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UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

Re: UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

mnstate0fhockey said:
I think Milwaukee should start by building some outdoor hockey rinks for kids (and over-age has-beens) to play some pick-up hockey :D

Seriously though. It would be really cool IMO if they did add a program.
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Milwaukee does have 10 indoor rinks in the metro area as well as 10 outdoor rinks and 15 HS hockey teams. Still, that's pretty small for a metro area of its size and latitude. If you limit yourself to rinks in the city itself, you have only Bradley, Pettit, Kern, Wilson and Uihlein. Milwaukee has been growing in the area of High School hockey, but the teams aren't very competitive state-wide. Most of the elite Milwaukee kids play in the Jr. Admirals system, which is itself a punching bag in the Tier 1 AAA leagues. Milwaukee has a ways to go in developing a hockey infrastructure or culture, but I think it's improving.
 
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UpNorthHockey said:
Milwaukee does have 10 indoor rinks in the metro area as well as 10 outdoor rinks and 15 HS hockey teams. Still, that's pretty small for a metro area of its size and latitude. If you limit yourself to rinks in the city itself, you have only Bradley, Pettit, Kern, Wilson and Uihlein. Milwaukee has been growing in the area of High School hockey, but the teams aren't very competitive state-wide. Most of the elite Milwaukee kids play in the Jr. Admirals system, which is itself a punching bag in the Tier 1 AAA leagues. Milwaukee has a ways to go in developing a hockey infrastructure or culture, but I think it's improving.
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They have literally ZERO outdoor rinks (with nets and boards) in the entire Milwaukee metro area though. I've lived here for 10 years and have spent hours looking. If I'm mistaken, and there is one, let me know :)

Not a huge deal, but if you want to grow the sport in the area, I think that would be a great first step. Indoor ice is expensive. They don't need a outdoor rink in every city, but one or two on the North and South side would be great.

This old guy would certainly enjoy having a place to embarass myself without having to dish out the $$ to rent an indoor sheet :D
 
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Re: UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

mnstate0fhockey said:
They have literally ZERO outdoor rinks (with nets and boards) in the entire Milwaukee metro area though. I've lived here for 10 years and have spent hours looking. If I'm mistaken, and there is one, let me know :)

Not a huge deal, but if you want to grow the sport in the area, I think that would be a great first step. Indoor ice is expensive. They don't need a outdoor rink in every city, but one or two on the North and South side would be great.

This old guy would certainly enjoy having a place to embarass myself without having to dish out the $$ to rent an indoor sheet :D
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There are quite a few little places here and there to skate, and a few get nets (which are usually chained up until really late in the day), but you won't find boards anywhere.
 
Re: UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
There are quite a few little places here and there to skate, and a few get nets (which are usually chained up until really late in the day), but you won't find boards anywhere.
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That's absolutely criminal.

I can't imagine growing up without a boarded outdoor hockey rink in town. Kind of makes me wonder why I was so bad at hockey considering I had one literally a solidly hit 3 wood away from my house.
 
Chuck Schwartz said:
That's absolutely criminal.

I can't imagine growing up without a boarded outdoor hockey rink in town. Kind of makes me wonder why I was so bad at hockey considering I had one literally a solidly hit 3 wood away from my house.
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I swear, I'm going to get one built out here if it's the last thing I do man :)
 
Chuck Schwartz said:
That's absolutely criminal.

I can't imagine growing up without a boarded outdoor hockey rink in town. Kind of makes me wonder why I was so bad at hockey considering I had one literally a solidly hit 3 wood away from my house.
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Cue Dubber with a lesson on Wisconsin vs. Minnesota youth hockey in 3... 2...
 
Re: UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

Milwaukee may not be a hockey hotbed, but neither are certain areas in Southern Minnesota. Look at areas in Wisconsin like Eau Claire, Wausau, Superior, Madison, and Green Bay. All are good hockey towns IMO. Like someone else mentioned, if Milwaukee got a D1 program, I think that would only strengthen interest in the sport in this area. And that would be a good thing.
 
Re: UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

I would love if ISU added hockey, but it'll never happen. Maybe if U of Iowa did, there would be some push, but it still wouldn't happen. The AD has had enough stress trying to keep the Big12 together, that adding another sport would be too risky. Besides if they added another sport, I'm pretty sure they'd bring baseball back, as they already have a history with that, a conference, a usable facility and much more statewide culture associated with baseball, rather than hockey. Too bad, I'd love to see them in the NCHC, heck I'd love to see them in the remaining WCHA.
 
Re: UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

Star2City said:
Interesting that the Minnesota Wild's owner is hosting a UWM alumni event prior to a Wild game.
https://www4.uwm.edu/alumni/Regional_Events/minnesota_alumni.cfm
An NCHC with UWM and Iowa State would really help tie together WMU / Miami with the western schools.
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That's really interesting. I didn't know the Wild's owner was a UWM alum (one of my alma maters as well). I still think there's slim chance of another D1 hockey program coming out of the UW system. Notice that the UW system brought all their D3 teams into essentially an "in house" conference for the future. Unlike most other states, Wisconsin's state universities are centrally governed and I expect the chancellor et al would see little strategic value in giving Bucky any competition for hockey dollars, particularly with the recent attendance figures at the Kohl Center.
 
Re: UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

Star2City said:
An NCHC with UWM and Iowa State would really help tie together WMU / Miami with the western schools.
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let's see...the NCHC bails on schools with rich DI legacies and firm dedication to their programs...for a shot at adding a couple of new bottom-feeder programs. lol. remind me, what was the point of the NCHC again?
nah. they'll just try to sabotage the nWCHA in a few years.
 
Re: UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

blackswampboy said:
let's see...the NCHC bails on schools with rich DI legacies and firm dedication to their programs...for a shot at adding a couple of new bottom-feeder programs. lol. remind me, what was the point of the NCHC again?
nah. they'll just try to sabotage the nWCHA in a few years.
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Like the Big Ten and Penn St. The golden but naive era of college hockey has passed away. Understand the mourning, but markets and money to operate a program at a high level matter.

Like you state, maybe UWM and Iowa State can get in the nWCHA, but their aim would be the NCHC, much like BGSU and MSU-Mankato's desire.
 
Re: UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

Star2City said:
Like you state, maybe UWM and Iowa State can get in the nWCHA, but their aim would be the NCHC, much like BGSU and MSU-Mankato's desire.
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I seriously doubt anyone wants to be in the nchc. And as time goes by even less so. Maybe the reverse though.
 
Re: UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

Star2City said:
Like you state, maybe UWM and Iowa State can get in the nWCHA, but their aim would be the NCHC, much like BGSU and MSU-Mankato's desire.
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BGSU has no such desire to join the nchc.
If we're indulging fantasies about adding new DI programs...the best of all would be upgrading programs @Buffalo, Kent, and OU, thus creating a MAC hockey conference. let's think big. :D
 
Re: UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

UWM has a new athletic director, so things could change, but I would think rght now the impending explosion of the Horizon League is the problem du jour.

Butler left last year. Now, depending on which reports you believe, every team in the league but UWM and UWGB have had talks with other conferences (Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, A10, CAA, others) about leaving. Teams maybe coming in are Denver (since the Pios can't seem to find a non-hockey home), Oakland, Mich. and UM-Kansas City.

UWM played hoops last year in an on-campus 3,500-seat glorified HS gym. And it didn't help attendance any. There's a big push by many to get them to return to the U.S. Cellular Arena in downtown (what you may remember as the MECCA when the Bucks and Marquette played there). It used to have ice (the Admirals played there, too) but I don't know if that still works.

Upshot is, UWM will look at arena options at some point, including something in the 8-10k range on campus. At that point, it will talk if hockey fits into the mix. But an arena is years away, unless someone shows up with a check. And in the meantime, UWM is likely going to have to deal with simply having a conference to play in as a priority. Don't look for anything soon.
 
Re: UW-Milwaukee exploring adding D-1 hockey

Star2City said:
Like the Big Ten and Penn St. The golden but naive era of college hockey has passed away. Understand the mourning, but markets and money to operate a program at a high level matter.

Like you state, maybe UWM and Iowa State can get in the nWCHA, but their aim would be the NCHC, much like BGSU and MSU-Mankato's desire.
Click to expand...

Nobody that I am aware of, either from the University or fan base, either publically or privately has ever stated that Minnesota State's aim is to get into the NCHC.

From my personal standpoint, why would we want in the NCHC? We should be playing in the NCAA on a regular basis in the future.
 
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