UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

[redrocker]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

Of course, it won't be long before UConn is at MSG. UConn has owned that place in men's BB and MSG wants UConn back on a regular basis. That said, I am not aware that any college hockey team ever drew 18K at MSG. Has it happened? Cornell v BC perhaps?
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Cornell plays a game at MSG every year, and sells out.

[brassbonanza]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

Of course, it won't be long before UConn is at MSG. UConn has owned that place in men's BB and MSG wants UConn back on a regular basis. That said, I am not aware that any college hockey team ever drew 18K at MSG. Has it happened? Cornell v BC perhaps?

Guessing that the Huskies will be at Fenway soon too for the same reason. That would be a huge draw from down here.

BU and Cornell have sold out MSG three times. Crowds favored Cornell, mostly because of their enormous alumni base there and BU-Cornell being a historic rivalry, but BU drew well in all three games, and it will continue to be played every other year for the foreseeable future. Cornell has played a few other high profile opponents at MSG and in the NYC area in recent years, but to my knowledge, BU is the only one that has repeatedly sold out. I believe they did sell out vs Michigan last year.

I know UConn draws incredibly well at MSG for BB - my family has been among those they drew there for five decades now - but it's not a given that UConn's hockey team is going to waltz in and sell 18,000 tickets. It's also not a given that UConn is going to waltz into Fenway and sell out the place, BC and Notre Dame didn't come close last year. The only legitimately sold out Fenway game was BU and BC in 2010, and that was indeed sold out with every seat full at puck drop.

UConn's doing an excellent job right now with the hockey program, but building a hockey program is a different bear than building a football program. One isn't necessarily harder, it just works differently. The same goes for building a fanbase, though that's harder in hockey since it's not difficult to convince large numbers of Americans to go to a football game.

[redrocker]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

BU and Cornell have sold out MSG three times. Crowds favored Cornell, mostly because of their enormous alumni base there and BU-Cornell being a historic rivalry, but BU drew well in all three games, and it will continue to be played every other year for the foreseeable future. Cornell has played a few other high profile opponents at MSG and in the NYC area in recent years, but to my knowledge, BU is the only one that has repeatedly sold out. I believe they did sell out vs Michigan last year.

I know UConn draws incredibly well at MSG for BB - my family has been among those they drew there for five decades now - but it's not a given that UConn's hockey team is going to waltz in and sell 18,000 tickets. It's also not a given that UConn is going to waltz into Fenway and sell out the place, BC and Notre Dame didn't come close last year. The only legitimately sold out Fenway game was BU and BC in 2010, and that was indeed sold out with every seat full at puck drop.

UConn's doing an excellent job right now with the hockey program, but building a hockey program is a different bear than building a football program. One isn't necessarily harder, it just works differently. The same goes for building a fanbase, though that's harder in hockey since it's not difficult to convince large numbers of Americans to go to a football game.

Went back and checked the schedules for games at MSG. Cornell has played five games there since 2008 (four vs. BU, one vs. Michigan) and each one has sold out at 18,000-plus.

Yale and Harvard played there in January and drew 15,500.

I'm not convinced UConn has established consistent drawing power to sell the place out yet, one home game is a pretty small sample size, and the game in Brideport vs. Quinnipiac was sparsely attended. But give them time.

[HawkStar12]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

8,000 fans doesn't sway hockey recruits much at all. If that were the case, UMass would be a whole lot better than they are. It's all about the facilities, the exposure on TV, and most importantly, an established pipeline to the NHL.

Attendance is rather meaningless, especially when a coach at BU or BC can say hey kid, you come here and you'll play in front of 18K in the Beanpot every year, or 18K at MSG, or 30K at Fenway - or better yet, you come here and you'll play in a BU-BC regular season game in front of 100+ scouts.

The truth is, having a recruit at XL with 8,000 passionate loud fans supporting the team is at least 10x's more impactful than having a recruit at Freitas with maybe 2,000 fans there. Couple that enthusiastic support of the CT fans with the track record of the coach recruiting and developing NHL'ers, and UConn has a great sell already. The only kid who cares about the Beanpot is the Boston kid or the Boston parent. UConn will get to MSG, Fenway and Yankee Stadium within the next three years, mark my words. The organizers of those events cannot ignore the dedication of the UConn fanbase. It's clearly the best draw in New England, hands down. The way they support all sports is second to none. And as their hockey coach puts it, CT is "starving for a competitive hockey program".

But on to SHU....while it's a mental challenge to get up for a game at a private school against a team not BC or BU, UConn owes this team. My elation to the success this past week will quickly sour if they come out and lay an egg Friday night. However, if they come out and compete like they have been competing, they should win by 3 or 4 goals. Their focus will be tested, as this is a game in a strange prep school venue, there will be pre-game ceremonies and other minor distractions, but good teams can block it out and take care of business.

Go Huskies!

[RSTuthill]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

It's clearly the best draw in New England, hands down. The way they support all sports is second to none.

Agree with most of what you said, especially the last paragraph about SHU which has occasion before spoiled the Huskies plans. But the sentence above might be overstating it just a tad although I think I understand what you are trying to say.

[brassbonanza]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

The truth is, having a recruit at XL with 8,000 passionate loud fans supporting the team is at least 10x's more impactful than having a recruit at Freitas with maybe 2,000 fans there. Couple that enthusiastic support of the CT fans with the track record of the coach recruiting and developing NHL'ers, and UConn has a great sell already. The only kid who cares about the Beanpot is the Boston kid or the Boston parent. UConn will get to MSG, Fenway and Yankee Stadium within the next three years, mark my words. The organizers of those events cannot ignore the dedication of the UConn fanbase. It's clearly the best draw in New England, hands down. The way they support all sports is second to none. And as their hockey coach puts it, CT is "starving for a competitive hockey program".

But on to SHU....while it's a mental challenge to get up for a game at a private school against a team not BC or BU, UConn owes this team. My elation to the success this past week will quickly sour if they come out and lay an egg Friday night. However, if they come out and compete like they have been competing, they should win by 3 or 4 goals. Their focus will be tested, as this is a game in a strange prep school venue, there will be pre-game ceremonies and other minor distractions, but good teams can block it out and take care of business.

Go Huskies!

Only one you're right on is Fenway, but that's because all other 11 HE teams have played there. MSG and Yankee Stadium for hockey in the next three years? Highly unlikely. Outside shot at MSG with Cornell, 0% shot at Yankee Stadium. Boston kids are not the only ones who care about playing in the Beanpot, it's nationally broadcast through Canada, and there are hoards of scouts at the games. They care about making the pros, so it's a huge recruiting tool. The draw to the BC game was great, but you're putting the cart waaayy before the horse.

[RSTuthill]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

Outside shot at MSG with Cornell, 0% shot at Yankee Stadium.

I guess you have not been reading about the Yankee Stadium overtures to the UConn Athletic Department. Maybe not 0%. We'll see.

[brassbonanza]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

I guess you have not been reading about the Yankee Stadium overtures to the UConn Athletic Department. Maybe not 0%. We'll see.

This implies Yankee Stadium wants to host a hockey game. Not so simple, plus the fact that there's no proof college hockey in NYC would draw a crowd worthy of putting it there, much less UConn being that school. But yes, I do follow UConn quite closely, I've only been a fan since I could walk.

[RSTuthill]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

This implies Yankee Stadium wants to host a hockey game. Not so simple, plus the fact that there's no proof college hockey in NYC would draw a crowd worthy of putting it there, much less UConn being that school. But yes, I do follow UConn quite closely, I've only been a fan since I could walk.

Just saying if they do put down ice, UConn would be a natural invite. Assuming they are competitive in the time frame of interest.

And someone raised a good point. It is not yet clear how well UConn will draw over the long term. Let's see how they do with RPI or UVM in the house. The home opener sellout probably had a lot to do with the opponent. If they get more than 6,000 for those games, it will go a long way to easing my apprehension about college hockey in Hartford.

[brassbonanza]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

Just saying if they do put down ice, UConn would be a natural invite. Assuming they are competitive in the time frame of interest.

And someone raised a good point. It is not yet clear how well UConn will draw over the long term. Let's see how they do with RPI or UVM in the house. The home opener sellout probably had a lot to do with the opponent. If they get more than 6,000 for those games, it will go a long way to easing my apprehension about college hockey in Hartford.

To point number one, if ice goes down at Yankee Stadium, the number one invite by a country mile would be Cornell. Number two, to sell tickets, would be a rival of theirs or a big-name western opponent with a large alumni base in NYC, so in other words, Michigan, Minnesota, BU, or maybe BC. I only bring up these hypotheticals because the argument was made that UConn would assuredly be at Yankee Stadium within three years, which is an absurd prediction. Start with Fenway - which is a very real possibility, considering all other HE teams have played there, then go from there.

I agree, a lot of UConn's cache in terms of fan support will be judged by how they draw for the lesser opponents. It's not hard to get people in CT to show up for a game against BC, much less #3 BC. I'm more interested to see how they show up for conference games against unranked Merrimack and OOC for some no-name ECAC school.

For the record, I'm incredibly happy that UConn's a part of the league now, not just because I've been a UConn fan my whole life, but because a competitive UConn program has a much, much higher upside than the other choices for team #12. It's just a bit baffling to see a few of these wild scenarios that have been tossed out over the last week here and elsewhere purporting UConn hockey to draw on a scale equivalent to Kentucky basketball.

[RSTuthill]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

Well, we saw this one coming from quite a long way away.

[HawkStar12]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

UConn got UConn'd

[FDNY99]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

Well, we saw this one coming from quite a long way away.

The perfect storm...SHU playing a HE opponent who they always played tough (and physical when they were in the AHA) in a game that was dedicated to Jason Pagni...a long time CT Youth Hockey coach and friend of the SHU coach. Time for them to get back in the saddle and prepare to play RPI.

[HuskyfanDan]

I heard that some officials are playing around with the idea of doing a game at the Yale bowl between uconn and Yale in 2016. This would be quite the interesting development and show for the CT hockey movement. I'm not sure how that would effect the CT tney they have now. Maybe play the whole thing outdoors at the Yale bowl?

[LTsatch]

Re: UConn 2014-2015: Let the Hockey East Era Begin

I heard that some officials are playing around with the idea of doing a game at the Yale bowl between uconn and Yale in 2016. This would be quite the interesting development and show for the CT hockey movement. I'm not sure how that would effect the CT tney they have now. Maybe play the whole thing outdoors at the Yale bowl?

Interesting concept that pretty much bombed at The Rent a couple of years back, if you could make it an ECAC vs. HE thing, then it might be worth doing. Why bother for 10K fans max?