All Things Hockey:

[paul253]

I know lots of sports fans of various ages and only one friend of mine follows/likes hockey and even he mainly just follows Badgers hockey

 

It's funny the different perspectives we have. I know lots of sports fans too and hardly anyone of them care about the NBA. One of my friends who is into sports said he wouldn't watch the Bucks even if the game was in his driveway. I've heard a lot of people say they wish they could trade the Bucks for an NHL team. I personally think an NHL team would outdraw the Bucks here but I doubt we ever find out.

[danzig6767]

I think an NHL team would draw initially since it was new, but would be more win/loss dependent to survive compared to the Bucks because of TV money. The NBA owners are swimming in TV revenues and thus aren't as dependent of attendance to survive as NHL teams are.

 

The Bucks and the NBA also has star power to draw in fans when good opposing teams come to town. The Bucks have a 45 plus year history in Milwaukee. Ask the average sports fan in Milwaukee to name 10 NBA players, and most could name at least 20. Ask them to name 10 NHL players and most would struggle to name just 5.

 

Almost any type of sports franchise can thrive in a city if they are consistently good. It's when they are very mediocre to bad for an extended stretch where a history and appreciation of a sport is vital for survival, especially when not in a major media market like Milwaukee isn't. This is where i think an NHL team here would struggle to stay afloat, even more so when having to compete with the Bucks for entertainment dollars given their schedules are in line with each other. In fact, that very well could kill both franchises.

 

That all said, i'd love to see an NHL team here so long it didn't kill the Bucks in the process. Odds are microscopic that it ever happens though for a variety of obvious reasons.

[nodakfan17]

My wife and I enjoy hockey. She's from North Dakota, where the University of North Dakota has won 8 NCAA Division I National Championships, including the most recent one. How does a town of 50,000 sell out a 12,000 seat arena every other weekend? They win games. Lots of games.

It also helps that there are no pro sports in North Dakota. That hockey program probably has state wide love.

 

Speaking of real North Dakota hockey, as a big Badgers hockey fan, i miss playing North Dakota home and away every year. They along with Minnesota used to be the Badgers biggest rivals. Plus, i thought they had the best looking uniforms in college hockey, especially when they still had the Fighting Sioux head on the front.

You're right in that it probably helps that there are no professional sports teams in North Dakota, but the college basketball season runs concurrently with hockey and the UND men's team draws fewer than 4,000 per game. It they started making the NCAA tourney every year, I'm sure their following would grow, but there's just not much to be excited about there (even if it is Division I men's basketball).

 

I miss the rivalries with Wisconsin and Minnesota, but those programs will be just fine (as will North Dakota). Growing up in Wisconsin, I have great memories of watching Badger hockey late at night on PBS with my dad. I'll always be a fan of the old WCHA teams.

 

Notre Dame is in the Big Ten now for hockey - what the heck?

[danzig6767]

 

I miss the rivalries with Wisconsin and Minnesota, but those programs will be just fine (as will North Dakota). Growing up in Wisconsin, I have great memories of watching Badger hockey late at night on PBS with my dad. I'll always be a fan of the old WCHA teams.

When i was a kid my cousin played Pee Wee hockey at Wilson Park and i was so jealous that i couldn't play because my parents couldm't afford it.

 

Anyways i'd spend weekends at his house and we'd look so forward to those replays of Badgers hockey on PBS at 10PM. After the game was over we'd go in the basement, put on his hockey gear minus the skates and play for pretend with a tennis ball. I have very fond memories of that.

 

Plus, back then the Milwaukee Admirals practiced and played at Wilson Park and my uncle worked there. So he'd let me and my cousin in to watch them. The players gave us sticks and pucks, and sometimes they'd let us skate around with them after practice. it felt like such a cool thing as say an 8-9 year old kid. Man did i love hockey back then. I can still remember just loving the smell of a small hockey rink and skating.

[trwi7]

Badgers are 18th in the PairWise putting them right on the brink of a NCAA tournament berth. Still a lot of games left to go though and some tough games. They need to beat up on Michigan State and Michigan and then probably split with Penn State (4 games), Minnesota and Ohio State and then do decently in the Big Ten Tournament. That might be enough to have them sneak in, which would be amazing.

[danzig6767]

That was a huge win last night by Wisconsin. I watched the game with a friend and when the Badgers gave up two goals in the last two minutes to tie the game, i feared an OT loss which could have been devastating, especially after not scoring a goal on a 5 minute major and a two minute minor that lead to a 5 on 3 power play.

 

I had high hopes when this new coaching staff was hired, but i didn't expect a turn around this quickly. There are some new players, but Granato has turned a team that was inept offensively under Eaves to a team which is now 6th in goals per game in all of college hockey.

[Jimbo]

My thoughts on hockey in Milwaukee is this: 1) few Milwaukee area high schools have a team, compared to Madison's high schools and youth programs. People in Milwaukee don't grow up with it. 2) attending my first Admirals game after moving from Madison years ago, it seemed the Milw fans were more interested in the fights than the skill of the game.

[BillScottCanRake]

To add to what Jimbo said, when Jessica played youth hockey in Onalaska, she played against a number of teams from Madison, Green Bay, Eau Claire, River Falls, and a ton of Minnesota teams, but I don't recall her playing against a Milwaukee team until she moved to girls AAA hockey starting in 9th grade. Even then, I'm not sure how many of the girls who played on the Junior Admirals were from Milwaukee, since AAA teams are allowed to add players regardless of where they live or attend school. I know a number of them were from Madison, but I don't know how many.

 

With regard to fandom in Wisconsin, my experience is all over the map. The crowds at the youth games I attended were great, but they were small- parents and other relatives, but hockey fans from outside the organization were rare. Badger fans (men and women) are largely into the games and knowledgeable, but I'm not sure how much of their love is for hockey or love Wisconsin hockey. The crowds at the NAHL games that I've attended in the area are more like what Jimbo experienced in Milwaukee. For whatever reason hockey plays don't really excite them so much as two guys beating on each other. I haven't been to a Madison Capitols USHL game, so I am not sure how those games are to attend.

 

To me an NHL team in Milwaukee would be a chicken or the egg thing. Would a new NHL team in Milwaukee create a new generation of hockey fans that wouldn't have otherwise existed and turn it into a viable NHL market? Or is the relative lack of interest in hockey in Milwaukee a sign that an NHL team would fail? I kind of think that between Badger hockey, the nearby Wild and Blackhawks, the USHL teams and smaller NAHL teams that Wisconsin hockey fans are appropriately satisfied, but who knows.

[trwi7]

Badger band at the Admirals game tomorrow night. Always a great show!

[paul253]

Former Badger coach Jeff Sauer has died. Only 73.

[pacopete4]

Former Badger coach Jeff Sauer has died. Only 73.

 

Was a really nice man. Was fortunate enough to attend the Badger hockey camp twice and play in a couple of state tournaments and he was an absolute treat to talk to.

[danzig6767]

Badger band at the Admirals game tomorrow night. Always a great show!

I wonder if the Badgers will ever revive that weekend tournament they played for a couple of years at the Bradley Center.

 

I went with some friends maybe 7-8 years ago and one of the games was against North Dakota. Our seats happened to be right by a section with a few hundred North Dakota fans and me and my friends had such a good time interacting with those Dakota fans. In fact, it just may have been the most fun i ever had at any hockey game i've attended in person. For whatever reason Wisconsin stop playing that weekend tournament in Milwaukee.

[trwi7]

Badger band at the Admirals game tomorrow night. Always a great show!

I wonder if the Badgers will ever revive that weekend tournament they played for a couple of years at the Bradley Center.

 

I went with some friends maybe 7-8 years ago and one of the games was against North Dakota. Our seats happened to be right by a section with a few hundred North Dakota fans and me and my friends had such a good time interacting with those Dakota fans. In fact, it just may have been the most fun i ever had at any hockey game i've attended in person. For whatever reason Wisconsin stop playing that weekend tournament in Milwaukee.

 

That tournament was started back in the late 80s when Wisconsin football was terrible and the athletic department was operating in a deficit. They decided to try out a tournament in Milwaukee as a way of boosting revenue. It worked, at least initially. Then the Badgers hired Alvarez and the team was consistently making bowl games. Instead of going to Milwaukee for the hockey tournament, fans would instead buy tickets to whichever bowl game the Badgers would be in. Attendance began to suffer in Milwaukee. The tournament eventually moved back to Madison and was killed off for good 6 years ago iirc.

[trwi7]

Oh what could have been.

 

There are also some serious what-could-have-beens haunting the Badgers. They went 2-2 this season against Northern Michigan, which is 54th of 60 teams in the PairWise.

 

Had that been a 3-1 record in favor of UW, it would be 13th in the PairWise. At 4-0, the Badgers would be seventh.

 

Two games is the difference between on the outside looking in and being firmly in the NCAA Tournament.

 

The top 13 teams in the PairWise have made the tournament in each of the past 10 seasons. Most years, the cutoff has been at 14 or 15 — the number fluctuates because of automatic bids earned by conference tournament champions and whether they’re already in position to make the field.

 

Using 13th as the target, the Badgers (13-8-1, 6-2 Big Ten) likely need to win at least seven of their final 12 regular-season games to be in that position going into the Big Ten Conference tournament.

 

http://host.madison.com/wsj/sports/college/hockey/badgers-men-s-hockey-wisconsin-puts-itself-in-position-to/article_b29999da-9dd7-5af6-a004-b7937702eb7c.html

[paul253]

Ah the ole Bank One Badger Hockey Showdown. I went to that fairly often with my brother. That's how a became I fan actually. I was (and still am) fascinated with all the chants the students do, especially the Sieve chant after each goal.

 

I really hope Milwaukee can get the Frozen Four back in town once the new arena is complete. I went to the 2006 National Championship game where UW beat BC. What an experience.

[trwi7]

It was almost a perfect hockey night for me.

 

Badgers beat Michigan State in OT, though they need to stop giving up these last minute game tying goals.

 

Admirals win in Grand Rapids for the first time in over two years.

 

The only blemish was the Predators completely dominating the Red Wings and losing 1-0.

[paul253]

Wisconsin has a very legit shot at winning the Big Ten. How amazing would that be after the past two seasons?

 

Speaking of the Big Ten. I know Notre Dame is joining the conference next year. Any word on any other actual Big Ten schools getting teams any time soon? I can't imagine they stared this conference with the idea of only having six schools involved.

[danzig6767]

It was almost a perfect hockey night for me.

 

Badgers beat Michigan State in OT, though they need to stop giving up these last minute game tying goals.

Yea, i couldn't believe they gave up another goal with under a minute left to tie the game. Had they not won in OT and lost instead, that could have been a huge blow to their tournament chances. To leave a Michigan St player completely alone right in front of the net for a game tying goal was so frustrating.

[nodakfan17]

Speaking of the Big Ten. I know Notre Dame is joining the conference next year. Any word on any other actual Big Ten schools getting teams any time soon? I can't imagine they stared this conference with the idea of only having six schools involved.

The formation of a Big Ten hockey conference was more or less a formality when Penn State added hockey. The Big Ten requires at least 6 member schools to play under the Big Ten name and the NCAA requires a minimum of 6 teams in a conference to award an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Despite the great rivalries in the WCHA and CCHA, I believe the potential revenue from Big Ten Network games and a conference tournament was too much to forgo. 6 would be the critical mass for any of the major conferences to play under their primary conference brand.

 

As far as which other teams may be interested in starting hockey, Nebraska is unlikely to be an option. A few years back (10?), Nebraska-Omaha dropped football and allocated more resources to men's hockey. I believe there's some type of gentlemans' agreement in place whereby the Cornhuskers will not sponsor hockey, provided Nebraska-Omaha does not sponsor football.

 

The biggest obstacle to sponsoring hockey is cost. Don't forget that it took an $80 million dollar donation by the owner of the Buffalo Sabres for Penn State to add hockey. And it's not just men's hockey, most schools would be forced to add women's hockey to satisfy Title IX requirements. With all due respect to women's hockey, it lacks the revenue potential that men's hockey brings.

[trwi7]

Wisconsin has a very legit shot at winning the Big Ten. How amazing would that be after the past two seasons?

 

Speaking of the Big Ten. I know Notre Dame is joining the conference next year. Any word on any other actual Big Ten schools getting teams any time soon? I can't imagine they stared this conference with the idea of only having six schools involved.

 

Minnesota is still a heavy, heavy favorite to win the Big Ten.

 

Wisconsin

 

vs (6) Penn State

vs (6) Penn State

vs Michigan

vs Michigan

@ (7) Minnesota

@ (7) Minnesota

@ (6) Penn State

@ (6) Penn State

vs (11) Ohio State

vs (11) Ohio State

 

Minnesota has @ Penn State and @ Ohio State but they get Wisconsin at home and they finish the season with Michigan and Michigan State.

 

It's been an amazing season and I'd be happy with a tournament appearance considering where Wisconsin has been the past couple of years but I'd be completely shocked if Wisconsin won the Big Ten. If we could get a bye to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, that would be amazing.

 

Thank God they're moving the tournament back to campus sites in 2018. The tournament since the Big Ten started has been terrible. Especially awful in Detroit but it wasn't exactly thriving in St. Paul either.

[danzig6767]

One thing which has surprised me is that the BTN doesn't televise more hockey games. To often there is fluff being televised and the Badgers hockey isn't on or is on some other odd network. So far i don't see this huge weekend series vs Penn St being televised anywhere in the Milwaukee area. The BTN is showing Minnesota vs OSU on Friday and Saturday night, but why can't they show games by region or state? I'm very annoyed that i can't watch either game.

[danzig6767]

Speaking of the Big Ten. I know Notre Dame is joining the conference next year. Any word on any other actual Big Ten schools getting teams any time soon? I can't imagine they stared this conference with the idea of only having six schools involved.

The formation of a Big Ten hockey conference was more or less a formality when Penn State added hockey. The Big Ten requires at least 6 member schools to play under the Big Ten name and the NCAA requires a minimum of 6 teams in a conference to award an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Despite the great rivalries in the WCHA and CCHA, I believe the potential revenue from Big Ten Network games and a conference tournament was too much to forgo. 6 would be the critical mass for any of the major conferences to play under their primary conference brand.

Man, i so wish that North Dakota would join the Big Ten conference. Has there ever been any talk of them being potentially invited and if they were, would they strongly consider it?

[trwi7]

One thing which has surprised me is that the BTN doesn't televise more hockey games. To often there is fluff being televised and the Badgers hockey isn't on or is on some other odd network. So far i don't see this huge weekend series vs Penn St being televised anywhere in the Milwaukee area. The BTN is showing Minnesota vs OSU on Friday and Saturday night, but why can't they show games by region or state? I'm very annoyed that i can't watch either game.

 

It says it's on the Wisconsin Channel which is public television but those games haven't aired, even on tape delay in the Milwaukee area for years.

[pacopete4]

Man, i so wish that North Dakota would join the Big Ten conference. Has there ever been any talk of them being potentially invited and if they were, would they strongly consider it?

 

If it is just for hockey, there is a chance. If it is for all sports, it's not happening. The Big Ten wants TV markets and North Dakota just isn't one. It's monetary over anything else.

[paul253]

Wisconsin has been the past couple of years but I'd be completely shocked if Wisconsin won the Big Ten. If we could get a bye to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, that would be amazing.

 

Wisconsin and Minnesota are both 8-2 in conference and I don't think you can say the schedules are that big a deal. Really the only difference is Minnesota plays Michigan St one series and Wisconsin plays Penn St. I'd be surprised if Wisconsin wins the conference just becuase if how bad they've been lately but it certainly wouldn't shock me. They are 4-2 so far against Michigan Minnesota and Ohio St so those are certainly winnable games, especially since 4 of the 6 are at home. Either way though what an improvement

 

The biggest obstacle to sponsoring hockey is cost. Don't forget that it took an $80 million dollar donation by the owner of the Buffalo Sabres for Penn State to add hockey

 

Yeah but that was mostly to build a new arena. If a team already has an arena that can add hockey the cost wouldn't be nearly as much. I think Nebraska just built a nice shiny new basketball arena that has the ability to make ice so there was some speculation they were thinking of adding hockey but I think that speculation has died down a bit.

 

I think conference expansion is inevitable again with the soon to happen demise of the Big 12. If or when that happens I wouldn't be surprised to see the Big Ten add two more teams and I think UConn would be a serious contender. They would shore up the East Coast, probably more so than Rutgers did. They also add traditionally strong basketball programs and although their football team is weak, as Rutgers showed that's not an automatic disqualifier like it would be for the SEC. Plus obviously they have a men's hockey program so with Notre Dame that'd make 8, a much more stable number than 6 for a conference.