Interesting and delusional Q&A with the Big Ten's Brad Traviolia. He oversees hockey for the league. He's been with the Big Ten for 19 years which means he has pretty much zero hockey experience.
“Coming from a non-hockey background, it’s kind of hard for me to imagine a fan in the state of Minnesota who wouldn’t be excited to see a Michigan or a Michigan State come in to play,” he said. “I recognize and acknowledge that significant rivalries developed over the years in the previous leagues, and that’s fine.
“Many of our schools have scheduling opportunities to honor those rivalries and to continue them the best they can. So it’s a matter of getting familiar with your new league opponents and as those meaningful series come down the stretch and the winners are advancing and the losers are going home, I think the new rivalries within the conference will develop over time.”
http://www.uscho.com/2016/02/10/big-tens-traviolia-weighs-in-on-fan-frustrations-attendance-leagues-future-plans/
“Coming from a non-hockey background, it’s kind of hard for me to imagine a fan in the state of Minnesota who wouldn’t be excited to see a Michigan or a Michigan State come in to play,” he said. “I recognize and acknowledge that significant rivalries developed over the years in the previous leagues, and that’s fine.
“Many of our schools have scheduling opportunities to honor those rivalries and to continue them the best they can. So it’s a matter of getting familiar with your new league opponents and as those meaningful series come down the stretch and the winners are advancing and the losers are going home, I think the new rivalries within the conference will develop over time.”
http://www.uscho.com/2016/02/10/big-tens-traviolia-weighs-in-on-fan-frustrations-attendance-leagues-future-plans/