2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

I've heard similar. Either a three-weekend playdown or the two-weekend tournament with the top seed hosting the final four. Depends on which costs less. I wouldn't be surprised if the three-weekend deal won out because they'd save a lot by cutting the conference schedule those two games. They'd get murdered if an Alaska team was ever good, but I think that's a fairly safe risk at this point.

Why would that require them to play less conference games? Cutting conference games isn't going to save them money...

[pbr]

No matter what they choose, virtually any option is better than that poorly attended Final Five we've seen the past 3 years. You play all season to win a league title, but then only host one series and hope to move on to a neutral site tournament where anything can happen. There should be some reward for excelling in the regular season and these proposed formats exhibit that.

[davyd83]

I've heard similar. Either a three-weekend playdown or the two-weekend tournament with the top seed hosting the final four. Depends on which costs less. I wouldn't be surprised if the three-weekend deal won out because they'd save a lot by cutting the conference schedule those two games. They'd get murdered if an Alaska team was ever good, but I think that's a fairly safe risk at this point.

No reduction in games. There would be no feasible way to play 13 home & 13 away, and dropping to 24 wouldn't make any sense.

[manurespreader]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

No matter what they choose, virtually any option is better than that poorly attended Final Five we've seen the past 3 years. You play all season to win a league title, but then only host one series and hope to move on to a neutral site tournament where anything can happen. There should be some reward for excelling in the regular season and these proposed formats exhibit that.

Honestly it was not That poorly attended. Certainly could be better but not terrible, especially the final.

[purpleinnebraska]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

Honestly it was not That poorly attended. Certainly could be better but not terrible, especially the final.

Would agree that the attendance isn't horrible, but it's been about half of capacity or less all three years. And we've played 2 finals with Ferris in Grand Rapids, and a final with Kato in St. Paul. You can say that's not home ice, but it's pretty close. We can talk about the importance of neutral sites, but we really don't have that now.

[bigblue_dl]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

The biggest issue isn't that not enough people show up, it is that we don't have a properly sized venue to hold the Final 5. No one would ever expect this league to sell out the Xcel Energy Center, so yeah, it isn't full, but take that many people and put them in a correctly sized arena, and the attendance issues don't look so bad. Unfortunately, there isn't an easy choice for a correct sized arena...

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

The biggest issue isn't that not enough people show up, it is that we don't have a properly sized venue to hold the Final 5. No one would ever expect this league to sell out the Xcel Energy Center, so yeah, it isn't full, but take that many people and put them in a correctly sized arena, and the attendance issues don't look so bad. Unfortunately, there isn't an easy choice for a correct sized arena...

The best choice is a place like Amsoil, but even if it's the best choice, it'd be difficult for the WCHA to swallow some pride and play in a NCHC rink.

[Spartanforlife4]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

#WCHA fans, join us here at 1:00 p.m. CT for a major announcement! #TraditionStartsHere

— WCHA Men's Hockey (@WCHA_MHockey) May 17, 2016

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

More talk of Alaska System merging under one banner:
http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_...bc61d345f.html

[ticapnews]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

#WCHA fans, join us here at 1:00 p.m. CT for a major announcement! #TraditionStartsHere

— WCHA Men's Hockey (@WCHA_MHockey) May 17, 2016

They saved 15% by switching to GEICO.

[John J. MacInnes]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

#WCHA fans, join us here at 1:00 p.m. CT for a major announcement! #TraditionStartsHere

— WCHA Men's Hockey (@WCHA_MHockey) May 17, 2016

the 5th dentist caved, now they're ALL recommending Trident

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

#WCHA fans, join us here at 1:00 p.m. CT for a major announcement! #TraditionStartsHere

— WCHA Men's Hockey (@WCHA_MHockey) May 17, 2016

The WCHA will be taking its talents to South Beach, as the University of Miami announces its starting a program and joining the WCHA.

[gfmorris]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

There's a conference call at 1:05, so you'll see the announcement on Twitter and then get more information after the call from reporters.

GFM

[gfmorris]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

http://wcha.com/men/pres1516/201605/may17wcm.php

Best-of-three quarters, best-of-three semis, single-game championship, all hosted by highest seed.

GFM

[UpNorthHockey]

Re: 2016 WCHA Offseason; It's All Over, Save Ferris

http://wcha.com/men/pres1516/201605/may17wcm.php

Best-of-three quarters, best-of-three semis, single-game championship, all hosted by highest seed.

GFM

This is a great decision and will generate a lot more attendance overall. I was at the tourney at Xcel last year and at Van Andel this year. Like people have said, the attendance wasn't bad, but it didn't justify the big venue and paled by comparison to the old WCHA Final Fives. I also agree that these sites were not really neutral ice. Kato was clearly in friendly territory at Xcel and Ferris got a big crowd bump at Van Andel. This will increase local excitement and enthusiasm and will be a big deal for the host campuses. The only concern I have is making sure there are enough tickets available for the visiting team's fans. If Ferris hosts Tech, for example, the MTU contingent could fill a significant part of the seating, if given the opportunity. Not saying it has to be 50/50, but especially for the championship game, there should be some effort to make tickets available for the lower seed.