Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

SCSU brought no juice to the table? They went to the Frozen Four this year. They have been decent

From a historical perspective, they were a tack on team in the wcha, another start up like Kato and BSU. Plus, historically they weren't very good. The name St. Cloud doesn't ooze history like an old time B6 team, or DU, CC, UMD, UND or even MT. OSU and PSU don't ooze history, but they are very recognizable B6 names.

 

[DoorCtyBadgers]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

From a historical perspective, they were a tack on team in the wcha, another start up like Kato and BSU. Plus, historically they weren't very good. The name St. Cloud doesn't ooze history like an old time B6 team, or DU, CC, UMD, UND or even MT. OSU and PSU don't ooze history, but they are very recognizable B6 names.

SCSU means a hell of alot more to college than 3 BT teams....boy that psu hockey program shiver......Denver, CC, SCSU, UND are true hockey schools with great hockey traditions...psu and osu are football schools where hockey is and always will be nothing more than a distraction

 

[solovsfett]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

The Kohl Center isn't exactly full now on Fridays/Saturdays. Now, I will grant that that has a lot to do with the team's performance. But I think the opponents also have something to do with it. A lot of fans don't really care about playing SCSU or Bemidji or UNO. The WCHA used to be special, now it's kind of meh.

The basketball team plays on plenty of weeknights, sometimes to a bunch of empty seats, sometimes to a full and pumped-up Kohl. There will always be the diehards who are there for every game, but then there are the casual fans. The opponent and the scope of the game play a larger role in the crowd than the night they play. Ranked teams and rivals = more fans in the crowd. I don't see hockey being much different.

I do think hockey fans will have to go through a bit of a culture shock because of schedule changes. That's something that will ease over time.

no the KC is NOT FULL. it's just my .02 but the drop in the fanbase has 10% or less to do with who they're playing and about 80% to do with HOW they're playing (both with the defensive boring trap-type style and the fact they've underachieved). maybe attribute 10% (might be low) to the odd scheduling and also fans generally walking away because they're tired of UW Hockey being an afterthought to Barry Alvarez's regime.

I would also re-phrase to say a lot of "casual fans" don't care about SCSU. I personally do. UNO would have built up, especially w/Blaiser there.

when I first started going to UW games they were sold-out all the time. I don't recall empty seats vs. the weaker WCHA teams in the mid-80's, late 80's or early and mid-90's and that's why I think the new WCHA w/Bemidji/UNO has very little to do w/the drop in attendance.

 

[Pucky Bucky]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

no the KC is NOT FULL. it's just my .02 but the drop in the fanbase has 10% or less to do with who they're playing and about 80% to do with HOW they're playing (both with the defensive boring trap-type style and the fact they've underachieved). maybe attribute 10% (might be low) to the odd scheduling and also fans generally walking away because they're tired of UW Hockey being an afterthought to Barry Alvarez's regime.

I think you're right about the opponent not having a lot to do with the drop in attendance but I also think the style of play and the underachieving have 0% to do with the drop in attendance. Both Wisconsin basketball (only being brought up b/c they compete for entertainment dollars with the hockey team) is probably the most boring basketball team to watch in person or on tv since the shot clock got introduced, and they draw well for Wednesday night games against Penn State. The football team pre-Russel Wilson ran an incredibly boring offense and the stands were packed.

IMO the common thread is that those teams win, and this year's team once they got even remotely healthy won a lot of games, 2 years ago the team played for a national championship, the system that Eaves runs hasn't changed since then and it will win games. If anything the biggest problem is that the team hasn't brought in enough horses to compete at the very top level, if you want to blame Eaves for some recruiting misses and the uneven classes that's fair but it has nothing to do with the 1-3-1 trap.

Lastly, I think the biggest thing turning season ticket holders away (I can't figure out a way to draw a line between casual and rabid fans) is the atmosphere at the Kohl center. Between losing out on games against marquee teams (This year UND, DU and Minn), the new security company (That makes Masters officials look like substitute teachers), the band still being on double secret probation, and the lack of beer sales (not that this is a selling point to come to games but it does create a different atmosphere when there are barley sodas).

All that being said (sorry for rambling I haven't posted in a long time but check the board 20 times a day) if the athletic department puts a bigger emphasis on hockey and makes games more accessable to the masses (special promotions/ not having to spend $32 a ticket to watch a game at the Dane) and is able to maintain a more traditional schedule in terms of Fri/Sat, the attendance numbers will being to climb once again.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

SCSU means a hell of alot more to college than 3 BT teams....boy that psu hockey program shiver......Denver, CC, SCSU, UND are true hockey schools with great hockey traditions...psu and osu are football schools where hockey is and always will be nothing more than a distraction

I agree on PSU and OSU, but to the young casual fan, going to watch UW play OSU has more juice than going to watch UW play BSU. Everyone has heard of OSU, 90% of the casual fans have never heard of BSU before. The casual fan has a lot of OSU hate already inside of them from BB and FB. There's no hate of BSU. The casual fan doesn't care about the history/tradition of opponents. I don't think who UW plays will have a huge impact on attendance, but all that is important is that they are more marketable opponents, which is the entire reason for formation of B6 hockey. For the record, I'd be fine with UW staying in the current watered down wcha, but I see more positives than negatives in the move. I personally am excited about playing the B6 opponents. I have a lot of hate for all the B6 opponents, though I don't need any more motivation to love and root for UW hockey than I already have or I'll end up behind bars for killing and smuggling dead gophers and wolverines in the KC to chuck onto the ice.

UW's attendance issues are 2 fold. They aren't selling out and those who have already spent money on season tickets aren't showing up. I'm not even sure dropping ticket prices or improving family packages will work either for selling out. It may have no positive impact on butts in the seats and simply drop revenue. The no show issue is baffling from a perspective on how do you fix it? People are busy, but they want the ability to come whenever they want. It's great that they can do that, but it's bad for the atmoshpere.

A 3rd problem is the hardcore fanbase is getting old. Old fans are generally quiet fans. I have seen this first hand from buying Gurt's and Gandalf's tickets and sitting in the season ticket areas. A 4th problem are these stupid fancy complicated phone devices. Fans are distracted during the games.

 

[badgerhawk]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

Sometimes there's weird scheduling occurrences that just unfortunately happen. Like when the football team was in the B1G championship game...on the same day that the basketball team played Marquette. There went basketball attendance. And this year -- the Windy City Classic was on the same day that the hoops team played Ohio State. My guess is that a lot more fans would have made the trip to Soldier Field had the basketball team not had a home game.

I do agree that Sundays during the Packer game is probably something to avoid; if they're scheduling Sunday, shoot for a 4 p.m. start if the Packers are playing at noon. Or a noon game if the Packers are playing in the late afternoon. But yeah -- you can't really plan ahead for things like the NFL playoffs, and you'll never avoid ALL conflicts. It's just not possible.

The only problem with this is the NFL's "flex" schedule, moving start times because of marquee matchups.

 

[4four4]

SCSU means a hell of alot more to college than 3 BT teams....boy that psu hockey program shiver......Denver, CC, SCSU, UND are true hockey schools with great hockey traditions...psu and osu are football schools where hockey is and always will be nothing more than a distraction

SCSU doesn't give shivers to the old CCHA schools. They don't have the history of CC and UND.

 

[GB Puck Fan]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

and the lack of beer sales (not that this is a selling point to come to games but it does create a different atmosphere when there are barley sodas).

.

Really? The NCAA hasn't allowed beer in on-campus arenas for years - so nothing has changed that this would be a factor in the recent drop. And the Coliseum having beer certainly didn't appear to motivate sales...

I think not.

 

[Innova]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

This *****ing about the B1G conference is just like all the people *****ing about the weather. You can't do anything about it, so now that it is done, we just have to make the best of it.

 

[Gandalf the Red]

This *****ing about the B1G conference is just like all the people *****ing about the weather. You can't do anything about it, so now that it is done, we just have to make the best of it.

Even being a big B1G hockey hater I completely agree.

I just want to know when Maryland & Rutgers are going to start hockey and add some actual value to the conference. Those were top notch additions!

Also under attendance woes, I think parking is too **** expensive, especially close to the KC. The dramatic change from $5 to $15 a few seasons back is crazy. I don't think that is keeping 5k people away, but in a tough economy it probably enters into some going to the game decisions.

And I agree on the new security people, what a bunch of dopes. When they aren't being *******s they are just standing around doing nothing. Must all work for the county highway dept during the day to practice.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

And I agree on the new security people, what a bunch of dopes. When they aren't being *******s they are just standing around doing nothing. Must all work for the county highway dept during the day to practice.

And out of nowhere, the highway dept takes a snake shot!

 

[Pucky Bucky]

Really? The NCAA hasn't allowed beer in on-campus arenas for years - so nothing has changed that this would be a factor in the recent drop. And the Coliseum having beer certainly didn't appear to motivate sales...

I think not.

You're right but up until the move to the KC it was allowed, a lot of season ticket holders started getting tickets at the old Dane and carried over to the KC. A lot of recent graduates aren't getting tickets bc the loud party crowd of the Dane doesn't exist any more.

And $32 tickets hurt attendance at the Dane there was no overcoming that.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

There are too many fallacies in regards to the Big Ten over the past 48 hours of this thread to correct. Hilarious how off the deep end one will go to spew an agenda onto others.

 

[WiscDC]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

There's no magic solution, but regarding beer, here are my thoughts. It's completely unnecessary for your enjoyment of a hockey game, even if you know very little about hockey going in. Also, sober yelling/chanting/singing has a much better effect than the alcohol-influenced versions. People just need to be less afraid to join in chants, and that takes a few fans who are willing to break the ice. Once it gets going, focused sober fans tend to be louder. I'd like to hear one "let's go red" started outside of the student section.

But the principle of the thing is what bugs me about people even bringing this up. You entice people with an amazing hockey experience, not a drug. Throughout high school, I saw plenty of new Capitals fans be born, and it was because they gave the game a chance and loved it. (Hockey seems to do that. It's beautiful.) If UW manages to get beer sold at the Kohl Center, a Big Ten on-campus facility, I will use the word "pathetic" so much it's usage in English will be retired, and I'll facepalm so hard I'll have a red forehead all year...the better to show my Wisconsin pride, I guess.

I don't believe that will happen, but those are my thoughts.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

Hilarious how off the deep end one will go to spew an agenda onto others.

Ain't it though?

 

[Almington]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

The no beer rule is a big ten, not a NCAA rule (I believe).

 

[uwmark]

The no beer rule is a big ten, not a NCAA rule (I believe).

I drank many a beer in the Metrodome watching Bucky beat up the Gophers in football.

 

[GB Puck Fan]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

The no beer rule is a big ten, not a NCAA rule (I believe).

I'm 95% sure its an NCAA rule - applies to on-campus facilities. it can't control off, so the Coliseum, bradley Center, Metrodome can sell beer. Mariucci, KC, etc cannot.

 

[Chuck Schwartz]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

I'm 95% sure its an NCAA rule - applies to on-campus facilities. it can't control off, so the Coliseum, bradley Center, Metrodome can sell beer. Mariucci, KC, etc cannot.

Mariucci has had alcohol available in their club room. Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium (on campus) also sells beer.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol XXV: There's Hope! Or whatever...

Mariucci has had alcohol available in their club room. Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium (on campus) also sells beer.

So does the KC.

Just not to the general fans.