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West Coast College Hockey

Re: West Coast College Hockey

davyd83 said:
On ice success at the club level means zero towards varsity success.
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And means zero regarding fan interest, too. Will the same fans who enjoy watching ASU's club team go 30-6 and extend its winning streak over UofA to 32 games also enjoy going, say, 8-24 losing (yet again) to Bemidji State?
 
Re: West Coast College Hockey

Considering how many people love their ****ty football team, I'm willing to be an NCAA team in an nice arena will draw some fans. Just like an program starting out, of course they'll be bad, but that can be temporary.

LynahFan said:
And means zero regarding fan interest, too. Will the same fans who enjoy watching ASU's club team go 30-6 and extend its winning streak over UofA to 32 games also enjoy going, say, 8-24 losing (yet again) to Bemidji State?
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Re: West Coast College Hockey

My impression has always been that sports fans in general in the Northwest are extraordinarily passionate across all sports.
 
brassbonanza said:
My impression has always been that sports fans in general in the Northwest are extraordinarily passionate across all sports.
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Except perhaps NBA fans in Seattle? And, from radio broadcast the past four days, sounded like there were more Sox fans than Mariners fans at Safeco Field in Seattle.
 
Re: West Coast College Hockey

brassbonanza said:
My impression has always been that sports fans in general in the Northwest are extraordinarily passionate across all sports.
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Snively65 said:
Except perhaps NBA fans in Seattle? And, from radio broadcast the past four days, sounded like there were more Sox fans than Mariners fans at Safeco Field in Seattle.
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There is truth in both comments. But like fans in other cities, there are many fair-weather fans. In spite of letting the Sonics walk out of town, there are more than enough NBA fans that would pack the house every game. When local investors were trying to steal the Kings earlier this year, they got something like 40,000 season ticket requests.

As far as college hockey facilities are hard to find around here. There is a WHL team in every suitable arena.
 
Re: West Coast College Hockey

hab said:
A Sioux fan may have a slightly different view of "suitable arena" than most of us.;)
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Heh heh. :D The two WHL teams here occupy arenas that hold about 8,000 and ? I haven't been to the arena where the Seattle Thunderbirds play. The other options would be Key Arena (probably price prohibitive) and some very small rinks. Are there any other rinks in Portland?
 
Re: West Coast College Hockey

hab said:
Thought that I would add some data to support my thesis that the Pacific North West would be fertile ground for NCAA Div 1 hockey expansion. Currently, the US Division of the Western Hockey League has 5 teams in Washington and Oregon: Portland, Spokane, Everett, Tri Cities, and Seattle. They averaged 5330 fans per game this past season, and that is for a 72 game regular season schedule, not to mention the best-of-seven semi-final and final playoff series and beyond. Tier 3 Junior hockey has teams in Eugene, Tri-Cities, Vancouver (Wash.), Bremerton, and Bellingham (no idea what the attendance is, but not likely high for Tier 3. And of course, college sports rivalries are strong in the region and I am sure would easily transfer to hockey.
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WHL success doesn't mean college success, though. Take a look a Mercyhurst, who has to compete with an OHL team.
 
Re: West Coast College Hockey

Siouxfaninseattle said:
Heh heh. :D The two WHL teams here occupy arenas that hold about 8,000 and ? I haven't been to the arena where the Seattle Thunderbirds play. The other options would be Key Arena (probably price prohibitive) and some very small rinks. Are there any other rinks in Portland?
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ShoWare, where the Thunderbirds play in Kent is about the same size; technically a bit newer than Comcast Arena, but it was built cheaper and is already looking a bit dated. It's biggest problem, though, is the location in Kent, which is not a nice place and 25 minutes from Seattle proper. I quite like Comcast Arena, which is the one I assume you're referring to where the Silvertips play. Both WHL arenas though are appropriately sized for fledgling college hockey programs.

I can see KeyArena working as a temporary home for UW; I assume the Hec Ed Pavillion doesn't have ice making equipment, and as far as I know there's little discussion about replacing it any time soon. KeyArena's drawback is obviously its seating chart, schedule, and rental price. The location within Seattle is nearly ideal, though.

I grew up in Portland; I can't think of any arena besides the Rose Garden. There's a skating rink in Lloyd Center, but that would make a better Futile Four site. The other issue with Portland is that there isn't really a good college hockey candidate in the metro area. Oregon's Nike dollars would be ideal, but Eugene is sufficiently far to attract only diehard alumni from Portland.
 
Re: West Coast College Hockey

Siouxfaninseattle said:
Heh heh. :D The two WHL teams here occupy arenas that hold about 8,000 and ? I haven't been to the arena where the Seattle Thunderbirds play. The other options would be Key Arena (probably price prohibitive) and some very small rinks. Are there any other rinks in Portland?
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The only big rinks in Portland that I am aware of are the Rose center (where the NBA Blazers play) and the Memorial, just across from it. Both are more than big enough for either WHL or NCAA hockey, but unfortunately the Portland Winterhawks use both of them, depending on whether or not the Blazers are playing at home).
 
Re: West Coast College Hockey

RHamilton said:
Some UW musings posted on the Seattle PI website. Just pure what-ifs, but it's nice that people are even thinking about a program.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlesp...w-but-could-huskies-hockey-thrive-in-seattle/
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Interesting article. I have to think that Comcast and ShoWare really are not good options for a UW team. Both are about 25 miles from campus and would be a 2 hour drive on Fridays for a 7:00 game. And both already host WHL teams. The rink that he mentioned where the club team plays seats about 12 people. At least Key Arena is close to campus.
 
Re: West Coast College Hockey

darker98 said:
Sarcasm?
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Only a little. It has been quite a while since I was in the arena - I remember it as having very little seating.

Star2City said:
http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/article/2013/06/arizona-joins-western-collegiate-hockey-league-062613

Probably means nothing regarding NCAA aspirations, but Arizona, ASU, Colorado, CSU, Oklahoma, and C Okla have all stepped up to formalize a ACHA Div 1 club league.
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Who knows, it could lead to bigger things.
 
Re: West Coast College Hockey

Minor clarification. Arizona, ASU, Oklahoma, and Central Oklahoma were already ACHA D1. They were all independent. They are too far west to join an existing league since that would be killer travel if it had to be a regular thing.

This will be the first year that Colorado and CSU move up from D2 to D1. As a result all 6 teams formed a league to get an autobid to the ACHA tournament.

Good move for ACHA to get a little more stability out west, but it doesn't affect any NCAA aspirations that either are or aren't there already.
 
Re: West Coast College Hockey

Sports programs grow from the bottom up, not the top down. Participation in youth and college lacrosse programs is exploding. Expect to see west coast college lacrosse teams competing for national championships in the near future.
Progress and improvement are functions of change. Many USCHO posters are committed to resisting change in the rules, finances, leagues, recruiting, and extent of college hockey. A reactionary longing for the past and defense of the present will not contribute to the future of college hockey.
 
Re: West Coast College Hockey

...I think if U of Washington and Washington State, U of Oregon and Oregon State started programs they could pull in similar numbers to the WHL teams and maybe more. The reason being that those universities are well-known brands. Include in the promo's just how many NCAA guys are in the NHL right now etc and I don't think it'd be that difficult to put butts in seats. but obviously that's putting the cart before the horse.

I don't see much interest from AD's about elevating club teams, unless I've missed some write-ups recently
 
Osorojo said:
Sports programs grow from the bottom up, not the top down. Participation in youth and college lacrosse programs is exploding. Expect to see west coast college lacrosse teams competing for national championships in the near future.
Progress and improvement are functions of change. Many USCHO posters are committed to resisting change in the rules, finances, leagues, recruiting, and extent of college hockey. A reactionary longing for the past and defense of the present will not contribute to the future of college hockey.
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No many of them understand the reality of the situation.
 
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