STrib: Big Ten hockey knows it has work to do after Year 1

BleedGopher

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per the STrib:

The Big Ten’s associate commissioner, Jennifer Heppel, said the conference is pleased with its first year of hockey but acknowledged the league still has to win over many fans who long for the old days.

Heppel said the conference will conduct its year-end review soon and discuss possible changes or tweaks. Specifically, attendance for the inaugural conference tournament held at Xcel Energy Center was disappointing and a significant dropoff from the WCHA’s Final Five.

“It takes a long time to build an event,” Heppel said. “Sure, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I would have loved to see 18,000 people, but that’s unrealistic and it was unrealistic when we started selling tickets. I feel very, very good about the approach that we took in marketing to fans and as part of the respect of what the WCHA had built.”

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/255049491.html

Go Gophers!!
 

I was at one of the Thursday games at the X (the night game between MSU and OSU), and it was a morgue. I could not believe how empty it was.
 

Llet's face it, the North Dakota herd that comes down to the "big city" to both cheer for the Whioux, and cheer against the Gophers, is a major piece missing from having large crowds. So are all the in-state rivals. And again, I think a lot of those fans showed up, even when their teams weren't playing.

I hate to say it, but i think the B1G tournament might do better out in Michigan or Ohio, at least in the first few years. Gopher fans would travel there, better than any other B1G teams would travel here. Except maybe Wisconsin (because of proximity), and Michigan (because they seem to travel well). Once the rivalries ramp up, and the programs like Penn State & Ohio State grow, I think more people will be interested.
 

I hope B1G also reviews and improves their television broadcasts.
 

The Big Ten Network FB page never had a single post about the NCAA finals run. Not a word before or after.

Lots of great OSU & UMich though. Ou, and Pelini with a cat. Good job.
 





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