All Things Hockey:

[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.

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?

Obviously, a move to the Big Ten for all sports is extremely unlikely. A state of 750,000 people just doesn't have the resources to fund a major research university. North Dakota would make more sense as an affiliate member for hockey, but the only way I could see North Dakota making that move would be if they received an equal share of conference tournament revenue and an equal share of BTN revenue (prorated for men's hockey viewership). Plus, they'd need some assurance that they wouldn't be bumped for the next Big Ten team to add hockey.

 

I think North Dakota is comfortable in a league with a bunch of hockey-first schools like Denver, St. Cloud State, Minnesota-Duluth, and Nebraska-Omaha. I predict the next big shakeup in college hockey will come out West, where hockey is growing and Pac 12 / Mountain West schools have highly competitive club teams. We've already seen Arizona State make the jump.

[danzig6767]

Yea i meant just for hockey. That said, i understand why it wouldn't be likely. It was mainly just a personal desire of mine because i miss the N. Dakota/Wisconsin hockey matchup four games a year.

 

I spent so many years watching Wisconsin play teams like N. Dakota, Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, etc that i'm still not fully adjusted to the Big Ten schedule vs WCHA.

 

It's weird because i'm used to having strong feelings against schools like Michigan, OSU, and Michigan St in basketball/football, but when Wisconsin plays them in hockey it's not there yet for me. It just doesn't have that same big game vibe for me like when say N. Dakota or a good Colorado College team rolled into Madison with Paul Brown and Bill Howard calling the games.

[nodakfan17]

 

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.

I see what you're saying - you do not need an $80 million arena to begin playing college hockey. However, since college hockey is played on Friday and Saturday nights, you would almost have to be the primary tenant in the arena.

[stoutdude04]

I know I dogged their goaltending, but Berry was incredible tonight.

 

Up to 15th in the pairwise.

[trwi7]

Their defense is worse than their goaltending, which makes the goaltending look worse than it is.

[stoutdude04]

Their defense is worse than their goaltending, which makes the goaltending look worse than it is.

 

True. They were especially pathetic tonight.

[trwi7]

Badger men play for a place in the tournament tomorrow (well, I guess today) against Penn State. Winning is their only chance of getting in as those two losses to Northern Michigan and getting swept by Ohio State in the last series of the year knocked them down.

 

Badger women play for the national title against Clarkson on Sunday at 2 pm on Big Ten Network. The Badgers beat Boston College 1-0 on a goal with 16 seconds left. Clarkson beat Minnesota 4-3 on a goal with 1:31 left.

[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?

Too funny that my outlook on North Dakota men's basketball has changed so drastically in 2 months ... Even though Arizona dropped 100 on them in the first round of the NCAA tournament, they still grew their following by going 22-9 and winning the Big Sky for the first time (regular season and tournament). Today, I just ordered UND basketball sweatshirts for my son and I (everything else my family owns says "hockey" after "North Dakota"). You cannot deny that, regardless of sport, winning is the key to building a following in the major professional leagues and NCAA Division I.

[nodakfan17]

Badger men play for a place in the tournament tomorrow (well, I guess today) against Penn State. Winning is their only chance of getting in as those two losses to Northern Michigan and getting swept by Ohio State in the last series of the year knocked them down.

 

Badger women play for the national title against Clarkson on Sunday at 2 pm on Big Ten Network. The Badgers beat Boston College 1-0 on a goal with 16 seconds left. Clarkson beat Minnesota 4-3 on a goal with 1:31 left.

Good luck, Badgers. I would love to see a classic Wisconsin / North Dakota matchup in the NCAAs.

 

I love the Pairwise rankings - it's probably the fairest way to select tournament teams (vs. football or basketball). After you seed the conference tournament winners (who sometimes have lower rankings but qualify based on their conference auto-bid), teams basically have to be in the top 10-12 of the Pairwise rankings to make the tournament. However, I do find it odd that college hockey teams play series all year, but then play single games to decide a national champion.

[homer]

Blackhawks are on fire.

[stoutdude04]

Too bad for bucky. They outplayed them for thr 3rd and 1st overtime. They got a little sloppy in the 2nd ot and jones was a monster for psu.

[danzig6767]

That game left me sick to my stomach. So many chances to end that game for Wisconsin. Had to be such a gut punch to those players to dominate like that, but not see one of those pucks not find the net.

[nodakfan17]

The University of North Dakota cut women's hockey on Wednesday ... huge bummer.

 

NCAA women's hockey was officially sanctioned in 2002 and UND was considered a Top 10 program out of the 30 or so DI women's programs that exist today. Unfortunately, they never enjoyed a high level of success (0 national titles, 0 conference titles, 2 playoff appearances). A large part of that was due to the highly successful programs at Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Duluth, which effectively blocked UND's program from greater exposure.

 

The optics of the situation could not be any worse. The Title IX boo birds are out in full force. In the era of "twitter journalism," no one mentions that baseball was cut last year, or that all of the women's hockey scholarships will be re-allocated to other women's sports at UND, or that women's hockey costs (loses) $1.9 million per year.

[BillScottCanRake]

It sounds like cutting the program was a necessity, given the expense of hockey and the lack of money coming in. It's too bad, but I don't think the university can be faulted for that.

 

The handling of the announcement and the apparent lack of communication is where the "bad optics" come into play for me.

 

A friend of my daughter's just completed her senior year as a member of the UND women's hockey team. According to her, they found out about the cut after practice on social media a few hours before any announcement was made. An article we read online posted by a UND graduate said a recruit on campus was informed mid-visit (after watching a practice) of the cut.

 

It sounds like either the university wasn't communicating the possibility the program could be cut or the coaches were not communicating with the players and possible recruits. Maybe they couldn't- it would have probably killed the program to know it may be cut- but the team and incoming recruits are the ones who are suffering the consequences, and they deserved better.

[paul253]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl-will-not-participate-in-2018-winter-olympics-201941818.html

 

It was announced the other day that NHL players will not be participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics. Very disappointing and as usual greed has everything to do with it. NHL owners want more money for letting their "assets" play. Meanwhile The IOC doesn't want to spread their wealth at all. So it's the fans, and probably the ratings, that will suffer. The NHL seem to be the only sports whose stars actually want to participate and now that isn't going to be happening. I'll still watch becuase I love international hockey but man this is disappointing. The US has some very good young talent like Eichel and Matthews that will miss out, as well as a few older guys like Kessel who likely will not get another chance to play in the Olympics.

[pacopete4]

Play with college guys. Fine with me.

[paul253]

Not that I'm terribly against that, but they already have a tournament consisting entirely of college guys, at least on the US side. There's just something about a tournament with all the best players in the world representing their country. Unlike the NBA and MLB where most of the best guys usually sit out even when pros are allowed to play, the NHLs stars are always out there representing the US. It's a shame that money is preventing them from doing that.

 

Alex Ovechin said he was going to play regardless. I wonder if enough players just said "screw it we're playing regardless" would the NHL owners kinda of have to take a break?

[TheEndless7]

Alex Ovechin said he was going to play regardless. I wonder if enough players just said "screw it we're playing regardless" would the NHL owners kinda of have to take a break?

 

I believe the Caps owner said he'd back any of his players who wanted to leave for the olympics. It will be more interesting to see what they do if it involves missing two weeks or so of the season, which could amount to 5-6 games, while teams are fighting for playoff spots. Does an owner of a team who's somewhere in the mix for 6-8 in the conference where 4 points from two wins could mean missing the playoffs react differently than, say, this years caps who you could literally take out 10 of their wins and they'd still be like the 5 seed in the conference?

[danzig6767]

Play with college guys. Fine with me.

Not me. The Olympics hockey with NHL players is my favorite hockey event outside of when the Badgers are in the NCAA Tournament.

 

It's basically a series of All-Star games where the players actually care about winning and silly fighting doesn't take place.

 

I'll probably still watch if college kids play instead, but it will take a big chunk of my excitement for the hockey event.

[trwi7]

Playoffs again for the Admirals. Clinched last night with a Cleveland loss.

 

Their last game went pretty well. Especially since they were down 2-0 6:41 in.

 

 

 

Best seats in the house in my book.

[paul253]

Not me. The Olympics hockey with NHL players is my favorite hockey event outside of when the Badgers are in the NCAA Tournament.

 

Outside of the Michigan-Ohio St college football game, USA vs Canada is my favorite sporting event between two specific teams to watch. I watch the World Juniors every year but there is really something special about a USA-Canada Olympic hockey game, especially when pros are playing.

 

As far as the Admirals go, awesome job on making the playoffs. It's a bit of a long shot but I'm still hoping for a division title.

[danzig6767]

Not me. The Olympics hockey with NHL players is my favorite hockey event outside of when the Badgers are in the NCAA Tournament.

Outside of the Michigan-Ohio St college football game, USA vs Canada is my favorite sporting event between two specific teams to watch. I watch the World Juniors every year but there is really something special about a USA-Canada Olympic hockey game, especially when pros are playing.

I love to watch every Olympics game which USA plays in with pros because many of the teams be it Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia, etc they also have quite a few pros on their rosters also and i'll even watch some non-USA games. I likely won't watch those non-USA games though if the pros are gone.

 

It's so rare in any sport to have something close to All-Star rosters going against each other in games where the teams and players are actually trying their hardest to win, unlike the NBA/NFL/NHL All-Star games which are unwatchable.

[nodakfan17]

It sounds like cutting the program was a necessity, given the expense of hockey and the lack of money coming in. It's too bad, but I don't think the university can be faulted for that.

 

The handling of the announcement and the apparent lack of communication is where the "bad optics" come into play for me.

 

A friend of my daughter's just completed her senior year as a member of the UND women's hockey team. According to her, they found out about the cut after practice on social media a few hours before any announcement was made. An article we read online posted by a UND graduate said a recruit on campus was informed mid-visit (after watching a practice) of the cut.

 

It sounds like either the university wasn't communicating the possibility the program could be cut or the coaches were not communicating with the players and possible recruits. Maybe they couldn't- it would have probably killed the program to know it may be cut- but the team and incoming recruits are the ones who are suffering the consequences, and they deserved better.

The decision to eliminate women's hockey at North Dakota was based on economics - plain and simple.

 

10 years ago, North Dakota was being praised as a model for good state governance. They were one of the few states to run budget surpluses during the most recent financial crisis. Oil prices were high and the ample supply on the Bakken plane generated significant tax revenue for the state. Predictably, government spending increased to match revenue. Now, oil prices are lower and the most accessible supplies have tapped. Government spending must be decreased to match revenue. The legislature in Bismark mandated a $1.3 million reduction in athletics spending. Baseball was already cut last Spring. Women's hockey has known they were on the chopping block for at least a year.

 

I could see keeping women's hockey at UND if they were any of the following: 1) profitable 2) successful 3) popular. None of the above apply.

 

There is only one North Dakota native on the team. Half of the roster is made up of foreign players and the other half Minnesotans. Anyone advocating to keep the program is basically asking students and tax payers to subsidize Olympic development for foreign countries and organized hockey for girls who weren't good enough to play at Minnesota or Duluth. It sucks, but I get it.

[nodakfan17]

Duluth and Denver for the natty tonight.

[pacopete4]

UMD alum here (bigger Badger fan though) but hoping for a big W tonight.