UConn Hockey: Limiting Mistakes Is Focus For RPI | The Boneyard

UConn Hockey: Limiting Mistakes Is Focus For RPI

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We could be in the top 10-15 for attendance nationally in year 1 of HE. That is phenomenal.
 
Good number. Very quiet. Typical XL crowd.

Good game by the good guys. 1st period and OT looked sluggish. Had some really good chances in the 3rd. Looking forward to the weekend!
 
But 4K in a 16K arena is more reason to put the games on campus - it's a very solid number for a ho-hum Tuesday game, but that 4K would make for a much better home ice advantage in an intimate 5-6K arena.
 
brasssbonanzaa said:
But 4K in a 16K arena is more reason to put the games on campus - it's a very solid number for a ho-hum Tuesday game, but that 4K would make for a much better home ice advantage in an intimate 5-6K arena.
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Still think you get 4k to come all the way to campus for a ho hum Tuesday game? I dunno.
 
Jarhead_1775 said:
Still think you get 4k to come all the way to campus for a ho hum Tuesday game? I dunno.
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Yes, more students will show be likely to show up, easily offsetting the lazy people who don't want to drive past Hartford. Not to mention making it more accessible to people in the eastern part of the state. Games cannot be in Hartford in any way for the long term. It will harm the overall success of the program.
 
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brasssbonanzaa said:
Yes, more students will show be likely to show up, easily offsetting the lazy people who don't want to drive past Hartford. Not to mention making it more accessible to people in the eastern part of the state. Games cannot be in Hartford in any way for the long term. It will harm the overall success of the program.
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Some games will still be in Hartford. Face reality. Your concerns that it will negatively impact the program are silly.
 
upstater said:
Maybe not a paying 4k, but certainly 1k in hockey fans and 4k in students.
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I'm a bit skeptical they'd get 4,000 students to a Tuesday game vs. RPI. Students don't even want to go to the Men's basketball games vs. inferior opponents so it's hard to imagine they would for hockey but who knows.
 
Playing in Hartford will underwrite this program. The only reason I could see UConn stopping playing its games in Hartford is if Hartford got an NHL team, then UConn might want to build their fanbase on campus instead. But right now they are kings of central CT and Storrs with no competition (AHL draws a different demographic) and they would be nuts to stop doing what they're doing.
 
The only games that should be CONSIDERED for Hartford once they build an on-campus facility are BU & BC- end argument.
 
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I suspect that when all is said and done that there will be UConn hockey games in Hartford when UConn is either on Thanksgiving or Christmas break. After all, there won't be too many students on campus during those vacation breaks to attend games in Storrs.
 
dbmill said:
I suspect that when all is said and done that there will be UConn hockey games in Hartford when UConn is either on Thanksgiving or Christmas break. After all, there won't be too many students on campus during those vacation breaks to attend games in Storrs.
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That's fair, though there aren't many games during that period.
 
UConn will be playing almost all its home games at the XL Center for a very long time. The Storrs facility will be mainly women's games and smaller non-conference men's opponents and exhibitions.. if that. That's it!
 
IceBus said:
UConn will be playing almost all its home games at the XL Center for a very long time. The Storrs facility will be mainly women's games and smaller non-conference men's opponents and exhibitions.. if that. That's it!
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Source?
 
IceBus said:
UConn will be playing almost all its home games at the XL Center for a very long time. The Storrs facility will be mainly women's games and smaller non-conference men's opponents and exhibitions.. if that. That's it!
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That's nonsense. They wouldn't build it for that because the current rink is fine for that purpose. As stated, XL will be used for highly sought after games, BC, BU, ND...games we might have against Michigan or what have you. I think it makes sense during winter break as well. Everything else will be on campus.
 
The ECAC IS a good conference. The HE has it's roots in it.
 
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TheDoggPound said:
Some games will still be in Hartford. Face reality. Your concerns that it will negatively impact the program are silly.
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Sorry, but the sooner you and everyone at UConn realize this is flat out wrong, the better the program will be. Here's why:

Hockey players, like most athletes, are creatures of force of habit. It is a great advantage to practice where you play your home games, to understand how the puck bounces off the board, the glass, how the angles of the sideboards play, how the height of the glass plays. It is fundamentally impossible to replicate the same set of boards and glass in two different places. I doubt UConn practices much at XL, at least anything beyond a gameday skate. That would mean that nearly all practice occurs on a completely different ice surface than they play. UConn would be the ONLY school in the entire country with this setup. This is an ENORMOUS recruiting disadvantage. Recruit A can come to UConn and practice on campus, but then have to get on a bus for 30 minutes to go play his home games on an older, completely different surface. Or he can go to Quinnipiac where can practice and play at the same facility on campus.

Not to mention, game times in Hartford will be at odd times since BB and the Wolfpack have scheduling rights ahead of UConn. The XL owners own the Wolfpack too, so that pecking order won't be changing. This means lots of day games, Tuesday games, and other scheduling oddities. Let me tell you, Hockey East teams aren't going to be happy with a plethora of 3:30 Saturday games in Hartford because of a night WP game, after playing the night before. And UConn's club will hate it as well. It's a serious disadvantage.

These are realities, there are more but I don't have time to keep gonig. If they want to play a game or two a year in Hartford, that's one thing and everyone will accept it. But to maintain any sort of regular schedule in Hartford WILL hamper the program from a recruiting and success standpoint. I've been rigorously following the ins and outs of this sport for over a decade, I'm not pulling this out of thin air. The games need to be on campus.
 
HuskyHawk said:
That's nonsense. They wouldn't build it for that because the current rink is fine for that purpose. As stated, XL will be used for highly sought after games, BC, BU, ND...games we might have against Michigan or what have you. I think it makes sense during winter break as well. Everything else will be on campus.
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Holiday break games in Hartford would be a good idea, but in order to build a fan base (read: current students become fans, continue following after they graduate) the big games need to be accessible to them on campus.
 
IceBus said:
UConn will be playing almost all its home games at the XL Center for a very long time. The Storrs facility will be mainly women's games and smaller non-conference men's opponents and exhibitions.. if that. That's it!
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You very clearly have a bad source. The women's team will be playing solely at Freitas if a new facility on campus is built. They'll have their own practice and playing facility there to themselves - which will be a major recruiting tool and key to that program being successful. They will not build a new facility and place the women's team there when a facility for them already exists.
 
Go ask the players what the story is. They expect to play all their games in Hartford. The on campus rink is just an idea at this point, nothing is set in stone. However, there is no chance they will develop a fanbase in Hartford then leave spare a few big games. Not a chance. Unless they're forced out of the building.
 
brasssbonanzaa said:
You very clearly have a bad source. The women's team will be playing solely at Freitas if a new facility on campus is built. They'll have their own practice and playing facility there to themselves - which will be a major recruiting tool and key to that program being successful. They will not build a new facility and place the women's team there when a facility for them already exists.
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Are you saying that when the new ice hockey facility is built on campus, the women's team won't use it? I seriously doubt that would happen. I would think the women's team would move to the new facility as well, and playing in the new rink would really help their recruiting efforts as well. And given their records in recent years, they could use that sort of help.
 
dbmill said:
Are you saying that when the new ice hockey facility is built on campus, the women's team won't use it? I seriously doubt that would happen. I would think the women's team would move to the new facility as well, and playing in the new rink would really help their recruiting efforts as well. And given their records in recent years, they could use that sort of help.
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Playing in their own facility that they use exclusively would MASSIVELY help recruiting. They would be one of about two or three schools in the country who have that luxury. BU and Minnesota are the only two I can think of offhand. I can tell you from very, very, very, close to the program sources that BU's womens program having Walter Brown Arena as their exclusive facility has been an enormous advantage and part of the reason why having only been a D1 program for nine full seasons, they've won four Hockey East tournament championships, made the last five consecutive NCAA tournaments, and have played in two national championships. If UConn builds a new rink and forces the women's team to split time in there instead of using Freitas as their exclusive home, they'd be utter fools. If they want to play a game or two every year in the new place to draw some fans, that's one thing, but it would be a mistake of epic proportions to not give Freitas exclusively to the women's program and have that be their facility for practice and games.
 
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