BleedGopher
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2008
- Messages
- 60,744
- Reaction score
- 16,088
- Points
- 113
per the Post Bulletin:
FELDY: Just two years ago, there was a thought in the college hockey universe that the changes in conference alignments would be bad for the sport, that they would play into the hands of power schools while hurting the so-called little guys. It couldn't be more of the opposite. Quinnipiac is the No. 1 team in the PairWise Rankings, which mimic the selection process used to pick the 16-team NCAA tournament field. There are more Ivy League schools in the top 16 than Big Ten teams. College hockey is adding programs in non-traditional markets. We know our favorite sport isn't going to rival college football or hoops, but it's growing.
PHERSY: It's growing in the sense that there are more teams, and random schools can now contend. However, that doesn't mean anyone is going to watch those teams play. Look at the attendance numbers of some of those small Division I teams out East. They're frighteningly low. While you and I love seeing schools like Quinnipiac contend, I'm not sure it brings in the general public. You know what gets people in Minnesota excited about college hockey ... when the Gophers are good. Right now, they're not. And coach Don Lucia is finally taking some much-deserved heat. Feldy, you're a North Dakota fan, so I'm sure you love seeing the Gophers struggle and want nothing more than to see Lucia behind the bench for many years to come.
FELDY: If the Gophers were mediocre in the old WCHA, their fans wouldn't accept it, but they would at least understand. But the Gophers are mediocre in the Big Ten, a conference that many expected to rule college hockey when realignment occurred. It's evident how much the Big Ten cares about hockey when live games are being played between two Big Ten schools in a league formed primarily because of the Big Ten Network, yet the BTN is showing a documentary on a mid-90s Nebraska QB.
http://www.postbulletin.com/sports/...cle_cbe3d5c8-15db-52cf-bae3-ac15784c8230.html
Go Gophers!!
FELDY: Just two years ago, there was a thought in the college hockey universe that the changes in conference alignments would be bad for the sport, that they would play into the hands of power schools while hurting the so-called little guys. It couldn't be more of the opposite. Quinnipiac is the No. 1 team in the PairWise Rankings, which mimic the selection process used to pick the 16-team NCAA tournament field. There are more Ivy League schools in the top 16 than Big Ten teams. College hockey is adding programs in non-traditional markets. We know our favorite sport isn't going to rival college football or hoops, but it's growing.
PHERSY: It's growing in the sense that there are more teams, and random schools can now contend. However, that doesn't mean anyone is going to watch those teams play. Look at the attendance numbers of some of those small Division I teams out East. They're frighteningly low. While you and I love seeing schools like Quinnipiac contend, I'm not sure it brings in the general public. You know what gets people in Minnesota excited about college hockey ... when the Gophers are good. Right now, they're not. And coach Don Lucia is finally taking some much-deserved heat. Feldy, you're a North Dakota fan, so I'm sure you love seeing the Gophers struggle and want nothing more than to see Lucia behind the bench for many years to come.
FELDY: If the Gophers were mediocre in the old WCHA, their fans wouldn't accept it, but they would at least understand. But the Gophers are mediocre in the Big Ten, a conference that many expected to rule college hockey when realignment occurred. It's evident how much the Big Ten cares about hockey when live games are being played between two Big Ten schools in a league formed primarily because of the Big Ten Network, yet the BTN is showing a documentary on a mid-90s Nebraska QB.
http://www.postbulletin.com/sports/...cle_cbe3d5c8-15db-52cf-bae3-ac15784c8230.html
Go Gophers!!