WCHA 1st Round Attendance

[Dave Berger]

I mentioned this in my Friday Game React, but I think this nugget deserves its own thread:

Of all the WCHA first-round series, North Dakota was the only host school to register a sell-out (11,572).

Colorado College drew 5896 fans (80% of World Arena capacity of 7343)

Denver drew 4693 (78% of Magness Arena capacity of 6026),

MSU-Mankato drew 4228 (88% of Alltel Center capacity of 4832)

St. Cloud drew 4005 (70% of National Hockey Center capacity of 4832).

I find this very odd.

[UND85]

I'm not surprised by the SCSU attendance. I live in St. Cloud and even last year when they finished 2nd in the League the attendance was nothing to write home about. While in Duluth a few weeks ago a fan from there said , "North Dakota hockey is as big as Nebraska football. On game day everybody is tuned in or at the game." I totally agree... while driving here from St.Cloud yesterday saw lots of Sioux fans on I-94 and I-29 heading to the Ralph! The Bam Bam sticks given out were a nice touch. Loud!

[MafiaMan]

  UND85 said:

The Bam Bam sticks given out were a nice touch.

Someday, I am going to blow up the office that houses the management of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in retaliation for inventing the "thunder stick." The wave? Great idea. Parachute pants and thunder sticks? Hmnn...not-so-much.

[Sioux_Yeah_Yeah]

  MafiaMan said:

Someday, I am going to blow up the office that houses the management of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in retaliation for inventing the "thunder stick." The wave? Great idea. Parachute pants and thunder sticks? Hmnn...not-so-much.

Do you have something against making noise at a hockey game?

That's the loudest it's been in that arena in a while.... well for the 1st period anyways...

[UND85]

Music teachers in attendance had to be impressed with the correct beat the student section were using to the cheer of "Let's Go Sioux! "

[Siouxmama]

  UND85 said:

Music teachers in attendance had to be impressed with the correct beat the student section were using to the cheer of "Let's Go Sioux! "

Impressed? Not so much. My 7 year old can do that.

[FIRE HELMET GUY #26]

Sounds like the Kato state ticket office majorly screwed up. They kept saying the game was sold out, then more tickets went on sale, then we were sold out again. I know there was one completely empy section at the Alltell last night though, and tons of other empty seats.

[MafiaMan]

  Sioux_Yeah_Yeah said:

Do you have something against making noise at a hockey game?

That's the loudest it's been in that arena in a while.... well for the 1st period anyways...

I don't have anything against noise but thunder sticks (or stix as they like to say) are annoying.

[Sioux_Yeah_Yeah]

  Siouxmama said:

Impressed? Not so much. My 7 year old can do that.

Yeah I'm not all that impressed with the student section either

Although there was a group of somewhat smart guys in the section next to us who tried to start a "Spartan Rejects" cheer, but go figure that nobody else really understood it

[MafiaMan]

  FIRE HELMET GUY #26 said:

Sounds like the Kato state ticket office majorly screwed up. They kept saying the game was sold out, then more tickets went on sale, then we were sold out again. I know there was one completely empy section at the Alltell last night though, and tons of other empty seats.

I thought Gopher fans were going to make the Midwest Wireless Alltell Center 'Mariucci South'? I was surprised when I got home and watched the 2nd OT and saw the empty section near the end of the arena.

[Sioux_Yeah_Yeah]

  MafiaMan said:

I don't have anything against noise but thunder sticks (or stix as they like to say) are annoying.

Yeah they are kinda annoying, but I liked the atmosphere it gave to the Ralph! Maybe next time we'll go with the little clapper things

[HeidiSioux62]

  Sioux_Yeah_Yeah said:

Yeah they are kinda annoying, but I liked the atmosphere it gave to the Ralph! Maybe next time we'll go with the little clapper things

While the clapper things sound like a lot of fun, most of them would probably end up on the ice like the glow sticks - we just can't seem to hold on to things while we're cheering so wildly.

[MafiaMan]

  Sioux_Yeah_Yeah said:

Yeah they are kinda annoying, but I liked the atmosphere it gave to the Ralph! Maybe next time we'll go with the little clapper things

I guess the reason I don't like "phony noise thingies" is because I'm a fan of straight-up crowd noise. Duke basketball is a good example and, as much as I hate to say it, I can think of two examples of the loudest crowds I have heard at the X:

2002 NCAA championship OT goal

2007 WCHA Final Five Blake Wheeler goal

[Sioux_Yeah_Yeah]

  HeidiSioux62 said:

While the clapper things sound like a lot of fun, most of them would probably end up on the ice like the glow sticks - we just can't seem to hold on to things while we're cheering so wildly.

Oh yeah, forgot about the throwing-on-the-ice part! Some people tested out the thunder sticks last night to see how high up you could be and still throw the sticks on the ice... Didn't work so well

[GFND]

  UND85 said:

I'm not surprised by the SCSU attendance. I live in St. Cloud and even last year when they finished 2nd in the League the attendance was nothing to write home about. While in Duluth a few weeks ago a fan from there said , "North Dakota hockey is as big as Nebraska football. On game day everybody is tuned in or at the game." I totally agree... while driving here from St.Cloud yesterday saw lots of Sioux fans on I-94 and I-29 heading to the Ralph! The Bam Bam sticks given out were a nice touch. Loud!

I thought the Bam Bam was a good thing too. I think it might have helped to get some of quiet fans to make some noise. Now if there was a way to get more fans to stand that would be great!

[MafiaMan]

  GFND said:

I thought the Bam Bam was a good thing too. I think it might have helped to get some of quiet fans to make some noise. Now if there was a way to get more fans to stand that would be great!

Make an announcement that beer sales have been cut off early...they'll stand AND make noise.

[cornerhouse901]

Attendance at the CCHA and Hockey East venues wasn't the best, either. Vermont came within 32 fans of a sellout, but the others all had attendance below their season average. BC was just 35% of capacity. MIchigan was 93%, Sparty 71%, and Miami 80% even though those schools had a bye week to sell tickets. In fairness, though, most of the host schools in those conferences also had teams playing in men's basketball tournaments.

[GFND]

  MafiaMan said:

Make an announcement that beer sales have been cut off early...they'll stand AND make noise.

LOL. Sad but true.

[Sioux_Yeah_Yeah]

  GFND said:

I thought the Bam Bam was a good thing too. I think it might have helped to get some of quiet fans to make some noise. Now if there was a way to get more fans to stand that would be great!

Well story about that... The ticket office sold student tickets to non students last night for the upper bowl, which put them in the upper rows. The upper bowl student section is the only section in the arena where it's STANDING, and the students were told to sit because the non-students didn't want to stand... Some sections gave in, and some didn't, and it was quite frustrating...

Note to the Ralph: DON'T SELL STUDENT TICKETS TO NON STUDENTS... Try working WITH the students instead of what seems to be against them...

[Sioux_Yeah_Yeah]

  MafiaMan said:

I guess the reason I don't like "phony noise thingies" is because I'm a fan of straight-up crowd noise. Duke basketball is a good example and, as much as I hate to say it, I can think of two examples of the loudest crowds I have heard at the X:

2002 NCAA championship OT goal

2007 WCHA Final Five Blake Wheeler goal

I agree with straight-up crowd noise, but when that doesn't happen (which it quite often doesn't at the Ralph) noisemakers help

[MafiaMan]

  Sioux_Yeah_Yeah said:

I agree with straight-up crowd noise, but when that doesn't happen (which it quite often doesn't at the Ralph) noisemakers help

I make it to REA once or twice a year and couldn't agree with you more, Sioux_Yeah_Yeah. Anything that helps crowd noise there is a bonus.

[Vegas_Sioux]

  GFND said:

I thought the Bam Bam was a good thing too. I think it might have helped to get some of quiet fans to make some noise. Now if there was a way to get more fans to stand that would be great!

Stand at the Ralph you know you can't do that the people in the suites might not see that crucial center ice face off. Also I want to know who told the security guards the glass will break if you touch it, isn't plexi-safety glass that gets hit and shot at routinely in the course of a game.

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

Does anyone know how many sell outs UND has had this year? Thanks.

[GFND]

  Sioux_Yeah_Yeah said:

Well story about that... The ticket office sold student tickets to non students last night for the upper bowl, which put them in the upper rows. The upper bowl student section is the only section in the arena where it's STANDING, and the students were told to sit because the non-students didn't want to stand... Some sections gave in, and some didn't, and it was quite frustrating...

Note to the Ralph: DON'T SELL STUDENT TICKETS TO NON STUDENTS... Try working WITH the students instead of what seems to be against them...

Wow! I just don't understand why the REA supports non-participating fans. I think on the back of every ticket there should be a phrase like: "This is a sporting event, be prepared to stand. Cheering is encouraged."

I agree - only students should be allowed in the student section.

[farce poobah]

Playoff attendance at UND has gone from bad to good since they changed the season ticket package to include the WCHA first round.

Makes me wonder whether the others do.