All Things Hockey:

[nate82]

All because they didn't want to stop the season for a couple of weeks. No reason they couldn't have started it a week earlier and ended it a week later.

 

The NHL has a star problem because most player's personalities are bland and they only play about one-third of a game. Now you have to opportunity to get all of these stars on the same teams, playing against each other and you decline it.

 

Yes, if you asked non hockey fans they could probably only name Crosby and Ovechkin as players in the NHL and that is only if you watch ESPN. I believe about 90% of the people who do not watch the NHL could even name a single player currently playing other than Crosby and Ovechkin. I think the last great player that everyone know of was Gretzky and the NHL just hasn't marketed their players enough since then.

[trwi7]

Okay I think the Badgers are done now. Only chance is sweeping the Big Ten Tournament.

[stoutdude04]

Okay I think the Badgers are done now. Only chance is sweeping the Big Ten Tournament.

 

Yep. Just seems like the team took so many steps back this year. Frustrsting.

[stoutdude04]

Not able to watch the badger game tonight, but I see Michigan has had 4 power plays already and the badgers have had 0...oh yea, Michigan is 4 for 4 on the pp.

[stoutdude04]

http://wshe.es/3reOZxqK

For those of you hockey nuts in here...or even if you just want to help a local community, please take 30 seconds to vote for Beaver Dam to get new LED lighting. They have made it past the first few rounds and are now in the final 5...

[nate82]

Only in hockey does this happen right?

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/look-a-36-year-old-accountant-was-perfect-as-blackhawks-emergency-goalie-in-victory-over-playoff-bound-jets/

[trwi7]

Juuse Saros is a damn gem.

 

[stoutdude04]

Yea, has a beaut.

[pacopete4]

Badger fan number one but my Alma mater UMD Bulldogs just pulled off a mini miracle to win the national championship. Crazy. Probably shouldn’t of even been in the tourney.

[trwi7]

The Point Mallard Ducks of Decatur, Alabama have moved to Milwaukee to become the Milwaukee Power. The NA3HL team will begin play in the 2018-19 season at an undetermined location.

[stoutdude04]

The Point Mallard Ducks of Decatur, Alabama have moved to Milwaukee to become the Milwaukee Power. The NA3HL team will begin play in the 2018-19 season at an undetermined location.

 

Sweet. Thanks for the info. I hadn't heard that.

[nodakfan17]

I just can’t get behind Vegas ... doesn’t seem fair to long suffering fan bases.

[owbc]

I just can’t get behind Vegas ... doesn’t seem fair to long suffering fan bases.

 

It's kind of crazy how the Capitals were the underdog coming into this series. Nobody (outside of Vegas) wants the Knights to win, especially since they are going up against one of the longest suffering hockey fan bases.

[paul253]

https://247sports.com/college/illinois/Article/Illinois-Fighting-Illini-athletics-director-Josh-Whitman-increasingly-confident-in-adding-Division-I-hockey-program-118843301

 

Article on the possibility of the U of Illinois getting a Divison One men’s hockey team. This would be great news for the Big Ten.

[pacopete4]

https://247sports.com/college/illinois/Article/Illinois-Fighting-Illini-athletics-director-Josh-Whitman-increasingly-confident-in-adding-Division-I-hockey-program-118843301

 

Article on the possibility of the U of Illinois getting a Divison One men’s hockey team. This would be great news for the Big Ten.

 

Iowa might not be too much longer. New arena going in close to campus that will have a new ushl team but could also hold a D1 program. It’ll be interesting.

[nodakfan17]

The biggest expense associated with adding D1 Men’s Hockey? Adding D1 Women’s Hockey. Expansion is great for college hockey, but i just don’t think it’s feasible for many schools.

[pacopete4]

They should be able to add men’s hockey without adding women’s. Add another women’s sport without adding hockey.

[nodakfan17]

Actually, it’s probably easier to add 18 different scholarships to existing women’s sports, but it’s a delicate balance. I believe there’s still a back door way for female students to force the school to add hockey either through a petition or an annual survey. There are different routes to Title IX compliance and it depends on which route the school has chosen.

[stoutdude04]

Might as well add women's hockey if you have the facility.

[pacopete4]

Might as well add women's hockey if you have the facility.

 

The game just doesn’t have enough growth to keep adding these programs. Not only that but absolutely no one shows up to these games even though they are free. You just cannot sustain that and really shouldn’t have to.

[nodakfan17]

Even if you have a great facility that is capable of hosting men’s and women’s college hockey, you’d be forgoing other revenue by hosting poorly attended women’s hockey games. Ice time is expensive and other groups are willing to pay to use your university’s facilities for their own competitions. The University of North Dakota has no problem renting out their ice when the men’s team is on the road. They book various youth hockey tournaments, curling and figure skating competitions, and concerts. Not only does this help generate revenue for the university, but it also creates part time jobs for current students and helps showcase the campus to prospective students who visit for these activities.

[JackNicholson1974]

Michigan has 7 Division 1 hockey programs in the state

Minnesota has 5

Wisconsin has just 1.

 

Any chance any other school in Wisconsin could become a D1 program? Ever? I admittedly do not know the politics, money, or policy behind those decisions, but needless to say places like UMD and Lake Superior State dont strike me as otherwise D1 schools...so....???

[nodakfan17]

Michigan has 7 Division 1 hockey programs in the state

Minnesota has 5

Wisconsin has just 1.

 

Any chance any other school in Wisconsin could become a D1 program? Ever? I admittedly do not know the politics, money, or policy behind those decisions, but needless to say places like UMD and Lake Superior State dont strike me as otherwise D1 schools...so....???

I believe the reason why there are so many D1 hockey schools in Michigan and Minnesota is because most of their smaller public universities have D2 athletic programs, whereas most UW schools have D3 athletic programs. Since there is no D2 college hockey (just D1 and D3), the D2 hockey programs have been effectively grandfathered into D1. In order for one of Wisconsin’s very successful D3 hockey programs to go D1, they’d have to elevate their entire athletic program to D2 and give up all of their existing conference ties. It is technically possible to remain at D3 and sponsor D1 hockey, but then the program cannot offer scholarships - thus putting the team at a significant disadvantage.

[trwi7]

Michigan has 7 Division 1 hockey programs in the state

Minnesota has 5

Wisconsin has just 1.

 

Any chance any other school in Wisconsin could become a D1 program? Ever? I admittedly do not know the politics, money, or policy behind those decisions, but needless to say places like UMD and Lake Superior State dont strike me as otherwise D1 schools...so....???

 

The only other options would be UWM, UWGB and Marquette. Now all 3 would have a potential place to play but adding men's hockey requires either adding women's hockey or another women's sport. UWM and UWGB are bottom tier D1 programs to begin with in terms of athletics overall and conference affiliation so the chances the men's team would make money (most men's hockey teams lose money) is virtually zero and women's hockey or another sport won't make money either so they would have to have a pretty big surplus in revenue for it to make any sense and I doubt they have any surplus revenue.

 

Marquette could be like Providence I guess? But again that would require an additional women's sport and would basically need to be funded for several years to get the program up and running much like Terry Pegula did with Penn State.

 

So Marquette is probably the best chance but even then it's probably like a .000000000000000001% chance.

 

And Wisconsin has a lot of quality hockey at the D3 level with 11 teams total. The state has had a participant in the D3 final 14 of the last 20 years, has won 6 of the last 8 championships and St. Norbert and UWSP have played each other in the final twice in the last 5 years.

[nodakfan17]

A team almost has to be the primary tenant of their arena to play college hockey because home games require key Friday and Saturday dates for half the year. A hypothetical UWGB hockey team would almost certainly be behind the Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) and the UWGB men’s basketball team in priority at the Resch Center. Plus, UWGB already operates with the lowest number of teams and scholarships permissible by D1 and Horizon League standards. They are very cost conscious and have performed well across most sports for a school of their size and budget. I can’t see them stretching themselves thin with hockey unless there was a major donor.