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Walsh Hall

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Posts posted by Walsh Hall

  1. Ties were a part of hockey for a long time... and they sucked...and there started to be way to many of them.  Lower scoring games, more parity, way more ties.  

    Strategies change.  Equipment changes.  Games Evolve. Rules change to fit the times.

    in the past 12 years UND has had an average of 4.5 ties/year.  From '46-'82 the average was less than one tie each year.

  2. Do any leagues not use a shootout in the regular season?  This issue has been decided.  You don't have to like it, but it's already decided.

    Leaving a game after a tie is awful.  In many ways it's worse than a loss from a fan perspective.  It sure seems to me that the excitement level of the fans and players ratchets up several notches for a shootout. 

    There's  no chance playoff games will be decided by a shootout.  

  3. 9 hours ago, MafiaMan said:

    Nice anecdotal evidence.  I’ve seen fans leave a 3-2 game with 1:00 left on the clock in regulation.  Are you claiming that a shootout is more popular than a one-goal game late in the 3rd? 

    What does a one-goal game in the third period have to do with the popularity of a shootout?    If you want to compare things, at least try to compare comparable things.

    • Upvote 1
  4. 12 hours ago, MafiaMan said:

    OK, so why don't we make hockey a full-time 3x3 game?

    What?   They play the game.  Many hockey games end regulation in a tie, so 3x3 is a viable method to have a skilled and exciting way to break the tie.

    I personally think the regular season NHL games are more exciting in the last few minutes of regulation and OT now than under the old rules where there was basically no offense and teams played for the tie.

  5. 17 hours ago, MafiaMan said:

    If open space is the issue, why are you opposed to Olympic-size ice sheets?

    Open ice in an area a player can score leads to offense.  Olympic ice does not do this.  There's just a bunch more ice in places from which a player can't score. 

    3x3 and Olympic ice are no comparison in regard to creating offense.

    • Upvote 1
  6. 1 hour ago, Cratter said:

    Same could be said with lots of newspapers around the country. Including the Minot Daily and Bismarck Tribune.

    Absolutely.  Outside of fluffy local pieces it's all the same outdated news and syndicated columns.  They could just as easily have the "Dakota Forum or Dakota Tribune" for the whole state.  I suppose it's more profitable to market under the different names for each town.

  7. 24 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

    But I imagine the Fargo Forum remains as fat as ever.

    Thus my theory of what is coming.

    Not really.  All the ND papers are pretty scant.  Being owned by the same company it would make sense to consolidate.  The Forum has plenty of UND sports coverage.  I don't see how a consolidation would have any impact on UND.  At least 90% of the current content of the 2 papers has to be the same already.

  8. 14 hours ago, burd said:

    That's true, but then there are guys like ZPar, who was small, not the fastest skater, and with a good not not great shot.  But he knew the game inside and out and had an on-ice intelligence that was outstanding.  A lot of that no doubt came from his living hockey from birth and getting the best coaching along the way.    And passion.

    I completely agree.  That’s why it’s so hard.  zPar was incredibly polished and he must have been at 14.  Some pan out and some don’t.  I suppose the coaches look at a young kid and if they think they can’t miss they offer.  There’s just way more risk and unknowns.

  9. It has to be so hard to recruit kids that age.  We all know kids that dominated their sport at 14, but by 18 their physical advantages are gone and they are average players..  Also, I see more and more kids that are completely polished at 14.  They've had intense coaching since they were 3.  Another 14 yr. old who has more natural talent may not touch the skates from the last game to the first practice.  I'm always concerned that the polished physically mature young kids aren't going to improve as much from 14-18.  Their relative physical advantages are only going to diminish, and they are already maxing out their talent.

  10. The ticket sales at UND and NDSU are interesting.  Since 2006 UND’s has seen a moderate increase.  I suppose the hockey numbers are relatively maxed out.  NDSU’s ticket sales in 2005 were under 900k and were 5.6m in 2017.  That’s an impressive increase without adding a revenue sport.

  11. 1 hour ago, geaux_sioux said:

    Football revenue will grow a ton.

    What component of football revenue will increase significantly?  I'm surprised by the ticket revenue being so low.  NDSU's ticket sales were over $1,000,000 more than UND, and UND had 21 home hockey games last year.  

    • Upvote 1
  12. I wonder if any teams have turned down "blue chip" type players because they needed more grinders.  I doubt it.  I think teams typically get all the top guys they can and fill in what's needed. Some times there's a lot to fill in, some times not much. 

     As a case study, Minnesota used to essentially have their pick of the top 5-6 Minnesota HS kids.  That led to very good teams, but no championships in large part to the lack of roll players and the star mentality of all the incoming kids.  

    I think the key  is having high end guys that are willing, and able, to play the roll of a 3rd or 4th liner if they aren't top line guys at this level.  Essentially,  anti-Patrick White players.

    • Upvote 2
  13. 6 hours ago, nd1sufan said:

    I do realize that there are expenses to selling tickets. But if those expenses are costing you 52% of the ticket revenue, you are doing it wrong. The staff at the REA selling FB tickets will be there anyway selling for other events. If it would take say 5 to 10% that would be reasonable for FB tickets. If UND hired one or two people to sell FB tickets on their own, maybe it would cost them 15 to 20%, not anywhere close to 52%. 

    One or two people handle all entrances, ticketing, sales, scanning, reentry, set up the system, monitor the system...  for a football or hockey game?  Good luck with that

    • Upvote 1
  14. Some of the names mentioned signed knowing that they probably weren’t NHL players.  They get a nice bonus and start their pro career earning pretty decent money for their age.  They can only play for so many years.

    There is definitely a lot more to the discussion than is the player current ready for the NHL.

     

    • Upvote 4
  15. 8 minutes ago, I Ranger said:

    As you can see by the lineup that we sent out the vast majority of the second half, these are the type of players the head man prefers apparently. As has been stated on this board numerous times, when an offensively challenged team sits three pretty skilled forwards (Hoff, Adams, Yon) for a slow footed defensive defenseman at forward something is wrong. Offensive skilled forwards had extremely short leashes whereas our low-skilled grinder type forwards had miles. To me Smith is a great example. He had two or three good weekends in a row in November-December which bought him a regular lineup spot the rest of the year even though he did basically nothing in the second half.

    Adams had 1 points in his last 11 games.  Prior to the last game, Hoff had 1 point in 11 games.  If he played like he did in the last game he would have won the Hobey Baker.  That wasn't indicative of his play for the year.  Yon had 3 points all year.   You can't call these guys skilled forwards at this point at the college level.  If you're not scoring you better be doing other things to get on the ice.

    Smith, Olsen, and Simonson definitely weren't scoring either, but check the stats.  They didn't allow goals.   They aren't easy to play against.  Simonson's +/- is amazing considering his lack of offensive production.

    I have a ton of hope in Hoff and Adams.  Both have the ability to be productive offensively.  I think they both get there, but they weren't there last year.

    • Upvote 1
  16. 3 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

    15 forwards.
    How many are legitimate "top six" guys? 

    We have this strange affection for bottom six grinder guys.
    Yes, you need them, but not 12 of the 15 forwards. 

    Simonson: 139 games, 9 goals
    Olson: 121 games, 11 goals
    Smith: 66 games, 8 goals
    Bowen: 66 games, 8 goals
    Yon: 60 games, 4 goals 

    This team needs offense, both mindset and production. 

     

     The top 3 didn’t score, but at least didn’t give up ES goals.  Not so much for Bowen and Adams.

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