Big Ten Conference Tournament

[GopherBigGuy911]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

To all those people who have a problem with the X and want a real neutral site - Lets go with the new Pinnacle Bank Arena in good ole Lincoln, Nebraska.... Seats 12,700 for hockey (hint hint as to where then next B1G hockey team will come from). It is set to open in 2013.

[Bakunin]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

Side note on the swipes at Michigan for hosting regionals: they have had 3. Three. Trois. Tres. Can I make it any clearer? Gopher fans that don't see the irony in hosting every other year at the X and then pointing to that are... ignorant.

Did you even bother reading what was said? No? Let me repeat it for you: the issue wasn't the number of regionals Michigan hosted at Yost - it was the fact that Michigan fans defended it on the grounds of other sites having the opportunity to outbid them and that they failed to do so. Now apparently the shoe is on the other foot, and some Michigan fans are upset about it. Well, again - if the argument about competitive bidding held water in 2002 and 2003 and whatever other year Yost had it, then it certainly holds water for St. Paul hosting the B1G (side point: the X isn't Minnesota's home rink, so let's stop pretending that it is despite its geographic proximity).

[streaker]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

Did you even bother reading what was said? No? Let me repeat it for you: the issue wasn't the number of regionals Michigan hosted at Yost - it was the fact that Michigan fans defended it on the grounds of other sites having the opportunity to outbid them and that they failed to do so. Now apparently the shoe is on the other foot, and some Michigan fans are upset about it. Well, again - if the argument about competitive bidding held water in 2002 and 2003 and whatever other year Yost had it, then it certainly holds water for St. Paul hosting the B1G (side point: the X isn't Minnesota's home rink, so let's stop pretending that it is despite its geographic proximity).

I read it and interpreted it fine- at least your argument. My post was targeted at Hammy, really.

Now that there is a minimum capacity requirement, it is a non-argument. Michigan *can't* bid at Yost because it was legislated out of the bidding process. It's not the same as hosting at JLA, although it would be the closest venue. Compuware arena would also serve as an adequate venue, except it is a OHL venue. So, it is either Grand Rapids or bust, since Detroit is not a "favored" venue, either. Hardly the same advantage to Michigan as the X is to Minnesota.

[state of hockey]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

Guess what? Minnesota has lost games at the X. *GASP*

Crazy, right?

[streaker]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

Guess what? Minnesota has lost games at the X. *GASP*

Crazy, right?

That's weak. Host teams have lost tourney games. Big deal. If you had a choice of playing in front of 500 of your fans or 15000 of your fans, what would you choose?

[mnstate0fhockey]

That's weak. Host teams have lost tourney games. Big deal. If you had a choice of playing in front of 500 of your fans or 15000 of your fans, what would you choose?

I think the ice size is as big of a factor, and teams who typically play on an NHL sheet will have a definate advantage over the Gophers there.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

Guess what? Minnesota has lost games at the X. *GASP*

Crazy, right?

No they didn't.... MN losing at the X is illegal in 38 states and Canada....

[Almington]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

I'd rather have it in St. Paul (gag! ) and have the place be full than have it in Chicago or Indy and have it half empty.

I know that Detroit has been mentioned, but it seems that every time I've watched the CCHA tourney, even when MSU has been playing UM, the place looks half empty.

Go where the paying fans are.

I figure the best solution to make everyone happy is move it to East Lansing permanently.

I don't like this being pushed because Wisconsin books their arena for every weekend in the spring. If this was such a big deal, how did this not come up when they decided the campus site format earlier?

If they end up alternating every year between Xcel and JLA I guess I'll be fine with it. I just don't want to see it be stuck in one place so near a campus like they did with the baseball tourney in Columbus (not that it garners too big a homefield in baseball). I was really looking forward to the campus site tournaments though.

Detroit and St. Paul are the only locations that have a large enough population AND enough of a local draw to ensure that enough tickets are sold.

As a UW fan, I'd rather have the tournament rotate between St. Paul and Detroit than sit in Chicago or Indianapolis (does Indy even have a hockey facility that would work?) Local draws may not make for a unbiased crowd, but full (or nearly full) arenas make for a MUCH better atmosphere than some neutral site with only a few thousand fans in attendance.

You're basically making my point. If the F5 still does well when MN/WI aren't there, that indicates that a significant amount of people are there for some reason that will not exist when it's the BTHC championship.

Given how BAD actual attendance was last year without either the Gophers or Badgers in attendance (under 10k/game) as opposed to the actual tickets sold (~15k/game) I suspect that many of the ticket packages are sold to Gopher fans on an annual basis. It's one thing to compare a tournament without any the Gophers in attendance but still in the conference, it is another to compare it to not even having the possibility of the team making the tournament. Given the attendance of the 2010 Regional at the X and the actual attendance last year, the NCHC tournament wouldn't sell much more than 10k tickets.

Even removing the other local draws, St. Paul and Detroit are still going to be the best choices that give the best attendance.

[SJHovey]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

Guess what? Minnesota has lost games at the X. *GASP*

Not in recent memory. Of course, they haven't won any games at the X in recent memory either.

[SanTropez]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

Maybe UMBand can flood his backyard and host it there.

[goldy_331]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

Not in recent memory. Of course, they haven't won any games at the X in recent memory either.

And I thought I was old. Man you have short memory!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuepVP-NBrs

[Bakunin]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

Hosting a regional is quite a bit different from hosting a conference tournament. In one case, fans of the other teams don't know for certain they'll be assigned to that site until just a few days before the game. In the other case, fans of all teams know when and where the games will be - particularly if the B1G goes ahead and invites all six teams to the tournament as that article indicated it would do. So given the choice, why wouldn't fans opt to travel for the conference tournament? It's far easier logistically speaking. Plus I imagine that most of us are well aware of the difference in atmosphere between the conference tournament and the regional games the next weekend - it's like night and day (the only decent non-campus site atmosphere I've seen is the '07 Denver regional, and that was due to the crazy mix of teams that travel well with a local upstart).

[Numbers]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

This thread is really confusing to me.

I think I have read posts referring to :
1) NCAA Regional bids
2) NCHC Conference Tournament location (Xcel??)
3) Big Ten Conference Tournament.

Where to put the Big 10? If you don't use campus sites, then there is nothing more to add to the discussion. Big Ten will follow the money, so it will be Xcel or JLA. I suppose it is reasonable in one way to say that money shouldn't be most important, but given that money is the reason the BTHC exists in the first place, it seems pretty clear that they will follow the money.

NCHC Tournament?: Probably a different thread. But, if the X sells 10K tickets when Minnesota is not there, how would the NCHC possibly do any better any where else? However, if the X makes a deal with BTHC, there may be a scheduling conflict for the NCHC. So, where do they go? Beats me...

Along the same line: What about the new WCHA? Same problem.

Regionals: Different thread, I suppose. But, this site (USCHO) uses the expression NC$$ for a reason. I wish there were a way to help UMBand see that Gopher fans know that playing a regional at the X is an advantage for the rodents. But, it is also a different ice size that Mariucci. That negates part of the crowd advantage. Not all of it.

And, finally, it's not so hard to complain about things that look unfair. What is harder is finding a solution to the perceived problem that is a solution with a chance of being instituted. IMO, NCAA regionals going back to campus sites is not an idea that has much chance of happening in the near future, even if all the fans think it should. (And, I think it should. Let Michigan have a chance at Yost, Wisc at Kohl, even UMD at Amsoil. It would be exciting, anyway.)

[mnstate0fhockey]

(the only decent non-campus site atmosphere I've seen is the '07 Denver regional, and that was due to the crazy mix of teams that travel well with a local upstart).

All non-campus, and all had insane atmosphere.

[Hammy]

Re: Big Ten Conference Tournament

2) NCHC Conference Tournament location (Xcel??)

NCHC Tournament?: Probably a different thread. But, if the X sells 10K tickets when Minnesota is not there, how would the NCHC possibly do any better any where else? However, if the X makes a deal with BTHC, there may be a scheduling conflict for the NCHC. So, where do they go? Beats me...

Xcel won't be able to host more than one. They have the MN HS Hockey tourney the weekend before the Final 5 and the NCAA start the weekend after the Final 5. So if the BTHC signs a deal with Xcel, NCHC won't be there.

There has been some talk floated of them playing their event at Target Center the same weekend but I think they'd be foolish to do that. First, Target Center is not a very good place to watch hockey. Second, the ice at Target Center when there has been games has usually been awful. Doesn't lead to quality flow in the game. Third, the casual fan in the Twin Cities is going to be far more interested in watching Big Ten. Fourth, the local media is going to focus on Big Ten. NCHC will be an afterthought.

Considering how attendance was at the Final 5 last year w/o MN or UW (way down from past years), the NCHC is probably better off in Denver or (maybe) Omaha. If Grand Forks wasn't such a wasteland, I might suggest them too even though I doubt NCHC teams would want it at REA.