Siouxperfan7

So I was wondering if you could give me some proof that Kelley is in favor of lame mascots that don't mean anything? You ASSume, but provide no proof. The "Sioux or nothing" crowd is getting super annoying. UND will never be the Sioux ever again. Not going to happen. Not sure what it will take for you and others to realize this. Sure it sucks. But accept reality.

I never said a couple thousand. I said there would be "many". I guess that is all relative. Do I think 2000 local Sioux Falls residents would show up, no. But they would be there. I can't predict the number any better than you can.

http://www.undsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=209983634 150 tickets up for grabs!! Get your tents and head over to Scheels Arena!!

Sioux Falls Stampede averaged over 6000 fans this pas season. Sure some of it had to do with the new arena, but its not like people are going to stop going to games in the new arena. (Similar situation to what we experienced in 2001 when the new Ralph opened). Sioux Falls has plenty of hockey fans. I think that you would see many locals attend the tournament jsut to see good hockey. Especially if former Stampede players are playing for NCHC teams.

How bout beating both BU and BC in Boston for title #8!!

It's all about priorities I guess. Restaurants, hotels, museaums, bars, ect sure they are nice to have a variety to choose from. Sure it's an added bonus to have all the other things to do while you are at a tournament. But what is your main reason for going to the Frozen Faceoff? To watch hockey. All other things are an added perk. IMO I would much rather sacrifice a few other ammenities in regards to non hockey activities that I could do for having a much better game day and tournament experience.

I can see attendace increasing, obviously, for NDSU games. But UNI, W. Ill, and Missiouri State...thos games are no more of a draw than any Big Sky team. Sure you will have people that would buy season tickets to gaurantee they get tickets to the Bison game. But 4000-5000...not a chance. It has been said many times in many threads on this site. The thing that is going to to get butts in the seats at the Alerus and the Betty is WINNING.

Minneapolis to Sioux Falls - 237 miles Minneapolis to Grand Forks - 315 miles

Paging Brian Faison.....the ship is sinking! Need to do something!! There is a relatively local coach who's team is playing in the Elite 8 today. I suggest you give him a look!!

We all know the frustrations with having the Frozen Faceoff at the Target Center. Many issues make the tournament not as great as to what it could be. I think I had mentioned before about how the NCHC is the premier conference in college hockey and needs to showcase its conference tournament in a premier arena. Well, Can't think of a better place than the Denny Sanford PRIMIER Center. Seriously, this arena would be absolutely perfect for the Frozen Faceoff. Here are my reasons. 1. Centrally located for more schools. Sure you don't get the influx of alumni from the Minneapolis area, but looking at the distance it is from each school, it is actually very comparable. Average distance from the 8 schools to Minneapolis is 507 miles. Average distance from the 8 schools to Sioux Falls is 504 miles. (Trust me, I did the math). Sure it will be farther if you want to drive for schools like Duluth and St. Cloud. But it will be much closer for Omaha and the Colorado schools. 2. Size of Arena As much as people don't want to hear it, the attendance at conference tournaments this year was the lowest it has been for years. Sure having the tournament in a huge arena is great, but when you have 8,000 in a 18000 seat arena, the atmosphere is horrible. The NCHC isn't having the attendance issues quite as bad as other conferences, but it could get by with playing in a smaller arena. The average attendance for the Frozen Faceoff this year was 11563. The Sanford Center holds 10678. No sure you can say that it is already to small, but I think a lot of that can be attributed to having alum so close in Minneapolis. Now moving it out of Minneapolis may hurt attendance a little but a slight dip in attendance is worth it considering the other advantages. 3. Hockey Arena The Denny Sanford Premier Center was built to host many events in Sioux Falls. But their primary tenant is the Sioux Falls Stampede. A USHL hockey team. They have experience maintaining the ice, boards, glass, etc. No more crazy bounces and slow ice to worry about. Also their staff working the game is used to hosting hockey games and they won't have people coming in and out during play. Having the tournament in an arena that is used to hosting hockey games is a huge advantage. We want the best conditions to play on and playing in a basketball arena converted to hockey is just not it. Also, the Sanford Center host many tournaments, mainly the Summit League basketball tourney at the end of the year. They have experience handling fans attending multiple sessions at one arena. There would be no wrist band debacle. 4. Size of Community I understand that going to the big city of Minneapolis is a great road trip for many fans and there is a lot to do besides before and after the games. But it's not like Sioux Falls is a tiny town. Population is about 165,000. There are plenty af bars, restaurants, and hotels that could accomodate fans. Also, when the NCHC Frozen Faceoff is in Sioux Falls, it would be THE event in town. Lots of people would be talking about it. No other teams are playing in the town. (Except the Stampede, but they would be out of town that weekend, obviously.) The city would take it seriously and would deffinitely make sure that the tournament is run smoothly. So those are just a few advantages I can see to moving the Frozen Faceoff to the new Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls SD.

Unless your schools decides to close down their football program...then we will take you!! (

If the NCHC consistently outdraws the Final Five and the B1G tournement in the X, you don't need to oubid the B1G. Hypothetically, the X will see that the Frozen Faceoff can generate much more revenue than either of those tournaments and they will not sign new contracts with the other leagues, and will propose a contract to have the NCHC Frozen Faceoff at the X.

OK, calm down. I should have put a little smiley behind my comment as I meant for it to be sarcastic. YOu can mess with the lines, sure. Needs to be done. But obvioulsy you don't move a D-man to forward for the first time in the NCAA tournament. I agree with you MAttson needs to stay where he is at.

NCHC Frozen Faceoff should be in the Xcel. Period. While the WCHA was successful there, I think playing the Final 5 in Grand Rapids, MI would be better for the league due to all the great lakes area schools in the conference. B1G is not going to draw the crowds they want to due to the fact that the majority of the schools are more focused on the NCAA basketball tournament. Not sure what theya re going to do, but playing in 18000 seat arenas when less than 3000 people show up to games looks very bad. If the NCHC really wants to be THE premier college hockey conference, they need to showcase their product at their conference tournament at a premier facility. The Target Center deffinitely is not a premier hockey facility by any means. The X is.

Going into the NCAA Tournament scoring 1 goal a game the weekend before and thinking that nothing needs to be chaged is a little risky too!

So if we were bringing back all our starters from last year, would everyone be happy?!! Did we all foget how last years team did? In an attept to be a glass is half full guy in this situation, I think this is actualy good for the team. Tyler was good, sure. And DeRouen played with some great intensity and husstle, but losing them isn't the end of the world. Giving new guys a chance to step up and fill some roles can be a good thing. Last years team was bad. Pretty easy to see that. Replacing some of those players with new, and hopefully better, guys is something that we all can look forward to.

I also noticed that they decided not to put 2 B1G teams in any one regional I think we are on to something!!

The old Ralph was around 6,000. Sheels arena hold 5000 for hockey, howerver there will be a lot more than that when you add up the standing room. Having been in both I would sa that they are very comparable. The old Ralph was a little bigger in terms of the size of the building and the height of the rood. Scheels is a bit more intimate with a lower roof. It has the potential to get pretty loud in there if we get a couple early goals on Friday night. The atmoshpere will deffinitely bring back some momories of the Old Ralph! Hopefully we can harness some of the old magic the old Ralph brough as well!

Game of the day coming up shortly with Kansas playing Witchita State. Should be a dandy!

I wonder what the attendance numbers will be today at the B1G! Minnesota playing this afternoon should be a little better you would think. More curious about the Michigan/Michigan State game tonight. You would think 2 instate rivals playing the night game in their conference tournament in their home state would draw quite a few fans. I guess we will see!!

I think you may have picked the wrong year to be ripping on the NCHC and bragging about the B1G.

The biggest problem with the B1G tournament is that at the 6 B1G schools, hockey is probably the 3rd or 4th most popular sport at that school. It is probably the most popular at Minnesota, but at the other schools it's not even close. So when you are having a tournament for your 3rd most poplar sport at the same time your second most popular sport (Mens basketball) is competing in the NCAA basketball tournament, this type of interest in the conference hockey tournament is almost expected.

Imagine the awesome basketball court design we could have!! Similar to what the Mountain West used for their conference tournament

Imagine the awesome basketball court design we could have!! Similar to what the Mountain West used for their conference tournament

Big 12 teams losing early in the tournament. No big suprise. Thought they were going to buck that trend this year....guess not!!