Hockey Expansion

[5mn_Major]

Re: Hockey Expansion

Northwestern makes sense. Sure Chicago may seem like a hockey wasteland...but aren't W Lafayette and Champaign? Besides, it doesn't take much of a percent of northern Chicago to turn those numbers around. Beyond them, I'd have to figure it would be on the western side of the B1G.

I've also come out saying I didn't think there was any way the B1G would take ASU. I suppose there's some additional eyes out there, no rivalries though. But Heppel is the B1G cheese...and it appears she's telegraphing here.

[MavHockey14]

A 7K arena 1.5 miles from campus? Hmm. IU and/or Purdue would probably also be candidates.

Coralville is essentially Iowa City.. The concerts at the River a Landing currently usually have non stop University busses to and from campus. Loooooooong way to go, but it could be feasible.

If I win the lottery I'll open up a brand new rink on campus.

[MavHockey14]

Was an ice plant included in the Assembly Hall renovation? Last I knew, it wasn't and their current ice rink is like 150' x 250' or some weird dimension like that and only seats 500.

Doubt Illinois is one of the teams.

And Chicagoland is an absolute college hockey wasteland. Notre Dame has tried repeatedly to host games in the area with poor attendance, and the Hockey City Classic hasn't been warmly received.

Jimmy John, or whatever his real name is, was the rumored donor thinking of helping kick start the Illini, correct? I don't think anything is imminent, but if he wants it to be, the money could be there.

[MavHockey14]

I'm not sure if Iowa has the fan base for a hockey team. The Roughriders attendance is okay, I've been there when they've sold out but have been there when it's half full.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the Coralville Arena story was Big 10 Hockey in Iowa.

There's a nice Marriott and Backpocket Brewing right in the area of the arena. On the flip side, I've been told Coralville is in a lot of debt because they built this area, the Marriott, Von Maur and so forth.

With the popularity of hockey in Des Moines, Waterloo, and Cedar Rapids continuing to grow, as well as how much Hawkeye fans love the University of Iowa, I could see the fan base getting into the program quickly; Iowa fans are very similar to Nebraska fans, UNL just doesn't have an NSU, so there are more of them.

It is indeed a fantastic area, and I'd love it if the Hawkeyes added hockey, but it's not even close to coming to fruition.

[aallenpollreisz]

Re: Hockey Expansion

If I had to guess, I would go with Nebraska and Illinois as two for sure schools. The third, I'm not sure. Iowa? Hockey seems popular there but they currently play at a mall. Northwestern? Big private money but Chicago seems dead for college hockey. Indiana? Cuban could donate some big bucks but Im not sure now big hockey is there.

Really outside of UNL and Illinois I can't think of another.

Nebraska's new hoops arena has enough floor space for an ice rink - and the right plumbing, too. Basically, they just need to buy an ice plant, a Zamboni, dasher boards, and set aside enough money to endow 18 scholarships for the men and another 18 for the ladies. (Yeah, I know, that's an over-simplification.)

The third? Beats me. I can't imagine Northwestern would make the jump. UIC kind of killed college hockey for everybody in that town once that program went under, I would guess. Maryland is broke, and Rutgers is super-broke, so I doubt it'll be either of the two Johnny-come-latelies. I think that leaves Purdue, Indiana and Iowa. So, Iowa?

Regardless, this is a tremendous time to be alive and a fan of college hockey.

[DownOnTheFarm]

Re: Hockey Expansion

It would be really nice to see more hockey attention brought out to the West Coast. Schools like San Jose State, Stanford, and UC-Berkeley are prime real estate for a team and a competitive team at that. I'm basing this on the logic of location and academics because lets face it, a lot of these kids choose what school they attend by factors other than hockey. Why do you think a not so history thick program like Quinnipiac gets such a huge draw from top prospects?

What mid-20 testosterone latent male wouldn't want to be in Sunny California with beautiful women, beaches, and more to do than one can imagine?

[aparch]

Rocky Wirtz being a Northwestern grad is definitely something to consider on that front.

Maybe they're using the Frozen Four in a couple years as a gauge?

I assume (I know, insert the assume makes an a** joke here) that if Rocky was interested in being the Pegula of the Midwest, he would have struck right around the same time that Pegula made his Penn State announcement. Which would have really built steam being piggybacked on the Blackhawks 2010 Cup win, and could have promoted the hell out of an Illinois pipeline for home grown talent.

Instead, the Hawks won a second cup, Chelios is rumored to be spearheading an investigative team for Northwestern (while also performing scouting duties for the Red Wings and watching his son play for the Chicago Wolves), and Don Levin is rumored to have helped bankroll ASU instead of a school in Chicagoland. And Illinois youth still have to leave the state for junior hockey.

The AHL Wolves attendance numbers are juiced by Boy/Girl Scout nights and Rockford "fans" wanting to see the Baby Hawks on Saturday nights; but they're hemorrhaging season ticket holders.

The USHL Steel, bless them, get by with few fans and fewer advertising. And somehow are still alive after the rumored demise of their ice arena when the Hawks had Johnny's Icehouse #2 built.

The ECHL failed after a year. (I think given a second year it would have survived, but attendance and rent numbers killed it.)

Multiple junior teams have come and gone from the western suburbs (NAHL's Chicago Freeze and Chicago Hitmen)

Chicago is an NHL town, not a hockey town. (I would love to see that change though.)

Jimmy John, or whatever his real name is, was the rumored donor thinking of helping kick start the Illini, correct? I don't think anything is imminent, but if he wants it to be, the money could be there.

Yes, I read/heard the same, but that was prior to the Assembly Hall renovation when it was still in the design phase. They should have just pulled a Nebraska and added the ice plant piping as a "just in case."

[davyd83]

It would be really nice to see more hockey attention brought out to the West Coast. Schools like San Jose State, Stanford, and UC-Berkeley are prime real estate for a team and a competitive team at that. I'm basing this on the logic of location and academics because lets face it, a lot of these kids choose what school they attend by factors other than hockey. Why do you think a not so history thick program like Quinnipiac gets such a huge draw from top prospects?

What mid-20 testosterone latent male wouldn't want to be in Sunny California with beautiful women, beaches, and more to do than one can imagine?

Where are the great beaches close to campus at San Jose, Berkeley and Palo Alto?

[Red Cows]

Re: Hockey Expansion

We already know that Northwestern is one of the three per a comment from Mike Eaves. I'll guess the other two are Illinois and Nebraska. Illinois is more hope than guess I suppose.

"According to Eaves, former UW defenseman Chris Chelios is involved in the group studying the feasibility of adding men’s hockey at Northwestern."

http://m.jsonline.com/sports/blogs/274926991.html

Northwestern was the host of the first ever "Big 10 Hockey Championship" a couple years ago. Pre-Big 10 Hockey Conference.

[Red Cows]

Re: Hockey Expansion

More on the Iowa arena:

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/big-...000-seat-arena

[5mn_Major]

Re: Hockey Expansion

Can't imagine that they're looking at that large of a rink without any potential tenant options. I think that makes it extremely likely that its Iowa and Northwestern...with a possibility of Nebraska.

Frankly western hockey can handle more schools. Look at schools within a couple hundred miles of Minnesota...Minnesota State, UND, UNO, UMD, Tech...lots of excess talent in the area.

[Red Cows]

Re: Hockey Expansion

I find it utterly amazing, in the wide variety of threads in this forum that talk about "expansion here" or "expansion there", how almost nobody talks about Title IX implications, which, after the facilities side of things, is one of the bigger impediments to adding hockey.

You have to have a place to play.

You have to have a place to practice.

You have to add women's scholarships in women's scholarship sports, to say nothing of endowing the necessary men's scholarships for the sport.

Then, you have to have the facilities necessary for whatever women's sport(s) you have to add to stay in Title IX compliance. If you don't have a hockey arena to play in, then, oh, you're going to have build one of those, too.

Did I forget to mention that owning and operating an ice rink is crazy expensive?

This isn't easy to accomplish, even at large well funded schools (read: Big 10) or a lot more schools would have hockey.

If any Big 10 schools are seriously looking at hockey, some of the league's or individual schools thought process might be based in this:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...ayoff/8198437/

Big 10 member schools are about to be flush with more money, a LOT more money, that they never had before that may very well be the impetus for hockey at some of them

[aparch]

I find it utterly amazing, in the wide variety of threads in this forum that talk about "expansion here" or "expansion there", how almost nobody talks about Title IX implications, which, after the facilities side of things, is one of the bigger impediments to adding hockey.

You have to have a place to play.

You have to have a place to practice.

You have to add women's scholarships in women's scholarship sports, to say nothing of endowing the necessary men's scholarships for the sport.

Then, you have to have the facilities necessary for whatever women's sport(s) you have to add to stay in Title IX compliance. If you don't have a hockey arena to play in, then, oh, you're going to have build one of those, too.

Did I forget to mention that owning and operating an ice rink is crazy expensive?

This isn't easy to accomplish, even at large well funded schools (read: Big 10) or a lot more schools would have hockey.

If any Big 10 schools are seriously looking at hockey, some of the league's or individual schools thought process might be based in this:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...ayoff/8198437/

Big 10 member schools are about to be flush with more money, a LOT more money, that they never had before that may very well be the impetus for hockey at some of them

Practice and play rinks can be the same.

Some schools may be tipped too heavy toward female sports proportionally to the student enrollment. Adding Mens Hockey only could balance things out.

[aparch]

Northwestern was the host of the first ever "Big 10 Hockey Championship" a couple years ago. Pre-Big 10 Hockey Conference.

Field Hockey maybe? Not sure why they would sponsor a championship for a sport they don't have otherwise.

[Rightnut]

Re: Hockey Expansion

Big 10 member schools are about to be flush with more money, a LOT more money, that they never had before that may very well be the impetus for hockey at some of them

This and the fact that their TV network needs content. Don't discount this as an additional motivating (and funding) factor. Not the main factor but certainly not an insignificant consideration.