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UND's New Hockey Conference


Cratter

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I like the idea of a St. Paul/Omaha rotation vs. St. Paul/Denver if necessary. Omaha is a great road trip with a convenient downtown location for their arena. I haven't been to Denver yet, but will be knocking that one off the list in a couple weeks, althought the experience will be different going to Magness than it would be going to Pepsi. Ok...maybe I just want to drive to the tourney every year instead of fly!

I like the idea of an Xcel, Target Center rotation better. Of course I have friends in Minneapolis so I don't have to pay for a hotel room.

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If money is an issue for Michigan, they could just do an outdoor game every year and fill the Big House with over 110,000 people. It has always shocked me that they can get that many people for a game at Michigan, yet they stay status quo in a 6000 seat Yost Arena. How much money are they losing by not building a new arena. I would bet that somewhere not too far off in the future Michigan will build a fancy new arena and they will have a much easier time recruiting the top end guys than they already do.

I've often wondered the same thing. It really doesn't make much sense, although it is Michigan vs Michigan State and that rivalry is HUGE in their state for all sports. Michigan will probably build a new arena, Yost is old. Sounds like Lucia wants Mariucci upgraded too now (it needs it).

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Everyone seems to forget, or did not know, that attendence at the tourney in St. Paul was not very big in the early 90's. UND fans only travel in numbers if the destination is easy for them to get to and cheap.

The St. Paul Civic Center seated about 16,000. The tourney drew 45k - 55k when in St. Paul before the X was built. In 1994 they set a record attendance of about 61,000 (broken 1st year at X). I'd say the tourney did pretty well in the early 90s. Not sure what this has to do with UND fans and their travel habits. IMO the biggest reason for the tourney attendance explosion is the building of the X.

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I've often wondered the same thing. It really doesn't make much sense, although it is Michigan vs Michigan State and that rivalry is HUGE in their state for all sports. Michigan will probably build a new arena, Yost is old. Sounds like Lucia wants Mariucci upgraded too now (it needs it).

What does he want upgraded, the stuff that fans don't see or the audio and video stuff, or a combination?

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What does he want upgraded, the stuff that fans don't see or the audio and video stuff, or a combination?

Combination

Asked about his wish list for Mariucci, Lucia suggested these improvements:

* renovate the downstairs for the players

* upgrade the weightroom

* modernize the coaches' offices ... "I think we have the same carpet in our offices from 1993 when Mariucci opened"

* replace the scoreboard with "an HD scoreboard that we can do so many things in-game to make it better for our fans, to show replays and hype up the crowd a little bit. That is a really must thing"

* improve the sound system ... "so you can hear a little bit better

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/138823404.html

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I have a few questions, No matter what the NCAA tournament isnt affected by the new conference correct? Im a new sioux fan since last year and am trying to understand all this (ill be attending the university next year, and my sister already attends). Also, if we were to get the Sioux name back, the NCAA could still suspend us from post season play or what?

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I have a few questions, No matter what the NCAA tournament isnt affected by the new conference correct? Im a new sioux fan since last year and am trying to understand all this (ill be attending the university next year, and my sister already attends). Also, if we were to get the Sioux name back, the NCAA could still suspend us from post season play or what?

Each conference that has at least 6 teams gets one automatic bid for the NCAA tournament, the rest of the field will be filled out with at-large bids. So the NCHC will have one automatic bid, just like that WCHA has one right now so it will be no different in that regard. Don't quote me on this but the NCAA can't suspend us from postseason play, we just can't wear Sioux jersey's or be able to host an NCAA sanctioned event, such as Women's Frozen Four, Men's regional etc., if we use the Sioux nickname. In terms of hockey, using the nickname is not a big deal because the NCAA has gone away from on campus regional sites to neutral sites (stupid in my opinion) so the chances UND would get a regional would have been slim anyway.

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So if we were to get the nickname back, every post season we would not be able to wear sioux jerseys?

Correct - for every NCAA postseason game, UND would not be able to wear the Sioux jerseys. Conference playoffs are not under the control of the NCAA, so the Sioux jerseys could be worn.

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Correct - for every NCAA postseason game, UND would not be able to wear the Sioux jerseys. Conference playoffs are not under the control of the NCAA, so the Sioux jerseys could be worn.

Unless the conference votes and adopts the same policy as the NCAA regarding use of logos.

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With the new 24 game conference schedule, how does that work. My math skills don't work so well this early in the day? We won't play home and away series with all the teams. Is that correct? I know Hak said that he liked this set up at the presser yesterday. Why is 10 non conference a good number?

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I would have liked to see the league go with a 21 game schedule to keep it balanced. For the single games you would have travel pairs of of DU-CC, UND-UNO, SCSU-UMD and Miami-WMU. The Colorado and Minnesota trips could stay on a traditional Friday-Saturday series. For the other two you would likely go Thursday-Saturday or Friday-Sunday. While breaking away from the usual, it would also give some additional TV timeslots for getting more games on CBS College Sports. This also gives you 13 non-conference games to play old rivals and still have room for eastern teams. A larger number of non-conference games also ups the chances of getting more teams into the NCAAs.

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i know it would never happen but if und was offered to the big 10 in hockey, you guys would want that right? or not? what are the thoughts? I would really like that. und is ncaa hockey, no arguing that

Only if the Pig Ten would let us join in all of the other revenue sports as well. From the looks of the Badger-Gopher basketball game last night, it might not be too long before we could compete solidly in round ball. Same for football. NDSU beats Gophers. Last they played, Sioux beat Bison. Wisconsin goest to the Rose Bowl with a team that fills its non-conference schedule with convents and schools for the blind. Sure, I'd leave to join the Pig Ten. Our trophy shelves would be brimming in another twenty years or so. But a blip of time.

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Only if the Pig Ten would let us join in all of the other revenue sports as well. From the looks of the Badger-Gopher basketball game last night, it might not be too long before we could compete solidly in round ball. Same for football. NDSU beats Gophers. Last they played, Sioux beat Bison. Wisconsin goest to the Rose Bowl with a team that fills its non-conference schedule with convents and schools for the blind. Sure, I'd leave to join the Pig Ten. Our trophy shelves would be brimming in another twenty years or so. But a blip of time.

The Big Ten will never shoot us an invite. We don't have the academic reputation, the endowmnet, the facilities, or a viable media market. We missed the boat a long time ago thanks to the frugile, think small mentatility of the people of the state. We will be lucky to be in the Big Sky this time next year, assuming they don'y boot us out before then.

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I don't understand why if we keep the nickname minnesota and wisonsin wont schedule us? They surely encounter a loss by not scheduling us also, losing one of the best hockey competitors...

This is where it gets touchy, even last night on the news Hammer got it wrong! These teams can't play UND if they are on the "hostile abusive list" not because they are the "The Fighting Sioux"!! Like hammer said!

If the NC$$ takes them off the list with them keeping the name, all is good!

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Each conference that has at least 6 teams gets one automatic bid for the NCAA tournament, the rest of the field will be filled out with at-large bids. So the NCHC will have one automatic bid, just like that WCHA has one right now so it will be no different in that regard.

I believe unless the NCAA has or will grant the NCHC some sort of exemption, they will not have an AQ for the first two years of play, so in 2013-14 and 2014-15 all NCHC teams will have to rely on an at-large berth to get into the post season. Newly formed one-sport conferences must wait two years to be eligible for an AQ.

Perhaps this case is a little different since UND, CC, Denver, SCSU, UMD, and UNO have already been together for multiple years. Hell, I don't know why I even brought it up now, but that's the way the rules read in the NCAA manual..........................

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Brad Schlossman has some info about TENTATIVE non-conference games next season and beyond

@ Fairbanks Tournament (Alaska, Alaska-Anchorage)

@ Notre Dame

vs. Boston University

vs. Holy Cross

vs. Northern Michigan

@ College Hockey Showcase in Florida

and possibly a 4-year agreement with Wisconsin

It's great to see UND scheduling a variety of teams and I love the fact that UND is not afraid to travel anywhere.

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Brad Schlossman has some info about TENTATIVE non-conference games next season and beyond

@ Fairbanks Tournament (Alaska, Alaska-Anchorage)

@ Notre Dame

vs. Boston University

vs. Holy Cross

vs. Northern Michigan

@ College Hockey Showcase in Florida

and possibly a 4-year agreement with Wisconsin

It's great to see UND scheduling a variety of teams and I love the fact that UND is not afraid to travel anywhere.

Wisconsin told Faison on Wednesday or Thursday that the deal was off because the nickname is back. Both Wisconsin and Minnesota told Faison that they wouldn't be scheduling UND after they left the WCHA. Time will tell what happens.
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