southpaw

FCS is not considered a regional network. Since cable companies throughout the U.S. can carry FCS, similar to NHL network, CBSSN, and etc it is considered a national network. Don't be confused by the FCS Pacific/Central/Atlantic names. They're just names. ESPN could have gone with ESPN-West Coast instead of ESPN 2 but that wouldn't make it a regional network. Midco can be lumped in with all the Fox Sports regionals, like Root, Fox Sports North, etc. Living in Colorado, I can't get Midco on cable. Just like I can't get Fox Sports North. Those are dedicated regional channels because they're not available nationally on CABLE.

I don't like the NCHC/CBSSN TV deal from a UND fan side of things. I can't watch the games on FCS. I have to stream everything now, just like everyone else. The CBSSN deal sucks for UND, no way around it. However, it is a great deal for the league. Other than the Big 10 network, it is the best TV deal in college hockey. Does the exclusivity clause negatively affect the conference? Absolutely, but it's not so significant that it should have derailed the contract. 7 schools in the league now have more games broadcasted to more people than they did last year. That's a great thing for the league. We won't have more specific numbers until after the season is over however I would not be surprised to see that with the CBSSN deal, all 8 schools in the league had more viewers combined than all 8 of the schools did last year. And that includes UND on FCS.

Because Dish and DirecTV have decided that there are enough people who watch Root that they will carry that channel nationally. At this point, Dish and DirecTV do not feel there are enough viewers to justify carrying Midco. That could change (and hopefully it does) as it would mean Midco has it's own dedicated channel on satellite. Midco is exactly the same as Root in that it is a regional network. The main difference is Root is an established channel while Midco is only a few years old. Also, Root reaches to millions of people just in Denver, not to mention the rest of the Rocky Mountain viewing area.

It's fine to disagree. It's idiotic to assume that the driving force behind a decision made by 7 other schools in a brand new conference was to screw over UND. But please, enlighten me with more about how DU's regional broadcast schedule is smaller this year. I'd love to hear your expertise.

Wow, some UND fans are delusional about how important UND really is in the scheme of things. A new arena, unprecedented TV coverage and some good teams have made fans spoiled over the last 15 years. It's like UND hockey is God and if somebody else doesn't see it, then they are either wrong or trying to screw UND over. How much "smaller" has DU's regional broadcasts been this year? They have 7 games on Root/Altitude this year. THE EXACT SAME NUMBER AS LAST YEAR! Clearly, all of those "lost games" had to do with the NCHC/CBSSN deal. For the rest of the schools that voted for this? They get more games on national TV than they did last year. Why are they regretting the decision? There is no point in responding to your sentence about the other schools trying to screw over UND. That is a truly idiotic statement. Notre Dame's demands were not just TV related. How many UND fans loved the preferential treatment Minnesota got in the league? It would have been significantly worse had the NCHC caved to Notre Dame's demands. CBSSN likely would not have offered a teleivision package without the exclusivity clause. They had several other leagues they could go to and so they had bargaining power over the NCHC. People vastly overestimate the number of people watching Sioux hockey on FCS. There are not millions of people tuning in each weekend to watch UND play. There is a reason UND and Midco were not getting any funding for broadcasting those games on FCS. There's a reason FCS only ran promos and no actual commercials during UND hockey broadcasts. You can't sell advertising to something that isn't going to be watched by a lot of people. Notre Dame and UND would not have received a bulk of that exposure. Notre Dame would have received 90% of the exposure. The vote was never about forcing equality. It was "what is best for my school." For 7 of the 8 schools who weren't on national TV, it was about getting on national tv more. The CBSSN deal does that for those seven schools. That's why they voted yes. How has having 18 games broadcast nationally (more than any other league) squash the league as a whole? Just because UND's games aren't available to the 10,000 people who watched on FCS? Get a clue. UND on FCS does not equal national exposure for the NCHC. League-wide games on CBSSN does. Do you honestly believe this stuff you type? Please take a second and compare the CBS deal (even with UND not on FCS) to any and all AHA and WCHA games aired on TV. You can even combine AHA and the WCHA into one conference to try and boost the numbers a bit. Compare the NCHC national broadcast schedule to that of Hockey East. Outside of Notre Dame, the CBSSN deal wipes the floor with Hockey East's national coverage. The NCHC exists to make sure each school has a vote in the process. Had the NCHC formed in the early 90's and UND was invited to join, would you be cool with UND having a lesser voice because hockey wasn't as popular? I imagine you were one of the people screaming for Minnesota and Wisconsin hockey to have more power in the WCHA because they're bigger schools with more followers than UND. You wouldn't want UND to be considered second fiddle in the WCHA so why do you expect other schools to feel that way in the NCHC?

The bolded part is the only part that I disagree with. With Notre Dame in the NCHC one would naturally assume the NBCSN contract would come with it and bring lots of TV coverage (non-exclusive) to the NCHC. However, NBCSN instead renewed their contract with Hockey East. That contract consists of four non-Notre Dame Hockey East conference games all season. The number of HE games aired on NBCSN over the next TWO YEARS is capped at 12... total. Not 12 a year, 12 total. NBCSN doesn't care about airing college Hockey East games, they care about airing Notre Dame games. And it would have been the same way for the NCHC. People make the NBCSN thing out to be much bigger of a deal than it is. The only benefit of the NBCSN deal is that Hockey East schools can show their games outside of their region.

What? The CBSSN/NCHC deal is not good for Midco. They lose revenue from the games they don't get to do. Their product isn't aired nationally on FCS. UND voted against the contract because of that clause.

All I've been able to find is that it is a multi-year contract. I'll ask around and see if I can find out exactly how many years.

Bartels goes off for 400+, 3 TDs and throws one pick when a receiver deflects it. UND wins 35-27.

I'll start by saying I agree that the exclusivity clause should be a two-way street where CBSSN only does NCHC league games if available. I'm fine with the network doing two Atlantic Hockey games this year because I don't really care about that. However, where do you get the impression that the current admin of the NCHC doesn't care? The league and CBSSN signed the contract under the old administration and obviously the network wanted that exclusivity clause in there. CBSSN isn't going to just rescind that part of the contract because Josh Fenton asks nicely. Perhaps, there is nothing the NCHC can do about that clause now that they've learned some of the negative aspects. You act like if the NCHC says "let's get rid of that exclusivity part" then it's just suddenly gone. It's a freaking contract and while contracts are broken all the time, ones like these are not. People learn a lot from contract one to contract two and I imagine there will be changes if/when the contract is renewed. You have no proof the league likes the exclusivity clause, you have no proof the league hasn't tried to remove that part of the clause and you have no proof that the league doesn't care. But clearly, that won't stop you from making some fun accusations. P.S. The same league that is in the forefront of video and social media for the fans, because of requests by the fans, probably tends to listen to the fans pretty well.

As written by Siouxman in an email this morning: Congrats to the proud parents and grandparents and welcome to the Sioux hockey family!

Fargo please

You've said this several times... where the heck are the Summit schools going to go?

I personally wish UND would play a style that doesn't win games in conference and instead just wins the non-conference games. That will allow us to not worry about their style of play in late march and early april as we would be more focused on golf.

When isn't the word improved a relative term?

NCAA-wise, yes. NCHC-wise, no.

Here's goals #2 and #3 from Sunday:

Similar to the Miami feed it will be up closer to gametime.

Yeah, his arm strength really made him struggle in setting a record Joe's huge arm couldn't match. I get you like Joe (or think he's better or whatever) but Ryan has performed well. His "lack of mobility" didn't affect things a whole lot last weekend. But of course that was because of the new offensive line and not because he got rid of the ball quicker than Joe can.

For the last year of the Old Ralph I was in the front row of the corner for every game. For the first two years of the new Ralph I was front row right next to visitor penalty box. Since I work for Air Force hockey, I see every game from the press box point of view so whenever I'm able to go to UND games I always get seats in the front 3 rows. Love being close to the ice.

That's pretty incredible! It's already set as my desktop background spanning two extended monitors!

Ticket numbers definitely help the bottom line but UND (and similar schools) don't and can't rely on ticket numbers to keep an athletic department running.

I'm also coming from Denver. I'm guessing that Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning flights are going to be pretty full with Sioux fans. I recommend going to the Old Market area after the games. I've been to the Dubliner (downstairs Irish bar) every time I've been in town and it's always fun. The coaches and some of the UND staff have come out for post-game drinks as well. It's a chance for everyone to tell Hakstol why his system sucks and tell Hajdu how much you hate the TV deal Here's what the Alumni Assoc says about get togethers. Although, if you're looking for a pre-game drink I wouldn't go there. It's always ridiculously packed with Sioux fans and it takes 15 minutes to get a drink. It's a fun place to go if you've already had a few and just want to chat it up with other sioux fans. 09: UND Men's Hockey vs. Nebraska- Omaha Alumni Pregame Social The Old Mattress Factory Bar & Grill | 501 N. 13th Street, Omaha (Walking distance to the arena) 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. (7:07 p.m. game time) Food and beverages will be available for purchase.

I'm happy because the NCHC seems to have a better social media footprint than the WCHA ever will. Top 5 plays highlights! And word on the street is they will also being doing a "Question of the Week" segment where they interview coaches and players from around the league. It's a nice way to get introduced to some of the new teams and coaches.

People that feel the need to one up everyone