The new Super League is going down the tubes.

[icehawk]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

The Fargo Forum had a good story about the reasons behind the new league, Hockey West (see prior post). With the departure of Minnesota and Wisconsin, the votes of the remaining WCHA schools tipped in favor of the small-budget schools. That was unacceptable to the larger-budget schools who saw austerity on the horizon. There was also some angst about Bruce McLeod expressed. By forming Hockey West, those 2 problems go away. It's too bad the remaining schools get to keep the name WCHA since it is a great brand and will be missed. I, for one, hope Hockey West will stay at 8 schools so we can get a healthy portion of non-conference games against the likes of Hockey East, the ECAC and the Big6 (sounds like a lottery game).

I read that too and it starting to make more sense to me why this new league is starting. It's time to let go of the smaller schools hands and move on. Still not happy with what is going on but am seeing more and more why the Sioux and other schools had to what they did.

 

[siouxinminny]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

UND
UMD
CC
DU
UNO
Miami
Notre Dame
Western Michigan

I think the Xcel Energy Center just took it in the shorts. Where is the conference tournament to be held? Chicago?

 

[siouxinminny]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

In 10 years, the landscape will have changed again. How long before schools like Nebraska (Lincoln), Colorado, Arizona, Northern Arizona, etc. add hockey?

 

[siouxinminny]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

... and Hockey West had no issue with the University of North Dakota having the Fighting Sioux nickname issue unresolved before starting the new league! Goes to show ...

 

[Flashy Man]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

... and Hockey West had no issue with the University of North Dakota having the Fighting Sioux nickname issue unresolved before starting the new league! Goes to show ...

...what you can do when you start your own league.

 

[geezer]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

I disagree... I'd HATE to see tech go. We'd get raped like usual.... And we would be on the side with the d ouches. We have to stay in a league with the smaller schools to be successful at rebuilding. I just wish was still the good old WCHA we're rebuilding in.

It's not an issue. MTU and UAA are the schools most often held up as examples of why UND and DU simply had no choice but to start a new league. They just couldn't be expected to share the ice with such pathetic programs. I was talking about schools that might be invited in future, like SCSU; their fans would understandably rejoice.

 

[HarleyMC]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

I got to agree with Brent and Bak here. IMO, there was no reason to leave. This isn't college fb or bb here.

There was definitely a reason to leave or they wouldn't have taken this colossal gamble to 1) put 6 top 20 teams together ultimately making conference wins and championships much more difficult, and 2) as Bak pointed out, ****ing away for example substantial WCHA F5 revenue in an firmly established hockey market with a notable venue.

Was it all because Bruce McLeod aka Captain Bligh is a bumbling idiot with dysfunctional management skills and a pea brain vision for the conference? I have a difficult time with this kind of reductionist thinking which all too conveniently demonizes the man as the scapegoat and an administrative bonehead.

This indictment is all based upon one cryptic comment made by UND athletic director Brian Faison who told the Grand Forks Herald that he has "concerns with the administrative side of the WCHA." Concerns!? I don't doubt that there was some level of discord between parties. But irreconcilable "concerns" without any forum for negotiation? I find that hard to believe. So all 6 schools find McLeod stubbornly unapproachable?

Ciskie writes, "The WCHA continually drops the ball in moments where leadership is critically important. Many times, this has cost its members money. This time, it does nothing but harm the reputation of those in charge." Really? Please provide something substantial Bruce, like longitudinally large numbers that sufficiently warrants this level of defection and dismantling of the one of most historically successful conferences in college hockey history.

To me this resembles more of a political power play, initiated by UND and subsequently supported by DU, in an attempt to compete first and foremost with the BTHC revenue stream by creating a conference philosophy that fits their aggressive college hockey worldview.

Why else would they announce it now and expect to launch at the same time as the BTHC? Why else would Faison initially state the reason for the breakaway was to collaborate with like minded schools and "create new media opportunities". It seems plausible that McLeod was not jumping on the media bandwagon soon enough for UND. UND then leveraged their departure from the WCHA in convincing fashion to bring the other "preferred" teams into the fold to reflect a viable conference image that would rival the BTHC and help negotiate a big media deal.

As I stated in another post if they manage to engage Versus/NBC/Comcast in a long term media contract that would indeed be unprecedented and may even persuade Notre Dame to come aboard. If they don't, this thing for all practical purposes looks pretty redundant.

 

[siouxinminny]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/326444/group/Sports/



GRAND FORKS – The silence has been broken.

...

However, a few reasons why UND and the others decided to make this move have started to come to the forefront.

Exposure

There have already been discussions with members of the new league and television executives about getting games nationally televised on Versus, which is expected to soon be re-branded as the NBC Sports Network.

This would give UND a greater range of exposure than the current deal with Fox College Sports and DirecTV.

Versus recently agreed to a 10-year contract extension to continue televising NHL games in the United States. The station typically broadcasts NHL games early in the week, which could leave the weekend open for college hockey.

Colorado College currently is a television partner with CBS College Sports. Denver has games on FSN Rocky Mountain.

Like-minded schools

You will probably hear athletic directors use the “like-minded schools” line at Wednesday’s press conference in discussing why this new league is happening.

While administrators may not expand on that line, a source told the Herald that when business was conducted in the WCHA, there were often times two blocks of voting.

The schools with larger budgets typically wanted to spend money, invest and try new things.

Schools with smaller budgets often resisted.

With Minnesota and Wisconsin departing for the Big Ten Hockey Conference, the smaller-budget schools take over control of the voting block. This caused athletic directors with larger budgets to worry about the future of the conference.

Recruiting

UND often clashes with Minnesota and Wisconsin on the recruiting grounds.

UND and others likely wondered whether the formation of the Big Ten Hockey Conference would be more appealing to recruits than playing in what remained in the WCHA.

With a conference of traditionally strong teams, new buildings, new media opportunities and strong fan bases, the new league should be an attractive place to play for top recruits.

Leadership

It is clear that UND wasn’t enamored with the leadership in the WCHA. In fact, athletic director Brian Faison said as much in an interview with the Herald a week ago.

“It’s no secret that I’ve had concerns with the administrative side of the WCHA,” Faison said.

Wisconsin State Journal columnist Andy Baggot wrote this week: “The idea that Denver, Colorado College, North Dakota and defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth would prefer to start their own brand instead of sticking with one that’s been around since 1959 – claiming 37 national titles in the process – is a clear indictment of the WCHA and the suspect management style of its commissioner, Bruce McLeod.”

It is unclear whether the departing schools tried to get a change in leadership in the WCHA before leaving, but there obviously will be new hierarchy in front of them in two years.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Schlossman writes for the Grand Forks Herald

 

[fangers]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

In 10 years, the landscape will have changed again. How long before schools like Nebraska (Lincoln), Colorado, Arizona, Northern Arizona, etc. add hockey?

Colorado has already been there, done that, dropped the sport. Don't see them bringing it back anytime soon.

 

[Osorojo]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

Lighten up. How about some snack food talk? Nachos forever!

 

[Split-N]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

In 10 years, the landscape will have changed again. How long before schools like Nebraska (Lincoln), Colorado, Arizona, Northern Arizona, etc. add hockey?

Two problems with that: 1) Strained state budgets. Unless there are more Terry Pegulas out there who want to totally bankroll a startup D1 program, it is doubtful that state governments would dare tap the taxpayers for something like this in the current political and economic environment, and 2) Title IX. Remember that most schools that start a new men's program would likely need to start a new women's program (not necessarily hockey) to offset it. Even where men's programs run in the black, the women's programs (especially women's hockey) run deeply in the red.

 

[dggoddard]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

As I stated in another post if they manage to engage Versus/NBC/Comcast in a long term media contract that would indeed be unprecedented and may even persuade Notre Dame to come aboard. If they don't, this thing for all practical purposes looks pretty redundant.

Whether or not Notre Dame is coming to the Super League, you can bet your bottom dollar that the 6 AD's, presidents, coaches & Versus/NBC Sports Network already know the answer.

 

[4four4]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

In 10 years, the landscape will have changed again. How long before schools like Nebraska (Lincoln), Colorado, Arizona, Northern Arizona, etc. add hockey?

Like adding a school 1 hour south of GF . That would make my year!

 

[4four4]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

Whether or not Notre Dame is coming to the Super League, you can bet your bottom dollar that the 6 AD's, presidents, coaches & Versus/NBC Sports Network already know the answer.

Currently Versus rarely schedules NHL western teams why would they want to gamble on a bunch of small schools in the western part of the US?

 

[willythekid]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

dang it, you edited before I could comment that those schools are all south of gf.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

Two problems with that: 1) Strained state budgets. Unless there are more Terry Pegulas out there who want to totally bankroll a startup D1 program, it is doubtful that state governments would dare tap the taxpayers for something like this in the current political and economic environment, and 2) Title IX. Remember that most schools that start a new men's program would likely need to start a new women's program (not necessarily hockey) to offset it. Even where men's programs run in the black, the women's programs (especially women's hockey) run deeply in the red.

College Roller Derby!

 

[dggoddard]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

Currently Versus rarely schedules NHL western teams why would they want to gamble on a bunch of small schools in the western part of the US?

Beats me, but Brad Elliott Schlossman has mentioned it twice, we both know where he's getting his intell from and he hasn't been wrong yet.

 

[The Sicatoka]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

Like adding a school 1 hour south of GF . That would make my year!

Big Minnesota State University - Moorhead fan? Go Dragons, eh?

 

[ecbrevik]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

Colorado has already been there, done that, dropped the sport. Don't see them bringing it back anytime soon.

Not only that, my wife is a U of Colorado alum, and Colorado is hurting BIG TIME right now on the money side. We keep getting the mail and the phone calls telling us just how bad things are, and more than that, she's heard from some of her old profs how bad things are. Colorado won't be starting anything new for quite a while right now, and certainly not something that involves big money like hockey.

 

[dggoddard]

Re: The new Super League is going down the tubes.

Not only that, my wife is a U of Colorado alum, and Colorado is hurting BIG TIME right now on the money side. We keep getting the mail and the phone calls telling us just how bad things are, and more than that, she's heard from some of her old profs how bad things are. Colorado won't be starting anything new for quite a while right now, and certainly not something that involves big money like hockey.

You are 100% correct. Their football program doesn't generate the revenue needed to be a big time BCS athletic program.

CU had trouble coming up with the money to buy out Gary Barnett after the "stripper scandals" and couldn't buy out the Big XII a year early like Nebraska did to join the Pac-10. You could also make the case that they couldn't afford the arms race in the Big XII and left for the Pac-10.