College Hockey Expansion

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

1 hour ago, SiouxVolley said:

Not saying anything is imminent, but an outdoor game at the Cooron Bowl between Texas and A&M club teams is surprising.

https://www.defendingbigd.com/2019/12/18/21027549/the-collegiate-hockey-classic-texas-a-m-vs-texas-on-january-5th-at-the-cotton-bowl-aggies

Texas just spent $130 million (all donated) on a new basketball arena/concert venue. Was disappointing that they didn't put ice capabilities in.

[SiouxVolley]

16 minutes ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Texas just spent $130 million (all donated) on a new basketball arena/concert venue. Was disappointing that they didn't put ice capabilities in.

The total cost will be $338 million.  $130 million will be paid by the Moody’s, which the new arena will be named after.  The arena will seat less than 10,000 for sporting events.

Because the Oak View Group has been involved and is often part of NHL franchises, a Canadien Broadcater said Austin would be a primed NHL site.  The arena is simply too small.

[Yote 53]

On ‎12‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 8:49 PM, SiouxVolley said:

Utah has gone from <8000 registered hockey players prior to the Olympics to 54,000 today.  The rink system has similarly grown.

Couldn’t be too long before some school from Utah takes the plunge.

https://kslsports.com/423474/2002-olympics-spurred-massive-hockey-growth-in-utah/

54,000 is the number for the entire Rocky Mountain District - Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Texas, Utah, and New Mexico.  

Hockey in Utah is still pretty weak.  Numbers are getting better but still a struggle.

[nodak651]

8 minutes ago, Yote 53 said:

54,000 is the number for the entire Rocky Mountain District - Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Texas, Utah, and New Mexico.  

Hockey in Utah is still pretty weak.  Numbers are getting better but still a struggle.

For comparison, how many do ND and MN have?

[BigGreyAnt41]

Here ya go, page 6: https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/document/2210-1687681/2018-19_Final_Registration_Report.pdf#_ga=2.245555780.1107125706.1576789290-1896761470.1576789290

 

Minnesota has 58,000. 

North Dakota has 6,700.  Most are on the younger end (12 and under)

Utah has 4,700.  It's the whole Rocky Mountain Region that has ~54,000, which includes 15,000 in TX and 15,000 in CO.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

1 hour ago, SiouxVolley said:

The total cost will be $338 million.  $130 million will be paid by the Moody’s, which the new arena will be named after.  The arena will seat less than 10,000 for sporting events.

Because the Oak View Group has been involved and is often part of NHL franchises, a Canadien Broadcater said Austin would be a primed NHL site.  The arena is simply too small.

Ah. Even more frustrating that it won't have ice...

[nodakvindy]

On 12/16/2019 at 1:24 AM, cberkas said:

I could see the state wanting it to be Minnesota vs Duluth or one of the other instate schools.

Triple header

UND-Minnesota

Bemidji-UMD

Mankato-St. Cloud

[northernraider]

18 minutes ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Ah. Even more frustrating that it won't have ice...

Any idea if he's a hockey fan?

 

[Blackheart]

11 minutes ago, northernraider said:

Any idea if he's a hockey fan?

 

You mean this guy?

[UNDBIZ]

4 minutes ago, Blackheart said:

You mean this guy?

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

17 minutes ago, Blackheart said:

You mean this guy?

That's what I like about college athletics, I get older, they stay the same age....

[SiouxVolley]

5 hours ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Ah. Even more frustrating that it won't have ice...

It is still early in construction.  About now would be a good time to announce ice if they want a team.

It will be mostly a concert venue for Austin, which is getting more like San Jose economically everyday.

Hockey seems to be seeing an uptake in suburban Austin with Cedar Park having an 8700 seat arena for an AHL team and the building of new rinks in Cedar Park.

https://patch.com/texas/cedar-park/massive-cedar-park-ice-hockey-venue-breaks-ground

UNM seems to be getting serious about hockey and UT would be a major addition for the sport.  With ASU, AU, UNLV, Utah etc, a Southwest League could be feasible.

[southpaw]

  

12 hours ago, SiouxVolley said:

Because the Oak View Group has been involved and is often part of NHL franchises, a Canadien Broadcater said Austin would be a primed NHL site.  The arena is simply too small.

We already covered this...

On 12/20/2018 at 12:33 AM, SiouxVolley said:

TSN reported last week that Austin might be the next site.  That enough of a coincidence to me.  OVG has an existing relationship with the NHL and that arena will need many more dates.

 

On 12/26/2018 at 4:09 PM, southpaw said:

You certainly love to stretch the truth on dang near everything. Here's the "report" from TSN:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tsn.ca/insider-trading-are-there-any-unknown-markets-the-nhl-could-expand-to-1.1222220%3ftsn-amp

"But Austin, Texas, is an interesting market. Right now it's an AHL city with an 8,000-seat stadium, so they would obviously need to build another rink. There isn't an ownership group that has stepped forward and said that they want in on Austin, but it is an intriguing market for the NHL that could one day down the road be on the radar because it's a faster growing market and it is a unique niche."

That "report" you mention is 3 sentences. That's the whole thing and it's buried in a blog post.

And of course, you followed that up with this gem:

On 12/29/2018 at 6:35 PM, SiouxVolley said:

The total and complete lack of financial sense is really telling with you.  UT isn’t paying one dime for a new 17k arena and they will get a home court for mbb, wbb, Vb  and other UT events.  How does OVG make money unless on this transaction unless many other dates are more or less set in stone?  Icemaking is normal for such big arenas,  but you claim to know everything, but have absolutely no wisdom. 

Seems like, as several other posters and I said, OVG has a better handle of their financial numbers than you do. And a better grasp of reality.

[SiouxVolley]

6 hours ago, southpaw said:

  

We already covered this...

 

And of course, you followed that up with this gem:

Seems like, as several other posters and I said, OVG has a better handle of their financial numbers than you do. And a better grasp of reality.

Because I posted a link and made comments that Southpaw found incredibly offensive, lets change this board so southpaw has to approve postings.  It will slow things up a bit but southpaw feelings are worth so much to everyone on this board, so it is a small price to pay.

Incidentally, Charlotte just got the 30th MLS expansion team for almost an NHL price.  Austin was awarded a team earlier but it shows that virgin pro territory with high income are in demand. 

[cberkas]

On 12/16/2019 at 7:38 PM, SiouxVolley said:

UAH has submitted a withdrawal letter to the WCHA. Would imagine the withdrawal would be a year later than the other seven.

https://www.adn.com/sports/uaa-athletics/2019/11/21/could-uaa-and-uaf-be-the-last-hockey-teams-left-in-the-wcha/

Arizona St won’t commit until it’s arena plans are firm, which may be shortly.

My prognosis of a future UAH league:

UAH, Austin Peay, Lindenwood, Liberty, High Point, FGCU

UAA and UAF need more western teams to sign up soon, or their programs are dead.

 

You said this on csnbbs and the people that actually have ties to Liberty said they are not going D1 anytime soon. So 4 schools that have not said they are going NCAA D1 in this group.

[SiouxVolley]

4 hours ago, cberkas said:

You said this on csnbbs and the people that actually have ties to Liberty said they are not going D1 anytime soon. So 4 schools that have not said they are going NCAA D1 in this group.

On the Liberty board they don’t know the difference between club and NCAA DI.  Gave them the High Point link for building a rink for DI link, and they still reject it,  Didn’t know about Clarksville building a rink at the time for Austin Peay at the time,.  It’s still probably two years away, so most people can’t even grasp the concept unless it’s happening right now.

But in general the Liberty people hate my postings because have said they will join an FBS conference.  They insist Liberty will become a Notre Dame and BYU.

[VanHockey]

Would like to add Simon Fraser for long term speculation. 
 

SFU is D2 (GNAC) however hockey is in the BCIHL, which is a Div 2 league in BC for college hockey. The program is nowhere near the position to even think of joining D1 at the moment, but if they can find a generous donor, it could work in the long term. 

The current rink, Bill Copeland, Sears 2k, which wouldn’t be the worst, but it definitely isn’t ideal. The only real positives it has is it’s location directly on the Trans-Canada highway, and near a rapid transit station, as well as being in fairly close proximity to SFU’s Burnaby Mountain campus. Ideally, the team gets a new arena, however I think it would be more realistic for the clan to play in the Pacific Coliseum (17k), which isn’t too far from Campus, and has a highway connection, but lack of transit, or Rogers Arena (18k), which is certainly more accessible to most people in the region, and is a quality NHL barn. 

Academically, I doubt the PAC-8/12 would add SFU, so I think there would have to be an additional West Coast conference, one that would almosr certainly be home to schools like UAA and UAF.

The Vancouver market (and to a lesser degree all of Canada), has to be an adavantage, but I really don’t know if it would be enough to justify D1 membership within the next 20 years.

Of course, if this was UBC we were talking about, they could be playing D1 within 10 years, but unfortunately the school wants to stick with USports, partially due to SFU’s lacklustre tenure in the NCAA so far.

[SiouxVolley]

On 12/29/2019 at 4:20 AM, VanHockey said:

Would like to add Simon Fraser for long term speculation. 
 

SFU is D2 (GNAC) however hockey is in the BCIHL, which is a Div 2 league in BC for college hockey. The program is nowhere near the position to even think of joining D1 at the moment, but if they can find a generous donor, it could work in the long term. 

The current rink, Bill Copeland, Sears 2k, which wouldn’t be the worst, but it definitely isn’t ideal. The only real positives it has is it’s location directly on the Trans-Canada highway, and near a rapid transit station, as well as being in fairly close proximity to SFU’s Burnaby Mountain campus. Ideally, the team gets a new arena, however I think it would be more realistic for the clan to play in the Pacific Coliseum (17k), which isn’t too far from Campus, and has a highway connection, but lack of transit, or Rogers Arena (18k), which is certainly more accessible to most people in the region, and is a quality NHL barn. 

Academically, I doubt the PAC-8/12 would add SFU, so I think there would have to be an additional West Coast conference, one that would almosr certainly be home to schools like UAA and UAF.

The Vancouver market (and to a lesser degree all of Canada), has to be an adavantage, but I really don’t know if it would be enough to justify D1 membership within the next 20 years.

Of course, if this was UBC we were talking about, they could be playing D1 within 10 years, but unfortunately the school wants to stick with USports, partially due to SFU’s lacklustre tenure in the NCAA so far.

SFU would make a terrific move in Canada with a DI hockey move.  The whole country would be routing for them.  Their DII football team doesn't have nearly any teams left to play in the West, so the might drop it to afford DI.  Don't think SFU would take all athletics DI, as the NCAA does not allow foreign schools in DI.  They even might need an exemption for DI hockey,

The Alaska schools need at least two West Coast schools to keep the WCHA alive within two years, and more after that.

 

[SiouxVolley]

The Anaheim Ducks just hosted a four team DI tournament with Arizona St and eastern schools at the Great Ice Park in Irvine.  USC and UCLA are posited as future NCAA DI hockey members, but think UC Irvine is almost as likely.  The Anteaters have a massive endowment.

https://www.uscho.com/2019/12/31/for-first-time-since-1999-frozen-four-ncaa-hockey-returns-to-southern-california-with-past-weekends-socal-clash/

[SiouxVolley]

An article on the rink and participation growth in DFW.

https://www.nhl.com/news/winter-classic-puts-spotlight-on-hockeys-growth-in-dallas/c-313135600

[DenverDevil]

On 12/15/2019 at 12:51 AM, cberkas said:

Looks like the arena will be across from Desert Finical where the frats use to be.

The original plan was to have it connected to Desert Financial Arena. After a survey of the area they found that rock from the butte was to close to the surface making excavation cost prohibitive. Now the plan, as I've heard it, is to build where Packard Stadium (old baseball stadium) currently still sits.

The area where the fraternities once were is already being developed with housing and a hotel.

[DenverDevil]

On 12/15/2019 at 6:45 AM, SiouxVolley said:

Great having you here.

Used to think ASU was a shoe in for the NCHC when you get the new arena.  Not so sure anymore.

Denver, CC, UND and probably Omaha would be much in; favor of ASU.  But would ASU now, if other PAC12 schools get hockey?

ASU can gets its own western league with the Alaska’s and the WCHA.  Will ASU be that patient waiting for other PAC12 teams?

The other issue is who would also get in the NCHC?  Minn St-Mankato was proposed before but now St Thomas would get strong consideration because of the MSP market.

Miami and Western Michigan reportedly don’t want the league to go further west.

Any word or prognostications on UNLV?  UNLV would be liked by all the western school.

The only thing I've just noticed is that Utah made the jump to ACHA D1, which is a step in the right direction.

With ASU allegedly breaking ground on a new arena soon I suspect they'll want to make a conference decision by after next season at the latest. My heart still says that the NCHC or B10 are the most logical conferences. The WCHA is to much in flux and while I've heard the rumors about Hockey East I just don't see that as a draw.
 

If ASU keeps playing well I think we'll start to see more "western/PAC" schools begin to get their ducks in a row to make a D1 move. I still think were at least a decade away from any type of true western/PAC conference that would make sense.

Would love some games in Grand Forks! Miss those chocolate covered potato chips!

[SiouxVolley]

5 hours ago, DenverDevil said:

The only thing I've just noticed is that Utah made the jump to ACHA D1, which is a step in the right direction.

With ASU allegedly breaking ground on a new arena soon I suspect they'll want to make a conference decision by after next season at the latest. My heart still says that the NCHC or B10 are the most logical conferences. The WCHA is to much in flux and while I've heard the rumors about Hockey East I just don't see that as a draw.
 

If ASU keeps playing well I think we'll start to see more "western/PAC" schools begin to get their ducks in a row to make a D1 move. I still think were at least a decade away from any type of true western/PAC conference that would make sense.

Would love some games in Grand Forks! Miss those chocolate covered potato chips!

Would love to see Ariz St in the NCHC.  But who would be the 10th team?  Still say that St Thomas has major advantages over Mankato and it will get its program up to NCHC standards quickly.

Miami and Western Mich would probably oppose more western teams.

The Alaska schools will need more teams to keep the WCHA afloat.

But a Phoenix area site makes a sure thing for another Sioux gathering.

[SiouxVolley]

Don’t see Arizona State ever getting into the Big Ten except for one proviso.  Even Notre Dame doesn’t get a share from the big money BTN for hockey, and Ariz St won’t either.  Maybe they can arrange a deal where PAC12 schools would get in the Big 10 hockey and when they get to six suddenly bolt for the PAC12 Network, and not get a dime from the BTN, which is a cash cow now.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenweaver/2020/01/04/the-big-ten-network-was-created-by-and-for-its-fans---and-turned-a-profit-in-less-than-two-years/#8419fc77212b

[SWSiouxMN]

https://www.smsu.edu/today/articles/2019/01-08-2020.html

SMSU is getting a club team