More hockey realignment?

[brasssbonanzaa]

Yup, but as a fan, it is very nice to be able to watch them on TV.

Big10 hockey needs a shot in the arm of talented programs. We saw what happens when teams have a down year, the product is poor. I'm afraid that Michigan will be down until Red Berenson retires. MSU has been down as of late and I have no clue what was Wisconsin's problem this year.

I would love to have an Eastern and Western division with several East coast powers. I know it's a pipe dream, but a conference that looked like this would be great:

East: UConn, BC, BU, Cornell, PSU, OSU
West: Michigan, MSU, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Miami Of Ohio/Denver

That would a fun conference to watch. I know it will never happen, but I can dream, can't I?

I mean, if that conference happened, it would be blatantly unfair to only give them only one autobid.

 

[Adios]

The state of North Dakota has quite a future. This country's future rides on domestic oil.

Denver over Miami and you would have such a spoiled conference.

 

[Kolumbo]

https://www.facebook.com/UConnMHOC?fref=nf

BROOKLYN (April 23, 2015) – Barclays Center will launch its BROOKLYN HOCKEY™ college hockey programming platform when the venue’s first-ever college hockey event faces off on Sunday, November 1.

This annual event, in partnership with Play By Play Sports, LLC , will feature an Atlantic Hockey league contest between The United States Military Academy (Army) and Bentley University. The second match-up features a Hockey East battle between the University of Notre Dame and the University of Connecticut. The doubleheader will showcase different teams each year.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

https://www.facebook.com/UConnMHOC?fref=nf

BROOKLYN (April 23, 2015) – Barclays Center will launch its BROOKLYN HOCKEY™ college hockey programming platform when the venue’s first-ever college hockey event faces off on Sunday, November 1.

This annual event, in partnership with Play By Play Sports, LLC , will feature an Atlantic Hockey league contest between The United States Military Academy (Army) and Bentley University. The second match-up features a Hockey East battle between the University of Notre Dame and the University of Connecticut. The doubleheader will showcase different teams each year.

I caught that, too. Interesting that to generate a crowd and buzz in NYC, that Barclay's invites ND, which is a no-brainier, and UConn. Not ND and BC/BU, etc. Shows who does draw in NYC and who does not.

 

[upstater]

I caught that, too. Interesting that to generate a crowd and buzz in NYC, that Barclay's invites ND, which is a no-brainier, and UConn. Not ND and BC/BU, etc. Shows who does draw in NYC and who does not.

Uh, BU already plays NYC. At Madison Square Garden. And they've played there for years. As anybody who knows anything about BU realizes, 50% of BU undergrads come from the tri-state area, and return there after graduation.

http://www.thegarden.com/events/2015/november/red-hot-hockey.html

 

[Kolumbo]

Uh, BU already plays NYC. At Madison Square Garden. And they've played there for years. As anybody who knows anything about BU realizes, 50% of BU undergrads come from the tri-state area, and return there after graduation.

http://www.thegarden.com/events/2015/november/red-hot-hockey.html

Good thing UCONN is in the Tri-State area, eh? Those kids' parents will only have to drive to Hartford instead of Boston to see their kids play!

 

[pj]

Good thing UCONN is in the Tri-State area, eh? Those kids' parents will only have to drive to Hartford instead of Boston to see their kids play!

Probably about 90% of UConn undergrads come from the tri-state area.

 

[upstater]

Good thing UCONN is in the Tri-State area, eh? Those kids' parents will only have to drive to Hartford instead of Boston to see their kids play!

Uh.... 99% of the hockey kids DO NOT come from the tri-state area.

 

[Kolumbo]

Uh.... 99% of the hockey kids DO NOT come from the tri-state area.

That's funny. Took me all of 30 seconds to see that 6 players from BU come from CT, NY, or NJ.

 

[pj]

Uh.... 99% of the hockey kids DO NOT come from the tri-state area.

Interesting statistic: 99% of the statistical claims using the number "99%" are made up.

 

[huskypantz]

Interesting statistic: 99% of the statistical claims using the number "99%" are made up.

I see what you did there.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I caught that, too. Interesting that to generate a crowd and buzz in NYC, that Barclay's invites ND, which is a no-brainier, and UConn. Not ND and BC/BU, etc. Shows who does draw in NYC and who does not.

I'm sorry but you're so wrong on this one. BU and Cornell have sold out MSG four times, and have another game scheduled there for this November. Barclays is trying to jump in the bandwagon of college games in NYC, that's all it is.

 

[upstater]

Interesting statistic: 99% of the statistical claims using the number "99%" are made up.

Interesting statistic: 99% of the statistical claims using the number "99%" are made up.

Well, yer right. To be precise, they have 4 out of 27 from Tri-state, or 14%. 5 years ago it was 2 out of 27.

 

[upstater]

That's funny. Took me all of 30 seconds to see that 6 players from BU come from CT, NY, or NJ.

And the definition of Tri-State is not what you think it is.

In other words, Rochester and Enfield are not Tri-State towns. Tri-State refers to NY Metro.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area

Combined Statistical Areas (CSA) group together adjacent core-based statistical areas with a high degree of economic interconnection.[15] The New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area had an estimated population of 23.6 million as of 2014.[1] About one out of every fifteen Americans resides in this region, which includes seven additional counties in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. This area, less the Pennsylvania portion, is often referred to as the Tri-State Area and less commonly the Tri-state Region. The New York City television designated market area (DMA) includes Pike County, Pennsylvania,[16] which is also included in the CSA.

 

[Kolumbo]

I know what Tri-State means but you know what? CT is small enough geographically that I'm not gonna worry about splitting it down even further. NYC, being the largest city in the country, can certainly handle a few hundred extra square miles in any direction. Thanks anyway.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

And the definition of Tri-State is not what you think it is.

In other words, Rochester and Enfield are not Tri-State towns. Tri-State refers to NY Metro.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area

Not to mention the two kids from New Canaan had no chance of cracking the lineup this season without significant injuries, neither of whom are on any type of scholarship. Only two players on the BU roster, Fortunato from Long Island and Piccinich from Paramus, are legitimaetly from the Tri-State area and actual contributors and scholarship players.

NYC Metro is a secondary recruiting area at best for hockey players. It's produced a few, but pales in comparison to New England, Minnesota/upper Midwest, and Michigan, not to mention recruiting in Canada. It's miles and eons behind all four of those places.

 

[Kolumbo]

Not to mention the two kids from New Canaan had no chance of cracking the lineup this season without significant injuries, neither of whom are on any type of scholarship. Only two players on the BU roster, Fortunato from Long Island and Piccinich from Paramus, are legitimaetly from the Tri-State area and actual contributors and scholarship players.

NYC Metro is a secondary recruiting area at best for hockey players. It's produced a few, but pales in comparison to New England, Minnesota/upper Midwest, and Michigan, not to mention recruiting in Canada. It's miles and eons behind all four of those places.

And yet there are three pro hockey teams in the NYC area. The only thing that matters is it's NYC and thanks to this invention called cable, people can watch on TV.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

And yet there are three pro hockey teams in the NYC area. The only thing that matters is it's NYC and thanks to this invention called cable, people can watch on TV.

I agree, I'm only saying for recruiting purposes, playing games in Brooklyn is only a marginal advantage. Hockey recruits care about facilities and if the coaches can develop them into NHL talent. The vast majority of college players worthy of being drafted come into college already having been drafted, so college is not a showcase for them to potential programs. It's about developing them to be ready to step in and be offered a pro contract out of college. Therefore, the facilities and coaching reputation are the two more important things to a recruit, by far. Cav has a great reputation from his time under York at BC, so UConn has a good setup there. Improving practice and arena facilities will go a long way to growing the program as well. The scouts of their drafted team will see them no matter where they are. These higher profile games help, but not nearly as much as in baskteball and football.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I know what Tri-State means but you know what? CT is small enough geographically that I'm not gonna worry about splitting it down even further. NYC, being the largest city in the country, can certainly handle a few hundred extra square miles in any direction. Thanks anyway.

If NYC had the land area that Houston has, New Haven would be part of NYC.

 

[MattMang23]

If NYC had the land area that Houston has, New Haven would be part of NYC.

Yep. A lot of southern and western cities are very expansive. My wife is originally from Jacksonville and when she brought me to visit where she grew up it took like an hour on the highway to drive from the southern Jacksonville border to the zoo (she wanted to go for some reason), which is on the northern end of the city.

 

[jimva]

First post to boneyard.

Being a hockey dad (my son plays for the devils youth program and starts at a prep school in NJ next fall) my experience is that ny/nj/ct has incredible talent. He started playing in Chicago 4 years ago and there is a lot of talent there also . UCONN has done a great job elevating their program with one of the top freshman in the country this past season. The challenge for recruiting in college hockey is the established junior hockey programs across US and Canada. Every year approximately 65% of NHL drafted kids come from these programs-they never play in college. But this is changing. There was a great article on this in the March issue of USA Hockey. The story is that the trend is moving, although slowly, towards college, and developing programs like UCONN and the push by B1G in hockey are helping this. Not to mention that hanging on a campus for a few years is more fun than living with a sponsor family in the middle of nowhere North Dakota.

UCONN hockey is becoming competitive and this is exciting.

 

[upstater]

First post to boneyard.

Being a hockey dad (my son plays for the devils youth program and starts at a prep school in NJ next fall) my experience is that ny/nj/ct has incredible talent. He started playing in Chicago 4 years ago and there is a lot of talent there also . UCONN has done a great job elevating their program with one of the top freshman in the country this past season. The challenge for recruiting in college hockey is the established junior hockey programs across US and Canada. Every year approximately 65% of NHL drafted kids come from these programs-they never play in college. But this is changing. There was a great article on this in the March issue of USA Hockey. The story is that the trend is moving, although slowly, towards college, and developing programs like UCONN and the push by B1G in hockey are helping this. Not to mention that hanging on a campus for a few years is more fun than living with a sponsor family in the middle of nowhere North Dakota.

UCONN hockey is becoming competitive and this is exciting.

I wonder why things started trending to the juniors in the 1990s because before that, college had a ton of talent.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I wonder why things started trending to the juniors in the 1990s because before that, college had a ton of talent.

College did have a ton of talent, but the majority of hockey players historically still came from Canada. A lot of the draw of the major junior leagues has to do with them being able to offer players signing bonuses, and other incentives. They're basically able to do whatever they want and the NCAA can't do crap about it. There's been a few musings I've read lately that some want the NCAA to consider allowing major junior players to come play college (currently, going major junior is basically automatically makes you ineligible) as a way to combat the junior leagues. These Canadian teams are like hounds, they constantly recruit players WHILE they're in college, toying with the media to make it seem like there's a chance they'll go. Eichel was "rumored" to be leaving BU to go to the QMJHL at least three times this season, and their GM publicly spoke to Boston and Canadian media outlets openly saying he was trying to get Jack to come play up there. It's unlike any other NCAA sport since no other one has a legitimately equal or better league that the NCAA has absolutely no control over.

But Jimva's post is spot on, UConn is building well, and is positioning itself to excel in the sport. Building new facilities must be next on the list to stay competitive.

 

[jimva]

USA Hockey (i think it was February issue) also had a great article on what college recruiters look for in hockey players. The article featured UCONN coach, Mike Cavanaugh

 

[DarthGrumpy]

But Jimva's post is spot on, UConn is building well, and is positioning itself to excel in the sport. Building new facilities must be next on the list to stay competitive.

Speaking of which, any updates on the new arena to be built in Storrs (hopefully)?