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The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

Per College Hockey News on twitter.

@chnews: WCHA announcing its new commissioner Tuesday in St. Paul


I thought it'd take longer than this, should be interesting.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

Hiring a PR guy to run the league? Great call. That's what's been lacking in the WCHA leadership.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

mtu_huskies said:
Per College Hockey News on twitter.

@chnews: WCHA announcing its new commissioner Tuesday in St. Paul


I thought it'd take longer than this, should be interesting.
Click to expand...

Everyone has know Bruce was retiring at the end of this year, so this doesn't surprise me at all. Give the new person time to shadow Bruce for a while.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

I hope that whoever takes over takes a fresh look at everything, but especially the media relations work, including social media. I would expect that Spence is moving on, too.

GFM <— has Shirtless on his side on this one, at a minimum
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

gfmorris said:
I hope that whoever takes over takes a fresh look at everything, but especially the media relations work, including social media. I would expect that Spence is moving on, too.

GFM <— has Shirtless on his side on this one, at a minimum
Click to expand...

I would take that job in an instant...
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

It will be interesting to hear what he has to say and what his plans are for the league. Especially what's going to happen to the offices.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

I know nothing about the guy, but I like the media background. If this small market league is going to stay relevant it has to figure out its distribution channels.

I'm also guessing this means the league office will move to the Twin Cities.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

"Who's he? Nobody" is how we welcome everybody who isn't a Falcon. No need to discriminate against the new comish.

Not sure who my first choice would have been. Bettman would have brought an immediate notoriety and attention to the league, so that should be taken into account. Roger Goodell would have definitely toned down the inherent violence in the sport, making the game more kid-friendly, and inevitably, raising attendance, as more parents would be inclined to bring their young children to games. And let's not forget Dr. Jon Steinbrecher, the current commissioner of the Mid-American Conference, whose tireless efforts to raise the caliber of our prestigious conference by inviting the football powerhouses of Temple and UMass as full members shouldn't go unheralded. However, I'm more inclined to nominate a committee member from this year's Futile Four, as their dedication to the success of the tournament's goals is exceeding expectations.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

Critical Thinker said:
"Who's he? Nobody" is how we welcome everybody who isn't a Falcon. No need to discriminate against the new comish.

Not sure who my first choice would have been. Bettman would have brought an immediate notoriety and attention to the league, so that should be taken into account. Roger Goodell would have definitely toned down the inherent violence in the sport, making the game more kid-friendly, and inevitably, raising attendance, as more parents would be inclined to bring their young children to games. And let's not forget Dr. Jon Steinbrecher, the current commissioner of the Mid-American Conference, whose tireless efforts to raise the caliber of our prestigious conference by inviting the football powerhouses of Temple and UMass as full members shouldn't go unheralded. However, I'm more inclined to nominate a committee member from this year's Futile Four, as their dedication to the success of the tournament's goals is exceeding expectations.
Click to expand...

I will have to make it to a game at BG some time when LSSU is there. I've heard good things about the town and the atmosphere at the rink.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

Squarebanks said:
I know nothing about the guy, but I like the media background. If this small market league is going to stay relevant it has to figure out its distribution channels.

I'm also guessing this means the league office will move to the Twin Cities.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with your second assumption as it makes perfect sense. Hopefully, your first sentiment is reflected by an immediate choice to never again do any sort of business with that rinky-dink AmericrapOne outfit.

My Suggestions:
#1: Get a scheduling agreement with B!G Ten schools.
#2: Ensure everyone is one the same page with regard to quality of broadcasts.
#3: Embed all the webcasts on the WCHA site for free ... redesign the WCHA site (including a free on-demand archive of all the games).
#4: Hire a media intern to compile highlights from every game and have said highlights available on Sunday.
#5: Enforce professionalism from all rink announcers (i.e... no cheerleading).
#6: Instigate an exhaustive "study" to determine a better post-season configuration to be implemented in 2015-2016. Innovate.
#7: Partner with Junior A leagues for better league exposure ... for example: have former junior league players be available on those league websites for video chats etc ... those leagues all report on their own as to the status of many former players in the NCAA -- help them do that. There are many other options that can improve the visibility of the WCHA amongst prospects. 14 and 15 year olds moving up to junior hockey ought to know there is an NCAA hockey team in Mankato or Big Rapids or Huntsville that is an option. But for them to know/understand the viability of a Ferris Wheel or Bowling Pin U they have to know it exists.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

uaafanblog said:
I'd agree with your second assumption as it makes perfect sense. Hopefully, your first sentiment is reflected by an immediate choice to never again do any sort of business with that rinky-dink AmericrapOne outfit.

My Suggestions:
#1: Get a scheduling agreement with B!G Ten schools.
#2: Ensure everyone is one the same page with regard to quality of broadcasts.
#3: Embed all the webcasts on the WCHA site for free ... redesign the WCHA site (including a free on-demand archive of all the games).
#4: Hire a media intern to compile highlights from every game and have said highlights available on Sunday.
#5: Enforce professionalism from all rink announcers (i.e... no cheerleading).
#6: Instigate an exhaustive "study" to determine a better post-season configuration to be implemented in 2015-2016. Innovate.
#7: Partner with Junior A leagues for better league exposure ... for example: have former junior league players be available on those league websites for video chats etc ... those leagues all report on their own as to the status of many former players in the NCAA -- help them do that. There are many other options that can improve the visibility of the WCHA amongst prospects. 14 and 15 year olds moving up to junior hockey ought to know there is an NCAA hockey team in Mankato or Big Rapids or Huntsville that is an option. But for them to know/understand the viability of a Ferris Wheel or Bowling Pin U they have to know it exists.
Click to expand...

Would you allow teams to opt out of #1? In Bemidji's case, they can take care of their non-conference schedule with bus rides of less than four hours, especially if they can get Duluth on the schedule. They already have St. Cloud, North Dakota and the North Star Cup/Minnesota in contracts; why would they want to travel to Ann Arbor, Columbus or Happy Valley when the league schedule requires longer bus trips to Michigan/Ohio than those they could get for NC games (or flights to Huntsville and the Alaskas)? And those teams would probably draw better in Bemidji than some of the Big Ten schools.

Otherwise, some good points.
 
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uaafanblog said:
I'd agree with your second assumption as it makes perfect sense. Hopefully, your first sentiment is reflected by an immediate choice to never again do any sort of business with that rinky-dink AmericrapOne outfit.

My Suggestions:
#1: Get a scheduling agreement with B!G Ten schools.
#2: Ensure everyone is one the same page with regard to quality of broadcasts.
#3: Embed all the webcasts on the WCHA site for free ... redesign the WCHA site (including a free on-demand archive of all the games).
#4: Hire a media intern to compile highlights from every game and have said highlights available on Sunday.
#5: Enforce professionalism from all rink announcers (i.e... no cheerleading).
#6: Instigate an exhaustive "study" to determine a better post-season configuration to be implemented in 2015-2016. Innovate.
#7: Partner with Junior A leagues for better league exposure ... for example: have former junior league players be available on those league websites for video chats etc ... those leagues all report on their own as to the status of many former players in the NCAA -- help them do that. There are many other options that can improve the visibility of the WCHA amongst prospects. 14 and 15 year olds moving up to junior hockey ought to know there is an NCAA hockey team in Mankato or Big Rapids or Huntsville that is an option. But for them to know/understand the viability of a Ferris Wheel or Bowling Pin U they have to know it exists.
Click to expand...
How do you get the Big Ten schools to participate on an even basis? How do you insure everyone is on the same page for broadcast quality? Other than those question, you've got some really good ideas here, especially the one about exposure to the Junior leagues. I'd also be interested to see what you might think would be good ideas for restructuring the playoffs. I shudder to think of 946 people in the XCel Energy Center for a Bowling Green-Alaska Fairbanks game.
 
Re: The New WCHA, 2014 Offseason: See-ya, Bruce

I really see an uphill battle getting a Big Ten scheduling agreement. The Big Ten formed so they could basically dictate to college hockey. Minnesota is already booked for the most part with their North Star Cup OOC schedule plus the addition of North Dakota again in the near future. I'm sure given that the earliest we scheduled North Dakota was 2016 and 2017, that games in 2014-2015, and 2015-2016 are already spoken for. Since the U has scheduling obligations now with teams going out that far, and I don't see them wanting to abandon the NSC or NoDak series, their OOC games are fairly tight. They aren't going to want to play a WCHA team unless it's a tournament in Alaska. Especially if it means giving up home game revenue without a major draw in return.

As a personal aside, the last time I was in Houghton I basically knew it was going to be the last time the Goofs play up there unless something major happens to the college hockey landscape.

Edit: Clunky sentences aside, the WCHA is probably not going to get a full agreement with the BTHC. Maybe certain members, but as a conference? Doubtful.

Edit 2: The other thing the BTHC would demand is broadcasting rights, as was mentioned above. This would probably be a fairly important demand on their part.
 
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