College Hockey Expansion

[SiouxVolley]

Colorado could play in the 1st Bank Center, in Broomfield, which is near the Denver-Boulder Turnpike.  One case where a decent sized arena is already built.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

6 hours ago, SiouxVolley said:

Colorado could play in the 1st Bank Center, in Broomfield, which is near the Denver-Boulder Turnpike.  One case where a decent sized arena is already built.

Good call, went to a concert there about 5-6 years ago. Holds about 6,500 people which is probably about the right size for a university that has 30-35k students but just getting into hockey. And it's about 15 minutes from campus which is not much further than say CC campus is from its arena. Welp, time to start up the program!

[nodak651]

It also doesn't have a single sports tenant, unless you count roller derby.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

There's an ice rink in their campus recreation center as well that they could use for practice. Believe their club teams play there currently. 

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

6 minutes ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

There's an ice rink in their campus recreation center as well that they could use for practice. Believe their club teams plays there currently. 

All of these things combined would make you believe start-up costs could be significantly less than say a PSU or ASU who didn't have a feasible rink solution.

It'll still take some money but nearly as much as constructing a rink in a place like Boulder, which is about as expensive a place for real estate as any outside a few major cities.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

18 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

All of these things combined would make you believe start-up costs could be significantly less than say a PSU or ASU who didn't have a feasible rink solution.

It'll still take some money but nearly as much as constructing a rink in a place like Boulder, which is about as expensive a place for real estate as any outside a few major cities.

Their ACHA team is D1 and ranked which is certainly another plus.  

Four teams on the front range would be great for westward expansion.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

8 minutes ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Their ACHA team is D1 and ranked which is certainly another plus.  

Four teams on the front range would be great for westward expansion.

Absolutely, 4 Colorado teams and an AZ team would probably look pretty enticing for a school like UNLV with the NHL team coming to town as well.

[cberkas]

Is the rink too far away from CU? 

I haven't seen the attendance numbers for the CU CSU game at Pepsi Center.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

1 hour ago, cberkas said:

Is the rink too far away from CU? 

I haven't seen the attendance numbers for the CU CSU game at Pepsi Center.

I mean it's not perfect for students and you'd probably need a shuttle service but like I said, CC's rink is just as prohibitive to get to and has about 30,000 less students enrolled than UC-Boulder.

Maybe long-term(10-15 yrs) you could plan to get a campus arena but I don't think any visiting team would have an issue going to play at 1stBank Center in Broomfield, it's a nice arena that was built in 2006. Here's a picture of it:

[cberkas]

11 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

I mean it's not perfect for students and you'd probably need a shuttle service but like I said, CC's rink is just as prohibitive to get to and has about 30,000 less students enrolled than UC-Boulder.

Maybe long-term(10-15 yrs) you could plan to get a campus arena but I don't think any visiting team would have an issue going to play at 1stBank Center in Broomfield, it's a nice arena that was built in 2006. Here's a picture of it:

It's perfect for visiting teams.

It's a good arena for Colorado, just need Colorado State to have something around 5,000 to play in. Colorado and Colorado State being D1 would be good for college hockey in Colorado.

Arizona, UNLV, Utah, BYU, UVU, Weber State, and Illinois State all have D1 sized arenas. With Weber State, BYU, and UVU's arenas need to have renovations.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

5 minutes ago, cberkas said:

It's perfect for visiting teams.

It's a good arena for Colorado, just need Colorado State to have something around 5,000 to play in. Colorado and Colorado State being D1 would be good for college hockey in Colorado.

Arizona, UNLV, Utah, BYU, UVU, Weber State, and Illinois State all have D1 sized arenas. With Weber State, BYU, and UVU's arenas need to have renovations.

Which of those are on/near campus? 

[cberkas]

19 minutes ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Which of those are on/near campus? 

Weber States arena is on campus where the Olympic Curling event was held, Right across the parking lot of the Dee Events Center.

Utah could use the Maverik Center right along I-215

BYU and UVU could use the Peaks Ice Arena (Olympic Hockey Arena, close to BYU).

UNLV is looking to use Orleans Arena or South Point Arena

Arizona has the TCC (Downtown Tucson, close to campus)

Illinois State has U.S. Cellular Coliseum (Downtown Bloomington, fairly close to campus)

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

21 minutes ago, cberkas said:

Weber States arena is on campus where the Olympic Curling event was held, Right across the parking lot of the Dee Events Center. Not sure if this would be acceptable for a D-1 rink, holds maybe 1,500 and doesn't even have seating surrounding 1/2 the rink?

Utah could use the Maverik Center right along I-215 10 miles from campus a but nice arena

BYU and UVU could use the Peaks Ice Arena (Olympic Hockey Arena). Similar issue to Weber arena, tiny with insufficient seating

UNLV is looking to use Orleans Arena 3.5 miles from campus but definitely a good arena or South Point Arena 10 miles from campus & doesn't appear ready for hockey

Arizona has the TCC 2 miles from campus and seems like a viable option

Illinois State has U.S. Cellular Coliseum 2.5 miles from campus and seems viable.

Good info, I don't think any of these options are walking distance(maybe TCC but that's even a stretch) for students but a few could still be good options with transportation.

[SiouxVolley]

51 minutes ago, cberkas said:

It's perfect for visiting teams.

It's a good arena for Colorado, just need Colorado State to have something around 5,000 to play in. Colorado and Colorado State being D1 would be good for college hockey in Colorado.

Colo St has the Budweiser Events Center to play in in nearby Loveland.  It seats 5200 for hockey, but CSU is so wrapped up in building its new fb stadium and getting into the B12 that it can't afford to start a new sport.  CU gets tens of millions in PAC12 revenue, while CSU gets a much smaller amnt from the MWC.

[cberkas]

31 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

Good info, I don't think any of these options are walking distance(maybe TCC but that's even a stretch) for students but a few could still be good options with transportation.

Weber State's arena has a whole wall on one end of glass windows. Remove that and there is some more seating.

Peaks Ice Arena held 8,000 for the Olympics that seating was removed, so it could be put back in.

Zee Khan said that there would have to be something done to South Point Arena for hockey.

Arizona has gotten good crowds for games.

Really a good sized D1 arena should be around 5,000.

The one school that gets to be annoying about going NCAA D1 is Rutgers, the moment someone mentions UNLV or Alabama they chime in "hey look at us, look at us". Alabama has been acting more realistic about moving up and UNLV has the best shot of moving up in the next 3 years. The best way for any school to go D1 is not do it the Arizona State way, they need to budget in an arena along with all the other costs.

[southpaw]

It's really tough for students to drive 20-30 minutes to get to an arena, especially in the winter in Colorado.  Many of those students at CU and CSU will be driving right past the arenas on their way to the mountains.  If it was on-campus, you'd have a lot more students in attendance.  CC runs into the same problem, although their small enrollment also has a lot to do with it.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

50 minutes ago, cberkas said:

Weber State's arena has a whole wall on one end of glass windows. Remove that and there is some more seating.

Peaks Ice Arena held 8,000 for the Olympics that seating was removed, so it could be put back in.

Zee Khan said that there would have to be something done to South Point Arena for hockey.

Arizona has gotten good crowds for games.

Really a good sized D1 arena should be around 5,000.

The one school that gets to be annoying about going NCAA D1 is Rutgers, the moment someone mentions UNLV or Alabama they chime in "hey look at us, look at us". Alabama has been acting more realistic about moving up and UNLV has the best shot of moving up in the next 3 years. The best way for any school to go D1 is not do it the Arizona State way, they need to budget in an arena along with all the other costs.

That's good to know about those arenas, agreed 5,000 is about perfect for most.  And yeah the ASU entrance is not a blueprint I would use for many other schools.

29 minutes ago, southpaw said:

It's really tough for students to drive 20-30 minutes to get to an arena, especially in the winter in Colorado.  Many of those students at CU and CSU will be driving right past the arenas on their way to the mountains.  If it was on-campus, you'd have a lot more students in attendance.  CC runs into the same problem, although their small enrollment also has a lot to do with it.

You'd definitely have more students in attendance but how long will that take to happen? Boulder is limited on land available for development and it comes at a premium.  Sure it's ideal to be on campus if you have $70-100 million from a donor, but seeing as how they probably don't I'd rather have a nice arena 10 miles away and start a program in 3 years. Then you can figure out on-campus options when the funding is available as opposed to waiting for the next Terry Pegula to show up excited about Buffs Hockey.

Plus, as you mentioned, the differences between a small 2,000 student private liberal college and a massive 35,000 university that loves their Buffs will be noticeable when it comes to attendance at games.

[nodak651]

31 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

That's good to know about those arenas, agreed 5,000 is about perfect for most.  And yeah the ASU entrance is not a blueprint I would use for many other schools.

You'd definitely have more students in attendance but how long will that take to happen? Boulder is limited on land available for development and it comes at a premium.  Sure it's ideal to be on campus if you have $70-100 million from a donor, but seeing as how they probably don't I'd rather have a nice arena 10 miles away and start a program in 3 years. Then you can figure out on-campus options when the funding is available as opposed to waiting for the next Terry Pegula to show up excited about Buffs Hockey.

Plus, as you mentioned, the differences between a small 2,000 student private liberal college and a massive 35,000 university that loves their Buffs will be noticeable when it comes to attendance at games.

I fail to see how there is any problem at CC.  They have a !@#$ team, yet consistently drawk 6-7 k plus fans.  They are 4th in the country so far this year in attendance.

I kind of think that the location of 1st bank arena would be a positive, as the arena would be more accessible to Colorado alumni and the big population base of Denver.   Not sure how many students would go to the games anyway.  DU and CC draw well(ish), but students aren't really a huge factor.

Pic below is what BYU's arena looked like during the Olympics, before they took the stands out.  Anyone aware if they built anything permenent where the stands used to be?  It looks like there is a wall behind the player's benches now.

 

Do people in Utah even care about hockey though?

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

4 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

I fail to see how there is any problem at CC.  They have a !@#$ team, yet consistently drawk 6-7 k plus fans.  They are 4th in the country so far this year in attendance.

I kind of think that the location of 1st bank arena would be a positive, as the arena would be more accessible to Colorado alumni and the big population base of Denver.   Not sure how many students would go to the games anyway.  DU and CC draw well(ish), but students aren't really a huge factor.

Pic below is what BYU's arena looked like during the Olympics, before they took the stands out.  Anyone aware if they built anything permenent where the stands used to be?  It looks like there is a wall behind the player's benches now.

 

 

CC doesn't have an attendance problem, but the atmosphere inside the Broadmoor is pretty dull because there's only a few dozen students in attendance most games.  It's kind of like the difference between Christmas Break games at The Ralph and games where students are on campus. Except every game(maybe save the DU series) is like that. It's pretty remarkable that CC draws as well as they do despite the small student population and terrible teams(lately at least). However, I do think CU-Boulder would have a more rambunctious atmosphere given the amount of students that go to the school.

[cberkas]

20 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

I fail to see how there is any problem at CC.  They have a !@#$ team, yet consistently drawk 6-7 k plus fans.  They are 4th in the country so far this year in attendance.

I kind of think that the location of 1st bank arena would be a positive, as the arena would be more accessible to Colorado alumni and the big population base of Denver.   Not sure how many students would go to the games anyway.  DU and CC draw well(ish), but students aren't really a huge factor.

Pic below is what BYU's arena looked like during the Olympics, before they took the stands out.  Anyone aware if they built anything permenent where the stands used to be?  It looks like there is a wall behind the player's benches now.

 

There is a wall behind the benchs but it doesn't look permanent. Looks like a wall goes part way up the a curtain the rest it the way,  and a curtain I think on one end for pics I've seen. It is used for club hockey games for both BYU and UVU.

Utah State's arena seats around 3,000.

[cberkas]

1 hour ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

That's good to know about those arenas, agreed 5,000 is about perfect for most.  And yeah the ASU entrance is not a blueprint I would use for many other schools.

You'd definitely have more students in attendance but how long will that take to happen? Boulder is limited on land available for development and it comes at a premium.  Sure it's ideal to be on campus if you have $70-100 million from a donor, but seeing as how they probably don't I'd rather have a nice arena 10 miles away and start a program in 3 years. Then you can figure out on-campus options when the funding is available as opposed to waiting for the next Terry Pegula to show up excited about Buffs Hockey.

Plus, as you mentioned, the differences between a small 2,000 student private liberal college and a massive 35,000 university that loves their Buffs will be noticeable when it comes to attendance at games.

Utah also has a hockey arena next to campus, The Salt Lake City Sports Complex. Not sure on seating but has two Olympic ice sheets or the Utes club team.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

Utah is not a hockey state. The non-Mormons are generally there for outdoor recreation. Easy access to the some of the best skiing in the world in the cottonwood canyons.  Ditto mountain biking.  I can see the schools having the same student attendance issues DU has. 

[cberkas]

5 minutes ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Utah is not a hockey state. The non-Mormons are generally there for outdoor recreation. Easy access to the some of the best skiing in the world in the cottonwood canyons.  Ditto mountain biking.  I can see the schools having the same student attendance issues DU has. 

The Utah Grizzlies have been doing pretty good attendance wise, around 4,900.

[SiouxVolley]

3 hours ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Utah is not a hockey state. The non-Mormons are generally there for outdoor recreation. Easy access to the some of the best skiing in the world in the cottonwood canyons.  Ditto mountain biking.  I can see the schools having the same student attendance issues DU has. 

Recruiting hockey athletes for BYU would be near impossible, as they have a strict honor code.  Moreover, there isn't many Mormon hockey players except some from Alberta.  Utah and UVU and even Weber St make much more sense for recruiting hockey players.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

Back to CU, I wonder if PAC 12 is suggesting that they do it.  They and Arizona would have the ability to transition relatively quickly.

NCHC would be interested since they already have an arena and proximity to the HQ/two of the teams.  Also, I would enjoy an excuse to visit Boulder.