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WCHA offseason thread 2017.

Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

I never really saw what the benefit of adding ASU was anyway?? I live in Phoenix so seeing my BG Falcons a couple more time of year would have really been nice, but selfish reasons aside, they brought nothing to the conference at this time.

1) Their arena is a dump.....and my son played travel hockey for DYHA, so trust me I've seen ever inch of Oceanside and its a dump. They've tried to clean it up, but you can only polish a turd so much. They are at minimum 3 years from ever playing a game in any new facility.....a facility that is yet to even be more than vapor at this time.

2) The WCHA already struggles with SOS what benefit would be adding another team in the bottom 15 of the PairWise have been?

3) The travel in the conference is already an issue for almost every school, why add another air trip after we already have the two Alaska trips?

4) They have no hockey history and would have provided no draw at the home box office for current WCHA members. I can speak with complete confidence that BG fans would not have been having issues deciding whether to attend the Michigan State, Ohio State, Miami or Arizona State game......LOL.

For the reasons above, pretty sure the WCHA decide to make it tough on ASU to join.....if they were willing to pay the ransom then so be it, if not, oh well.
 
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Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

bravohankins said:
I never really saw what the benefit of adding ASU was anyway?? I live in Phoenix so seeing my BG Falcons a couple more time of year would have really been nice, but selfish reasons aside, they brought nothing to the conference at this time.

1) Their arena is a dump.....and my son played travel hockey for DYHA, so trust me I've seen ever inch of Oceanside and its a dump. They've tried to clean it up, but you can only polish a turd so much. They are at minimum 3 years from ever playing a game in any new facility.....a facility that is yet to even be more than vapor at this time.

2) The WCHA already struggles with SOS what benefit would be adding another team in the bottom 15 of the PairWise have been?

3) The travel in the conference is already an issue for almost every school, why add another air trip after we already have the two Alaska trips?

4) They have no hockey history and would have provided no draw at the home box office for current WCHA members. I can speak with complete confidence that BG fans would not have been having issues deciding whether to attend the Michigan State, Ohio State, Miami or Arizona State game......LOL.

For the reasons above, pretty sure the WCHA decide to make it tough on ASU to join.....if they were willing to pay the ransom then so be it, if not, oh well.
Click to expand...

1. Certainly won't get an argument from me on Oceanside. Gila River Arena is beautiful, but not suitable for college games and location from ASU couldn't be worse. Three years sounds about right on the new place given the release that went out a month ago about construction projects in athletics. The arena and practice sheet did appear in the construction photo that was provided. But is sounds like they are looking to do both basketball and this new arena at the same time.

2. As far as Pairwise. In our second season/first full D1 season, we finished higher in the Pairwise than 6 of the 10 teams in the conference. So seems like there are bigger issues with some of those programs that were below us. I know our last recruiting class was 12th in the nation, not sure how that stacks up versus the others, but not terrible news considering the conference/arena questions.

3. Travel subsidies from ASU could have cost an additional million more to play in the conference. From as far back as the team banquet that seemed to be a concern for many. This year the schedule is great with home series vs. BU, UML, Quinnipiac and Penn State, with a total of 14 home games all together. In interviews the schedule next year will have even more home games. So that has not materialized as being a major concern yet.

4. Not sure on this point. Looking at our away games last year and have attended some myself, we had good turnouts in many places. We have a lot of alums in the midwest that enjoy getting to see ASU when they get the chance.

I enjoy the WCHA and will continue to watch from afar as a fan of the sport. I think it would have been fun being in the league, but as you said, in the end it probably wasn't a good fit for either. I'm sure conferences will continue to shift and at some point the right fit will be there.
 
Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

Revs89.2 said:
1. Certainly won't get an argument from me on Oceanside. Gila River Arena is beautiful, but not suitable for college games and location from ASU couldn't be worse. Three years sounds about right on the new place given the release that went out a month ago about construction projects in athletics. The arena and practice sheet did appear in the construction photo that was provided. But is sounds like they are looking to do both basketball and this new arena at the same time.

2. As far as Pairwise. In our second season/first full D1 season, we finished higher in the Pairwise than 6 of the 10 teams in the conference. So seems like there are bigger issues with some of those programs that were below us. I know our last recruiting class was 12th in the nation, not sure how that stacks up versus the others, but not terrible news considering the conference/arena questions.

3. Travel subsidies from ASU could have cost an additional million more to play in the conference. From as far back as the team banquet that seemed to be a concern for many. This year the schedule is great with home series vs. BU, UML, Quinnipiac and Penn State, with a total of 14 home games all together. In interviews the schedule next year will have even more home games. So that has not materialized as being a major concern yet.

4. Not sure on this point. Looking at our away games last year and have attended some myself, we had good turnouts in many places. We have a lot of alums in the midwest that enjoy getting to see ASU when they get the chance.

I enjoy the WCHA and will continue to watch from afar as a fan of the sport. I think it would have been fun being in the league, but as you said, in the end it probably wasn't a good fit for either. I'm sure conferences will continue to shift and at some point the right fit will be there.
Click to expand...
REvs is right, ASU has a decent strength and wouldn't really hurt teams who played them. I think it would have been a net gain in terms of PWR for the conference, however, the travel is an issue and will be an issue no matter what conference they end up in. A lot of the NCHC teams are complaining about their travel too so the likelihood is they would also want a subsidy.
As far as home games. other teams may in the short run be willing to go to oceanside, but after one appearance and no firm plan for a date, I'd be shocked if they agreed to return.
ASU has such a large alumni base that they will draw where ever they go, imho, but not to the extent of the established hockey schools. In other words playing Minnesota at home is bringing you more fans than them every time.
Otherwise I'm sad to see them decide not to join, but I get the reasons.
So again, they may be fine for now with home games but not in the long run.
I'm a little surprised they get the recruits they get considering the rink and the heat.
 
manurespreader said:
REvs is right, ASU has a decent strength and wouldn't really hurt teams who played them. I think it would have been a net gain in terms of PWR for the conference, however, the travel is an issue and will be an issue no matter what conference they end up in. A lot of the NCHC teams are complaining about their travel too so the likelihood is they would also want a subsidy.
As far as home games. other teams may in the short run be willing to go to oceanside, but after one appearance and no firm plan for a date, I'd be shocked if they agreed to return.
ASU has such a large alumni base that they will draw where ever they go, imho, but not to the extent of the established hockey schools. In other words playing Minnesota at home is bringing you more fans than them every time.
Otherwise I'm sad to see them decide not to join, but I get the reasons.
So again, they may be fine for now with home games but not in the long run.
I'm a little surprised they get the recruits they get considering the rink and the heat.
Click to expand...

The PAC-3 incoming, we'll throw a bone out to CC and see if they bite to even things up.

Party school with some amazing study opportunities ;)
 
Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

I know that it's three months to puck drop, but I'm in a bit of a tight spot at work — trying to move management of one science rack into another team (including changing procedures and computer tools, leading training, etc.) while also trying to angle for a real NASA job, rather than the contractor gig I've been working — still here in Huntsville, a good change for me if it happens, etc. That means that my time to code on rankings is slim. :(

GFM
 
Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

: pulls cartridge out of Nintendo :
: blows on it :
: puts it back in :

So I'm running the WCHA media poll this year, and I need ideas for who I can contact for UAA, FSU, and LSSU. I have everyone else covered. Thanks in advance for your help.

GFM <— didn't get that NASA gig, boo
 
Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

gfmorris said:
: pulls cartridge out of Nintendo :
: blows on it :
: puts it back in :

So I'm running the WCHA media poll this year, and I need ideas for who I can contact for UAA, FSU, and LSSU. I have everyone else covered. Thanks in advance for your help.

GFM <— didn't get that NASA gig, boo
Click to expand...

Do you mean specific people or certain media outlets?

For LSSU, there are only a few media outlets in the region that actually pay much attention to Lake State. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you who to contact in most cases. Your best bets:
The Soo Evening News - sports editor Rob Roos (rroos@sooeveningnews.com)
Soverign Communications - John Bell? - 1230wsoo.com
Eagle Radio - radioeaglesoo.com

Other options:
The Sault Star (Ont.)
Sault This Week (Ont.)
SooToday.com (Ont.)
9&10 News (The Soo and Big Rapids are technically within their coverage area, but you wouldn't know that watching them!)

Good luck! And sorry to hear on the NASA job <sadface>.
 
Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

gfmorris said:
: pulls cartridge out of Nintendo :
: blows on it :
: puts it back in :

So I'm running the WCHA media poll this year, and I need ideas for who I can contact for UAA, FSU, and LSSU. I have everyone else covered. Thanks in advance for your help.

GFM <— didn't get that NASA gig, boo
Click to expand...

I agree with jsmithe on that, but I would suggest Sovereign, as their station is the one that covers Laker games.
 
Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

For Ferris, you should probably figure out who the sports editor for their student paper is. IIRC, they usually have a student do their radio play-by-play as well.

I had to LOL at the mention of the Traverse City TV stations. You're lucky when they occasionally show highlights from Ferris, and mention the LSSU score during the sports segment. They were better about covering the NAHL teams they and Alpena used to have, than either of the NCAA schools in their broadcast zone.
 
Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

FadeToBlack&Gold said:
For Ferris, you should probably figure out who the sports editor for their student paper is. IIRC, they usually have a student do their radio play-by-play as well.

I had to LOL at the mention of the Traverse City TV stations. You're lucky when they occasionally show highlights from Ferris, and mention the LSSU score during the sports segment. They were better about covering the NAHL teams they and Alpena used to have, than either of the NCAA schools in their broadcast zone.
Click to expand...

LSSU's student newspaper has had problems in being relevant lately. A friend of mine worked on it recently and, from the way he put it, the administration would put up a ton of red tape, making the paper look bad in the process.

As for "Tragic City's News Leader," why would we talk about college hockey when there's all sorts of nonsense involving cherries to cover instead? All of the local stations in Northern Michigan and the EUP are like that.
 
Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

I've gotten contacts for LSSU! Thanks to those who helped. I'm a little reluctant to dip into the student ranks, but I know how it is.

GFM
 
Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

Doyle Woody from the ADN (if their bankruptcy hasn't caused them to fold yet), sports directors for KTVA, KTUU, and KYUR for UAA.
 
Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

Here is what I have been able to put together. If you see any errors, please let me know, thanks!

The WCHA has 65 non-conference games this year, 18 home, 33 road, 14 neutral site. I am not including non-conference games between league opponents and exhibitions in this total.

24-25 NCHC Games (0-0-0)
15-18 Big10 Games (0-0-0)
3-5 Hockey East Games (0-0-0)
7 Atlantic Hockey Games (0-0-0)
5 ECAC Games (0-0-0)
5-7 Independent Games (0-0-0)
4-6 Interleague Games (Not counted in league total)
7 Exhibitions (Not counted in league or team total)
TOTAL: 0-0-0

ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE (0-0-0)
-2 at Notre Dame
-2 at Cornell
-2 at Arizona State

ALASKA (0-0-0)
-Simon Fraser (EXH)
-2 with Air Force
-2 at St. Cloud
-at Alaska-Anchorage
-Alaska-Anchorage

ALASKA-ANCHORAGE (0-0-0)
-Simon Fraser (EXH)
-2 with North Dakota
-2 at Colorado College
-Alaska
-at Alaska

BEMIDJI STATE (0-0-0)
-Minnesota-Duluth
-at Minnesota-Duluth
-2 with Air Force
-2 @ Princeton
-North Dakota
-at North Dakota

BOWLING GREEN (0-0-0)
-Wilfrid Laurier (EXH)
-US Under 18 Team (EXH)
-at Western Michigan
-Michigan State
-at Michigan State
-2 with Miami
-Western Michigan
-vs. Michigan (Detroit)
-vs. Michigan State/Michigan Tech (Detroit)

FERRIS STATE (0-0-0)
-at Western Michigan
-Western Michigan
-2 at Mercyhurst
-2 at Michigan
-at Michigan State
-Michigan State

LAKE SUPERIOR STATE (0-0-0)
-Laurentian (EXH)
-Northern Michigan
-at Northern Michigan
-2 at Denver
-2 at Michigan State
-vs. Robert Morris (Pittsburgh)
-vs. Arizona State/Providence (Pittsburgh)

MICHIGAN TECH (0-0-0)
-at Wisconsin
-vs. Union (Duluth)
-vs. Minnesota/Minnesota-Duluth (Duluth)
-vs. Michigan State (Detroit)
-vs. Michigan/Bowling Green (Detroit)
-vs. Boston College (Las Vegas)
-vs. Arizona State/Northern Michigan (Las Vegas)
-2 with Arizona State

MINNESOTA STATE (0-0-0)
-Regina (EXH)
-St. Cloud State
-2 at Boston University
-at Minnesota-Duluth
-at St. Cloud State
-Minnesota-Duluth
-US Under 18 Team (EXH)

NORTHERN MICHIGAN (0-0-0)
-at Lake Superior State
-Lake Superior State
-2 vs. Wisconsin (Green Bay)
-2 at Nebraska-Omaha
-vs. Arizona State (Las Vegas)
-vs. Boston College/Michigan Tech (Las Vegas)
 
Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

should i resurrect this thread? I guess so...excluding the catamount cup (only UAH and Vermont announced) here is the breakdown of WCHA opponents for the 63 game schedule home (25)/away (32)/neutral (6) games:
24-25 (9) NCHC Games (0-0-0)
14-16 (5) Big10 Games (0-0-0)
6-7 (4) Hockey East Games (0-0-0)
7-8 (3) Atlantic Hockey Games (0-0-0)
4 (2) ECAC Games (0-0-0)
4-5 (2) Arizona State games (0-0-0)
4-6 (2) WCHA Game (0-0-0)

Much better home/road split than usual but still too many road games against NCHC teams.
 
Re: WCHA offseason thread 2017.

I think I’ll just apologize in advance for UAA’s 0-4 Non-Conference record...
 
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