Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

[burd]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

One on one the only player I'd rate higher than Reinprecht as a forward for the past 15 years @ UW would be Heatley and that's a very close call as Rhino could stick-handle in a phone booth. Made mincemeat of the gopher D on several occasions

Reinprecht was a Sioux killer too. Didn't he win both faceoffs that led to the Hukalo OT goals in 2000? I always felt he could disrupt defenses like no other forward in college hockey at the time, including both Panzers. One of my favorite college players to watch, ever.

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Reinprecht was a Sioux killer too. Didn't he win both faceoffs that led to the Hukalo OT goals in 2000? I always felt he could disrupt defenses like no other forward in college hockey at the time, including both Panzers. One of my favorite college players to watch, ever.

Reinprecht had the lone assist on the Friday goal and he and Heater had assists on the Saturday goal.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

In news similar to Reino, the CHN app just updated me to say that Coach Sauer and Brian Rafalski are being inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame.

[KaMiGo]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Hi Everyone

I am pleased to announce that I will be serving on this year's UW Fan Advisory Committee.

We had our first meeting last night and learned of some interesting changes and developments that are coming (this meeting was geared mostly towards football/Camp Randall developments). We are anticipating that the next meeting (in November) will be hosted at the Kohl Center and will be geared more towards the winter sports. I was also encouraged to seek out feedback from other fans.

I would love to gather some feedback from this community on things that you think are going well, things that aren't going well, and any constructive criticism that you might have. I can't guarantee that everything that you want to be discussed will make it into the agenda. I also can't guarantee that all of the changes that you ask for will be implemented. I can guarantee that I will take the feedback from this group and do my best to relay those items to the Athletic Department, either during open discussions at the meetings or via one-on-one conversations with members of the administration.

A few things that were already hit on:
The current food/beverage contract is still in place and the beverages will still be provided from the Dr Pepper/Snapple group and will primarily consist of RC Cola, Diet RC Cola, Dr Pepper, Diet Dr Pepper, 7-Up, A&W Rootbeer, Snapple.
The age limit for concession workers has been lowered to 16 and that is where it will remain. Previous vendor had an age limit of 12.
The decision about providing alcohol service to the general masses at sporting events is not an Athletic Department decision, that comes from the University Administration.
They are trying to walk the fine line of updating/refreshing the pregame intro video/music clips while maintaining some of the traditional elements. They didn't say that Enter Sandman would be coming back to the hockey pregame package, but noted that there was a large amount of support for bringing it back...

Feel free to post any feedback here or I have created a temporary e-mail address that you can send things to (UWFanAdvisory at gmail dot com).

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Unfortunately I was unable to go to a game last year, so I can't provide too much feedback.

I'm not too much into making a big fuss about amenities, so things like vendor contracts, parking, what music is played during pregame, etc. doesn't bother me too much.

My biggest concern from seeing trends in the last several years is attendance and atmosphere.

You can't do too much about the former through policies (promote it, don't overcharge and have a good product, and that stuff will take care of itself).

There's not much you can do with policy to improve the latter, either (obviously, improving attendance helps a lot there). [broken record]I think the least they can do there is just re-evaluate how games are presented. I don't know why there's been such an uptick in canned music playing in the arena in recent years. We have a pep band. They're quite plainly visible, they have instruments. It's a waste of really good seats to put them there and rarely use them. And it really makes the games feel like sterilized minor league hockey to go there and NOT get the collegiate atmosphere that the band provides. If I want to go to a game where the crowd is only sort of into it, and I'm bombarded with ****ty canned music, I'll stay in Green Bay and go to a Gambler's game.[/broken record]

[solovsfett]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Hi Everyone

I am pleased to announce that I will be serving on this year's UW Fan Advisory Committee.

We had our first meeting last night and learned of some interesting changes and developments that are coming (this meeting was geared mostly towards football/Camp Randall developments). We are anticipating that the next meeting (in November) will be hosted at the Kohl Center and will be geared more towards the winter sports. I was also encouraged to seek out feedback from other fans.

I would love to gather some feedback from this community on things that you think are going well, things that aren't going well, and any constructive criticism that you might have. I can't guarantee that everything that you want to be discussed will make it into the agenda. I also can't guarantee that all of the changes that you ask for will be implemented. I can guarantee that I will take the feedback from this group and do my best to relay those items to the Athletic Department, either during open discussions at the meetings or via one-on-one conversations with members of the administration.

A few things that were already hit on:
The current food/beverage contract is still in place and the beverages will still be provided from the Dr Pepper/Snapple group and will primarily consist of RC Cola, Diet RC Cola, Dr Pepper, Diet Dr Pepper, 7-Up, A&W Rootbeer, Snapple.
The age limit for concession workers has been lowered to 16 and that is where it will remain. Previous vendor had an age limit of 12.
The decision about providing alcohol service to the general masses at sporting events is not an Athletic Department decision, that comes from the University Administration.
They are trying to walk the fine line of updating/refreshing the pregame intro video/music clips while maintaining some of the traditional elements. They didn't say that Enter Sandman would be coming back to the hockey pregame package, but noted that there was a large amount of support for bringing it back...

Feel free to post any feedback here or I have created a temporary e-mail address that you can send things to (UWFanAdvisory at gmail dot com).

Bring back all of the banners! forget the ring garbage, it looks cheap and lame to be honest.
Bring back the Blue Line Club
Allow students to bring gophers on a stick or whatever signs they want (meaning any size) so they can you know...have fun! pssst. it's fun for us older fans too
Emphasize the band over canned music

there will be more but that's a nice start

[WiscDC]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Hi Everyone

I am pleased to announce that I will be serving on this year's UW Fan Advisory Committee.

We had our first meeting last night and learned of some interesting changes and developments that are coming (this meeting was geared mostly towards football/Camp Randall developments). We are anticipating that the next meeting (in November) will be hosted at the Kohl Center and will be geared more towards the winter sports. I was also encouraged to seek out feedback from other fans.

I would love to gather some feedback from this community on things that you think are going well, things that aren't going well, and any constructive criticism that you might have. I can't guarantee that everything that you want to be discussed will make it into the agenda. I also can't guarantee that all of the changes that you ask for will be implemented. I can guarantee that I will take the feedback from this group and do my best to relay those items to the Athletic Department, either during open discussions at the meetings or via one-on-one conversations with members of the administration.

A few things that were already hit on:
The current food/beverage contract is still in place and the beverages will still be provided from the Dr Pepper/Snapple group and will primarily consist of RC Cola, Diet RC Cola, Dr Pepper, Diet Dr Pepper, 7-Up, A&W Rootbeer, Snapple.
The age limit for concession workers has been lowered to 16 and that is where it will remain. Previous vendor had an age limit of 12.
The decision about providing alcohol service to the general masses at sporting events is not an Athletic Department decision, that comes from the University Administration.
They are trying to walk the fine line of updating/refreshing the pregame intro video/music clips while maintaining some of the traditional elements. They didn't say that Enter Sandman would be coming back to the hockey pregame package, but noted that there was a large amount of support for bringing it back...

Feel free to post any feedback here or I have created a temporary e-mail address that you can send things to (UWFanAdvisory at gmail dot com).

Of course, we know they know Enter Sandman was loved (it really is a great intro song for sports teams), because they brought it back before the third period starting with the OSU series last year.

Anyway, one thing that I really, really hope to see this fall is some good solid promotion for the home opening series against North Dakota. There's a ton of history in this rivalry, and it would be great to celebrate that in the lead-up to the home opener. Home openers have been pretty mundane and hoopla-free recently, even with Bob Johnson Night (although the fans who did show up to that game had a great time). Not only is it a historic rivalry, but it's a rematch...no, a grudge match...with the team that knocked Wisconsin out of the national tournament last year. This is how we open the home schedule, and I'd hate to see that opportunity go to waste.

Boosting attendance should be a big priority. Wisconsin can and should lead NCAA D-I in hockey attendance. It's such a magical thing that should not be lost. ("It" being Wisconsin hockey games in general, not just the attendance number.)

I'd like to see a little more noise in the fall for hockey season. I remember last season, when Nic Kerdiles had to leave class a little early to get to the arena for the NMU series, a couple of guys said, "it's hockey season?" Those guys had a modest interest in hockey, too, so it wasn't like they completely didn't give a crap, but they were pretty much unaware. That's just a little anecdote, but that's how it seems to be. Obviously, there's a lot going on in UW athletics in October and November, but I'd like to see a few more people be aware of the hockey team's existence before January. This is another big reason why I don't want the opportunity that comes with playing UND to be wasted.

Ticket prices. They have got to change. Particularly, in the upper deck. I can't imagine a family that is only somewhat interested in going to a game will look forward to shelling out 20-24 dollars per person (plus parking and all that). Give them options. Remember the few times last season (even the PSU series before the holiday break!!!) when upper deck seats were discounted to something like 11 dollars? People showed up. Having a good tiered pricing system makes too much sense not to have. Now it's time to bring up the bigger issue here - many, if not most of those seats are limited or blatantly obstructed views. On the sides, your line of sight might miss stuff happening near the side boards. In the corners, the near corner of the rink is cut off, but you do see the rest of the rink pretty well. On the ends, a significant portion of the near end zone is cut off, including the entire goal! (All this stuff doesn't apply to the first row, but that's a small percentage of those seats.) Those obstructed view seats on the ends should be sold in the same way standing-room-only tickets are sold in other places. They should be heavily discounted and withheld from the public until the rest of the arena (13K and change) sells out. On the upper deck sides, they should still be discounted. It simply does not make sense that the difference in price between an obstructed view and the best seat in the arena is 4 whole dollars. (Or...the price of obstructed view seats are a little over 83% of the price of the very best seats.)

I like the intro stuff from last year. The historic intro was much improved (as much as I loved the music in the old video). I like the players coming on the ice in the dark (not total darkness) with the fog machines and flashing lights (make sure they're not right in people's eyes: I'm not sure if it was just by chance, but that was an issue in week 1 last year, but wasn't a problem the rest of the season). It really gave off a big-time event kind of a vibe, which I really like. That said, maintaining the traditional stuff is important. Letting the band do their thing is important, as it makes that big-time event kind of a vibe be that of a big time college hockey game (which is what it is), rather than some minor league or junior hockey game. By the sound of it, the people in charge of these things are in agreement.

Make sure the "HEY" guy with the beard and hat in the northwest corner of the arena is shown on the screen at a convenient time. There was some trouble with that last year!

[WiscDC]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Oh, and I forgot to add this:

Make the band a regular feature at the women's games.

[WiscTJK]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Bring back all of the banners! forget the ring garbage, it looks cheap and lame to be honest.
Bring back the Blue Line Club
Allow students to bring gophers on a stick or whatever signs they want (meaning any size) so they can you know...have fun! pssst. it's fun for us older fans too
Emphasize the band over canned music

there will be more but that's a nice start

This! Nice list.

[KaMiGo]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Bring back all of the banners! forget the ring garbage, it looks cheap and lame to be honest.

I honestly don't expect much movement on this one. I know it was an unpopular decision, but I think that they are going to stick with it based on the investment involved.
I think that the compromise of putting the national champ banners on the piece of truss above the student section was a good move.

Bring back the Blue Line Club

Could you expand on what specifically you are looking for? I only moved to Madison 8 years ago and was never able to be involved with this.

Allow students to bring gophers on a stick or whatever signs they want (meaning any size) so they can you know...have fun! pssst. it's fun for us older fans too

That seems reasonable. I'll bring up the issue of what is allowed to be brought into games in terms of signs and props.

Emphasize the band over canned music

That is an issue that is already on my list.

Anyway, one thing that I really, really hope to see this fall is some good solid promotion for the home opening series against North Dakota.

I know that this will need to be something addressed before our next meeting, I'll see if I can reach out to someone to see if there is a marketing plan in place.

Boosting attendance should be a big priority...

Agreed

Ticket prices. They have got to change...

I'll see if that can be brought up. I know that there is a delicate balance between "how much can we charge" and "how many people will buy those tickets".

I like the intro stuff from last year...

I believe that they will be continuing (if not expanding) with what they did last year.

Make sure the "HEY" guy with the beard and hat in the northwest corner of the arena is shown on the screen at a convenient time. There was some trouble with that last year!

Good note, I'll add that to the list.


Thanks for all of the good feedback so far. A lot of these were things that were on my mental list of things to possibly bring up, and getting the feedback from this group helps cement those ideas as things to look at.

[solovsfett]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

I honestly don't expect much movement on this one. I know it was an unpopular decision, but I think that they are going to stick with it based on the investment involved.
I think that the compromise of putting the national champ banners on the piece of truss above the student section was a good move.



Could you expand on what specifically you are looking for? I only moved to Madison 8 years ago and was never able to be involved with this.



That seems reasonable. I'll bring up the issue of what is allowed to be brought into games in terms of signs and props.



That is an issue that is already on my list.



I know that this will need to be something addressed before our next meeting, I'll see if I can reach out to someone to see if there is a marketing plan in place.



Agreed



I'll see if that can be brought up. I know that there is a delicate balance between "how much can we charge" and "how many people will buy those tickets".



I believe that they will be continuing (if not expanding) with what they did last year.



Good note, I'll add that to the list.


Thanks for all of the good feedback so far. A lot of these were things that were on my mental list of things to possibly bring up, and getting the feedback from this group helps cement those ideas as things to look at.

I'm sorry but go to the United Center. Both the Bulls and the Blackhawks have BANNERS that acknowledge their numerous/voluminous accomplishments and storied histories. The history and accomplishments of UW Hockey far outshine both UW football and basketball combined (and I don't care how much that ****es old BA off). 6 NCAA titles says so, not to mention all of the NHL'ers and Olympians. The truss ring garbage looks like garbage. no-one looks up at them, there's no sense of home with those and certainly no intimidating the other team with the display of banners like what was presented when the U had more sense. I've been a season ticket holder with my Dad since 84 but I know there are older posters (and younger) who agree the ring is garbage.

Blue Line Club was the club downstairs where beer was served to all BLC members. It was an annual fee to be a member. Moving from the coliseum to the KC lost some diehards that would also like to have a beer at the game. Eliminating the BLC afterward at the KC was like eliminating the snake pit at INDY under Tony George. People want to have fun at these things and a not insignificant portion of the crowd (many of whom have now moved away from UW hockey) enjoyed having a beer or two between periods.

thanks for checking in here btw, it's good to know SOMEONE is paying attention to us. If you review the UW hockey threads here and go back historically you'll see we've lost quite a few diehards (some moved away, sure) and I'd argue some of the points being raised here (along with parking and ticket cost increases) was the icing on the cake to people's decision to renew or not. "it's just not fun anymore" is a refrain I've heard often. not to mention the feeling us diehards get that UW Hockey has taken a back seat to teams who don't have the pedigrees (sorry Bo and Gary)

[UWisco]

I'm sorry but go to the United Center. Both the Bulls and the Blackhawks have BANNERS that acknowledge their numerous/voluminous accomplishments and storied histories. The history and accomplishments of UW Hockey far outshine both UW football and basketball combined (and I don't care how much that ****es old BA off). 6 NCAA titles says so, not to mention all of the NHL'ers and Olympians. The truss ring garbage looks like garbage. no-one looks up at them, there's no sense of home with those and certainly no intimidating the other team with the display of banners like what was presented when the U had more sense. I've been a season ticket holder with my Dad since 84 but I know there are older posters (and younger) who agree the ring is garbage.

Blue Line Club was the club downstairs where beer was served to all BLC members. It was an annual fee to be a member. Moving from the coliseum to the KC lost some diehards that would also like to have a beer at the game. Eliminating the BLC afterward at the KC was like eliminating the snake pit at INDY under Tony George. People want to have fun at these things and a not insignificant portion of the crowd (many of whom have now moved away from UW hockey) enjoyed having a beer or two between periods.

thanks for checking in here btw, it's good to know SOMEONE is paying attention to us. If you review the UW hockey threads here and go back historically you'll see we've lost quite a few diehards (some moved away, sure) and I'd argue some of the points being raised here (along with parking and ticket cost increases) was the icing on the cake to people's decision to renew or not. "it's just not fun anymore" is a refrain I've heard often. not to mention the feeling us diehards get that UW Hockey has taken a back seat to teams who don't have the pedigrees (sorry Bo and Gary)

The United Center's ceiling is a lot higher than the Kohl Center's. With the banners at the KC is WAS cluttered, but in a good way if that makes sense. My thought is that the only reason the banners were taken down is because the lights put in would have been blocked. I'll take the light show and ring over banners because of the entertainment factor. I also don't see how the national championship banners are lame at all. I look at them when I'm there.

On another note. Anyone know when the updated roster will be out? Usually it would be out by now, wouldn't it?

[solovsfett]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

The United Center's ceiling is a lot higher than the Kohl Center's. With the banners at the KC is WAS cluttered, but in a good way if that makes sense. My thought is that the only reason the banners were taken down is because the lights put in would have been blocked. I'll take the light show and ring over banners because of the entertainment factor. I also don't see how the national championship banners are lame at all. I look at them when I'm there.

On another note. Anyone know when the updated roster will be out? Usually it would be out by now, wouldn't it?

rosters w/frosh aren't posted until September IIRC

I think the 6 NCAA banners look great. My problem is with all the ncaa appearances and wcha championships etc being put on a ring that no-one looks at...NO-ONE

[burd]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Hand out free water bottles for the North Dakota series.

[WisconsinWildcard]

Re: Wisconsin Hockey XXIX: Yes, this is the Rumpel Rink!

Hand out free water bottles for the North Dakota series.

Must spread rep..