BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

[mookie1995]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

That said, I'd bet if Maine made their way to the Garden half of the state of Maine would still make their way down.

any excuse to get out of maine is a good excuse.

[mookie1995]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

St. Patrick's Day could also be a reason.

what's that??

[riverchief1]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

any excuse to get out of maine is a good excuse.

Yeah, especially with that whacko governor they have.

[defkit]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Chickod and 84 are both right. High cost plus the option to watch on TV...

I feel like a broken record, but I think I am a good test case. I consider myself a pretty die hard BU Hockey fan, and with two boys who enjoy going to games, I should be a target market. But the direction that sports/ticket management has gone makes my stomach turn. Legalized scalping (Ace, StubHub - in the information/internet age, why do I need some "broker" to buy tickets ahead of time and offer to sell them to me?), ridiculous fees on top of fees by ticketmaster, $45 to park for a game at the Garden, ridiculous food prices....


I would easily go to twice as many games as I do now if the cost were more reasonable. I am a believer in free markets and supply & demand, but I know that for a market of college hockey fans, lower prices would more than be made up for by higher attendance numbers.

[defkit]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Given all the additional info, I feel confident that Petersen will get first team and Oettinger will get second team.

Winner.

Congrats to Keller for winning ROTY (no surprise) and second team all star.
Congrats to McAvoy for making first team. I guess the coaches must see something in his game...

[chickod]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

I would easily go to twice as many games as I do now if the cost were more reasonable. I am a believer in free markets and supply & demand, but I know that for a market of college hockey fans, lower prices would more than be made up for by higher attendance numbers.

Yup. They just don't get it. If you cut the price in half and get twice as many fans, you come out AHEAD, because you make more on concessions. I'd say it's "greed" except that they can do math as well as anyone can. Unbelievable...

[Patronick]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

No outrage over Oettinger not being named Goaltender of the Year? It is only the third time the goalie with the best league GAA has not won the award (and some places the league still mentions it is for the best GAA in league play) and the second time it has happened to a BU goalie. I thought it was likely to happen, but expected Petersen to be named the winner. In my opinion Delia was the least deserving of the three.

Sean

GAA is a horrible way to rate goaltending. SV% is the only stat that matters.

[Tater]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Yeah, I ended up buying balcony tickets. Of course after the ticketmaster fees .... It was $13.40 per ticket plus $4.50 for an order processing fee. Ridiculous. Did you have to pay fees through Agganis? Maybe I did this wrong but didn't really decide until today that I was definitely going.

Loge tickets were slightly discounted $39 through Agganis. No fees.

[Sean Pickett]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

GAA is a horrible way to rate goaltending. SV% is the only stat that matters.

You may not like using GAA, but it has been used far longer than save percentage . GAA has been used since the start of the NHL and college hockey to determine how good a goalie is. Save percentage only goes back to the 1983-84 season in the NHL, although The Intercollegiate Hockey Newsletter reported it starting with the 1973-74 season. So when Hockey East started in 1984 it is understandable why the league used GAA to crown their goaltending champion.

When they league made the change in 2009 so that Thessien could be given the award, he did have the nighest save percentage in league play, but in 2010, as I have mentioned, Parker Milner had the lowest GAA and highest save percentage, yet the award went to Carter Hutton (who lead both categories overall). And this season Petersen lead both categories overall, but it went to Delia. So it seems that the criteria can and has changed from year to year. In 2009 it was "we can't name Kieran Millan the Goaltending Champions when Brad Thessien is the league's MVP". In 2010 it was "we can't give it a goalie who played 38% of his team's minutes" (despite the threshold being 33% of a team's minutes. The threshold was changed starting on 2011-12 to 40% of a team's minutes). This year I have no idea why the chose Delia over Oettinger. Delia wasnl't named first or second team All-Star, let alone league MVP and Oettinger played 90% of BU's minutes in league games. As I mentioned previously it is likely an attempt to "spread the wealth."

Sean

[Tater]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Somebody please explain something to me before my head explodes.

The 3 finalists for HEA Rookie of the Year were Huska (UCONN), Woll (BC), and Keller (who won, no surprise there).

1) Huska makes the ROY finalists, but was not one of the goalies on the all-Rookie Team.

2) Oettinger, who had by far the best GAA of rookies and just .001 sv pct behind Huska, was NOT one of the finalists.

3) Woll, whose stats fall clearly short of Oettinger, WAS one of the finalists.

[Sean Pickett]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

I think a big factor in lower attendance in general is the fact that so many games are available for "free" on TV, with the rise of regional sports channels, as well as internet streaming. I know I'd be watching for free from my couch if tomorrow wasn't St Patty's Day and I'm going with a bunch of friends and we have plans for afterwards.

The Hockey East semifinals and championship have been available on a local regional sports channel since the league started, so that should not be much of a factor in attendance changes.

Sean

[Sean Pickett]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Somebody please explain something to me before my head explodes.

The 3 finalists for HEA Rookie of the Year were Huska (UCONN), Woll (BC), and Keller (who won, no surprise there).

1) Huska makes the ROY finalists, but was not one of the goalies on the all-Rookie Team.

2) Oettinger, who had by far the best GAA of rookies and just .001 sv pct behind Huska, was NOT one of the finalists.

3) Woll, whose stats fall clearly short of Oettinger, WAS one of the finalists.

"Spreading the Wealth"

Sean

[Tater]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Chickod and 84 are both right. High cost plus the option to watch on TV...

I feel like a broken record, but I think I am a good test case. I consider myself a pretty die hard BU Hockey fan, and with two boys who enjoy going to games, I should be a target market. But the direction that sports/ticket management has gone makes my stomach turn. Legalized scalping (Ace, StubHub - in the information/internet age, why do I need some "broker" to buy tickets ahead of time and offer to sell them to me?), ridiculous fees on top of fees by ticketmaster, $45 to park for a game at the Garden, ridiculous food prices....


I would easily go to twice as many games as I do now if the cost were more reasonable. I am a believer in free markets and supply & demand, but I know that for a market of college hockey fans, lower prices would more than be made up for by higher attendance numbers.

Who seriously scalps- legalized or not - college hockey games when they are not even close to selling out? Not a knock at your point, just a general rant. Saw a couple last weekend in front of Agganis when the arena was not even half sold. Surely, there will be scalpers tomorrow night with thousands of tickets for sale.

Ticketmaster sucks and it sucks even more that Agganis is in bed with them. That alone is a benefit for season tickets. For this weekend, I know people want their tix in advance, but you don't have to pay TM fees at the ticket window. Plus ST holders buying through BU weren't charged fees and got slightly discounted tickets.

Food & drink at Agganis are expensive. Food & drink at the Garden is outrageous.

Agreed about the parking. Thank god for Uber and commuter rail. I'll be drinking and it actually costs less not to drive. One good thing at least.

[riverchief1]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Who seriously scalps- legalized or not - college hockey games when they are not even close to selling out? Not a knock at your point, just a general rant. Saw a couple last weekend in front of Agganis when the arena was not even half sold. Surely, there will be scalpers tomorrow night with thousands of tickets for sale.

Ticketmaster sucks and it sucks even more that Agganis is in bed with them. That alone is a benefit for season tickets. For this weekend, I know people want their tix in advance, but you don't have to pay TM fees at the ticket window. Plus ST holders buying through BU weren't charged fees and got slightly discounted tickets.

Food & drink at Agganis are expensive. Food & drink at the Garden is outrageous.

Agreed about the parking. Thank god for Uber and commuter rail. I'll be drinking and it actually costs less not to drive. One good thing at least.

Whenever possible I buy my HE Garden tickets at the box office. As noted above, no fees and if you're in the area or can wait until day of, that saves $. That way you can buy just one night and if your team wins, buy the next night afterwards. That helps save as well as you don't have to purchase the package. Plus as others have mentioned, buy the least expensive ticket and just move around. If someone with that seat shows up, just move on. And don't know how it works at other schools for students but Lowell had a $10 package that included a ticket for both Friday and Saturday as well as a bus for both nights which sold out today. Hopefully other schools do a similar deal for students, absent the bus of course if you're in Boston.

In terms of food and drink, I usually do most of the drink part prior to entering the Garden and far less expensive. Lowell's pregame is nearby and they usually have some sort of apps or just order from the menu. Rarely will I get anything to drink other than a jumbo soda once inside the Garden. In terms of the food, I actually think on some concession items at the Garden, the price point is actually pretty good for what you get. Note I said some items, not all. It depends what you want and I've found that for the price, I get more value at the Garden than at Tsongas as I think the Tsongas is grossly overpriced for what you get in terms of quality/amount (the exception being Mookie's favorite Tsongas nachos).

In terms of parking, I'm coming in from up north and always park at the Sullivan Square T station, either in the station lot or in that place across the street, then take the Orange line in. Only $5 or $6 to park and a deal. I would never park in the Garden garage, Govt Center, or similar over-priced parking in the immediate vicinity of the Garden.

But overall I've found I've been able to save some around the edges that doesn't make the weekend financially burdensome. Just waiting until after the weekend when the discussion heats up on the NCAA regional ticket prices as those I find are the real problem and can be cost prohibitive, especially for families who like following their team but can just be plain priced out of attending a regional.

[chickod]

In terms of parking, I'm coming in from up north and always park at the Sullivan Square T station, either in the station lot or in that place across the street, then take the Orange line in. Only $5 or $6

WARNING: If your team is playing in the second game and the first game goes into OT, relying on the T can be hazardous to your health. . Take it from someone who has experienced this multiple times...