LIVE FROM PEGULA... Saturday Night, Senior Night
- Thread starter PA_JOE
- Start date
I did once... Missed the shot (in soccer) and ball hit my back heel and went in somehow (I was rather close to the net).
No worries! We all want the same thing for our programs! One less game in the Tourney usually means fresh legs. Vital for our programs styles of play.
Don't apologize to the gopher @STPGopherfan. He might be a nice poster, but he's still a gopher. And that means he blames us for ruining college hockey. And killing off their rivalries with their former WCHA buddies.
I'm just joking here. Though he'll tell you, some of his friends still hold that against us. Even though long term, the Big Ten is going to be a much better hockey conference.
Gopher, curious about your thoughts on the CCHA revival. The two Alaska schools are probably doomed. And Alabama Huntsville probably as well. Will Arizona State ever find a home? Will Illinois finally sign up for big boy hockey (they would quickly become a B1G power in my opinion)?
Never trust a rodent!
To your 1st point, yes our fan base is far from immune to ingnorant and A-hole fans. With that said, many of us realize that like football many things were due to change. Personally, I think that if you are in a conference you should be in that conference for all sports. With that said, welcome PSU. Point two. I haven't followed the "new" CCHA. Alaska schools were on thin ice (pun intended) to begin with due to travel. I think they really need to figure out a way to get some schools in the Mountain/ Pacific time zones to make it work for them.
Alabama Huntsville might be kept afloat by U of Alabama Tuscaloosa if they do something like Nebraska's satellite campuses and not compete in football in return for Hockey funding?
Now just a random thought. We are already approaching parity. I am beginning to wonder if a few programs won't drop hockey because they will struggle to compete.
Never trust a rodent!
Point two. I haven't followed the "new" CCHA. Alaska schools were on thin ice (pun intended) to begin with due to travel. I think they really need to figure out a way to get some schools in the Mountain/ Pacific time zones to make it work for them.
Alabama Huntsville might be kept afloat by U of Alabama Tuscaloosa if they do something like Nebraska's satellite campuses and not compete in football in return for Hockey funding?
Now just a random thought. We are already approaching parity. I am beginning to wonder if a few programs won't drop hockey because they will struggle to compete.
I'm sure some will drop hockey. Especially schools that are too far to bus to most away games. Not sure which those might be though.
I think the formation of the Big Ten Hockey conference, along with Notre Dame becoming an affiliate member, made the Big Ten the top conference going forward. The money and TV exposure from the BTN and ND's NBC contract make it tough for other conferences to keep up. And with Minny, Wiscy, MSU and Michigan (plus ND), the conference has plenty of All Time programs that kids will recognize.
I'm assuming that the new CCHA won't be the end of the shuffling. The two Alaska's are probably doomed for sure now. I'm not sold on UAH being on solid ground. Their program has been horrible and now they will be back to being an independent.
Rumor is Minnesota State wants out of the CCHA (or rather they want into the NCHC).
I'm still hoping Illinois makes the jump and gets the conference to eight. Would be great if other B1G schools joined as well. But if not, I wouldn't mind seeing Omaha take Lincoln's spot in the standings.
I'm surprised more Pac 12 schools haven't done anything. I figured Arizona would want to follow along with ASU. Maybe U of Washington will get some traction with Seattle joining the NHL. The more big schools and big conferences that play, the more traction the sport will get overall.
I guess we'll see.
Hockey's expensive--largely due to equipment--and if you add a men's program you pretty much have to add a women's program. More expense. But the old CCHA was a pretty good conference--I followed it regualrly when I came to tOSU as a grad student in 1978 (I was quite the rink rat too in those days having also played 5 years of intramurals there). Saw some pretty good players too in that league like Kent Morrow (1980 Olympic team) and Dave Poulin.
It could happen? Would that hurt Notre Dame? Also, what happened to the talk regarding Iowa upgrading from club hockey? Another random (and baseless thought) Would University of Nebraska Omaha ever consider joining if Illinois and Iowa don't step up? They are NCHC now, so I doubt it.
I thought that Illinois was thinking about doing D-1 hockey; you would think that that school could field a decent team over time.
Regarding Alabama-Huntsville, my nephew's bantam team from the Pittsburgh area played a bantam team from Huntsville two weeks ago in a tournament in D.C. Their program plays teams in places like Nashville, Atlanta, and even Florida. Obviously, the college program there has helped with youth hockey.
If another B1G team does not step up to make conference an even eight, I would not mind seeing B1G take a quality team from another conference. I have heard rumors that several teams in the past have reached out about joining the B1G, but I don't know which ones. I know at one time ASU was a consideration.
I heard that, but then all conversation regarding a possible ASU addition stopped. Could the Pac12 commissioner have put a stop to this?
Yeah, I mentioned Omaha above. They would fit nicely in place of Lincoln. But you're probably right that they wouldn't join without some more natural rivalries like Illinois and Iowa.
I don't know what happened to the Iowa rumor. Junior hockey is huge in that area, but I don't think there is a viable ice arena nearby to make it work. They'd need a big donor like just about everyone else.
My guess is the B1G wanted to take a wait and see approach to Illinois before inviting ASU. The B1Gs long standing relationship with the Pac 12 makes that reasonable. And a flight from State College to Phoenix isn't much longer than State College to Minneapolis, so I don't think travel is really an issue.
