MafiaMan

Media coverage will also be a factor. Detroit and M-St P newspapers and radio will give the mew WCHA about as much attention as they do South Dakota State football. Green Bay has the Gamblers and they could be used in the same way the Wild are currently used to help promote hockey.

Green Bay would have been a great option. In fact, the WCHA probably missed a good chance to downsize its venue and use that to its advantage. A conference championship game with 3500 or 4000 fans in a venue about that size is still a packed house or close to it. 3500 to 4000 at the X or The Joe is a morgue atmosphere.

I think the 'new' WCHA has two big issues that are almost impossible to overcome: #1 being school size and #2 being distance between schools. I seriously think a specific site every other year for the WCHA Final Five will be a disaster. The best way to decide where the tournament would be held might be to let the conference regular season champion host it. You would probably guarantee more tickets sold in Bemidji, Houghton, or Mankato than you would if your Final Five in St Paul happened to consist of Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech, Alaska, Alaska-Anchorage, and Lake Superior State. Same thing if Joe Louis Arena hosts and your FF are Mankato, Bemidji, Alaska, A-A, and one of the UP schools.

For me as well, but it would allow Sioux fans in Denver the opportunity to see a Final Five. I am curious as to how attendance there would stack up against the X.

Don't get me wrong, I'm in a small group of fans who would spend a few bucks to go see some teams I've never seen play before...but not many folks are that big of a fan that they would do the same. I would LOVE to see the new-look WCHA succeed...but I'm skeptical.

I am surprised that the NCHC didn't go for the every-other-year at Xcel and Pepsi Centers. I honestly think folks will be disappointed in what they see at Target Center. And why the X took the new WCHA is beyond me...

Right! How many times have I read the Star Tribune or Pioneer Press talk about Minnesota's #1 ranking in October or January...only to hear about the team keeping busy playing 'Call of Duty Black Ops' when other teams are busy playing hockey in March?

I am glad to see that your 'nest' is adjusting...maybe some more road trips for you now? 2005 Columbus...damn that was fun!

Further proof that the 'ranked teams' notation is bs...that #16 Spartan team that Minnesota throttled is currently 5-12-3 on the season.

LOL...I'm no professional, but I've played PLENTY of competitive softball and broomball in my day and never, ever, would I say our team had an issue of thinking it was harder to see teammates when we were wearing light jerseys as opposed to our dark jerseys. Time to call Mythbusters... The only time I can recall a change like this was in the late 70's when Buffalo switched from white helmets to dark helmets to try to help out QB Joe Ferguson who was color-blind.

Wisconsin hockey fans travel well...if the travel is to Green Bay or Milwaukee. You would think the St Cloud vs Wisconsin regional championship game two years ago at the X would have drawn 10,000...I was there...lower bowl had PLENTY of seats available. I don't think that game's attendance was over 5,000. In Badger defense, it's easy to say Sioux and Gopher fans support the Final Five...if either of those teams had won only one semi-final game over the last 13 years, the X would contain a lot fewer green and maroon jerseys in the stands.

A new location might be a selling point, but it's a looooong ways from Sault Ste Marie or Marquette to St Paul. 5000 might be a stretch...

Badger fan attendance there has been over-rated for years. I never see huge swaths of Bucky fans at the X.

I would be stunned to see more than 5,000 fans in attendance per game when the new WCHA tournament comes to St Paul in 2015.

HEY-OH!

I would prefer the phrase 'difference of opinion' to argumentative. I do like the idea of third jerseys or big-game jerseys popping up at home now and then. It shouldn't be hard to coordinate in college hockey. UND could always tell Minnesota 'bring your yellow jerseys this weekend' and wear green or black for a home series. Was it last year when CC wore their yellows at home and the Sioux played in green? That game was a hockey jersey dream.

Any proof to back that claim up?

No no no. White at home means seeing Sioux white vs Miami red, Maine blue, Denver maroon, UMD maroon, St Cloud red (or black) and on and on...Sioux dark jerseys means black or green vs white every single weekend. Why it's a little-known fact that the Dallas Cowboys came up with this idea as a way for fans to see opponents' colors. I'm not a Cowboys fan at all but that idea was BRILLIANT.

Upper level seats have obstructed view...I recall 2000 game sitting directly under a fan blowing cold air on me for the entire game...the building doesn't allow for 'rounded' corners of hockey rinks and is better suited for the 'square-ness' of basketball. One section of seats behind the net (or backboard') is basically temporary pull-out seating like you would see in a high school gym.

That game sucked. I think the Sioux were up a goal or two going into the third and DU scored 3 or 4 goals to win it.

I saw the Sioux lose to Denver in the 1998 or 1999 Final Five at Target Center and saw them beat Wisconsin there in the 2000 Final Five. Target Center is without a doubt, one of the worst 'big venue' arenas around for hockey.

Hey, Big A HG or AZSIOUX...do either of you know the size of the numbers on the back of some of the Sioux older-style jerseys? I know 10" is most-common today but I came across an old b/w photo from the old barn that appears to show 12" numbers. I want to get some jerseys customized but also want to be historically accurate.

Back on topic, Another rule change: Go back to white jerseys at home.

A decade? Try almost 20 years! Nevermind the on-the-field stuff regarding the Irish, how about that nasty little rape/suicide of the girl on a neighboring campus? Oh, you hadn't heard about that? Google it. I am sure the NCAA is almost ready to put the Penn State hammer down on South Bend. Any day now...

The new logo incorporates silver (which represents the color of the Stanley Cup) and the NHL moving in an 'upward' direction. I think the logo change and re-naming of the divisions were points in the commissioner's favor. Now, watching the NHL leave Quebec City, Winnipeg, and Bloomington, MN...that's another issue entirely...