College Hockey Thread
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It's a venue that needs Wisconsin to draw well. Maybe tUMD would work too.
There's a general problem with western venues that most of them only have one or two teams that travel well nearby, and if those teams don't make the tournament or don't bracket into the venue, it will be empty. St. Paul might be one of the better ones in that regard, as over and above Minnesota, you've also got tUMD, St. Cloud, North Dakota, and I'd guess even Wisconsin close enough to have a decent turnout from that fanbase if the team is there.
And for those suggesting Madison as some kind of solution, it's no better than Green Bay as far as likely attendance, as was proven the year the regional was there and the Badgers didn't make the tournament.
Meh. It's an attendance issue. They can barely fill up regionals regardless do its at least somewhat defensible they have the host school play there.
Hockey East officials are coming to Storrs tomorrow as Uconn is formally applying for membership. Uconn has promised a new on campus facilities and upping scholarships to 18. Games will be played in Hartford to start. Some seem to think that Uconn would not be making this public unless acceptance was not assured but who knows. There might be interest from NBC to have Uconn in with ND.
That being said...BC we are coming for you! Lolol
That being said...BC we are coming for you! Lolol
Maine's Brian Flynn has signed a contract with the Buffalo Sabres, and is expected to report to the Rochester Americans. His linemate, Spencer Abbott, has signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs and will play for the Marlies.
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/03/28/sports/maine-hockey-linemates-roommates-brian-flynn-spencer-abbott-agree-to-pro-contracts/
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/03/28/sports/maine-hockey-linemates-roommates-brian-flynn-spencer-abbott-agree-to-pro-contracts/
This will be a horrifically bad move unless UConn is going to actually devote time and effort into the program. As someone on EO said, hockey is their THIRD most popular winter sport, which is crazy. The rink is a joke and I doubt they'll grab any displaced Whalers fans that don't already have connections to the school. The only reason I even knew they had a team was because the logo is on the women's Hockey East sign in Conte. That ain't a good sign.
Ironically I don't care about the BC-UConn beef in this case.
Things are looking up for NU. And by up, I mean down. Top USHL goalie, 18-year-old Jon Gillies, decommitted from Northeastern today due to the decision made by Chris Rawlings to stay for his senior season (a complete surprise for most people here on campus it seems, including the coaching staff). With Rawlings back, there's just no room - especially in scholarships - for Gillies.
This is obviously not good for NU, having lost 3 top recruits in the past year now (Gaudreau, defenseman Garrett Haar, and now Gillies). What if, what if, what if...
Anthony Bitetto also signed with Nashville. (I'm struggling to find a link at the moment, but I'm 99.9 percent sure I read that in the past week.)
In brighter news, Ludwig Karlsson announced he'd be staying for his sophomore season next year, and the Twitter rumors appear to be that Vinny Saponari will stay for his senior year too.
This is obviously not good for NU, having lost 3 top recruits in the past year now (Gaudreau, defenseman Garrett Haar, and now Gillies). What if, what if, what if...
Anthony Bitetto also signed with Nashville. (I'm struggling to find a link at the moment, but I'm 99.9 percent sure I read that in the past week.)
In brighter news, Ludwig Karlsson announced he'd be staying for his sophomore season next year, and the Twitter rumors appear to be that Vinny Saponari will stay for his senior year too.
UConn doesnt half-ass it when it comes to sports. Mens and women's hoops, soccer, baseball, their quick rise to decency in football... If they are given a spot in Hockey East, they are going to do what it takes to be competitive. It won't be right away but 5-10 years down the road absolutely. UConn will not be doing this just to be a punching bag for the rest of the New England teams for the next 20 years.
There are still a lot of hockey fans in this state looking for something to embrace since the Whale left. Sorry, rooting for a Rangers minor league team doesn't cut it. And hell, rooting for the NHL to comeback is fruitless because Bettman hates Hartford. Having a team with the UConn name on it - that's different. The passion and intensity of New England collegiate hockey is greater than the AHL. I have no doubt that the school and state will embrace it if given the chance.
That makes two of us. I haven't been able to see much college hockey out of the ECAC this year, but Dumoulin had a graceful quality to him in high school that made him look like a man among boys in high school. Of course, given the competition, he basically was. It always seemed like he was moving relatively slowly from the stands, but his spin move at the point and stride were apparently deceptively good.
But they've been a D-1 team for over a decade now and the only thing they've done of note is close off the roof of the hockey rink. A hockey rink that, by and large, was still an awful barn the last time I played in it about 3-4 years ago. They play in the what is far and away the weakest conference in D-1 hockey and have been over .500 twice but not since the 2000-01 season, their second in D-1, where I'm guessing their schedule was more of a transitional one than a full blown D-1 schedule. Football jumped up to D-1 and had success fairly quickly or at least were fairly competitive within a couple of years of the transition. To say they've done a half-ass job with the hockey program would be an insult to people that perform half-ass jobs. It's been abysmal and, unless they outline some big, big changes, primarily starting with an on-campus or otherwise accessible arena, I think it would be an awful move by Hockey East.
I think you are missing the point. If UConn tells Hockey east they are going to devote the time and resources to be competitive, then I asssure you they will have on campus facilities that will be better than almost anyone in Hockey east in 5 years. The money is there, the President is completely behind this (and promoting every other sports program, she knows its the only hope of getting the f out of the Big East along with improving academics) and the UConn brand and fan base is significantly better than anyone else HE can get now that ND is in the fold. It's a no-brainer for everyone involved. They are promising a brand new on campus facility and would play at the XL center until its done. UConn offers 0 scholarships right now...they promised to get that up to 18, same as max allowed.
Maybe they'll offer York $1M per year to come and coach
I think we're on the same page, basically that they need to put a big, big, big time commitment into the program for it to be a good move. I hadn't really put the whole conference thing together, so I guess that also makes more sense as to why they're all gung ho about improving the profile of the team now rather than, say, 10 years ago when they first made the transition. Ultimately, anything that promotes Northeast hockey usually isn't a bad thing so I'm on board for it so long as they actually do put the efforts in outlined above.
If HE wanted more crappy games on the schedule I'm sure they'd just schedule more games with Providence and UMass game, amirite or amirite?
If HE wanted more crappy games on the schedule I'm sure they'd just schedule more games with Providence and UMass game, amirite or amirite?
If this comes to pass it will doom Quinnipiac hockey for the foreseeable future.
Somewhere Belli cries.....
Somewhere Belli cries.....
Clears is 100% right. Pay no attention to how UConn treated hockey in the past. There is a new president who fully embraces sports and academics and improving the UConn brand name anyway possible. Not to mention the new AD was asst. AD at Michigan.
If its gotten this far I assume HE believes UConn is earnest in going full throttle with hockey.
I was a Whaler fan who just can't get into the AHL but I will absolutely buy season tix if UConn goes to Hockey East. And I think there r many like me.
If its gotten this far I assume HE believes UConn is earnest in going full throttle with hockey.
I was a Whaler fan who just can't get into the AHL but I will absolutely buy season tix if UConn goes to Hockey East. And I think there r many like me.
If they do gear it up, it is a natural fit for UConn to go to HE. All the state U's in New England that play D1 currently are in the conference. It would be a natural rivalry with UMass. I am sure HE has told UConn it is conditional on them playing in a decent size, acceptable arena and to have 18 scholarships. If they put up a 6500 seat on campus arena, gave out 18 scholarships and ramped it up over 4 years, they could come into the HE in about 5 years and be pretty competitive. For now, while they build the program, playing at the Mall in Hartford would be OK, but they need an on campus site. College hockey really depends on mid size tight arenas on campus to add the atmosphere needed.
I wonder what this would mean to programs like PC, UMass-Lowell and Merrimack. I still don't understand why PC is in HE. They should be in the ECAC or a lower D1 conference. If you look at the schools that play in the HE, they are all either state schools, D1 national powers or located in Boston. The only exception is Merrimack and until the past coupole of years they sucked. I doubt you will see them be a major player in HE on a perennial basis. But back to PC, it is a tiny school, Schneider is outdated (it is like the old McHugh Forum except with seats rather than benches) it no longer has the juice to compete with the other HE schools like it did when Lamoriello was running the show and to me its a hard sell when you can only promise a recruit that they will play HE programs. You can't honestly say you will compete with them, despite the fact they pulled an upset this past season. PC's size, facilities and the school's mission statement, to me makes them more of a fit with places like Union, RPI, Clarkson and St. Lawrence...old time hockey schools that are not Ivies but decent schools with old, quaint (some might say second rate) facilities that can compete amongst themselves and occasionally catch lightning in a bottle (see Union this year).
I wonder what this would mean to programs like PC, UMass-Lowell and Merrimack. I still don't understand why PC is in HE. They should be in the ECAC or a lower D1 conference. If you look at the schools that play in the HE, they are all either state schools, D1 national powers or located in Boston. The only exception is Merrimack and until the past coupole of years they sucked. I doubt you will see them be a major player in HE on a perennial basis. But back to PC, it is a tiny school, Schneider is outdated (it is like the old McHugh Forum except with seats rather than benches) it no longer has the juice to compete with the other HE schools like it did when Lamoriello was running the show and to me its a hard sell when you can only promise a recruit that they will play HE programs. You can't honestly say you will compete with them, despite the fact they pulled an upset this past season. PC's size, facilities and the school's mission statement, to me makes them more of a fit with places like Union, RPI, Clarkson and St. Lawrence...old time hockey schools that are not Ivies but decent schools with old, quaint (some might say second rate) facilities that can compete amongst themselves and occasionally catch lightning in a bottle (see Union this year).
I don't think so...if Uconn gets any traction it will be good for Quinnipiac and Yale, too, at least in terms of exposure
I will root for UConn hockey if this comes to pass, but won't give up my QU season tix. I think QU will be OK, Feelix. It's not like they'd be fighting over the best hockey players in CT. Half the team is from Canada. Storrs is a long drive, too. And you only need to sell 3000 seats to be considered successful.
QU does provide a good model for UConn as far as spending money leading to success. UConn will get better matchups in HE But IMHo
the ECAC has enough quality teams to continue to be compelling to watch.
QU does provide a good model for UConn as far as spending money leading to success. UConn will get better matchups in HE But IMHo
the ECAC has enough quality teams to continue to be compelling to watch.
Union not getting any love from the refs here. Even the goal against looked like the ref got in the way of the defender as he tried to make a play on the puck behind the net.
Agreed. Union played a really great game. I really thought the pressure they applied on Nelson early in the 3rd period would get them over the hump.
Barry Melrose with a terrible gaff on the 1980 US Olympic team. BU, not BC, and Minnesota were the 2 main feeder schools.
"Didn't he win one with Bowling Green too?" FFS Melrose, would it KILL you to at least look at a the game notes?
My favorite is how he expected a high scoring game and then lauded BC for having one of the top GAAs in the nation. And his being surprised by BC's defense's size.
Historically, these are exactly the style of games that BC would lose- BC would pepper the other team with a million shots and yet find a way to lose 3-1 allowing only 9 shots or some crap.
See: NCAA Championship Game, 2007.
Fuckong Brian Boyle with a stupid step and an even dumber drop on a 3 on 2. And this is why forwards can't play defense.
Fuckong Brian Boyle with a stupid step and an even dumber drop on a 3 on 2. And this is why forwards can't play defense.
BC is going to win this tournament. I'd be surprised if Ferris even puts up a fight on Saturday night.
This has been pretty much my thinking since they steamrolled Maine in the HE Final.
I think ESPN needs to pipe in some artificial crowd noise or something. It's absolutely dead in Tampa right now.
Regarding Melrose and his gaffes, I honestly don't think he gives a flying fuck about the game notes. He's a former top-rated NHL analyst who in a couple of short years has seen his employing network eliminate coverage of the league while relegating the NCAAs to tertiary channel exposure.
Regarding Melrose and his gaffes, I honestly don't think he gives a flying fuck about the game notes. He's a former top-rated NHL analyst who in a couple of short years has seen his employing network eliminate coverage of the league while relegating the NCAAs to tertiary channel exposure.
Ditto. They're in overdrive on all 12 cylinders. It'll be an upset if Ferris can even make it a marginally competitive championship game, let alone beat them.
Minnesota shamed themselves by gooning it up at the end of the game. And it was started by their own captain, Taylor Matson.
It was a closer game than 6-1 but Milner played out of his mind early in the game and the Eagles seemed to bury every chance they had. After watching BU kick the crap out of BC at Conte Arena in December it's hard to believe this is the same team and that they're on the verge of a national championship.
It was a closer game than 6-1 but Milner played out of his mind early in the game and the Eagles seemed to bury every chance they had. After watching BU kick the crap out of BC at Conte Arena in December it's hard to believe this is the same team and that they're on the verge of a national championship.
The BU team that ended the season without the 2 felons and the non-student (Trevino, Nicastro, Coyle) was a much different team from the one in early December. Would have been nice to see them play each other for round 5 or 6, in the Frozen Four. In any case, I don't root against BC unlike most of my brethren, and reserve my college hockey hatred/opposition for Maine (became a fan in the early 90's) and Minnesota (and sometimes Northeastern). I of course do view Ferris as the underdog and will root for them, but don't mind at all if the championship returns to Commonwealth Avenue.
I just hope that punk Matson isn't a Broons property and I was a little pissed at the end of the game that we spent too much time on the 5 min PP passing the puck around (Jerry has too much class, respect for the game) I wanted to see double digits right up Matson/Minn's ass
best part was when Arnold was being seperated from Matson by the zebra and told the punk to look at the scoreboard
Billy Arnold is no shrinking violet himself.
Looking forward to tonight's game. After what happened last year against Colorado College, I can't see a letdown for the Eagles.
Looking forward to tonight's game. After what happened last year against Colorado College, I can't see a letdown for the Eagles.
Can anyone explain why ESPN feels the need to put the (MI) after Ferris St on their scoreboard graphic? Is there another Ferris St in some other state? Why not an (MA) after Boston College?
Maybe I'm just sensitive since they insist on putting the (OH) after Miami even though there's only one Miami in college ice hockey. Just seems superfluous, especially when they've relegated the game to ESPN2 and the only people watching are college hockey fans that know who Ferris State is already.
Maybe I'm just sensitive since they insist on putting the (OH) after Miami even though there's only one Miami in college ice hockey. Just seems superfluous, especially when they've relegated the game to ESPN2 and the only people watching are college hockey fans that know who Ferris State is already.
Was thinking the same- I have no idea why they're doing that. Seems totally illogical.
Speaking of idiocy, BC trying to set the record for most dumb penalties in a game.
They're worried about people confusing it with http://en.wikipedia....rris_University which as I understand it is also a hockey powerhouse.