BTHC Likely to Change Playoff Format

This is bullshit

Scooped Brian with this post...though I'm sure we're going to see a nice long post later telling us how stupid it is. Because, well, he's right. It's moronic.  Even if you're going to do it in a neutral location, the whole point of that is to make it centrally located.  So it's compounding a bad idea on top of a bad idea. 

I like the idea but I think they chose the wrong school for the home of the tournament.  Why not Alaska....why do they always get left out?  I think if you truly want to test the mettle of the fans supporting their teams why stop in Minnesota?  Why not move the games 4,000 miles away from everyone where the weather this weekend is expected to hit a balmy -6?

That'll separate the wheat from the chaff.

I actually clicked on the post to find out what BTHC was, but upon seeing that it had to do with hockey the words Big Ten Hockey Conference immediately came to mind :-)

Having been at the NC game in St. Paul in April, I can say it felt like a true road game, despite being 2 hours from Duluth and both fanbases having equal opportunity to buy tickets. This will be a complete advantage for Minnesota every year and Madison is exactly halfway between Ann Arbor and the twin cities, making it half as long for them.

Terrible ideas in hockey:

-Neutral sites

-Intent-to-blow-the-whistle

-Outdoor games becoming commonplace

-Single-elimination tournaments, especially in conference tournaments and especially when there are only 6 teams.

Seriously, having a neutral site means they have to make it single-elimination, which is just extra dumb. There's honestly no upside at all to this. I see none.

Edit: also, changing policy because one team whined is ALWAYS a good idea in sports, right guys?

Some of my first Michigan hockey games were NCAA regionalism at Yost. They were some of my favorite sporting events all time. I don't understand why college hockey seems dead set on ignoring it's great fan bases by having neutral site games in half empty NHL arenas.

As far as I'm concerned the BTHC could have a 6 year rotation where it visited each school. Sure Penn State might be tough, but being exposed to high level hockey once in awhile can't hurt interest in the sport.

I got an idea!  Let's let the same decision-makers come up with a playoff idea for college football!  They couldn't possibly screw that up!

I don't get this one bit. Just have 3 rounds of best of 3. The first two can be on home ice and the third can be at a rotating neutral location. Detroit, Chicago, St. Paul, Pittsburgh. Two out of every four years, Wisconsin should be happy with that.

Thanks for giving Wisconsin and Minnesota permanent home ice advantage. There's no way any significant amount of Michigan, MSU, OSU or Penn State fans will ever go to the XCel Center for this tournament. It's going to be 70% Minnesota, 20% Wisconsin, 10% Michigan and 10% MSU-OSU-Penn State every year. SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW THIS MAKES ANY SENSE

Is having it in Chicago--you know, a state where there isn't a B1G team yet--not an option?

The first sentence of the article is what gets me - a majority of the ADs from hockey schools support the idea.  Why would anyone other than Minnesota and Wisconsin vote for this?  I wasn't a math major, but I'm pretty sure it takes 4 out of 6 to make a majority.  So the real question is who are the other 2?

Next thing you know they'll hire Sergott and Shegos to be in charge of the refereeing.

I still have a hard time believing that Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, and Ohio would possibly let that slide. That's a MASSIVE advantage for Wisconsin and especially Minnesota.

I'll believe it when I see it, I guess. If they keep it in one place, Chicago would make more sense, but I think rotating it around and allowing one team to be the "host" every year, like the NCAA regionals, would be appropriate. Having it directly on a home-site for the championship game is a bit unfair, but there's nothign wrong with letting Michigan and MSU "host" it at the Joe, Ohio "host" it where the Blue Jackets play, etc, and then just rotating it around.

I find it absolutely fascinating the only people who truly love this idea are Minnesota folk.

I thought that they'd put it in indianapolis since that's where they put every other tournament.  Why not just rotate sites, or is that too simple?

When Michigan was in the Frozen Four last year, I was highly motivated to go, but abandoned that idea due to the $500-plus airfare to Minneapolis.  But hey, no problem, I'd gladly pay that airfare for the Big Ten tourney!  And I'm sure my fellow season ticket holders agree -- to say nothing of those rabid fanbases at MSU, OSU, and PSU.  So, all in all, this sounds like a SWELL idea!

We're leaving the CCHA for this? Is there any chance if we make a big stink about this that it could get changed? I guess it will make money with the Minnesota and Wisconsin fans always selling out the place. And it will prevent something like the football championship game with tons of empty seats, which is possible in Chicago (albeit unlikely). I do feel like Michigan might have the power to change this, but I wonder if they'll want to piss off the rest of the B1G hockey teams with shenanigians. 

Also I wonder how much money this will actually make. I'm guessing the arena will take a cut of everything and minimize the profits. Plus you're splitting it among 6 schools. They'd better hope that it garners a lot of national attention. 

"Heppel declined to identify the neutral sites to be targeted, but multiple sources with knowledge of the discussion Monday confirmed the Big Ten will initially look to secure a rotation of facilities between Joe Louis Arena in Detroit and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn."