College Hockey 2013-2014 (Non-UND hockey)

[Let'sGoHawks!]

Boy you guys sure hated watching the NSCC.... It was a lot of fun going to it and I'm excited for next year. This thing will build to something better.

I only watched about 30 percent of the UMD vs UMN-TC game, but it was absolutely awful listening to the "homerism" of the announcers. UMD has a team full of lousy no talent divers and talkers is the take away point. At one point, the color man actually said "GO Tom", or whatever the player's name was for the Gophers, as he started skating out of his d-zone. Did anyone else catch that? I think it was after Farley did his embellishment and the color guy was all fired up and about to cry.

I was pulling for UMD so hard in that game, seemed like they were the better team for long stretches when I watched.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Does your definition of fan really matter? Some fans are more dedicated than others but the reality is every team has a mix of those kinds. There are also no rules that say you aren't a real fan just because you didn't attend a school that you cheer for. I know people from schools like Mankato, SCSU, and others that actually cheer for other teams for differing reasons.

Considering Minnesota's student population runs something over 50,000 every year and with a large city around their school, I don't think there is any shame in admitting they have a much larger fan base. If we had a big city and a bigger student population, we'd probably be able to match it. We simply don't.

Yeah it does matter, because the fan I referenced would not drive to Omaha in a blizzard to watch an outdoor game and cheer the team down the tunnel after the sweep. That fan would not spend his disposable income on finding any way to get to UND games and he would not spend tons of money on UND gear and contribute funds to the UND hockey team. I don't think there's any shame in admitting the population difference either, which is why I did in my previous post. I simply pointed out that while we may be smaller we seem to be more passionate about following our team in general. You think Gopher fans take over Magness Arena or World Arena when they play there? I'd say the quality of the fan is extremely imporant in that regard.

[bale31]

http://www.mankatofr...-North-Star-Cup

There won't be an announcement of single game attendance for this reason (taken from the Xcel Energy Center web site:

Tournament packages include two tickets, one for each day of the tournament. Each day’s ticket will provide access to both games on that day. The arena will not be cleared between games each day and there will be no ‘in and out’ privileges either day. Single session tickets will allow access to both games in the session.

Your estimate of 38,000 fans in attendance is about 10,000 too many.

I sent a Gopher fan friend of mine a text as I knew he was in the stands for the championship game (he skipped the 3rd place game along with about 10,000 other folks). When asked what the atmosphere was like for the Gopher/UMD game, he said while it was a great game to watch and the crowd was into it, the crowd numbers rivaled those of the WCHA Final Five 3rd place game.

A bit of an unfair comparison though.You're comparing a first year, mid-season tournament (that drew from 4 fan bases) to a established, post-season tournament (that drew from 10-12 fan bases). I don't think that I've really heard anyone comparing the two other than people trying to marginalize the NSCC, people saying that it won't ever compare to the Final Five, or media that is trying to pump it up.

[jdub27]

http://www.mankatofr...-North-Star-Cup

There won't be an announcement of single game attendance for this reason (taken from the Xcel Energy Center web site:

Tournament packages include two tickets, one for each day of the tournament. Each day’s ticket will provide access to both games on that day. The arena will not be cleared between games each day and there will be no ‘in and out’ privileges either day. Single session tickets will allow access to both games in the session.

Your estimate of 38,000 fans in attendance is about 10,000 too many.

I sent a Gopher fan friend of mine a text as I knew he was in the stands for the championship game (he skipped the 3rd place game along with about 10,000 other folks). When asked what the atmosphere was like for the Gopher/UMD game, he said while it was a great game to watch and the crowd was into it, the crowd numbers rivaled those of the WCHA Final Five 3rd place game.

UM's website lists the attendance in the box scores. Attendance on the 24th was 14,388 and on the 25th was 14,518, total of 29K for both days. No way to know what the actual attendance for the separate games were though. Either you knew that already or are surprisingly accurate at estimating crowd sizes.

[MafiaMan]

A bit of an unfair comparison though.You're comparing a first year, mid-season tournament (that drew from 4 fan bases) to a established, post-season tournament (that drew from 10-12 fan bases). I don't think that I've really heard anyone comparing the two other than people trying to marginalize the NSCC, people saying that it won't ever compare to the Final Five, or media that is trying to pump it up.

You didn't listen to "Beyond the Pond" on Saturday morning, did you? if I'm premature in comparing it to the Final Five, Minnesota homers are beyond premature in comparing it to the Beanpot or the GLI. Beyond the Pond's quotes that I listed earlier in this thread on Saturday morning were laughable. "A different vibe" at the X? With 4,000 fans there? C'mon.

[MafiaMan]

UM's website lists the attendance in the box scores. Attendance on the 24th was 14,388 and on the 25th was 14,518, total of 29K for both days. No way to know what the actual attendance for the separate games were though. Either you knew that already or are surprisingly accurate at estimating crowd sizes.

I watched the games on TV and heard the estimates on "Beyond the Pond" on Saturday morning. The show did everything to try to minimize the Friday afternoon attendance problem, including at one point, blaming the weather. Instead of saying using actual numbers, they pointed out the 14,000 figure from Friday but admitted "several thousand less than that" for the afternoon game. Several thousand? Try 10 out of every 14 people with tickets not showing up for the UMD/Mankato game. Only UMD play-by-play man Bruce Ciskie mentioned the low attendance for the afternoon game as being problematic.

[WiSioux]

What the heck happened at the Union/RPI game and where can we get a video? Eight suspensions and tons of penalty minutes... Coaches involved in the.brawl.

[bale31]

You didn't listen to "Beyond the Pond" on Saturday morning, did you? if I'm premature in comparing it to the Final Five, Minnesota homers are beyond premature in comparing it to the Beanpot or the GLI. Beyond the Pond's quotes that I listed earlier in this thread on Saturday morning were laughable. "A different vibe" at the X? With 4,000 fans there? C'mon.

Fair point. They were talking about it being a different vibe which was a bit over the top, but again, it's a different vibe for a first year, mid-season tournament. Is it the same as the Beanpot or event the GLI? Is it the same as a post-season tourney? Of course not, but again, you're talking about media types. It's not fans. Also, to a "T" the players and coaches were raving about it. Obviously, take that with a grain of salt, but they were very excited about it. Give it time. It's got the makings of a pretty awesome yearly event, but it's not going to be the very first year of its existence.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

Fair point. They were talking about it being a different vibe which was a bit over the top, but again, it's a different vibe for a first year, mid-season tournament. Is it the same as the Beanpot or event the GLI? Is it the same as a post-season tourney? Of course not, but again, you're talking about media types. It's not fans. Also, to a "T" the players and coaches were raving about it. Obviously, take that with a grain of salt, but they were very excited about it. Give it time. It's got the makings of a pretty awesome yearly event, but it's not going to be the very first year of its existence.

I think it will be successful, especially when the other teams' fan bases can show up in higher numbers. Come on Mankato people, it's an easy drive up 169!

[MafiaMan]

Fair point. They were talking about it being a different vibe which was a bit over the top, but again, it's a different vibe for a first year, mid-season tournament. Is it the same as the Beanpot or event the GLI? Is it the same as a post-season tourney? Of course not, but again, you're talking about media types. It's not fans. Also, to a "T" the players and coaches were raving about it. Obviously, take that with a grain of salt, but they were very excited about it. Give it time. It's got the makings of a pretty awesome yearly event, but it's not going to be the very first year of its existence.

I know you're a Mankato fan and I'd agree...a mid-season rivalry tournament at the X has the potential to grow over time as opposed to another run-of-the-mill non-conference series against Robert Morris or Sacred Heart at the MWWCC.

Maybe I'm just bitter because I already miss the yearly road-trips to Mankato to see the Sioux play.

[George M. Bluth]

What the heck happened at the Union/RPI game and where can we get a video? Eight suspensions and tons of penalty minutes... Coaches involved in the.brawl.

http://www.uscho.com/2014/01/26/ecac-hockey-studying-video-of-brawl-after-rensselaer-union-game/

[cberkas]

What the heck happened at the Union/RPI game and where can we get a video? Eight suspensions and tons of penalty minutes... Coaches involved in the.brawl.

Here is where you can find 3 of the videos. http://www.withoutapeer.com/2014/01/a-breakdown-of-discipline.html

[siouxweet]

let's compare apples to apples in fan turnout and which fan base had more people in grand rapids last year? I wasn't there, I am just asking if anyone on here went and would be able to answer that. my guess is about the same.

[Blackheart]

I think it will be successful, especially when the other teams' fan bases can show up in higher numbers. Come on Mankato people, it's an easy drive up 169!

Yeah, they should be use to the drive...like when they gave away home games to play the Gofers at the X.

[bale31]

I think it will be successful, especially when the other teams' fan bases can show up in higher numbers. Come on Mankato people, it's an easy drive up 169!

Welcome to Mankato. People bitch about everything. People were complaining that these tickets were included in the season ticket package because they didn't want to have to pay for a series that wasn't in town.

In fairness to people, they would have essentially needed to take a half/full day of work off to get to the game by 4:00. Same with UMD which didn't attend all the well either. The necessity of having MN in the 7:00 game on Friday night makes it easier for their fans to show up and not need to take work off. They had the 2 teams that are the furthest away play the early game on Friday. That doesn't excuse Saturday, but does explain some of Friday's attendence woes.

I know you're a Mankato fan and I'd agree...a mid-season rivalry tournament at the X has the potential to grow over time as opposed to another run-of-the-mill non-conference series against Robert Morris or Sacred Heart at the MWWCC.

Maybe I'm just bitter because I already miss the yearly road-trips to Mankato to see the Sioux play.

We're bitter too. Trust me, I think people in Kato dislike UND more now than ever after the conference split (I'm not trying to get into an argument about fault, just relaying the reality of the perception). I would much rather see our old conference than the likes of Bowling Green, NMU and Lake State, but these are the cards we've been dealt.

[Ray77]

In this video of the Union/RPI brawl there are students chanting "Union Sucks!". I'm hoping the NCAA catches wind of this...I think many people that are union members would take offense to this and Union should have to change their name.

Warning - there is some language in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnmMQ5Dvz04

[MafiaMan]

In fairness to people, they would have essentially needed to take a half/full day of work off to get to the game by 4:00. Same with UMD which didn't attend all the well either. The necessity of having MN in the 7:00 game on Friday night makes it easier for their fans to show up and not need to take work off. They had the 2 teams that are the furthest away play the early game on Friday. That doesn't excuse Saturday, but does explain some of Friday's attendence woes.

I made that same argument for years about the Final Five...hometown fans shouldn't complain about leaving work at 3:00 pm on a Friday afternoon so they can make a 4:00 pm face-off time 20 minutes away.

[bale31]

I made that same argument for years about the Final Five...hometown fans shouldn't complain about leaving work at 3:00 pm on a Friday afternoon so they can make a 4:00 pm face-off time 20 minutes away.

Exactly, I left my job at 3:00 to get across town on Friday, but it's totally different for people that have to take off at 11:00 or 12:00. I guess it doesn't surprise me that people are that self-important though. Gopher fans have had it pretty good for years and will because of the money involved. It's jsut the way it is at this point.

[Blackheart]

I made that same argument for years about the Final Five...hometown fans shouldn't complain about leaving work at 3:00 pm on a Friday afternoon so they can make a 4:00 pm face-off time 20 minutes away.

Maybe the Gofer fans were pissed that the Final 5 wasn't held at Mariucci....

[Blackheart]

I know you're a Mankato fan and I'd agree...a mid-season rivalry tournament at the X has the potential to grow over time as opposed to another run-of-the-mill non-conference series against Robert Morris or Sacred Heart at the MWWCC.

Maybe I'm just bitter because I already miss the yearly road-trips to Mankato to see the Sioux play.

We would take a group down there every year for the Saturday game...now we have to pretend that UND is there just so we can get a few hours out of town away from the fam...

[NDHockey]

Yeah it does matter, because the fan I referenced would not drive to Omaha in a blizzard to watch an outdoor game and cheer the team down the tunnel after the sweep. That fan would not spend his disposable income on finding any way to get to UND games and he would not spend tons of money on UND gear and contribute funds to the UND hockey team. I don't think there's any shame in admitting the population difference either, which is why I did in my previous post. I simply pointed out that while we may be smaller we seem to be more passionate about following our team in general. You think Gopher fans take over Magness Arena or World Arena when they play there? I'd say the quality of the fan is extremely imporant in that regard.

I would say that judging who is more passionate is rather difficult. I think it is misguided to say in either direction who is more passionate because passion isn't something you can really quantify. It is simply an opinion.

I saw the government stats on D1 sports finances and Minnesota makes something like twice as much money on its hockey program than we do. If their fans are willing to spend that much more money on their team than we do, does that make them more passionate? I'm not making that argument but somebody else certainly could.

I guess my point is we can't definitely state either way who is more passionate. Obviously we would say our side and they would differ. It is a matter of our own personal bias.

[MafiaMan]

Exactly, I left my job at 3:00 to get across town on Friday, but it's totally different for people that have to take off at 11:00 or 12:00. I guess it doesn't surprise me that people are that self-important though. Gopher fans have had it pretty good for years and will because of the money involved. It's just the way it is at this point.

Agree 100%.

I attended the Subway "Classic" in Grand Forks years ago...can't even remember what cupcake UND played in the 7:00 pm Friday semi-final game but the 3:00 pm game was Findlay (Ohio) vs Wayne State (Michigan). I expected to see maybe 1,000-1,500 fans when I walked in (I was late...due to the weather...no, seriously...) and spent the second period counting fans in attendance. Unofficial total: less than 100.

[The Sicatoka]

What the heck happened at the Union/RPI game and where can we get a video? Eight suspensions and tons of penalty minutes... Coaches involved in the.brawl.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

https://www.google.com/maps/preview/dir/Houston+Field+House,+1900+Peoples+Ave,+Troy,+NY+12180/Frank+L+Messa+Rink,+Alexander+Ln,+Schenectady,+NY+12308/@42.7932101,-73.80713,12z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x89de0f9eaf5c1887:0x32e82ad8293a4d2c!2m2!1d-73.669704!2d42.731666!1m5!1m1!1s0x89de6de61a5aaf67:0x42d43e001bb477c5!2m2!1d-73.924824!2d42.818003?hl=en

[Siouxman]

let's compare apples to apples in fan turnout and which fan base had more people in grand rapids last year? I wasn't there, I am just asking if anyone on here went and would be able to answer that. my guess is about the same.

I was there and while Sioux fans outnumbered Gopher fans, it wasn't by much and neither team had a total fan base in attendance worth bragging about. You could sit anywhere you wanted as total attendance was maybe 1000-1500 per game. I will say that the Gophers clearly sent their most friendly and well behaved fans to Grand Rapids. Had a good time talking to quite a few of them in the numerous establishments before and after the games.

[MafiaMan]

I will say that the Gophers clearly sent their most friendly and well behaved fans to Grand Rapids. Had a good time talking to quite a few of them in the numerous establishments before and after the games.

Well OF COURSE Minnesota sent their friendliest and best-behaved fans. They all had permission from their probation officers to leave the state for the tournament and were risking have a probation violation being filed upon their return to Minneapolis if they weren't on their best behavior.*

*I apologize in advance to any Gopher fan who takes offense to the above post. It is meant strictly in jest and any familarity to any Gopher fan, living or deceased, is unintentional.