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Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

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Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

Sometimes, I have thoughts about some things. Here are some of those thoughts.

1. Before Wisconsin finally scored, they were making me nervous, for obvious reasons. When they did score (Kunin to Besse), it looked like the kind of goal that the Wisconsin Badgers should be scoring against first-year club teams. They played well when all was said and done, but even if they play better tonight, it won't give me great hopes for the rest of the season.

2. You know how Rumpel was known as a totally non-stereotypical goalie? Aloof, interacting with fans, relaxed on game nights. I have a hunch that Jurusik may be more of a "weird goalie." I noticed he did this opening weekend, and I saw it again last night. When the team took the ice for the second period, Jurusik skated around the near goal, which ASU was about to defend, before stretching along the half-boards in that same zone. Just when you think he's completely lost, he slowly made his way down to the far end.

3. I keep seeing Wisconsin Hockey stuff at football games. This isn't anything new, but even in the rain today, there were plenty of hockey jerseys and few Crease Creatures shirts. (I've always worn my hockey jersey to games that precede a home hockey game or overlap with an away hockey game, but I went with a plain red jacket today.) I wonder if they're doing it to "fight the good fight." It's Wisconsin Badgers gear, so it makes sense to wear to a Wisconsin Badgers game, but I bet those people want UW hockey to rise up to where it should/could be.

4. While those wearing hockey jerseys undoubtedly will complete the doubleheader at the men's hockey game tonight, Freak Fest worries me. The last time a home hockey series overlapped with Halloween weekend was during the 2011-12 season, when the Badgers hosted Nebraska-Omaha. I remember a great, boisterous student section. Not only was it Halloween (observed) night, but football was on the road at Ohio State. Nevertheless, the students came out and did the other stuff around hockey. In terms of the epic downfall of UW men's hockey, that was a long time ago. This year, it will take much fewer unused student tickets to make a significant dent in the student attendance. On the other hand, the students still on board with UW men's hockey aren't that likely to skip hockey so they can do the Halloween stuff earlier.

5. Here are the goals from last night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdQIKzh4GII

6. This guy is considering Wisconsin: http://carubberhockey.com/khodorenkos-stock-on-the-rise-with-ntdp/
 
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Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

MadCityRich said:
You guys were talking about atmosphere yesterday, and solo mentioned what it used to be like.

I've been to the Xcel Energy Center and the United Center a few times, but last night at the "X" was the most cranked up I've been at a hockey game in years. It reminded me of Badger games past. Yes it was a conference game, a close game, and the good guys won against the champs, but that place was electric. I thought about going to the Badgers tonight, but I'll stick to my guns and I don't want 4000 people (wishful thinking) in the stands to bring me down.

The state urinal stats showed about 6,000 in attendance; who was there, was there really 6,000?
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Men's hockey had announced box score crowd of almost 6,700 while women's volleyball had announced crowd of just over 6,000. I would bet serious money that there were more actual people at the Field House than Kohl Center. And that's with the upper deck of the Field House being closed (from what I hear due to safety regulations). I know it's not a completely fair comparison because of ticket price differential, but it is still pretty telling.
 
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Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

Badger Booster said:
Men's hockey had announced box score crowd of almost 6,700 while women's volleyball had announced crowd of just over 6,000. I would bet serious money that there were more actual people at the Field House than Kohl Center. And that's with the upper deck of the Field House being closed (from what I hear due to safety regulations). I know it's not a completely fair comparison because of ticket price differential, but it is still pretty telling.
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The vast majority of the 6012 reported at volleyball were there. It's not like those first couple of women's hockey sellouts (besides opening night) during the first year of LaBahn Arena. My ticket went unused, but I'd be surprised if there were many eaten tickets, considering that it was largely a walk-up crowd.

For those who don't know, 6012 is the sellout capacity for volleyball. (Edit: Also, for those who don't know UW volleyball games are awesome, and some of my favorite sports-watching memories involve the insane atmosphere that can develop there. Double edit: If you keep going to those games, it'll be easier for them to carry out the plan to get that upper deck up to current code, and it can open up.)

The hockey game didn't seem as bad as opening night, crowd wise. That said, those who did show up...didn't give it there all. I'm talking about the old people who just couldn't do a "we want more" chant.
 
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Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

WiscDC said:
The vast majority of the 6012 reported at volleyball were there. It's not like those first couple of women's hockey sellouts (besides opening night) during the first year of LaBahn Arena. My ticket went unused, but I'd be surprised if there were many eaten tickets, considering that it was largely a walk-up crowd.

For those who don't know, 6012 is the sellout capacity for volleyball. (Edit: Also, for those who don't know UW volleyball games are awesome, and some of my favorite sports-watching memories involve the insane atmosphere that can develop there. Double edit: If you keep going to those games, it'll be easier for them to carry out the plan to get that upper deck up to current code, and it can open up.)

The hockey game didn't seem as bad as opening night, crowd wise. That said, those who did show up...didn't give it there all. I'm talking about the old people who just couldn't do a "we want more" chant.
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They NEVER participate, even when there are 15,000 in the house. I'm one of those "they" when I'm there, but I can cheer and compete with the best; ask Mrs. MCR of 30 years.:D

EDIT: I'm really not a curmudgeon boys! This topic is honestly the only thing in my life that fries my ham. I'm not only upset personally, but I really feel bad for the younger crowd that think this is close to the norm; it isn't.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

MadCityRich said:
They NEVER participate, even when there are 15,000 in the house. I'm one of those "they" when I'm there, but I can cheer and compete with the best; ask Mrs. MCR of 30 years.:D
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Even in some of the absolute garbage crowds I've seen in the last few years, the old people can produce a better "we want more" than last night, both visually (hands) and audibly. At least the students were as good as always on a per-person basis. (And of course, fans are less willing to get engaged with cheering if there's a lot of space between fans.)

EDIT: I'm really not a curmudgeon boys! This topic is honestly the only thing in my life that fries my ham. I'm not only upset personally, but I really feel bad for the younger crowd that think this is close to the norm; it isn't.
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This is what stings the most to me, and it goes back to what I've written about before regarding 4-year "generations" potentially being lost. Students have a much better chance of getting sucked in to Badger hockey fandom if they start going to games in a raucous environment. My friends whom I've seen at games for years and everyone in this thread are all on board with the whole "Wisconsin Hockey" thing. We know what it should be like, but it's crazy to think what this year's freshman see.

It's a darn good thing that hockey is pretty popular in the areas where the vast majority of UW students come from, so at least there's a steady dose of students on board with the sport in general. How many of them get on board with UW hockey is another (and a big) issue.

-------

As a total aside, I was listening to an interview with Richard Peddie the other day, and when he was talking about when the Blue Jays hit their lowest attendance figures. I don't remember exactly what he said, but he mentioned how they had a general estimate of how low it could go in a really bad year, and it ended up going way lower. I feel like 3 years ago, the most commonly estimated floors for Wisconsin hockey crowds was much higher than what we've seen.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

MadCityRich said:
They NEVER participate, even when there are 15,000 in the house. I'm one of those "they" when I'm there, but I can cheer and compete with the best; ask Mrs. MCR of 30 years.:D
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My feeling is be the fan that you want to be. As I've gotten older, I was always cheering along with the students even though I was on the other side of the KC in the 3rd level. I just wanted to have a good time and support the club. Seems like there are fewer and fewer that want to do that, and that makes me sad.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

I had a lot of fun at that game. That's not because I was significantly encouraged by a 2-1 win over ASU, and it's not because the student section had Thanksgiving numbers while the rest of the crowd looked like an OSU game. The people all around me were just super cool and on top of everything.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

WiscDC said:
I had a lot of fun at that game. That's not because I was significantly encouraged by a 2-1 win over ASU, and it's not because the student section had Thanksgiving numbers while the rest of the crowd looked like an OSU game. The people all around me were just super cool and on top of everything.
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Boring game, but a win. Almost gave it away in the third period with the classic eaves go into your shell with the lead. Student section was pathetically small, about five rows in the lower level and that was it. Adult crowd tiny too. Atmosphere is dead right now for hockey at the kohl center.

If I knew how to post pictures I could show you.....
 
WiscDC said:
Here's the page: http://www.uwbadgers.com/news/2015/10/30/MHOCKEY_1030151442.aspx ...the most striking thing is that that picture at the top is less than 2 years old, and depicts real life.
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Im not surprised, attendance has been declining for years. Flaming out in the first round in 2012-13 and 2013-14 when those were supposed to be the up years. Fans had gotten sick of the up and down nature under eaves, and when those up teams don't deliver look out. Follow that up with a 4 win season and it's no surprise that attendance has crashed as hard as it has.

This team feels from a fans perspective very much like Eaves first season. Clearly outmatched by the top teams and going to struggle against the lower teams, but they (particularly the underclassmen) have that "no quit" attitude about them. I would love to see what a different head coach could get out of them.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

Innova said:
So, I know there is a game going on, but a little birdie mentioned Chris Brooks' named mentioned as a possible replacement if Eaves gets canned. Anyone else hear that name at all?
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Not to dig this up to derail discussion too badly here, but I wasn't able to get to it yesterday. That's interesting, and I'm beyond interested to know where you heard it. He's engineered a tremendous resurgence at UWSP after the prior coach left the program at a level that was flat out embarrassing -- for reasons that have little to do with wins and losses. Chris could probably do well in Division I at the right place, but regardless of whether that is true or not, I'd be stunned if a place like UW would ever pull the trigger on him.

That said, I've never really gotten on this before but it's in the same vein: A guy that any Division I school that wants to pay attention should make a run at is St. Norbert's Tim Coghlin. I understand all the geniuses on the DI board snicker like ignorant dunces at anything that might remotely relate to DIII, but if you put Tim at any college program with at least reasonable resources, he's going to win a lot of games. I don't care if it's DI, DIII, DXIV or anything else anyone wants to come up with -- he'll win. In any aspect of life there are guys who periodically come along who are anomalies, and he's one of them.

Not to say I'm ready to start www.timcoghlintowisconsin.com anytime soon, but as this is the UW thread we'll use it as an example: You put Tim at UW and there wouldn't be much talk about empty seats or winless first months, and there surely wouldn't be glaring optimism over the fact a first-year Arizona State is rolling into town so UW finally is playing someone it should beat. In short manner UW would be a contender, year in and year out, and the seats would fill back up as a result. I don't know much, but I know that.

I'd be willing to bet nearly everything I have on it, including some non-essential body parts. And I'm not joking about that.
 
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Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

WiscDC said:
http://www.uwbadgers.com/news/2015/10/30/MHOCKEY_1030151442.aspx ...the most striking thing is that that picture at the top is less than 2 years old, and depicts real life.
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The only thing is the b6 teams to draw better than the lower end n/c games, but 6000 is still awful. I suspect the b6 games will get close to 10000, which is also awful.

Nice snow job UW with the picture of a OSU game above the ASU game notes. Very disingenuous.

They got the sweep! They finished a tight one, good for the confidence. That makes me happy. Now they go from playing the worst team in D1 to the best. That makes me frightened.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

they did what was expected of them going in, but really they did also show just how far off they are from being a WISCONSIN team.

paging mr. Granato please pick up the phone
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

Fun game last night.

Should have been much more than 2-1. Our forwards need to shot off the pass much faster. They gave way too much time for the goalie to get over and square up with them off the pass.

Zirbel was fun to watch, he should be a solid 4 year guy. He needs to put on some weight.

Had a whole section to ourselves with cushioned seats. Enter Sandman needs to go.
 
Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXXIV: A Season without Chuck

bucky15 said:
Fun game last night.

Should have been much more than 2-1. Our forwards need to shot off the pass much faster. They gave way too much time for the goalie to get over and square up with them off the pass.

Zirbel was fun to watch, he should be a solid 4 year guy. He needs to put on some weight.

Had a whole section to ourselves with cushioned seats. Enter Sandman needs to go.
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Boring boring boring. Not fun at all.

Agree they need to shoot off the pass one timer style.

The place was empty so you get pretty much any seat you wanted.
 
WiscTJK said:
Boring boring boring. Not fun at all.

Agree they need to shoot off the pass one timer style.

The place was empty so you get pretty much any seat you wanted.
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Wow, were we at the same game?
I realize that the standards may have between set pretty low after years of Eaves' boring systems, but this weekend looked a lot different than the past few years.
More aggressive in the neural zone, more aggressive gaining the offensive zone (not nearly as much chip and chase, lots of play through the middle).
Would it have been nice to see a pair of 10-0 games, sure... But that wasn't a realistic expectation. I was quite surprised and excited by the pace of play in general this weekend.
 
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