nodak651

Meh.. any thoughts on this?

I couldn't agree more. For example, last year Lindenwood played games vs Air Force, Denver, and they would have played ASU as well, if not for a covid cancellation. Those games were all scheduled before they announced their move up to D1. I really think it would be worth it to keep tabs ACHA vs NCAA D1 scheduling. This upcoming year I believe Lindenwood, Liberty, UNLV, and Simon Fraser all have games scheduled vs UAA. UNLV also has this game vs Denver as well. Will be interesting to see if any others get scheduled. Seamore Sports interviewed Matt Shasby, UAA's coach, recently, and he basically said he was going to try to schedule ACHA programs that are trying to move up to NCAA. "Moving to the conference discussion folks are having, Shasby gave a bifurcated answer. first he said “obviously there’s concerns not being in a conference.. but I’ve actually enjoyed the experience of building a schedule.” The unique trips are almost a feature of the system for Shasby. He does see the concerns of not having a conference for the short run. The second part of his answer was more forward thinking. He said “ further down the line, my goal is to help the Western teams that might be considering making the jump to Division One Hockey. The three year goal is to play those guys and help them as much as possible to convince their Athletic Departments to get convinced to make that jump.” He mentioned working to schedule games with the Oregon Ducks, more games with UNLV, and he’s had talks with Simon Fraser as well. For a western college hockey conference to form, the two Alaska schools need Arizona State and three more teams. Shasby’s advocacy for more programs to come up to the Division One Level could have an exponentially positive effect on this sport." Ice Time Hockey SW also has a great series of podcasts in which they cover NCAA hockey and ACHA hockey, and it seems rather apparent that they believe certain schools have plans in the works. They were ahead of everyone on the Lindenwood move. They recently interviewed the guy in charge of College Hockey Inc, who helps with the feasability studies, and that was incredibly interesting, as he was pretty optimistic about continued growth.

That might have been one of the most disappointed I've ever been watching UND football haha. Such high hopes after that happened...

You have to log in and the 2,500 page thread about UND will be in the smack talk section that appears.

With how many games UND wants to have aired, that is a really good idea... (ideally without sdsu and usd). They could show old school replays during the days as well, similar to ESPN Classic. I don't know anything about the industry, but ya gotta think it would be easy for them to add a channel, from a technical perspective, being that they are also the cable provider. Speaking of Midco, I wonder if Bluepeak entering the GF market influenced their offer at all. Has anyone discussed them yet on siouxsports, maybe in a different thread? They add an interesting dynamic, as Midco could leverage UND to mantain GF market share, but at the same time, if Bluepeak does well, there will be less eyeballs on UND and less associated add revenue. Long term, I would love to see UND and Midco stick together, but with Midco selling their sports channel to other tv carriers, similar to how comcast used to have regional sports networks.

Bally, but not if UND wants one broadcaster for all sports. Something like football only would fit well with them I'd think. I never even knew Bek was a thing until yesterday. Guessing/hoping Lakes was trolling.

I submitted a FOIA yesterday for the radio and tv proposals and UND got back to me right away: "The solicitation process is still in the grading process. Once the “intent to award” is posted, the information will be considered open records and will be available under FOIA. I expect this will happen mid to late next week." So I'd be curious to know what source GF Hockey has. I'm guessing he saw Lakes post on Bisonville which states Bek won. As of now, UND is still listed as a featured team by Midco https://www.midcosportsplus.com/ and https://www.midcosports.com/

Being that Forum Communications hasn't reported any updates, is it safe to assume they submitted a proposal?

St. Thomas is apparently targeting a capacity of 4-4.5K for their new arena. The capacity target is new info. If that comes to fruition, I gotta think they rise to the top of the list when it comes to NCHC expansion options, as that size shows how serious they are, and given their location, they would help a ton with frozen faceoff attendance (revenue). I think this also would make Summit hockey more feasable, if desired. The underwhelming hire of SCSU's AD as the new Summit Commish makes me think that Summit hockey is the direction they may be heading. I think if they go that direction, Mankato could be the best option for another addition if the Summit wants Mankato to eventually move up to D1 and join the Summit league (and if Mankato is interested) - they would be the perfect geographical and institutional fit, especially if you look at the next best options, should Summit League expansion be necessary. Adding Mankato and St. Thomas would also would help a ton with improving Frozen Faceoff atmosphere and driving local interest, as the programs are both closer in proximity than any current NCHC schools (except maybe SCSU for Mankato) so many fans from each program would likely attend whether or not their teams make the Frozen Faceoff. The last thing we need is another distant team, like ASU, that will bring few fans if they make that tournament, IMO. Would also be interested to know how much the NCHC cares about keeping Miami in conference, and how important they are to keeping the CBSSN contract in place. If the NCHC wants Miami to stay, Bowling Green could potentially be added instead of Mankato, as they are apparantly looking to fund significant arena renovations again, so it will be interesting to see what they can get done there. I'm 100% against ASU for a multitude of reasons, but mainly I think that they are not a like minded program with other NCHC programs, as they have allegiances to the PAC 12 and it's TV network, so there could be issues with CBSSN and NCHC.TV, and they will likely leave for a western conference as soon as possible. I also kinda feel like they wouldn't like the current tournament set up with the finals always being in St. Paul, and that would potentially bring the number of programs that may be against the current tourney setup up to 5, if you think CC, DU, Miami, and WMU may be interested in a more favorable tournament setup, such as on campus sites only, or a rotating championship venue. Also, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'm fine with the status quo as well, but Summit hockey is appealing to me if it helps to lock St. Thomas and DU into the league long term.

It's off season message board talk.

Nothing wrong with discussion.

That and it's a city owned venue.

Any word on how many proposals they received?

South, leading from the restaurant (attached to the southern seating expansion) out to the patio that overlooks the tailgating lot . The restaurant will have gambling for the benefit of UND Athletics. Windows like that would look great at the best new sports bar in grand forks. This restaurant idea would be a hit though. Place to be for NFL games, away hockey/football, other watch parties, kentucky derbey, and get some food in there, combined with the other destinations the mayor wants to build over there, place could be a hit. Could also bring in a ton of beer money for concerts. Would make the Alerus Center a much more appealing location to host other events as well. Hell, maybe work with Sally Smith and BWW on this in conjunction with a new naming rights deal for the stadium when it comes available.. In all seriousness, if no fancy expansion, I think the south wall would be better for the simple fact that it overlooks the tailgate lot and it would look better from the highway.

Who here has some extra time available? UND is hiring for a part time, temporary, marketing position. One of the job duties will be marketing for the football tailgate... would be a fun part time job... https://campus.und.edu/human-resources/careers/job-openings.html

I recall the developer saying it was a risky investment.

Why is the athletic department silent about this stuff?

Locker rooms too? Legitimately? Also, is that video room in a new space that was used for something else? Don't recognize ever seeing a room that large.

I get it what you're saying, but my point is that the talent is there. If not for a bizarre finish vs Missouri State (99.9% odds of winning) and our kicker going down before the SIU game (3 missed field goals I believe) we would probably be ranked. Yes those are excuses for L's in 2022, but it doesn't take away from the fact that UND was good enough for us to talk about how we should have won these games or others, nearly all of which being road games by the way. Being that it's the past, the Wins and Losses from the past two season no longer mean anything, right. My main point that the team has shown over the past couple seasons that they are good enough to play to within a score or better than the best teams in the country, and the consensus seems to be that our team skill is about the same. So to me, that means that UND should again be about as good as the best teams in the country, only we now get to play more of the better teams at home. Playing at the Alerus vs some of the better teams will make a difference, and given the overall talent level of our team the past couple seasons, and without surprise OL departures (with no time to find replacements), I don't see why UND shouldn't be expected to be a top 25 team this year, especially with the major talent some of the other teams have lost.

In Coaches defense, UND showed consistently last year that they didn't have the OL that could get them the couple yards needed in situations where the opponent was expecting it. See red zone stats and failed 1 yd conversion vs NDSU for one specific example of many.

Sorry for no paragraphs. Rambled a bit but its family time. 2023 isn't 2022. Results change from year to year. If you look at the 2022 schedule, besides NDSU, which is usually a loss for everyone no matter where the game is played, UND played all of the toughest MVFC teams on the road and lost by a touchdown or less in all of the losses. If those games are at the Alerus Center, the result likely changes in at least a couple of them, and in 2023, many of those games are also at home. Looking at the SDSU game as a barometer, UND played a tight game there and had SDSU on the ropes, without Matt Walletzco, and while SDSU also had their star RB back. UND's OL was probably the biggest issue last year, as we couldn't move the ball at all on short yardage - that position group will be much better this season as Craig Orlando is finally back (was projected to start before getting hurt in fall) and we have other transfers coming in, along with the young guys getting older/stronger/better. Yes Matt will be gone, but UND did well AT SDSU without him, and this position group isn't coming off a summer that gutted essentially our entire line. Yes, Otis is gone, but the replacements last year actually had better stats then him, and the UNI guy is coming in and will help us on short yardage situations. UND is losing a dynamic RB, but the RB they are losing already missed a few games last year and was likely a distraction to the team. Defense will be about the same (good). Worst case scenerio, Schuster will be our QB (meaning no suprises and is good enough to beat him out), but he has proved to be an accurate passer and good decision maker, and with a little bit more experience, he may actually start to use is feet which we saw a bit more from him at the end of the season last year, and he is quick enough to be very effective there, especially with how much he rolls out of the pocket to throw. UND also lost guys over the off season, but I think less so than most, and SDSU for example lost like 5-6 guys that either got drafter or earned NFL tryout offers. Looking at the last two SDSU games and seeing that 2023 SDSU is at the Alerus Center, I don't see any reason to believe that game isn't at least a toss up, which is a lot better odds than most teams in the top 25 would have. 2023 isn't last year. This team had the talent to win every game and being that I think UND is about the same or better at most positions, I don't see how UND doesn't deserve to be ranked, especially if UND's performance last spring means anything.

Disingenuous argument at best.

PAC12 network? What incentive is there for the NCHC? Is ASU like-minded with the other NCHC programs? Will they help fill the X at the Frozen Faceoff. Would they prefer that the tourny location move or rotate? Would they be on board with NCHC.TV streaming or want their on PAC12 setup? Too risky, IMO. And they will leave for a new western conference the first chance they get.

What do you mean by streaming being contracted? I didn't notice any significant changes really - you were just saying there is a new contract in place right?

Right, and no Root blackouts. But given that the games are almost exclusively with Montana schools, isn't this odd that the deal is through the Big Sky rather than the schools themselves?