WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

[MadCityRich]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

The threat of Rockford can be a powerful motivator.

Best. Rip. Ever.

I've been laughing for 10 minutes before I could type.

I don't know why everybody is against the BTHC. With Purdue, Indiana, Iowa, Penn State, Northwestern, and Illinois in the league, that would mean 12 automatic wins.

 

[RedFreak]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

UW threatened a move (or at least implied it was open to one) in order to get Maturi to come to the table

Yeah, I assume that's what was going on. UW/Alvarez can't really be contemplating a move to the CCHA. But everybody knows that, so it's really not a credible threat.

 

[blockski]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Yeah, I assume that's what was going on. UW/Alvarez can't really be contemplating a move to the CCHA. But everybody knows that, so it's really not a credible threat.

No, it's not - but coming from the athletic director, it's enough to catch your attention.

 

[5mn_Major]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

UW isn't going to move to the CCHA. However, Alvarez (rightly) used it as a threat to get Maturi to the table, since the rest of the Big Ten schools are (rightly) interested in discussing the future of college hockey. UW moving would be UW going alone. That's not going to happen, but they can leverage their role into action by the other schools.

Valid...but what ever the order, it still shows they're not on the same page.

IMO its still a silly choice by Alvarez, whether it catches attention or not. What good does catching a attention do...except for having him back down immediately as everyone (including himself) knew he couldn't carry out the threat.

 

[aktick]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

IMO its still a silly choice by Alvarez

I am shocked, SHOCKED I say, to read that from a Gopher fan.

 

[uwbadgers14]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Yeah, I assume that's what was going on. UW/Alvarez can't really be contemplating a move to the CCHA. But everybody knows that, so it's really not a credible threat.

I really wish Barry would have taken the coaching job at Miami so every other uw sports besides football and basketball wouldn't have to worry about getting the shaft

 

[uwbadgers14]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Funny thing is that I have always assumed that MN and UW couldn't be separated. Here I see UW pushing for the Big Ten...MN saying no way (in part because too many small communities rely on local college hockey to improve life)...then UW saying we'll go to the CCHA then.

But in the end, Eaves knows better...there is no option but to stay cemented in upper midwest hockey.



Between challenges in recruiting and getting your fill of Ferris state, you move to the CCHA...and you can kiss that goodbye.

Minnesota moving to a Big Ten Conference means the end of college hockey in minnesota. All the small programs would lose there #1 Rival which means the decline in ticket sales and probably a slight decline in recruiting too. A lot of kids from minnesota go and play at St Cloud, UMD, MSU to have the opportunity to beat UM, the team that didn't recruit them. not to mention that would leave UND without a major rival as well...

 

[blockski]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Valid...but what ever the order, it still shows they're not on the same page.

IMO its still a silly choice by Alvarez, whether it catches attention or not. What good does catching a attention do...except for having him back down immediately as everyone (including himself) knew he couldn't carry out the threat.

What choice did Alvarez make?

He's put it out on the table that the current system isn't sustainable. And he's got a very positive response from OSU and nibbles from Michigan and Michigan State.

It's not about carrying out the threat, because the threat is pointless. The real threat would be the other 4 Big Ten schools opting to form their own league or their own tournament or something and forcing Minnesota into it against their will. But that's a complete hypothetical, whereas raising a move to the CCHA is tangible.

Alvarez loses nothing by backing down. He allows Eaves to maintain control of the program, while Barry gets to play 'bad cop.'

If you bluff when you're actually holding the cards, then it's not a bluff. And bluffs serve their purpose in negotiations like this far more than they do in poker, where it's not a back/white win/lose thing.

 

[RedFreak]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Minnesota moving to a Big Ten Conference means the end of college hockey in minnesota.

Hmmm. Is Barry that devious?

 

[sunprairie]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

I don't know your laptop, but with my MacBook, there is a very specific cable that goes from my video output to the hdmi input on the back of my tv.

Take your laptop into Best Buy and they'll set you up. I think that my cable was at least $60, so don't be surprised and what it does is put your computer screen on your tv. Don't expect it to work like a dvd player. It will make everything on the screen bigger, but you are limited to whatever the video feed window's size is.

Be warned that the cable is only for video, so I also need to run my computer speakers and the audio level through b2 is often very low.

Like I said, poor man's setup, but not too bad.

If your going for HDMI, don't buy from Best Buy (or any brick and mortar for that matter.) They will rip you on the price, trying to get you to buy Monster Cable with magnetic shielding or what not. It's all a huge lie -- HDMI is all digital, 1s and 0s come out of the computer and 1s and 0s go into the TV.

Get the cable you need from http://www.monoprice.com. You'll be amazed at the price difference. That's how I've hooked up my laptop to TV for women's playoff games last year. Works well and is truly a poorman's option at >$10 per cord vs. $60+ from Best Buy...

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Alvarez wants to make money, contain his costs, and put visiting teams in his building that are more familar to his primary fan base. I can't blame him for that. Wisconsin is a Big 10 sports culture first, and he's paid to think about what is best for UW first. He's not paid to really worry about the sport of hockey and the seismic impact of a BTHC on a very fragile 58 team college hockey ecosystem.

Minnesota is representative of a statewide hockey culture that happens to be a Big 10 member. They think about hockey first, then Big 10 needs. The Minnesota fan base is happier to watch St. Cloud as they are to watch Ohio State, because the vast majority of Minnesotans are hockey fans first as well as Gopher fans. The majority of UW fans are UW fans first (not hockey fans first) and would rather see OSU than they would St. Cloud.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Alvarez wants to make money, contain his costs, and put visiting teams in his building that are more familar to his primary fan base. I can't blame him for that. Wisconsin is a Big 10 sports culture first, and he's paid to think about what is best for UW first. He's not paid to really worry about the sport of hockey and the seismic impact of a BTHC on a very fragile 58 team college hockey ecosystem.

Minnesota is representative of a statewide hockey culture that happens to be a Big 10 member. They think about hockey first, then Big 10 needs. The Minnesota fan base is happier to watch St. Cloud as they are to watch Ohio State, because the vast majority of Minnesotans are hockey fans first as well as Gopher fans. The majority of UW fans are UW fans first (not hockey fans first) and would rather see OSU than they would St. Cloud.

Not true at all. The 12k to 13k that come to every game are hockey fans and are very familiar with the WCHA and as their unofficial spokesman most of them want the WCHA maintained. Mostly so we can still play NoDak, Denver & CC.

We already see Michigan & Michigan State each year and I can honestly say that I have NEVER heard anyone say that they wished we had more games against Ohio State or even UM or MSU for that matter. Believe me, playing against OSU wasn't the selling point for the game at Lambeau. It wouldn't have mattered in the least who we played.

Here in Madison, hockey is a small, but passionate community and to some degree an exclusive group. Most really like the fact that hockey gives us a chance to have other rivalries and see other schools. College hockey is kind of campy in that you have powers that are only powers in that one sport and speaking for myself, I love the idea of competing on a level playing field with a state school in Minnesota or the U.P. or wherever.

I have lots of non-hockey friends who have football and/or basketball tickets and who live here in town but have never been to a hockey game. I think that far more hockey fans go to the other sports than the reverse.

The additional 4k-5k that show up when things are going well may fit your broad sweeping statement a little better, but to say that this fan base wants a Big 10 conference is conjecture and isn't based on even a smidge of fact.

Now all that said, I can see where the AD might think that it would be a good idea because he would think that the curiosity seekers or the UW fans would be more likely to go see an OSU. But to say that the people who've led the nation in attendance every year that we've had the biggest building are not hockey fans is silly. We've been in the WCHA for an awful long time to think that all these people who go to games aren't familiar with it or into it.

 

[RedFreak]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Alvarez wants to ... put visiting teams in his building that are more familar to his primary fan base.

We'll see how that works out when we jump to the CCHA. I'm sure people are chomping at the bit to see Western Michigan, Bowling Green, Ferris State ...

The majority of UW fans are UW fans first (not hockey fans first) and would rather see OSU than they would St. Cloud.

I wouldn't bet on it. I can't improve on Gurtholfin, but I second what he said. And I'll emphasize that the Kohl Center is pretty close to full when the team is doing well. Of course it's been a little while since that's been the case. Maybe that's where Alvarez should be directing his attention.

 

[uwbadgers14]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

We'll see how that works out when we jump to the CCHA. I'm sure people are chomping at the bit to see Western Michigan, Bowling Green, Ferris State ...




I wouldn't bet on it. I can't improve on Gurtholfin, but I second what he said. And I'll emphasize that the Kohl Center is pretty close to full when the team is doing well. Of course it's been a little while since that's been the case. Maybe that's where Alvarez should be directing his attention.

I can't help but think that the Athletic Department and Alvarez in general takes for granted they have a hockey team that draws the numbers they do, specially with the slightly above product thats been on the ice the last couple of years. They should be thanking there lucky stars they have a 3rd sport that draws what it does because you look around the big ten or colleges across the country and not many schools have that. Show me an example of another school who draws like UW's 3 major sports draws, you will find a lot of 2 sport schools but not many 3 sport schools. Your not going to find many schools where they draw 80,000+ for football, 18,000+ for basketball then have a 3rd sport that draws 13,000+ and could get back to 15,000+ on average...

 

[HoosierBBall_GopherHockey]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

I know this has nothing to do with this season for you guys, but I had the opportunity to watch the San Antonio Rampage play the Lake Erie Monsters (former Gopher Stoa plays for them) of the AHL on FSN Ohio last night. I watched Turris score a sweet upper-shelf wrister to make it 2-0 San Antonio, but the announcers talked about his lack of strength as he went to the bench to celebrate. I thought that was odd they'd pick that time to talk about that. But he played a pretty good game overall. He does have a wicked shot.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

I know this has nothing to do with this season for you guys, but I had the opportunity to watch the San Antonio Rampage play the Lake Erie Monsters (former Gopher Stoa plays for them) of the AHL on FSN Ohio last night. I watched Turris score a sweet upper-shelf wrister to make it 2-0 San Antonio, but the announcers talked about his lack of strength as he went to the bench to celebrate. I thought that was odd they'd pick that time to talk about that. But he played a pretty good game overall. He does have a wicked shot.

You know announcers just get their talking points and really don't always know that much about the players that they are watching. Unfortunately for Turris, that's the talking point on him although I agree it seems an odd time to mention it.

Any updates on former Badgers are always welcome here. We talk about them quite often.

 

[blockski]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Alvarez wants to make money, contain his costs, and put visiting teams in his building that are more familar to his primary fan base. I can't blame him for that. Wisconsin is a Big 10 sports culture first, and he's paid to think about what is best for UW first. He's not paid to really worry about the sport of hockey and the seismic impact of a BTHC on a very fragile 58 team college hockey ecosystem.

Minnesota is representative of a statewide hockey culture that happens to be a Big 10 member. They think about hockey first, then Big 10 needs. The Minnesota fan base is happier to watch St. Cloud as they are to watch Ohio State, because the vast majority of Minnesotans are hockey fans first as well as Gopher fans. The majority of UW fans are UW fans first (not hockey fans first) and would rather see OSU than they would St. Cloud.

Well, others have addressed your points on UW's fanbase.

I think another poster on the Badger board had a great synthesis of Alvarez's motives:

Maturi falls right in line with the never-ending line of small thinkers that will keep NCAA hockey as a struggling niche sport forever.

Hockey is in desperate need of a sensible re-allignment that allows the haves and the have-nots to play against their own kind.

It's no surprise that basketball and football both thrive using this formula and hockey continues to limp along. Having Wisconsin and Michigan Tech in the same league in hockey makes little more sense than having Michigan Tech in the Big 10 for football. They can't compete consistently and never will. Get Tech in a league where they belong and the fan base will get fired up to see a team that can actually go out and win. (Think of it like the MAC or Horizon in baskeball... great games in packed smaller gyms against teams with similar resources).

So set up a system of majors and mid-majors... guarantee bids to the tourney for the mid-majors and get this thing running like a real sport.

For the record, the CCHA call by UW was likely little more than an attempted power play that promptly caused Maturi to **** his TCF-bank logo'd underwear.

Hockey is in need of a sensible re-alignment. Now, that doesn't mean Big Ten Hockey is the only option, but I could easily see a scenario where Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State each lobby the WCHA and CCHA respectively to reduce the conference schedule to 22 games (assuming the CCHA takes on UAH as a 12th team eventually, that is a balanced schedule - one series against each team, alternating home and road every other year), leaving 6 more non-conference games in addition to the 6 you already get. With 12 non conference games (and, for UW's sake, one conference series with MN) you can schedule a series each with MI, MSU, and OSU - and bada bing, you've got yourself a Big Ten, round-robin tournament - and you've still got 6 other non-conference dates (8 if you go to AK) to fill with the Badger Showdown, eastern opponents, buy games, and the like.

The WCHA and CCHA are so big now that the closest way to get to a balanced schedule is by having fewer games, not more.

 

[Almington]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Hockey is in need of a sensible re-alignment. Now, that doesn't mean Big Ten Hockey is the only option, but I could easily see a scenario where Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State each lobby the WCHA and CCHA respectively to reduce the conference schedule to 22 games (assuming the CCHA takes on UAH as a 12th team eventually, that is a balanced schedule - one series against each team, alternating home and road every other year), leaving 6 more non-conference games in addition to the 6 you already get. With 12 non conference games (and, for UW's sake, one conference series with MN) you can schedule a series each with MI, MSU, and OSU - and bada bing, you've got yourself a Big Ten, round-robin tournament - and you've still got 6 other non-conference dates (8 if you go to AK) to fill with the Badger Showdown, eastern opponents, buy games, and the like.

The WCHA and CCHA are so big now that the closest way to get to a balanced schedule is by having fewer games, not more.

I'd rather see a 24 game conference schedule for a 12 team conference (2 each against 10 of the teams and 4 against your designated rival). That would still open up 2 additional weeks of NC games for all the teams. I worry about the difficulty in scheduling 6 (or 7) weekends of NC play for some of the lower tier teams in the CCHA and WCHA.

 

[solovsfett]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Yeah, I assume that's what was going on. UW/Alvarez can't really be contemplating a move to the CCHA. But everybody knows that, so it's really not a credible threat.

Actually, since Barry found out about the Men's hockey team in 2006, he's probably got a million bad ideas like Baggot for this team (insert any onion quote here). Coincidentally that same year in a box at the kohl center it was overheard "wait.....we have women who play this game too?" "we should charge more for tickets or something, where do they play?" "do they have cheerleaders?"

 

[solovsfett]

Re: WISCONSIN HOCKEY 09-10 - Climbing The Mountain (7th Edition?)

Alvarez wants to make money, contain his costs, and put visiting teams in his building that are more familar to his primary fan base. I can't blame him for that. Wisconsin is a Big 10 sports culture first, and he's paid to think about what is best for UW first. He's not paid to really worry about the sport of hockey and the seismic impact of a BTHC on a very fragile 58 team college hockey ecosystem.

Minnesota is representative of a statewide hockey culture that happens to be a Big 10 member. They think about hockey first, then Big 10 needs. The Minnesota fan base is happier to watch St. Cloud as they are to watch Ohio State, because the vast majority of Minnesotans are hockey fans first as well as Gopher fans. The majority of UW fans are UW fans first (not hockey fans first) and would rather see OSU than they would St. Cloud.

The vast majority of UW HOCKEY fans would disagree with the last sentence there, and they make up 70-75% of season-tickets. Not sure Barry understands that.

My Dad and I have tickets 17 rows up, center ice in the lower bowl. we'd never give those up, but would tell the AD Dept that our donations to the badger fund will cease immediately if they **ck up the hockey program by moving it to another conference, B10, CCHA, or whatever.