Attendance Milestone

[Jerry27]

Crowds will become more engaged and the loudness will increase. If Hartford keeps showing up, UConn hockey would never skate away from that to go back to playing on campus. No way! The players all love playing at the XL Center too.

Again, they have to build an on campus facility to meet the HE agreement, they will not build it and not use it, it doesn't matter who shows up in Hartford, they will use it the way the hoops teams do, no more, no less.

 

[zls44]

If there was no XL, there would be no Hockey East for UConn this year. Thank goodness there is and they are building a fan base and creating demand.

Did you design the building? You always defend an indefensibly bad building (though its better with the improvements).

 

[itgoeslike]

This is awesome. While I'm an advocate for playing most home games on campus (for the atmosphere that only thousands of students can provide), I am softening my stance of playing no games at the XL. The 3rd period atmosphere was great yesterday and you could really see the energy pick up on the ice, on both sides, as a result. Maybe they play a few games a year at the XL: BU and BC? Or maybe they schedule some in-state games against Quinnipiac or Yale at the XL? A Nutmeg Tournament similar to a Beanpot Tournament with UCONN, QU, Yale, etc would be pretty cool at the XL.

Anyway, I can now see a benefit of playing a handful of games at the XL instead of on-campus. The ability to draw ~10+K for a marquee game is appealing and could separate UCONN from others on the recruiting trails.

^This post puts forth the right proportions. We need both venues. Putting aside the fact that HE requires UConn to build a viable on-campus arena, it's an opportunity to grow life-long fans and create a great atmosphere for games that are less of a draw (along with the occasional rivalry). The XL Center is great for high profile conference games, games played over holiday breaks and top shelf OOC games.

The impressive attendance numbers to date should provide enough cover to build the appropriate sized on-campus arena.

 

[Husky25]

The. Team. Needs. To. Play. On. Campus.

Saving Hartford is a Hartford problem. That is not UConn's job. The state isn't that big, stop whining about traffic, jesus...

In. Side. Joke.

 

[UCONN2004]

How much to build an ice arena on campus?

 

[IceBus]

I don't have a problem with building a new arena on campus, the more rinks the better. I just think all home games should be played in Hartford at the XL Center.

 

[CTHUSKY74]

While I agree that an on campus arena should be built and is a requirement of hockey east, the early returns on the XL center are impressive. The time during the planning and construction of the on campus arena should be used to build the fan base as large as it can be. Once it's known what type of attendance the XL center can garner with an ever improving team they will be able to decide whether to split games like basketball or some other arrangement. I feel that there may be the possibility of developing separate fan bases for each facility if the attendance is very strong. Also, it's possible that the move of the branch to downtown will generate even more fans for XL. I was astonished with the turnout for the BC game. I really thought that the many BC fans in close proximity would be a good percentage of the turnout, but that didn't appear to be the case. One hockey mom from my grandson's team is a BC alum and she said the atmosphere was insane. I don't think this will be a passing interest. As the team improves and if (when) it becomes a contender in HE the attendance should only get stronger. It might be a serious mistake to give up a clear advantage to the team by moving everything to an on campus facility that has a much lower capacity. I also feel they should not lose the opportunity to develop and reward the FF county fan base by playing games in that area at Webster. It's really an opportunity to totally dominate this market like basketball has. Cav has done an unbelievable job so far and the team is exciting. Go Huskies!

 

[Adios]

I also feel they should not lose the opportunity to develop and reward the FF county fan base by playing games in that area at Webster.

Barely anyone would show up for games against Sacred Heart. Even at the Webster Arena.

 

[Woof 101]

The BC game was LOUD. If UConn was beating BU, it would have been the same as the BC game.

You make three very good points here while only printing two, some very stelth prose. I Have followed and attended UCONN sports for decades (mostly both mens / womans bb along with football. I have also preached for years how CT fans have no clue on how to be the next man up or the bench.

" If UConn was beating BU, it would have been the same as the BC game." The crowd sat on their hands until the team threatend to win before getting loud. Traffic issues did cause many to be late but I think you will find the crowd follows the team for emotion rather than providing it.
Not critizing you just a life long observation that you clearly brought out. It is easy when you are winning, the team needs the crowd to be loud when they are down. Not something I have heard much of in my life here.

 

[Adios]

You make three very good points here while only printing two, some very stelth prose. I Have followed and attended UCONN sports for decades (mostly both mens / womans bb along with football. I have also preached for years how CT fans have no clue on how to be the next man up or the bench.

" If UConn was beating BU, it would have been the same as the BC game." The crowd sat on their hands until the team threatend to win before getting loud. Traffic issues did cause many to be late but I think you will find the crowd follows the team for emotion rather than providing it.
Not critizing you just a life long observation that you clearly brought out. It is easy when you are winning, the team needs the crowd to be loud when they are down. Not something I have heard much of in my life here.

You are completely correct about people barely yelling when the team is down.

When we were losing to Robert Morris in the AHA playoffs by a goal (in what would be our last game in the AHA), time was running out, the place was quiet. As usual, I was an exception. I yelled in frustration, "C'mon, we only have one banner!", pointing at it. Cavanaugh heard that and he was amused.

On another occasion, I was the only person cheering loudly at a UConn-Sacred Heart game at Webster Arena, doing the U-C-O-N-N chant. My brother-in-law was embarrassed and barely anyone was around. We won that game, 4-0.