The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

If anything its a big threat to AHA. Perhaps some of those teams mentioned in the article want to play in a more central geographic league with more scholarships. But rumors are just rumors

I doubt BG makes the move without a couple of other ex-CCHA schools on board though. Seems to me that they're keen to be in a conference with their fellow MAC rivals, Western and Miami. As I said in the Tech thread, I doubt these "rumors" are swirling if BG had gotten into the NCHC, as they had clearly been hoping up until the day they were compelled to accept the WCHA invite.

 

[manurespreader]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

I think bg, contrary to what they have said in public, is actively trying to change things. How successful they will be remains to be seen. Still I'm sure they gave been on the phone.

 

[aygwm2]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

I posted this in the Tech thread but thought I'd post it here too.

http://www.sent-trib.com/bgsu-sport...ealignment-coming-for-college-hockey-10-30-13

The WCHA season has hardly begun, and BGSU hasn't even played any WCHA games thus far, so this quote from the article,

BG appears to be well on its way to contending for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association championship.

left me a little bewildered.

Anyway, for you AOne viewers and subscribers, you can watch those BG Falcons contend for the championship this weekend:

7:07pm Eastern Time - Alaska-Anchorage @ BGSU

7:00pm Central Time - Ferris State @ Alabama-Huntsville

7:37pm Central Time - Minnesota State @ Bemidji State

7:07pm Alaska Time - Northern Michigan @ Alaska-Fairbanks

 

[oldish husky]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

The WCHA season has hardly begun, and BGSU hasn't even played any WCHA games thus far, so this quote from the article,



left me a little bewildered.

Anyway, for you AOne viewers and subscribers, you can watch those BG Falcons contend for the championship this weekend:

7:07pm Eastern Time - Alaska-Anchorage @ BGSU

7:00pm Central Time - Ferris State @ Alabama-Huntsville

7:37pm Central Time - Minnesota State @ Bemidji State

7:07pm Alaska Time - Northern Michigan @ Alaska-Fairbanks

Too good for the rest of us. They're like the Denver of the nWCHA.

 

[Jimjamesak]

The WCHA season has hardly begun, and BGSU hasn't even played any WCHA games thus far, so this quote from the article,



left me a little bewildered.

Anyway, for you AOne viewers and subscribers, you can watch those BG Falcons contend for the championship this weekend:

7:07pm Eastern Time - Alaska-Anchorage @ BGSU

7:00pm Central Time - Ferris State @ Alabama-Huntsville

7:37pm Central Time - Minnesota State @ Bemidji State

7:07pm Alaska Time - Northern Michigan @ Alaska-Fairbanks

I saw that, I'm hoping UAA wins by a touchdown...

 

[Squarebanks]

I don't buy it, because I don't see the NCHC falling apart that quickly. Maybe I'm foolish.

GFM

Likewise, especially after Western's shameless begging to get in the NCHC in the first place. Unless Miami decides it wants to be in a league it can dominate, linking up with a few AHA and old CCHA castoffs makes little sense.

A more likely scenario, in my opinion, is Colorado College and St. Cloud get tired of fighting over last place in the NCHC and start looking elsewhere.

 

[aparch]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

The MAC schools, some AHA schools from Pennsylvania and New York State, and throw in Ferris State... there is the new look CCHA.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

The MAC schools, some AHA schools from Pennsylvania and New York State, and throw in Ferris State... there is the new look CCHA.

I think its completely possible, especially if another MAC school added hockey or Miami/WMU get sick of the travel.

 

[oldish husky]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

The MAC schools, some AHA schools from Pennsylvania and New York State, and throw in Ferris State... there is the new look CCHA.

If it was that straightforward I think it would have happened 2 years ago. I just don't see what has changed. If BG feels like it's a NCHC team, it certainly wouldn't leave the nWCHA for a new CCHA that is just a mix of nWCHA and AHA.

 

[Squarebanks]

If it was that straightforward I think it would have happened 2 years ago. I just don't see what has changed. If BG feels like it's a NCHC team, it certainly wouldn't leave the nWCHA for a new CCHA that is just a mix of nWCHA and AHA.

Agreed. But with due respect to BGSU, who have done an admirable job bringing their program back from the abyss, I don't see them fitting into that NCHC clique. The main reason Western got in, IMO, was a few years ago they decided to stop sucking so much in hockey and started hiring NHL-caliber coaching talent. Combined with being geographically close to Miami and there's your recipe.

Who knows how much truth there is in that article, but this isn't the first time BG's name has popped up as being unhappy with landing in the WCHA.

 

[gfmorris]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

7:00pm Central Time - Ferris State @ Alabama-Huntsville

You'll hear me on this. Whether I have a partner or not has yet to be determined. I'm preparing as if I'm going to be the one saying Czarnowczan all game long.

GFM <— eminently accessible, open to criticism, and always hoping to get better.

 

[MaizeRage]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

Unless Miami decides it wants to be in a league it can dominate, linking up with a few AHA and old CCHA castoffs makes little sense.

The problem for Miami is that they're basically maximizing their revenue right now, and can't be getting much in return, if not losing money on the deal. They can't sell anymore tickets in their arena. They're probably around the high water mark of ticket prices for what their market will bear. They even extorted an extra $500 per season ticket holder to keep their seats this year.

Meanwhile, they had to pay big money in coaching salaries after OSU's job opened up last summer. They have to fly to 6 out of their 7 conference opponents. They're expected to spend money on hockey at the same rate as a North Dakota or Nebraska-Omaha. The TV deal they were banking on was a complete bust after Notre Dame left, to the point that they're probably paying out money just to say they're on TV. And their good relationship with Denver ended when Gwozdecky got canned.

If they can't make money with their current situation while they have one of the strongest programs in the country, what's going to happen if they have a couple down years?

 

[Squarebanks]

That's one of the inherent problems with the NCHC. North Dakota, and to a lesser extent Denver and UNO, are set up to financially benefit. Schools like Miami, as you point out, are limited with their revenue potential. I wouldn't be surprised to see the NCHC turn into a little fiefdom with North Dakota ruling the roost.

The problem for Miami is that they're basically maximizing their revenue right now, and can't be getting much in return, if not losing money on the deal. They can't sell anymore tickets in their arena. They're probably around the high water mark of ticket prices for what their market will bear. They even extorted an extra $500 per season ticket holder to keep their seats this year.

Meanwhile, they had to pay big money in coaching salaries after OSU's job opened up last summer. They have to fly to 6 out of their 7 conference opponents. They're expected to spend money on hockey at the same rate as a North Dakota or Nebraska-Omaha. The TV deal they were banking on was a complete bust after Notre Dame left, to the point that they're probably paying out money just to say they're on TV. And their good relationship with Denver ended when Gwozdecky got canned.

If they can't make money with their current situation while they have one of the strongest programs in the country, what's going to happen if they have a couple down years?

 

[Freddie]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

What is the current WCHA protocol for post-game handshakes? In the CCHA it was always done after each game, but in the WCHA it was only after the last game of a series.

I think my question got answered last night at the end of the UAA-BG game. As the BG players were lining up at center ice, the UAA players were headed to the gate. Several were already out the gate (which is directly in front of the BG student section) and were getting an earful from the students. A couple of the UAA players turned around, and seeing the BG players lined up, made some gestures as if they ought to go back...the referee motioned them to continue off the ice.

 

[AKJD]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

At the Alaska-NMU game, the teams, both former CCHA teams, lined up to shake hands, the refs looked like they were going to put a stop to it, and then ended up letting them shake after all. I'm curious to see which ends up being standard, once everyone gets settled in.

 

[gfmorris]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

I posted this on the Nanooks' thread, but I thought it worth cross-posting here:

I would think the same drawback applies to video if you zoom in too much. Watch last weekends AmericaOne’s video of Bemidji and MSU. The camera follows the play down the ice…but at either end the goalie and blue is in frame, and the whole neutral zone and both blue lines when in transition. They rarely zoom in except for after the whistle.

Maybe Methodical can jump in here give us the low down.

I think the big problem with zoom is that you can quickly lose the play as it turns the other way. If you watch the big NHL broadcasts, they usually go with the one camera high-center opposite the benches and supplement with cameras around the rink. They're using great cameras that can pan and zoom very quickly without losing focus — probably in the high six-figures range (if that low). I don't know of anyone in the league that's doing much past single "coaches' camera" high. It would be great to have 2-4 other angles: one from the far end lined up on each offensive zone, then maybe one down in the corner on each end. However, I don't think that A1 is providing multi-camera production support, which would mean that you'd have one person (maybe two) managing that as well as the one person who is doing QC on the outbound feed (do you have signal, do you have your time/score overlay, is the audio up and running) that's pretty much mandatory.

I can tell you that at UAH we have two people on the broadcast (or we do if I'm not sick like I was on Saturday), one guy on the camera (who stands maybe two feet to my right), the guy next to him producing the feed, and the guy below me doing the QC work that pushes the feed out of the door. I expect that's common throughout the league.

While you could run those end cameras remotely, that's still two more people to train and pay to run cameras in the corners at ice level, plus the camera expense, plus the production software/hardware/training/pay to do that right.

Mind you, Northeastern has made the investment in it and puts it out for free, but they also have a broadcast journalism department. Anchorage does, Fairbanks does, Huntsville does not, Bemidji does, BG does, Ferris has a sports-focused one, Lake does not (that mess reads like what you see at UAH's CommArts site, but I better not say too much about UAH or UAHStatman will lock me out of our Website), Tech does not (best as I can tell they have no comms at all), Mankato does not, and Northern's course catalog indicates that they have one. Please note that I'm not working for digs here because 1) UAH doesn't have the program and 2) my brother has an RTF degree from Southern Mississippi, which is generally in the caliber of all WCHA member schools in this particular focus area. (And he uses that R and T six days a week.)

Now, you may say, "Why are we going to leave this in the hands of students? Won't they screw it up?" We're not going to get pros in here to do this for cheap. The only pros-from-Dover that could realistically be brought in are the local TV stations, and while we all generally have them, it's pretty likely that none of them are great given that Huntsville is the largest metro area in the league at 679,473[sup]1[/sup], and our TV stations suck for most everything save 1) BAMA/Auburn 2) tornado coverage 3) BAMA/Auburn and 4) high school football. (Oh, and 48 is great for manufacturing controversies to drive up ratings, except we all know that it's sensationalist crap.)

GFM

[1] Actually, the Huntsville-Decatur CSA is larger than the metro areas of the other nine member schools' cities combined.

 

[MavHockey14]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

I'm all for shaking hands after the series.

 

[uaafanblog]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

Agreed. But with due respect to BGSU, who have done an admirable job bringing their program back from the abyss, I don't see them fitting into that NCHC clique. The main reason Western got in, IMO, was a few years ago they decided to stop sucking so much in hockey and started hiring NHL-caliber coaching talent. Combined with being geographically close to Miami and there's your recipe.

Who knows how much truth there is in that article, but this isn't the first time BG's name has popped up as being unhappy with landing in the WCHA.

This latest pronouncement is the same retreaded tripe from before. It's a bit ironic that the "only D1 school" is the biggest whiner about travel and the associated expenses. FFS. Let's just kick Toledo Community College out.

 

[beaverhockeyfan]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

Bemidji pushes out the feed from Lakeland Public Television. Lakeland has had the "Over the Air" ** broadcast rights to ALL Beaver Home Games since the move to the WCHA/Sanford Center. I am not sure of the student/professional ratio on those broadcasts.

** Covers all of Minnesota though either Lakeland Public Television or "The Minnesota Channel", parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin on The Minnesota Channel, and is also part of DirecTV and Dish Network's Minneapolis/St. Paul "local" package.

 

[BGFan]

Re: The New WCHA 3, Revenge of the Sieve (2013-14)

This latest pronouncement is the same retreaded tripe from before. It's a bit ironic that the "only D1 school" is the biggest whiner about travel and the associated expenses. FFS. Let's just kick Toledo Community College out.

I can tell you that the majority of the issue is the travel costs. When you take into consideration all of the other D1 sports that we are involved in than you can understand the concern. It costs much more to maintain those programs at that level, particularly football.

For Miami and WMU this problem is 10 fold given the number of schools they have to fly too. The move to the NCHC, IMO, was a knee jerk reaction with little consideration for the extra costs involved taken into consideration. Couple that with the fact that Miami's football program is in a shambles and WMU's isn't far behind, then the problem worsens. Miami is in search for a new football coach right now which means ponying up some bucks to try to right the ship. At a D1 school, like it or not, football brings in the majority of the $$$ due to big payouts from the BCS schools when they play them, as well as post season bowl games. But when you're only drawing a couple of thousand to a home game (that number may be generous for Miami) then those large payouts get used up quickly since they are bleeding arterial money on those home games. My guess is that Miami and WMU are rethinking their decision to jump ship.

Another consideration is that Ohio and Kent have both had D1 programs in the past. If either or both were to decide to resurrect their programs, the reformation of the CCHA becomes more compelling monetarily. I can see this happening. Maybe not for a few years after Miami and WMU have a better idea of what their costs will be year in and year out, but I can see it happening.