Big Ten hockey and buyers remorse
February 28th, 2016 at 2:41 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 2:41 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 2:42 PM ^
I say fuck this conference.
BTN treats hockey like a non-revenue sport when it makes money at half the schools in the league. Neither of our games next weekend against OSU will be on regular TV.
The Friday game is BTN+ and Sunday won't have any way to watch it.
It's too late. We can't go back and are stuck in this worthless one-bid league. The only way it will get better is if more teams join.
And you know what? Even if Wisconsin gets its act together and 4/6 teams are decent, it still will be the same boring shit.
What fun is playing the same 5 teams for 4 months straight?
February 28th, 2016 at 2:43 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 2:46 PM ^
They did this to raise fractions of percentages in their revenue stream.
The "hockey deputy commissioner" LITERALLY SAID HE'S NOT A HOCKEY GUY.
You can't make this stuff up.
No one is enjoying this. Not one fan.
I can hardly wait for the Big 6 Tournament in 3 weeks which will have six people in attendance.
February 28th, 2016 at 5:49 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 2:59 PM ^
I only remember Comcast 90,000 and FSD sometimes. It was all radio for roadtrips to Northern, Ferris, etc.
February 28th, 2016 at 3:02 PM ^
FSD, FSD+, CBSSN, Comcast.
At least back then you weren't being led to believe every conference game would be televised only to find out that was a lie later on.
It was fun listening to the radio for the Alaska series with the 11pm starts.
February 28th, 2016 at 3:11 PM ^
So I've lived out of state since 2010 and I'm quite happy with the amount of games I can catch. In the CCHA days, if it wasn't on Fox Sports, I basically wasn't watching it. Now that so many games are available via BTN2Go or even BTN+, I can catch almost every game now
February 28th, 2016 at 3:36 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 6:34 PM ^
That makes no sense to me at all. This league sucks and watching is like a slow death. The B1G has ruined two great leagues with all the rivalries and history they contained. College hockey as a whole is worse off for it. Fuck the B1G.
February 28th, 2016 at 3:24 PM ^
I still don't understand why BTN doesn't show more games. They can use the overlap channels (the ones they use during football season) to show multiple games.
February 28th, 2016 at 4:03 PM ^
Because they don't care about Hockey.
February 28th, 2016 at 4:54 PM ^
I don't think they have access to those channels outside of football season. Same reason that they don't show every home basketball game and push some to BTN+.
February 28th, 2016 at 7:38 PM ^
Because Rutgers and Maryland don't have teams so nobody in the huge NY area would watch. BTN gears their non-football coverage toward the east now. When there are no teams in either NY, Indy or Chicago BTN doesn't think they get enough viewers.
February 28th, 2016 at 7:38 PM ^
Because Rutgers and Maryland don't have teams so nobody in the huge NY area would watch. BTN gears their non-football coverage toward the east now. When there are no teams in either NY, Indy or Chicago BTN doesn't think they get enough viewers.
February 28th, 2016 at 9:13 PM ^
They don't show more games because the ratings for the games they do show are beyond terrible and any game they show loses money for them.
February 28th, 2016 at 9:11 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 2:42 PM ^
It does seem kind of dumb to be in a league with only 6 teams .
February 28th, 2016 at 3:19 PM ^
I'm sick of playing the same five teams over and over again. It's like when the NHL had the stupid division format where the Wings played Columbus 6 times a year.
February 28th, 2016 at 4:09 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 4:33 PM ^
I've always heard a certain former athletic director was a real dick to the in-state schools. Heard things like demanding 2-for-1's or refusing to visit the smaller Michigan schools' barns. Seems like Ferris is the only one we didn't piss off royally since they're the only former CCHA team we've played since the CCHA dissolved (excl. B1G teams obv)
Renewing those relationships was something I'd hope Hackett would do but I know we has been geared towards higher level items. Hopefully Warde can right some of those wrongs. We need to swallow our pride and setup some even home/away series with the old CCHA teams
February 28th, 2016 at 2:43 PM ^
Well, I never followed hockey as much as some. I do miss the ND games, though.
I recall that an old co-worker from a few years back was not feeling the re-alignment at all - he was a Wisconsin alum and missed the rivarly with North Dakota (I think that was the big one they had?).
I like that the B1G is playing together as a conference, but again, I don't have all that much context.
February 28th, 2016 at 2:48 PM ^
I don't hate Wisconsin in hockey and Minnesota does not hate MSU.
No one on the current teams were even close to being alive the last time the big four programs were all in one conference.
February 28th, 2016 at 2:56 PM ^
Michigan and MSU used to be in the WCHA up to the early 80's to join what I'm sure was viewed as a much weaker CCHA. I'm sure people missed the WCHA back then. Fast forward to 2013 and everyone misses the CCHA.
It sucks now, but 10 or 20 years from now it'll probably be normal feeling again. At least I hope it will be...
February 28th, 2016 at 3:00 PM ^
Playing the same 5 teams for 4 straight months is death.
We need to put non-conference series in the middle of conference play so we can get a break and play some actual competition.
It would also be nice to see Michigan actually play at Yost. You know, since we haven't played a home series in over a month.
February 28th, 2016 at 4:11 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 4:14 PM ^
The conference schedule is the problem.
Having Wisconsin and Minnesota at home in December is bullshit. Just because those schools aren't on our level in Football doesn't mean we don't care about Hockey.
We even had PSU in November at home last year. Come on. That's turning into a rivalry. It's certainly more competitive than our biggest rivalry game is right now.
February 28th, 2016 at 2:43 PM ^
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February 28th, 2016 at 2:50 PM ^
Get rid of the two shitheads that called Friday's game. Send them off to Fox Sports North.
Oh wait, even in the FS-N guys paid by Minnesota to do their games don't act like that.
February 28th, 2016 at 6:40 PM ^
Something else that pisses me off: listening to other teams homer announcers when we finally get a game. Even the MSU games on FSD are MSU homer announcers. I dont like hating every word that comes out of Darren and Kens mouths. Makes watching Red Wing Hockey wierd.
February 28th, 2016 at 3:13 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 2:54 PM ^
but this was inevitable when PSU started up hockey. We're all in a conference together in everything else. Even if the CCHA survived post-PSU, it was just going to die when more B1G teams joined in the future
The fact that college hockey is so niche really favored the local leagues. It'll never go back again, but it was fun
February 28th, 2016 at 2:58 PM ^
The local leagues are still around and they're kicking the Big 6's ass.
WCHA, HEA, NCHC. All worlds apart from this league.
This is likely the only "power conference" that will have hockey, so the B1G is the only outlier.
February 28th, 2016 at 3:02 PM ^
I mean the CCHA and WCHA with the Big Ten teams still in them
February 28th, 2016 at 8:41 PM ^
Was there some bylaw or rule by which the B1G HAD to form a hockey conference?
The Ivy League has 6 of their schools playing hockey: they're all part of a 12-team ECAC.
I grew up in Michigan and grew up on college hockey --- so I appreciated the CCHA. I do wish there could have been a way for PSU to join the CCHA, thereby maintaining (for the time being, until other B1G start the sport) both the regional CCHA + WCHA.
February 28th, 2016 at 3:05 PM ^
Apparently they love it in State College:
Despite all the angst in Minnesota, the Big Ten is a big hit on the one campus that had no Division I hockey history. Penn State’s announced attendance of 6,093 per game at Pegula Ice Arena — 105.4 percent of capacity — is seventh-highest in the country. “Any time any Big Ten team comes to Pegula Arena, the fans go nuts,” Nittany Lions coach Guy Gadowsky said. “We play the Big Ten in anything, and they’re drinking it up.” Gadowsky, who played in the WCHA at Colorado College, said the potential for Big Ten hockey is “tremendous.” He believes the league’s national reputation will benefit college hockey in the long run.
Hopefully the Big Ten add a few more teams and that excitement will grow throughout the league. I'd love to see te B1G conference seasons shortened and have all the member leagues make a concerted effort to keep rivalries with local teams alive
February 28th, 2016 at 3:11 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 3:13 PM ^
though there are rumblings around. Iowa is having a beautiful rink being built right in town (which is technically a nearby town's rink but is within walking distance of Iowa's campus) and Nebraska's arena is hockey ready so they would need substantially less money to start up.
February 28th, 2016 at 3:15 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 4:15 PM ^
Eight is a huge difference maker. A league of six anything is just not viable.
February 28th, 2016 at 3:31 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 4:45 PM ^
I had also heard a rumor that UNO had negotiated with Nebraska that (in exchange for some budget cuts I believe), Nebraska-Lincoln would not add hockey since UNO sort of has a corner on that market and UNL would take a big cut from UNO's fanbase if they moved up
February 28th, 2016 at 5:23 PM ^
UNO has a nice stadium and is the pride of Omaha during the winter season. I'm sure Omaha puts a lot of pressure on UNL not to have a Big Ten team, but in time, that may change.
February 28th, 2016 at 3:44 PM ^
Old rivalries and traditions are a big part of college hockey. You can't just create some new teams in places like Iowa and expect people to care. As Crisler said, tradition is something you can't buy at the corner store. I would much rather play Western Michigan than Penn State.
I really miss the CCHA tournament. The format was great, on-campus best of three series with the semifinals and championship game at the Joe.
February 28th, 2016 at 4:41 PM ^
but Michigan only joined the CCHA in '81 I believe. Prior to that, it had basically been some version of the WCHA since the 50's. The rivalries in the Big Ten will build, but it will take a long time
February 28th, 2016 at 5:49 PM ^
The traditions are still there, just not for us. Wisconsin still plays NoDak and other Wcha rivals. Minnesota played UMD, Bemidji, St Cloud and Minnesota State this year.
Michigan doesn't play any of their old CCHA foes because of the way Michigan used their political standing to bully teams in the CCHA days. If it wasn't like that, we wouldn't be spending our non-conference slate playing AHA teams.
Just wait until next year and see who Michigan has to resort to playing. It won't be a fan favorite.
February 28th, 2016 at 4:21 PM ^
Well of course PSU likes the Big Ten. They have nothing to compare it to. They were a club team until a couple years ago.
February 28th, 2016 at 4:19 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 8:45 PM ^
at some point, Illinois or Iowa or UNL is going to start hockey. Then we might have to kick some of those associates back out of the conference.
That's likely not a problem for Notre Dame. They could likely leave Hockey East then come right on back at some later date. But the same dynamic wouldn't exist for any of the NCHC schools.