Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

[pgb-ohio]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

I thought it was great. I hope the NCAA selects them again.

Agreed. If Tampa is selected again, that would be great news. But a few things to keep in mind...

...I felt Tampa did a terrific job with the Championships. I have nothing to compare it to, as this was my first FrozenFour, but I was quite impressed. I also noticed a large amount of fans in Lightning apparel, telling me that there were a fair number of local ticket sales.

There were a good number of locals in the crowd, and that was important. The lottery didn't sell out. The participating schools, as a group, travelled well. But none of them took over the arena. Given the distance, you wouldn't expect that. But the point is, without the local fans in the house, it would have been an Anaheim or Cincinnati situation.

Overall, I'd give the Lightning fans a B+ for their support of the Frozen Four. They did their share. At the same time, they were outperformed by the Blues fans back in 2007. St. Louis fans essentially filled the upper bowl at that tournament. In Tampa about 1,000 seats went unsold on both days. While there's no particular group responsible for the small shortfall, it's inaccurate to give Tampa perfect marks.

What does this mean for the big picture? I honestly think we should wait a while before going back. If we go back at the next possible opportunity, the local support likely wouldn't be as strong. If nothing else, the novelty factor would be gone. Hotbeds like St. Paul and Milwaukee wait 7-9 years between tournaments. As great as Tampa was, a similar amount of time will be required to make sure that their hockey locals are truly hungry for more.

Lots of signage at the airport and near the arena, so the locals and UAH did a good job. Reasonable job covering the event by the local papers, especially considering the fact that it was wrapped around the Rays opening day against the Yankees.

In a way it's kind of funny that this factor is so important to us. But it absolutely is. I had the same reaction, as did every member of my group. I'd add that it seemed that everyone working at the airport was familiar with our event, and went out their way to express interest and support. Well done, Tampa.

And wow is it easy to get out of the Times Forum. In the time it took us to get back to the hotel, I might have gotten out of my parking space in Boston. As we pretty much already knew, plenty to do on the off day and Saturday morning. The only complaint I have was that it just feels strange to go to a hockey game and see people in T-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops, but that's just me.

Agree on all counts. And it's more than just a difference in apparel. It must be remembered that having the tournament in hockey hotbeds is really the core experience, and that sites like Tampa are an appealing variation.

It's also extremely important not to forget those unable to attend due to the distance involved. The number of regulars was clearly down. As just one example, there wasn't a Posters' Game this year, primarily because Tampa wasn't drivable for any of the regulars.

Go back to Tampa Bay? Absolutely. But go to the Sunbelt more often than the hockey hotbeds? No.

[CLS]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

... We look forward to enjoying a new and different city each year and we realize the time is coming when we will start to see repeat cities. Hopefully, when that happens they will be rotated in with other new cities as well.

Agree completely. Though we've liked some sites more than others, we haven't disliked any of them, and going to someplace new, especially to a city that you would't normally think of going to for a vacation, has been part of the charm. Looking forward to Pittsburgh and Philadalphia, and I actually hope that the rumored Nashville bid actually happens.

For people who think we should have a permanent rotation, remember that if that were the case, Tampa probably would never have happened.

[MrJersey]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

They were making mention during the telecast that the warm temperatures were causing problems with the ice during the third period Saturday night. Did anyone notice that the ice was going bad? It may be great to host the playoffs at a warm weather destination, but when it starts to affect the play with bad ice, is that fair to players and fans who would not want to see the game played in a swimming pool? I remember when the compressors went bad a the NCAA playoffs in Cincinnati back in 1996 causing the speedy guys from Vermont (Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin) to skate on slush during the two overtime periods. Colorado College went on to win that game, I think primarily because the bad ice denied Vermont's speed advantage. Shouldn't the criteria for a playoff host city be consistently good ice?

[MavHockey14]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

My wife and I have been attending FFs since 2004 and although we had a great time at each of them, we enjoyed Tampa, DC, St. Louis, and Denver the most and when everything is taken into consideration, Tampa was the best. The city of Tampa and the 2012 Frozen Four committee did a tremendous job on all facets of the tournament, the one exception was not being able to attend the Hobey Baker Award presentation in person. We look forward to enjoying a new and different city each year and we realize the time is coming when we will start to see repeat cities. Hopefully, when that happens they will be rotated in with other new cities as well.

Didn't like Saint Paul last year?

[jmh]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

ps- Anyone know why the Pitt FF is a week later next year? (Apr 11-13)

With the leap year, the calendar is a week off for everything. conference tournaments are a week later, etc.

I'm confused - why does the leap year in 2012 make everything later in 2013? FWIW, the late dates next year mean no conflicts with Passover/Easter.

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

What does this mean for the big picture? I honestly think we should wait a while before going back. If we go back at the next possible opportunity, the local support likely wouldn't be as strong. If nothing else, the novelty factor would be gone. Hotbeds like St. Paul and Milwaukee wait 7-9 years between tournaments.

Milwaukee might be a hockey hotbed but to me it was boring. I want this back in Tampa and soon!

[Nick Papagiorgio]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

I'm confused - why does the leap year in 2012 make everything later in 2013? FWIW, the late dates next year mean no conflicts with Passover/Easter.

Both 2013 and 2014 FFs will not conflict with Easter, which is nice.

[giwan]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

Milwaukee might be a hockey hotbed but to me it was boring. I want this back in Tampa and soon!

Milwaukee? seriously?

[Alton]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

I'm confused - why does the leap year in 2012 make everything later in 2013?

It's actually not the leap year; it's just the date formula for the NCAA tournaments. The basketball final four is the weekend that contains the first Sunday in April. The hockey frozen four is the weekend after that. So the hockey championship is played on the Saturday that falls from April 7 to April 13. This just happens to be the year that it flips over--April 7 this year and April 13 next year.

[Steve_MN]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

All in all, really high marks to Tampa for their job hosting. Nice arena (probably MUCH better than average, but I'll admit that I'm spoiled by the X). Wasn't a big fan of most of the concessions in the arena with almost all of it being in the carts scattered around, but outside of that, the facility ran really well.

The entire area by the arena seemed reasonably well prepped for the event, and I loved how they had the pre-arranged "home" bars for each of the schools. It was obvious that the host committee worked with the businesses in the area to get stuff set up. I don't think the host bars really knew what they were in for in terms of turnout with the Gopher bar being pretty much full up by 2:00 on Thursday afternoon and they just didn't have the staffing in place, but the idea was right on. I'll be interested to see if future hosts follow up on this, it's a REALLY good idea.

Lots and lots of signage all over town, and definitely impressed with the coverage in the paper, espcially with it being MLB opening weekend. Thursday - Sunday all had an article above the fold on the front page of the sports section. (Not just score summary or something, actual feature article).

Also good to see the level of support from local hockey fans. Yes there were @1000 tickets unsold each of the two days, but when you scatter those through an arena that size, the turnout was really pretty good.

[pgb-ohio]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

Both 2013 and 2014 FFs will not conflict with Easter, which is nice.

Agreed.

It's actually not the leap year; it's just the date formula for the NCAA tournaments. The basketball final four is the weekend that contains the first Sunday in April. The hockey frozen four is the weekend after that. So the hockey championship is played on the Saturday that falls from April 7 to April 13. This just happens to be the year that it flips over--April 7 this year and April 13 next year.

This. It's Easter that moves, not the Frozen Four. Also, I presume that we'll continue to share the same weekend with the Masters.

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

I thought Tampa (and UAH) did a fantastic job and should be commended. We had a great time and it may have been my favorite FF (out of 15).
If they could just get that good of a production paired with a city closer to the college hockey footprint so that more of the "regulars" could afford to come, they'd have the ideal FF.

[Craig P.]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

It's also extremely important not to forget those unable to attend due to the distance involved. The number of regulars was clearly down.

This is a good point. I ran into very few of the people I'm used to seeing at the tournament. Some of that may have been individual circumstances, but I would guess a lot of it was the distance from the usual hockey markets.

[brassbonanza]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

Well, if you live in WCHA territory and the FF is in Boston/Philly, is that distance any different from WCHA->Tampa?

[Netman]

Re: Evaluating Frozen Four host Tampa Bay

I enjoyed this FF. I have enjoyed all of the FF I have been to, except for having the game in Ford Field. I loved the fact that I wore shorts and sandals all weekend. We went to Clearwater beach on Friday and enjoyed the sights! I want to go back to Tampa! I hope the Pirates are home next year too!