North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

[state of hockey]

I actually agree.

Me too.

[goldy_331]

Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

Me too.

I don't. It's silly.

The year the Gophers fail to make it is the year the Xcel and all sponsors start to reconsider the idea of having this tournament. Ticket sales will be way, way down and they'll wonder "why are we involved in this again?" If you don't start with a base of what, 7,000(?) Gopher season ticket holders do you think you'll even get 5,000 into the building for any session? How many Dog fans will trek down to the Cities to see them play the Mavericks?

The ONLY way this tourney makes any sense is to have the Gophers in it. It may not be perfect, but it's the best that can be done to get the in-state schools to continue to play each other on an annual basis.

[Biddco]

Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

"As of Wednesday, only a couple thousand tickets remained for the tournament."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/241568871.html

Color me shocked! I'm sure it won't be filled for both sessions but I had the picture of a half filled lower bowl with a scattering of people in the club...but perhaps that will only be for the 4 pm Friday game.

[Tiggsy]

Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

Why do we care about ESPN again? They send tennis announcers to call hockey games, for cripe sakes. They are the only network in the history of my television watching existence to thoroughly destroy the experience of watching a hockey game.

Not quite. BTN did as well, but at least they are trying to make ammends for it and maybe some day we'll actually forget about it. ESPN doesn't really seem to care so why they took that game is still a mystery if they didn't actually want it. They just need to give up the rights to the NCAA games for regional channels to pick them up. BTN recently picked up a Gopher's women's regular season game vs. tOSU but last year's championship game was no where to be found on tv.

[Bale]

Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

I don't. It's silly.

The year the Gophers fail to make it is the year the Xcel and all sponsors start to reconsider the idea of having this tournament. Ticket sales will be way, way down and they'll wonder "why are we involved in this again?" If you don't start with a base of what, 7,000(?) Gopher season ticket holders do you think you'll even get 5,000 into the building for any session? How many Dog fans will trek down to the Cities to see them play the Mavericks?

The ONLY way this tourney makes any sense is to have the Gophers in it. It may not be perfect, but it's the best that can be done to get the in-state schools to continue to play each other on an annual basis.

I actually agree with this. Not having the Gophers in this would be a financial disaster. All the schools know this or they wouldn't have agreed to it in the first place. You're also right that it's not perfect, but with 5 schools it was the only option that made sense.

One thing that should be pointed out though, is that this isn't just about getting to continue to play the in-state schools. The Gophers get a lot of benefit out of this too. They get 2 home series that they don't have to play return trips to and they get 1 series that has very little travel and is a very cheap trip. The Gophers aren't doing this out of the goodness of their heart. They are doing it for financial reasons as well. This whole tournament is all about money (at least at this point). It may turn into more than that, but right now it's 5 schools that are trying to squeeze as much money out of this as possible.

[SanTropez]

Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

My only criticism with the format is that the Gopher are eteral (I know, money), but I'd rather it be the team that finishes 4th is the one out and if that means one year we get a field of SCSU, UMD, MSUM & BSU, then so be it.

Bad idea, but how JBSU of you to think that way...nice job.

[5MinMajor]

Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

I don't. It's silly.

The year the Gophers fail to make it is the year the Xcel and all sponsors start to reconsider the idea of having this tournament. Ticket sales will be way, way down and they'll wonder "why are we involved in this again?" If you don't start with a base of what, 7,000(?) Gopher season ticket holders do you think you'll even get 5,000 into the building for any session? How many Dog fans will trek down to the Cities to see them play the Mavericks?

The ONLY way this tourney makes any sense is to have the Gophers in it. It may not be perfect, but it's the best that can be done to get the in-state schools to continue to play each other on an annual basis.

I agree both ways. I'd be curious if it would be MSU and Bemidji going in and out of the tournament each year consistently. But yeah, at the same time imagine how empty the place would be without Goofer fans making their way to the X (especially if they're struggling to fill it so far this year when it has all of the first-year hype surrounding it).

I guess I haven't looked into it enough, but it would be a bummer if the team that wins the tournament isn't in it the next year to "defend" it.

[SanTropez]

Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

Except they are not "struggling" to fill it, they have a couple thousand to go and I'm sure walk up sales will be huge.

[MavHockey14]

Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

Except they are not "struggling" to fill it, they have a couple thousand to go and I'm sure walk up sales will be huge.

If they get 14,000 a game, I'd already call it a success.

[mnstate0fhockey]

Not quite. BTN did as well, but at least they are trying to make ammends for it and maybe some day we'll actually forget about it. ESPN doesn't really seem to care so why they took that game is still a mystery if they didn't actually want it. They just need to give up the rights to the NCAA games for regional channels to pick them up. BTN recently picked up a Gopher's women's regular season game vs. tOSU but last year's championship game was no where to be found on tv.

True. I guess the BTN's recent efforts made me forget about their checkered past. All I know is that game on ESPN this year was almost unbearable.

[mnstate0fhockey]

Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

I have to agree with those saying the 4th place team should be the one sitting out the next season, but I do understand Goldy's point on attendance.

[Bale]

Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

I agree both ways. I'd be curious if it would be MSU and Bemidji going in and out of the tournament each year consistently. But yeah, at the same time imagine how empty the place would be without Goofer fans making their way to the X (especially if they're struggling to fill it so far this year when it has all of the first-year hype surrounding it).

I guess I haven't looked into it enough, but it would be a bummer if the team that wins the tournament isn't in it the next year to "defend" it.

It's all 4 of the other MN schools moving in and out. When they are out, the Gophers play at that school (thus them playing at Bemidji). If you limit it to just MSU and BSU being moved out, the whole thing falls apart. SCSU and UMD wouldn't like it because they never get the home gates for the Gophers coming to town and MSU and BSU don't like it because they are relegated to third-tier status.

[Bale]

Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

I have to agree with those saying the 4th place team should be the one sitting out the next season, but I do understand Goldy's point on attendance.

In a perfect world that makes sense, but scheduling becomes a nightmare for everyone. You don't make schedules up for next year, you make them for 2-4 years in the future. Without knowing what the schedule looks like, the schools can't agree to it.

[5MinMajor]

Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU

It's all 4 of the other MN schools moving in and out. When they are out, the Gophers play at that school (thus them playing at Bemidji). If you limit it to just MSU and BSU being moved out, the whole thing falls apart. SCSU and UMD wouldn't like it because they never get the home gates for the Gophers coming to town and MSU and BSU don't like it because they are relegated to third-tier status.

That makes sense, but yeah, I just meant if it were to be the bottom team moving in and out each year I'd be curious if that would end up being those two teams rotating each year with the other going out the year before. Obviously it's a one-game matchup so anything can happen, but it would be interesting to see. Obviously that's not the case with these rules in place.

[state of hockey]

I don't. It's silly.

The year the Gophers fail to make it is the year the Xcel and all sponsors start to reconsider the idea of having this tournament. Ticket sales will be way, way down and they'll wonder "why are we involved in this again?" If you don't start with a base of what, 7,000(?) Gopher season ticket holders do you think you'll even get 5,000 into the building for any session? How many Dog fans will trek down to the Cities to see them play the Mavericks?

The ONLY way this tourney makes any sense is to have the Gophers in it. It may not be perfect, but it's the best that can be done to get the in-state schools to continue to play each other on an annual basis.

I know why it isn't the case, I just wish it didn't have to be that way.