoming today, I had a chance to talk with the AD Dave Brandon. When asked, he said it was "strongly being considered" and IF it does happen, expect an announcement in May. I asked if there would be a separate facility, and he said that as of right now no but there are several buildings that are already up that would/could serve as the home. Those include the Ann Arbor Ice Cube (1K seat building home to the US NTDP) and the old Coliseum. Formerly the Weinburg Coliseum, the building was home to the Men's team from 1921-22 - 1972-73. The building is well over 100 years old and had a 1K capacity back when it was last used. It's still used as a intramural building today.
This is absolutely thrilling news that also adds to a great day
(45-0 win over illinois in football).The 'Cube-
Really, really, really, really old picture of the Coliseum-
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Re: RUMOR: Michigan to add Women's Hockey in 2015-16
I have read a lot in this forum over the past couple of years about Red Berenson being 100% opposed to Michigan ever joining the D1 women's hockey ranks. But is he actually on record any place as having ever publicly voicing this sentiment? Is it a preference or is it more of a crusade for him? And how much clout does he really have with/over Mr. Brandon that would dictate the school's decision?
These are important questions, because if the Wolverines do decide to field a D1 team, the Spartans would likely follow...in which case they would have the needed 6 teams to form a new Big Ten Conference, assuming Penn State would also join, ala the men.
I have read a lot in this forum over the past couple of years about Red Berenson being 100% opposed to Michigan ever joining the D1 women's hockey ranks. But is he actually on record any place as having ever publicly voicing this sentiment? Is it a preference or is it more of a crusade for him? And how much clout does he really have with/over Mr. Brandon that would dictate the school's decision?
These are important questions, because if the Wolverines do decide to field a D1 team, the Spartans would likely follow...in which case they would have the needed 6 teams to form a new Big Ten Conference, assuming Penn State would also join, ala the men.
Re: RUMOR: Michigan to add Women's Hockey in 2015-16
Again - Talk to people who go to the NCAA Naples conference.
Again - Talk to people who go to the NCAA Naples conference.