dakotadan Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 With Duluth in the NCC now, and considering basically all of the NCC schools have hockey, when will we see something like a NCC hockey tournament? Maybe the Subway CLassic tourney over christmas break could be extended a day or two and include only NCC teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 That would be a great idea but apparently the NCAA is thinking about limiting the NCAA games to 35. It could take effect in 2006-2007. Apparently the ECAC is crying again because they can't keep up with the big teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigGreyAnt41 Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Can't we just make them exhibition games and have them not count toward our season's record but still play them? It would still be cool even if they didn't count. There could be some NCC Cup that the winner could keep for the year. Like I said, even if it didn't count on the record it would still be fun to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Can't we just make them exhibition games and have them not count toward our season's record but still play them? It would still be cool even if they didn't count. There could be some NCC Cup that the winner could keep for the year. Like I said, even if it didn't count on the record it would still be fun to have. I think it would be a blast, have it at the Ralph, another excuse to drink beer. Lets see there is: UNO SCCC MSU-M UND UMD I don't think I missed anyone. We could seed them based on record, and have a play in game, that would make it only about two games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Anything would be better than seeing the likes of Brown, Wayne State, and the Dickinson JV squad. Subway Classic my a**. I realize it's a token tournament for the home team to parade around a new trophy at the end, but even the Gophers schedule some decent teams at the Mariucci Classic. I kinda like the idea of this, although I'd say the best bet would be to make UND and UNO permanent participants and rotate the others around since the Sioux see enough of them in the regular season anyways. Or...here's an idea...dump holiday tournaments altogether and schedule league games that count so no one gets left off the the schedule! Home and away against all opponents...now THERE is a radical concept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Or...here's an idea...dump holiday tournaments altogether and schedule league games that count so no one gets left off the the schedule! Actually, the sentiment under Blais was exactly the opposite. He thought the perfect time to play non-conference games was during the holidays when WCHA teams had players at the World Junior Championships. He wanted it make it easier for the league to send players to the WJC, not more difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 I understand Blais' logic in that area, PCM, but it didn't help UND this past season when they had to trek to St Cloud minus a couple of pretty good players. I'd rather watch UND minus a couple of players playing a big conference game over the holidays as opposed to seeing Brown or Wayne State any day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terbele Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 We already play some of these teams 4 - 7 times a year, why play them more? Wouldnt it be better to see some other teams in here? Probably better competition than the recent Subway would be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Terbele, That's why I suggested making UNO a permanent tournament participant. Keep in mind that with the weighted schedule, it's very possible that UMD and Minnesota State, Mankato won't be making any trips to Grand Forks during the regular season. You're only guaranteed to host St Cloud under the current WCHA arrangement. In fact, that comes into play this winter as UND does not host a single game against UMD. Now there's 3 of your 4 teams already...UND, UNO, and UMD. Not a bad start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 I understand Blais' logic in that area, PCM, but it didn't help UND this past season when they had to trek to St Cloud minus a couple of pretty good players. That's Blais' point. WCHA teams that send players to the WJC shouldn't be penalized by having to play league games. If he had his way with the scheduling, UND wouldn't have played SCSU while being short three players. As I recall, the WCHA has made scheduling adjustments next season to avoid having this happen. I'd rather watch UND minus a couple of players playing a big conference game over the holidays as opposed to seeing Brown or Wayne State any day! At the time of last season's holiday tournament, Brown was ranked in the top 10 nationally and had a goalie who ended up as top-three a Hobey Baker finalist. UND's offense against Brown's defense would have been an entertaining game. It wasn't UND's fault that Brown was upset by Wayne State. At any rate, I don't believe the objective of the Subway Holiday Classic is to set up patsies for the Sioux to beat so they can skate a trophy on home ice. With so many well-established holiday tournaments, it takes time for a tournament in Grand Forks to attract top teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 I'd rather not waste any "NC tourney" time on teams we normally see 1-2 times a season. If we're going for a decent tourney, bring in non-WCHA teams who might be worth a shiat. Either that, or offer the team up for other schools' tourneys and make some money off the deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Ask the 100 or so fans in attendance at the Brown/Wayne State game (I was one of them) if they thought that game was worthwhile...BORING! Brown ranked in the top ten? Yes, they were at the time. Funny I didn't see them in the NCAA tournament, though. After all, rankings and polls in November/December are clearly an indication of how good/poor a team is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Ask the 100 or so fans in attendance at the Brown/Wayne State game (I was one of them) if they thought that game was worthwhile...BORING! I was at that game, too. Unranked Wayne State tied Brown with 25 seconds left and then won it in OT on a great play. Boring? Whatever... I'll correct my mistake. Brown was rated 12th nationally at the time of the Subway Holiday Classic, not in the top 10. Funny I didn't see them in the NCAA tournament, though. After all, rankings and polls in November/December are clearly an indication of how good/poor a team is. Which totally misses the point. At the time of the tournament, Brown was on a roll and climbing in the polls. What happened after that is irrelevant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Hey, I like hockey as much as the next game, PCM, but a Wayne State/Brown matchup hardly instills a "gotta see it" attitude from the fans. I'm guessing Providence College, Maine, Northern Michigan, or even Nebraska-Omaha would have gathered more interest. Brown may have been on a roll, but I wouldn't consider them a powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination. And for all the talk of their Hobey Baker candidate goalie, you and I both know that the quality of candidates has been weakened in the past few years to appease the Mercyhursts of college hockey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Hey, I like hockey as much as the next game, PCM, but a Wayne State/Brown matchup hardly instills a "gotta see it" attitude from the fans. I didn't say it was. I just don't agree with your assessment that it was a boring game. The only point I'm trying to make is that if you want quality teams at the holiday tournament, you have to keep it going in order to attract better teams and give them an opportunity to schedule it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 It's going to take longer than a couple of years to replicate the enthusiasm of the GLI or the Beanpot. That's where the idea of the NCC wouldn't be a bad idea...UND, UMD, St Cloud, and Mankato...hmnnnnnnn... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 By the way, PCM, I read your tribute to your friend, Ken Hendrickson. Nicely done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 This sounds like a really nice tourney, but from what I've heard, the purpose behind the XMas tourney was to give teams that normally didn't get an opportunity to come to the Ralph and play a top DI team a chance, therefore inviting lesser ECAC and CHA teams. That being said, I'd rather have at least one or two teams I'd normally not be able to see play during the tourney, however, usually the teams I'd like to see either host a tourney or attend a tourney that is steeped in tradition. Teams I'd love seeing are UNO, Michigan State, UMass, BU, and Ohio State. Yes, I realize that I'm stating mostly CCHA teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 I am pretty certain Michigan State is a staple at the GLI...you won't see them in any other tournament. And with BU in the Beanpot, they're most likely out too. If you want top-notch NCAA talent, Maine would be a good place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 It's going to take longer than a couple of years to replicate the enthusiasm of the GLI or the Beanpot. That's where the idea of the NCC wouldn't be a bad idea...UND, UMD, St Cloud, and Mankato...hmnnnnnnn... I don't disagree that the lineup for your proposed holiday tournament would be much better than anything we've seen thus far. I'm just saying that playing WCHA teams at that time is something Blais wanted to avoid and he seems to have convinced the WCHA of that, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 The Sioux don't seem to mind when the Gophers have 2-3 players missing those big conference games... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fighting Sioux Fan Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 Maybe if UNO was in the WCHA, they could do something like give a trophy to the team that had the best record out of the five. But UNO is not in the WCHA, so that is not going to happen. In my opinion this is kinda of a bad idea; UND plays most of those teams enough during the year. I would rather see teams that I probably would not see otherwise. Sure, they might not be the best teams, but maybe in the future, we can get some of the more established schools to come out. They also should find a better and cooler name then the Subway Holiday classic! That name is so stupid, but I guess it fits in the trend with coporate sponsorhsip for everything nowadays, all the bowl games have them. A cooler name is definitely needed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 The Sioux don't seem to mind when the Gophers have 2-3 players missing those big conference games... I'm sure Blais wasn't worried about the Gophers. His idea was aimed at encouraging WCHA coaches to send their best players to the WJC when invited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MafiaMan Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 There are good points and bad points to be made on both sides of the World Junior issue, PCM. I guess we just differ on what to do with the games while the best players are absent. I'd prefer to just play the young guns and hope for the best against other WCHA teams. You prefer to not play league games while these players are gone and schedule a tournament. Both have their pluses and both have their minuses. Personally, I think the only true measure of a regular seson champ is when you play everyone in the conference four times. And for that reason alone, I'd like to dump the tournament. I'm guessing that in years when Minnesota or UMD don't make the trip to Grand Forks due to the unbalanced schedule, most fans won't be thinking it's a great opportunity to see Canisius or Union College play in their place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakotadan Posted July 12, 2004 Author Share Posted July 12, 2004 I definately agree that this tourney could some day become a premiere holiday tourney. But until then we need to do something that is going to draw fans and keep it entertaining. So even if this isn't an NCC tourney, which I think would be kind of fun, I would still like to see UND play UNO. We play them in all of our other sports, why not hockey. If UNO played the first game, and UND the second, it may create more of an interest in the first game and set up the chance of a UND/UNO championship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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