The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Boston

[Tater]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

College Hockey News has 14,832. ~3k short of capacity. Obviously thousands left before the second game and thousands didn't enter until before the second game.

 

[northeastern]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

I look at the other sports.. 800lb gorilla in the room is shouting out..

Hockey needs diversity. Bottom up (easier to accomplish) and top down (not as easy to do). Gotta make it sustainable in this competitive climate.
Period.

(oh.. & NU needs a legit HC..)

 

[brassbonanza]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

College Hockey News has 14,832. ~3k short of capacity. Obviously thousands left before the second game and thousands didn't enter until before the second game.

Accounting for who was there for both games combined, this number seems right. Absolutely none of the BC fans in the balcony stayed for the second game. And they did have a sizable contingent.

 

[chickod]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

It's also good to note that students are caring less and less for their college sports as student bodies evolve. All four schools have having less local (MA, New England) students and more national and international students, thinning out those students who are already hockey fans before getting to the schools - why Harvard hasn't had a real student section, even at Bright.

Absolutely true. Of course, I just have to point out that when I brought up that same exact point last year, I was eviscerated. Someone a couple of years ago actually posted a link to some website in Indonesia where they played hockey. The point is well taken...there just aren't as many people interested in hockey since a larger percentage come from areas where it isn't (OK - so I can't say "played") "front and center." Yes, you can build pipes under cement, pump in freon and make a rink. Doesn't mean that's going to make the game "popular" like it is in places where you can just go outside in the winter, walk down to your local pond and play.

 

[FiveHole12]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

I look at the other sports.. 800lb gorilla in the room is shouting out..

Hockey needs diversity. Bottom up (easier to accomplish) and top down (not as easy to do). Gotta make it sustainable in this competitive climate.
Period.

(oh.. & NU needs a legit HC..)

Diversity in what way?

 

[chickod]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

Coach Forrest Madigan has a case for flipping out on the missed icing call there.

Actually, does anyone know the rule if it's a tie? Because it looked that way to me - and certainly too close to make a definitive judgment one way or the other. So, I would think the onus is on the team that has to "change" the condition. In other words, it's presumed icing UNLESS you negate it by clearly "winning" the race. Not the other way around (it's not icing "unless" the defense gets there first). Just like a tie goes to the runner in baseball, because if you don't "put him out," then he's safe by default. Much as I hate to say it, to be fair, it looks like Andren caught the guy just as he got to the dot, but didn't clearly get there first.

 

[NU_Husky]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

Not surprised at the shrunken NU student section. It's hard to sustain enthusiasm given the records their team has compiled over the last few years.

In my 5 years here it's generally poorer game 1. When we made the championships, kids came out in droves and filled 4-7 sections. Round 1 never gets either the publicity from the university that it needs or the attention from students that we (college hockey fans) want it to have. You know when they first put out an ad for the Beanpot sale? Less than a week before it happened and it happened the Saturday of MLK weekend. Minimal time for students to adjust plans or try to make the sale. And then there were 3 subsequent sales over the next week broadcasted on Twitter. Not email, or posters on campus. Twitter. Not saying this is the only reason for the poor showing- the recent history plus this season's start and last season's start play a major role too. But the lack of push from the university for the sales can't be overlooked.

 

[nufan2001]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

Maybe I should rephrase. I thought BU had more control of the play, but NU still ended up with enough good scoring opportunities that they could have won this if they had capitalized. An early breakaway, a late wrap around that could have gone in, etc. BU's defense blocked a lot of shots from in close. In other words, there were a lot of anxious moments.

They had a few chances. BU had much more dangerous chances though. Ruck was the only one who kept that game close. It should have been 5-0. You are ignoring Ruck's ridiculous saves.

 

[brassbonanza]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

Actually, does anyone know the rule if it's a tie? Because it looked that way to me - and certainly too close to make a definitive judgment one way or the other. So, I would think the onus is on the team that has to "change" the condition. In other words, it's presumed icing UNLESS you negate it by clearly "winning" the race. Not the other way around (it's not icing "unless" the defense gets there first). Just like a tie goes to the runner in baseball, because if you don't "put him out," then he's safe by default. Much as I hate to say it, to be fair, it looks like Andren caught the guy just as he got to the dot, but didn't clearly get there first.

The rule changed recently, as was explained to me, that the dot is only used as a guide point for the linesman to assess who he thinks would get the puck first if it were skated out completely. He's supposed to blow the whistle around when the players are at the dot, but it doesn't 100% stone cold have to be the first guy there. Andren was hustling his *** off and closing on the NU dman. At best he probably was tied at the dot, but was gaining ground. Would've been OK to call that in either direction but I don't think either way would've been an egregious oversight, the linesman was in perfect position to see it. Not to mention NU promptly got the puck and brought it back into the attacking zone in under 10 seconds.

 

[brassbonanza]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

They had a few chances. BU had much more dangerous chances though. Ruck was the only one who kept that game close. It should have been 5-0. You are ignoring Ruck's ridiculous saves.

I can think of at least two wide open chances that Ruck blatantly stole.

 

[chickod]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

The rule changed recently, as was explained to me, that the dot is only used as a guide point for the linesman to assess who he thinks would get the puck first if it were skated out completely.

OK. Thanks. So you're saying it's the linesman's judgment as to who he THINKS would get there first IF they were still allowed to chase the puck all the way to the goal line. Put that way, then it is eminently fair to say that Andren would have won the race, as he had "pulled even" by the time they were at the dot. So it can be argued that the call was NOT egregious. Perhaps the NHL rule is different, as Brickley was very adamant that he felt icing should have been called.

 

[northeastern]

Diversity in what way?

In every way.. just look around the major sports.. football, bouncyball, baseball, soccer etc. The make up is a lot more diverse than in the hockey world.

Want to get more eyeballs, more seats sold.. start appealing to a broader base. That's all. It doesn't always have to be a super niche sport. In New England.. especially.. it still is. I think in other parts.. sun belt, Cali, etc.. its starting to change. Heck even in Canada now.. they trying very hard to appeal to more than just traditional base fans as the country grows from all over the world. The gatekeepers in Hockey East, college hockey, youth hockey can too. There are ways to keep this growing & healthy beyond the Beanpot. All about sustainability. That was my point.

 

[northeastern]

..and by niche in New England I don't mean popularity wise.. just male up of the kids that play it.. wise.
Pretty one dimensional for most part. Not so with other sports. Hockey has a solid future ahead if it can appeal (also become more accessible/ affordable).. to a broader base.

 

[brassbonanza]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

OK. Thanks. So you're saying it's the linesman's judgment as to who he THINKS would get there first IF they were still allowed to chase the puck all the way to the goal line. Put that way, then it is eminently fair to say that Andren would have won the race, as he had "pulled even" by the time they were at the dot. So it can be argued that the call was NOT egregious. Perhaps the NHL rule is different, as Brickley was very adamant that he felt icing should have been called.

This is how it was explained to me after, I too thought it was a race to the dot. Even if it is a race to the dot, it's still far from an egregious mistake and very fair to say it's a tie. Nonetheless, a hell of a hustle play from Oskar there.

 

[njdevscup30]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

The AD and his minions are tone deaf. Period. Their ideal is to have everyone play nice in the sandbox and definitely not for our kids to knock the snot out of the neighbor kids.

We can cry about Roby all we want, but nothing's going to change until the university administration takes athletics more seriously as a whole, and that starts with Aoun. Roby is here to make sure the athletics department is clean cut, and creating good student athletes. Nothing more. To some extent, it's honorable...but it sucks for us fans.

 

[FiveHole12]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

In every way.. just look around the major sports.. football, bouncyball, baseball, soccer etc. The make up is a lot more diverse than in the hockey world.

Want to get more eyeballs, more seats sold.. start appealing to a broader base. That's all. It doesn't always have to be a super niche sport. In New England.. especially.. it still is. I think in other parts.. sun belt, Cali, etc.. its starting to change. Heck even in Canada now.. they trying very hard to appeal to more than just traditional base fans as the country grows from all over the world. The gatekeepers in Hockey East, college hockey, youth hockey can too. There are ways to keep this growing & healthy beyond the Beanpot. All about sustainability. That was my point.

..and by niche in New England I don't mean popularity wise.. just male up of the kids that play it.. wise.
Pretty one dimensional for most part. Not so with other sports. Hockey has a solid future ahead if it can appeal (also become more accessible/ affordable).. to a broader base.

I see. You are referring to diversity of ethnicity? I was just trying to get an understanding of what aspect of hockey you thought should become more diverse.

 

[Split-N]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

...Round 1 never gets either the publicity from the university that it needs or the attention from students that we (college hockey fans) want it to have. You know when they first put out an ad for the Beanpot sale? Less than a week before it happened and it happened the Saturday of MLK weekend...Not email, or posters on campus. Twitter. Not saying this is the only reason for the poor showing...But the lack of push from the university for the sales can't be overlooked.

From my perch on the sidelines, the current Athletic Dept administration is interested in sports only as a vehicle for driving social engineering concepts and not for advancing competitive sports as events that drive a sense of pride in and attachment to the university. Despite the fact that there are a couple of good folks at the working level, the department leadership seems to have little interest in promoting major events in any comprehensive way or in building teams that can consistently challenge for championships.

 

[claver2010]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

The rule changed recently, as was explained to me, that the dot is only used as a guide point for the linesman to assess who he thinks would get the puck first if it were skated out completely. He's supposed to blow the whistle around when the players are at the dot, but it doesn't 100% stone cold have to be the first guy there. Andren was hustling his *** off and closing on the NU dman. At best he probably was tied at the dot, but was gaining ground. Would've been OK to call that in either direction but I don't think either way would've been an egregious oversight, the linesman was in perfect position to see it. Not to mention NU promptly got the puck and brought it back into the attacking zone in under 10 seconds.

oh great give the refs more room for interpretation

Accounting for who was there for both games combined, this number seems right. Absolutely none of the BC fans in the balcony stayed for the second game. And they did have a sizable contingent.

I see both sides and have gone both ways regarding staying for both games.

either way the hour between games makes it extremely difficult especially on a work night

if you're the 5:00:
you probably rushed from work, haven't had dinner and forced with the thought of: eat here wait till 8:30 puck drop for the second game which will end around 10:45-11 or go home and watch the 2nd game maybe missing a little of the first period.

if you're the 8:00:
you probably aren't rushing in from work & grabbing food / drink outside. I monitored the game and if it was interesting I'd head in and if not continue at a bar.

 

[ericredaxe]

Re: The 2016 Beanpot: The Sacred Quest for the Holy Grail of College Hockey in Bosto

I see both sides and have gone both ways regarding staying for both games.

either way the hour between games makes it extremely difficult especially on a work night

if you're the 5:00:
you probably rushed from work, haven't had dinner and forced with the thought of: eat here wait till 8:30 puck drop for the second game which will end around 10:45-11 or go home and watch the 2nd game maybe missing a little of the first period.

if you're the 8:00:
you probably aren't rushing in from work & grabbing food / drink outside. I monitored the game and if it was interesting I'd head in and if not continue at a bar.

You will never get everyone (or even a majority) staying for both games. Opening night overall attendance being 3,000 to 5,000 lower than overall capacity seems to be newer within the past few years though. Not only are people skipping the game their team is not involved in, they are skipping opening night completely.

The stadium is no longer 1/2 full for each of the two semi-final games, it is now 1/3 full for each game.

 

[DavidSec17]

The Harvard Band used to be a fixture at Harvard hockey games but the last few years they have not been there as their presence was required at basketball. I think the real Harvard Band made it to one men's game this year. On some occasions they do have a faux Harvard band consisting of some high school band wearing Harvard jerseys but with no knowledge of any Harvard songs. Probably of no interest to hon-Harvard people but disappointing for me.

As an RPI fan and college hockey fan in general, this is disappointing to me as well.