GFG Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 You and I are more than casual fans, that's why. I get what you are saying, but 10 out of 10 Sioux fans likely won't drive from Grand Forks to St Paul to see Michigan Tech vs LSSU and 9 out of 10 Gopher fans won't drive from Plymouth, Bloomington, or Forest Lake to Minneapolis to see Miami vs North Dakota. Good point. It helps that most of my friends are UND fans since I grew up here, so I'll be with them haha. I wish the arenas were closer together, it would be a blast to have all the fan bases interacting at the bars and stuff when B1G and NCHC are both there. Quote
Siouxperfan7 Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 That's like saying multiple fan bases take over Minneapolis and St Paul every time the Timberwolves and Wild each play at home on the same night. Honestly, Mpls and St Paul may as well be Fargo and Grand Forks. The fan bases don't typically intersect anywhere. I do hope the WCHA succeeds, I really do. If the NCHC title game is Denver vs CC, you just might find me in St Paul instead, no matter who is playing. Just saying that's a lot of college hockey teams and fan bases in a specific area of the country. That's all. Quote
bale31 Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 I bet attendance at the WCHA tournament will drop without Minnesota and North Dakota in the league. I think it's safe to say that both of those schools were responsible for most of the fans at the Final Five during the past 10 years or so. I don't think you're going out on much of a ledge there. 1 Quote
MafiaMan Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Just saying that's a lot of college hockey teams and fan bases in a specific area of the country. That's all. I do get what you are saying too. It would be fun for the two leagues to stage some sort of fan-fest so there is some college hockey mixing going on. I loved the Frozen Four events around the X a couple of years ago. Quote
bale31 Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Would it be that far fetched for the Ralph to host the new WCHA? Seriously, with all of the hard feelings that there are towards UND in this whole thing you think that WCHA would go to the Ralph? I'm not getting into another pissing match about whose fault this all is, but you can't seriously think the WCHA school would want to make money for a school that they feel dropped them high and dry, can you? Besides, no one from Grand Forks is going to go to a game that doesn't inlude UND when UND is presumably playing a game at the same time. It's also a long ways out of the way for most school's fans to travel. The only school that would benefit is Bemidji. Quote
MafiaMan Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Good point. It helps that most of my friends are UND fans since I grew up here, so I'll be with them haha. I wish the arenas were closer together, it would be a blast to have all the fan bases interacting at the bars and stuff when B1G and NCHC are both there. One guy in my group is an LSSU grad. If his two buddies weren't Sioux or Gopher fans, he wouldn't be at the X with us either. Of course, now, this conference thing presents some issues because we all want to be in different places! Quote
GFG Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Besides, no one from Grand Forks is going to go to a game that doesn't inlude UND when UND is presumably playing a game at the same time. It's also a long ways out of the way for most school's fans to travel. The only school that would benefit is Bemidji. This is completely correct. I've grown up here as have many people on this site, and if you hosted that tournament in Grand Forks it would be a disaster. The community here isn't interested enough in hockey to attend this without UND participating. Most people here are die hard Sioux fans, not die hard college hockey fans. IMO, the WCHA is better off having the tournament in MSP. You have a much better chance of picking up neutral fans, a MUCH better destination and more centrally located than Grand Forks. Quote
MafiaMan Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Seriously, with all of the hard feelings that there are towards UND in this whole thing you think that WCHA would go to the Ralph? ... but you can't seriously think the WCHA school would want to make money for a school that they feel dropped them high and dry.., LOL...yea, that's kinda like seeing if Moscow, Russia would like to host a 1980 Olympic hockey team reunion...for Team USA. Quote
GFG Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 One guy in my group is an LSSU grad. If his two buddies weren't Sioux or Gopher fans, he wouldn't be at the X with us either. Of course, now, this conference thing presents some issues because we all want to be in different places! I'll be completely honest, the years both are in town I'll probably get a hotel in downtown Minneapolis just due to how much fun the bars will be down there with all the hockey fans. Tailgate by the X all day with B1G fans (Gopher fans, since it's a possibility no other team will have fans there), and meet everyone downtown Minneapolis at night to have a blast. Plus there's a Marriot downtown MPLS and I can get a room at any Marriott in the US for 15-40 dollars a night since I know people Quote
bale31 Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Realistically, I don't think anyone knows how well attended any of the tournaments are going to be. The only certainty is that none of them will be as well attended as the Final Five. The Final Five was the perfect storm. The U with it's 100K+ alumni and UND with a ton of people that move to the Twin Cities after graduation and then sprinkle in a good amount of fans from the other schools and you have huge attendance. None of those things are going to be the same. My personal opinion is that the NCHC is expecting way too much in terms of attendance. You really have a large following of 1 school (UND) and a few other schools that have a decent following. My expectation for UND games would be in the 15,000 range, but for non-UND I think you're looking at more like 7500. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm skeptical about the following the tourney will have. The BTHC really isn't going to benefit from the torunament. It's likely not going to be well attended in Detroit and in MPLS I would expect it to be about like the NCHC. As for the WCHA, the rumblings that I have heard is that there weren't any real good options for smaller rinks that made logistical sense. There is Duluth (in which you have the same situation as holding it in GF). You have Green Bay, but realistically you need to have alumni bases in the area to make the tourney successful. You have Milwaukee, but now you're asking everyone to drive a minimum of 5-6 hours to get there so that's not realistic. And you've got Detroit and the Twin Cities. The smaller venues in those areas are Mariucci or high school venues. The PR hit of colleges playing in high school venues is just awful. So, you're left with the Joe and the X. Yes, they will be half (or more) empty, but it's better than the alternative. I don't think it's unrealistic to have 5000+ for a lot of the games. You have your die hards that will go every year regardless (1000, which is just 100 from each team, or maybe more). You will have maybe 500-1000 walk ups for each game. And then you will likely have one of the "local" teams that is involved and will draw 2000-3000 to the rink due to proximity and the fact that their team will be competing for an NCAA berth (which isn't the case right now). Is it a perfect scenario? Absolutely not, but it's what we've got to work with. Quote
AZSIOUX Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Yeah most if not all of my friends and family get hotels downtown minneapolis for the final 5. Definitely could be many many groups of fans around the area when they fall on the same weekend. Way more variety of hotels, bars, clubs, lounges, strip clubs for the adult fans. The target center is very bad for hockey. Definitely a fail on the tourney front but oh well. It's sioux hockey!! Quote
Fetch Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 How many can sit in the lower bowl & club at the X ? Quote
squirtcoach Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Light rail in 2014 connecting the two downtowns will allow easy access between the two venues. Quote
crb1 Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 All I know is I will really miss going to the Final Five in the WCHA as it sits right now. I don't go every year but I go as many times as my family and the pocket book will allow. I found the X and the atmosphere to be excellent. Whatever happens I guess happens and I will follow UND Hockey any where but I certainly will take it all in one last time this year and enjoy what is the best tournament in college hockey. 2 Quote
Fetch Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 I'm sad about what I'm reading - cause going to the F5 has been a wonderful trip for me & my family for many yrs now If it is going to not be as fun then we may as well just go to Hawaii & have fun I guess all this will help the Frozen 4 tourney depending on where & who is in it Maybe a Holiday Tourney at the X or a end of the yr challenge tourney of invited (screw the ncaa) good teams at the X (I bet it would sell out) maybe chosen by the Fans - maybe invite the best 4 teams & have a best of three covering two weekends or three - Do it for charity ..........I'd sure go Quote
Fetch Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 & that UND tent & party before & after the games has been FUN the last couple yrs Quote
Fetch Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Maybe even a Allstar type tourney with a team from all Leagues - something to have a great weekend in the Twin Cities & fill the X with Hockey Fans again Quote
Goon Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Exactly. One Gopher fan will come to Target Center to watch the NCHC. I've seen the X without the Gophers there...GFG will be one of the few who shell out $ to watch somebody else play. That's because GFG is a closet Sioux fan. Quote
MafiaMan Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 Way more variety of hotels, bars, clubs, lounges, strip clubs for the adult fans. The Seville is no Platinum Fox, I'll tell you that right now... Quote
MafiaMan Posted January 9, 2013 Posted January 9, 2013 The BTHC really isn't going to benefit from the tournament. It's likely not going to be well attended in Detroit and in MPLS I would expect it to be about like the NCHC. Wrong! Michigan and Michigan State are to the Joe what Minnesota and North Dakota are to the X. A Michigan vs Minnesota BTHC title game would be a blockbuster at the Joe. So would MSU vs Wisconsin. A Minnesota vs Wisconsin final would be the equivalent of a North Dakota vs Denver WCHA title game in St Paul. 1 Quote
ringneck28 Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 Wrong! Michigan and Michigan State are to the Joe what Minnesota and North Dakota are to the X. A Michigan vs Minnesota BTHC title game would be a blockbuster at the Joe. So would MSU vs Wisconsin. A Minnesota vs Wisconsin final would be the equivalent of a North Dakota vs Denver WCHA title game in St Paul. Except ND Vs DU would sell out the X 2 Quote
scpa0305 Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 From looking at attendance numbers from last year for these schools a 5K seat arena would be their best option. Bemidji had the highest attendance last year averaging only 3521 a game. Lake Superior had 2154 a game. How many would go to St. Paul? A hundred maybe? By looking at these numbers I would guess that if 2000 people showed up for the championship game that would be a huge crowd. That is taking into consideration that Mankato or Bemidji was playing. It really probably could be held at the Purpur. Sad....but you are so right. Quote
scpa0305 Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 Except ND Vs DU would sell out the X ....with all Sioux fans. Last years game was all Sioux fans. Quote
bale31 Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 Wrong! Michigan and Michigan State are to the Joe what Minnesota and North Dakota are to the X. A Michigan vs Minnesota BTHC title game would be a blockbuster at the Joe. So would MSU vs Wisconsin. A Minnesota vs Wisconsin final would be the equivalent of a North Dakota vs Denver WCHA title game in St Paul. The attendance at the CCHA tourney would suggest otherwise. Unless it's Michigan vs Michigan State the attendance has has been pretty paltry. I just don't think the Big Ten is going to have that great of attendance. It's likely to be on par with what the NCHC has which will be a step down from the current WCHA Final Five. The only certainty is that none of us really knows for sure. I don't think we'll have a good handle on conferences and conference tournaments for a good 5 years. Until then there is no history with any of those tournys. 1 Quote
MafiaMan Posted January 10, 2013 Posted January 10, 2013 Except ND Vs DU would sell out the X Really? I guess the 1500-2000 empty seats in the upper deck last year were figments of my imagination... Quote
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