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mulefarm wrote:Only the Gophers left from the B10. Just hard to get excited about college hockey with all the league changes. I guess it's called progress.

Sounds like you are "choosing" to see it that way... Personally I have never been more excited about college hockey and thought this was one of the most fun years I have ever had watching college hockey. I loved seeing Wisconsin play MSU and michigan and MN and tOSU and frankly even PSU. I found those matchups much more intriguing and fun than having to play Northeern Michigan, or Bjemidji, or Mankato etc.... Hoenstly the only regular season series I "missed" was North Dakota, outside of that I didn't give any of the rest a second thought since Minnesota remains for us on the schedule. I know it's different for Gopher fans because so many of the other schools are in MN and have alot of MN kids on their team but for those that live outside the boarders of MN this season has been a breath fo fresh air and the future is very exciting

It is natural to compare but the reality is the old WCHA had decades to build up into what we saw in recent years. The B1G, NCHC, etc aren't going to measure up to that right out of the gate. Just like it took time to build up the old WCHA, it is going to take time to build up things in these new leagues.

Penn State is starting off on the right foot (improved and a lot of fan support there) and OSU looked improved down the stretch. The Gophers, UW, and Michigan will typically be in the NCAA hunt most seasons. If Michigan hadn't blown it against Penn State, they probably would have made the NCAAs. The Gophers and UW held up their end of the bargain with #1 seeds in the NCAAs.

Hard to get a feel for Michigan State but they did win a title not long ago. TBD with them.

The BTN coverage has improved markedly from the past. I really like the Friday night doubleheaders. That live programming on Fridays has undoubtedly helped them make more revenue too.

I can't speak as much for other new leagues since I didn't pay as close of attention to them but I thought the B1G made a real good first step as a league this year.

I don't believe that there is anything wrong with the big ten hockey league other than two more teams should join. I do however feel that the old wcha was better for hockey, and a better league period. The fact remains that the world changes and you can either dwell in bygones or keep up.. so I will ask this: what are the next two big ten schools to start up division 1 hockey programs ? In my mind there are no simple answers, but if I were to bet I would say Nebraska and...Northwestern

defense wrote:I don't believe that there is anything wrong with the big ten hockey league other than two more teams should join. I do however feel that the old wcha was better for hockey, and a better league period. The fact remains that the world changes and you can either dwell in bygones or keep up.. so I will ask this: what are the next two big ten schools to start up division 1 hockey programs ? In my mind there are no simple answers, but if I were to bet I would say Nebraska and...Northwestern

Long term ... big picture ... the BIG is good for the college hockey landscape. More exposure equals more opportunity. Sure it will dilute the top end talent a bit, but it should distrubute it rather evenly. The more people watching and paying attention the better the product should, in theory, be. It's going to become a major revenue stream for multiple colleges now. Colleges that are motivated by making a buck.

At some point everything changes. My dad still pines for the days of Herb Brooks, Gordie Howe, and the Gump. Sorry dad, it's over. Time for the next phase, growing the game.

This will amount into more kids getting a shot at two things ... 1) playing hockey at a higher level 2) a college education.

I'll freely admit I hate the Sioux. (read UND). I'm going to miss never playing them again. Oh wait, they're back on the schedule. Nevermind.

God, remember when the UMD Bulldogs would play in Mariucci and the junior varsity chant would start? I am SO going to miss that ... wait they're on the schedule too.

But what I'm going to miss most is the weekend when the Seawolves would come to town. Now THAT was tradition rich hockey. That I will miss terribly.


... IMHO, no offense, etc, etc...

But Herb Broods son is quoted as saying that his dad wouldn't quit until USC was playing Florida State in the Frozen Four championship, meaning he was always trying to look ahead and expand. If the big ten does this, which it may , its awesome. But my hope is that long term and big picture wise it doesn't lead to the demise of the hockey programs at the smaller institutions.

defense wrote:I don't believe that there is anything wrong with the big ten hockey league other than two more teams should join. I do however feel that the old wcha was better for hockey, and a better league period. The fact remains that the world changes and you can either dwell in bygones or keep up.. so I will ask this: what are the next two big ten schools to start up division 1 hockey programs ? In my mind there are no simple answers, but if I were to bet I would say Nebraska and...Northwestern

I think Nebraska is definitely in the discussion but no way on Northwestern.... Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska will all field teams before Northwestern and Purdue do IMHO.... The one's I hear the most serious rumors about are Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska, they have the alumni base, potential money, access to talent and ability to make it happen sooner than any of the other schools. But I do think all 6 schools will be fielding D1 teams within the next 15 years, and I bet two of them have teams in the next 5 years, sounds like a long time but in the big scheme it really is not......

defense wrote:But Herb Broods son is quoted as saying that his dad wouldn't quit until USC was playing Florida State in the Frozen Four championship, meaning he was always trying to look ahead and expand. If the big ten does this, which it may , its awesome. But my hope is that long term and big picture wise it doesn't lead to the demise of the hockey programs at the smaller institutions.

There are a few that likely will see their demise or be relegated to D3 but the reality is those schools were going that direction already regardless of whether these conference splits happened or not, it's just fiscal reality at those schools....

JSR wrote:

defense wrote:I don't believe that there is anything wrong with the big ten hockey league other than two more teams should join. I do however feel that the old wcha was better for hockey, and a better league period. The fact remains that the world changes and you can either dwell in bygones or keep up.. so I will ask this: what are the next two big ten schools to start up division 1 hockey programs ? In my mind there are no simple answers, but if I were to bet I would say Nebraska and...Northwestern

I think Nebraska is definitely in the discussion but no way on Northwestern.... Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska will all field teams before Northwestern and Purdue do IMHO.... The one's I hear the most serious rumors about are Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska, they have the alumni base, potential money, access to talent and ability to make it happen sooner than any of the other schools. But I do think all 6 schools will be fielding D1 teams within the next 15 years, and I bet two of them have teams in the next 5 years, sounds like a long time but in the big scheme it really is not......

At a Blue Line Club luncheon last fall guest speaker Jennifer Heppel (Big Ten associate hockey commissioner) there are no other schools that are considering adding a hockey program. Of course that could change, but as of last fall there weren't any on the horizon.

JSR wrote:There are a few that likely will see their demise or be relegated to D3 but the reality is those schools were going that direction already regardless of whether these conference splits happened or not, it's just fiscal reality at those schools....

That's the thing I think some people overlook when they get all concerned about a few smaller schools disappearing from D1. Those programs are already barely treading water financially under current conditions. Those kinds of programs won't make D1 hockey better in the long haul.

For those who may not have seen this - lots of great info!

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/min ... 404aaa.pdf

Gopher Blog wrote:

JSR wrote:There are a few that likely will see their demise or be relegated to D3 but the reality is those schools were going that direction already regardless of whether these conference splits happened or not, it's just fiscal reality at those schools....

That's the thing I think some people overlook when they get all concerned about a few smaller schools disappearing from D1. Those programs are already barely treading water financially under current conditions. Those kinds of programs won't make D1 hockey better in the long haul.

No doubt that programs who are just getting by will fail regardless. But thinking beyond that, long term and big picture it very well could lead to the demise of some very established well run programs at schools who compete in lower divisions in all other sports.

As someone who's pretty much a neutral observer of NCAA hockey, I was sad to see the old WCHA go, but I've adjusted. The higher profile of B1G hockey should help hockey in general, and I think the early returns on the NCHC were good. There was excellent parity, and while the programs don't have quite the pull of a Minnesota or Wisconsin, they tend to have some pretty strong regional support bases. As DrGaf noted, between non-conference games and things like the North Star Cup, they've taken good steps to make sure those rivalries don't die out.

The only real losers seem to be the conference tournaments, which will probably only draw well when there are certain high-profile match-ups (Minny/Wisco, UND/UMD/SCSU). I suppose that true to an extent with the WCHA, too, but those match-ups will be less common now. That's what happens when you abandon geography as the main basis for conferences. With time things might improve, but I'm not so sure.

The new WCHA is the wild card, I think...there are some great traditional programs here, but there also aren't a lot of big money-makers to prop up some of the weaker programs. It's very scattered, too. We'll see how well it holds up.

From the standpoint of a hockey fan in Minnesota, it has some potential. We could easily see 3 MN programs win their respective conferences. If Mankato continues to do well in the WCHA, that could really help them out, and maybe Bemidji too, if they seize the opportunity. The new environment is more stratified financially, but there is enough talent competing for few enough spots that the good mid-majors should still be able to hold their own with the big guns.

And God only knows where college sports will be in 20 years anyway.

karl(east) wrote:The only real losers seem to be the conference tournaments, which will probably only draw well when there are certain high-profile match-ups (Minny/Wisco, UND/UMD/SCSU).

No doubt the league playoffs events won't be the same. I don't think this really hurts the B1G much because they don't count on the playoff event for a lot of their revenue when they have such a sweet TV/media situation as their main revenue driver over the course of the year. On the other hand, a less well attended tourney does hurt the NCHC and (new) WCHA because they don't have the same big revenue driver with TV that the B1G does.

As for what is "better" (old WCHA vs. current), I'm not really sure how anybody can fairly judge when it has been on single season of the current situation. Seems ridiculously premature to make any sweeping judgments until we let these new leagues establish themselves over a number of years.

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MNHockeyFan wrote:

JSR wrote:

defense wrote:I don't believe that there is anything wrong with the big ten hockey league other than two more teams should join. I do however feel that the old wcha was better for hockey, and a better league period. The fact remains that the world changes and you can either dwell in bygones or keep up.. so I will ask this: what are the next two big ten schools to start up division 1 hockey programs ? In my mind there are no simple answers, but if I were to bet I would say Nebraska and...Northwestern

I think Nebraska is definitely in the discussion but no way on Northwestern.... Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska will all field teams before Northwestern and Purdue do IMHO.... The one's I hear the most serious rumors about are Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska, they have the alumni base, potential money, access to talent and ability to make it happen sooner than any of the other schools. But I do think all 6 schools will be fielding D1 teams within the next 15 years, and I bet two of them have teams in the next 5 years, sounds like a long time but in the big scheme it really is not......

At a Blue Line Club luncheon last fall guest speaker Jennifer Heppel (Big Ten associate hockey commissioner) there are no other schools that are considering adding a hockey program. Of course that could change, but as of last fall there weren't any on the horizon.

That is the official response to the question, and it is technically true as of now but the PSU thing happened practically over night due to one huge major donation to the school to fuel that purpose. In reality every school in the big Ten would jump on board in a heart beat if they had the financial backing, so that is what we will be waiting for, the finacial push to make it happen at some of these schools. I firmly believe we'll have 1 or 2 new BigTen hockey schools in the next five years and a few more after that within 15 years. That's my time line, we'll see if it happens

Now that's a finish!! Talk about a dagger through UND's heart! Goooo Gophers!

North Dakota played a good game. Held Gophers down limiting any chances from middle of ice! Great win.

Can I say it again SHOOT the Puck! Great win for our kids!

Nice to have good players who stay all 4 years and come up big as seniors! Congrats to a great team player on the winning goal. Holl had a terrific game and got the deserved GWG.

Gophers looked blaw! Did they even care they were in the semis? Two lucky goals and a goalie that carried the whole Gopher nation on his back....

Hope they wake up and play they hockey they're able to play in the championship..

UGLY!!!!!!

I thought they controlled the first half of the game when they were skating hard and the defense was pinching the blue line. The second half of the game belong to ND, especially the 3rd period. Goph's just stopped skating for some reason.

Lets hope they play a solid 60 minutes on Saturday.

Go Gophers!

A couple of UND players really dogging it on the backcheck:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UsOFYDCb3c

I'm still in shock.

Coming into the Frozen Four, I figured that, if the Gophers had a vulnerability, it was against a team like UND. If there's a downside to loading up on smallish, high-scoring players who are likely to stay for 4 years, it's the lack of physicality and size disadvantage, and we all know UND is well-built to exploit that. UND pretty much got the game they wanted, but the fact that the Gophers still won says a lot.

A lot of credit goes to Wilcox, plus D-men like Holl (who was great all game even before the goal). Some of those D-men had somewhat lax defensive reputations coming into the U (or even at the U), but their maturity and steadiness was huge. Credit Guentzel there, I suppose. That, and just enough physicality and scrappiness out of players like Ambroz and Rau to keep them from getting run over. As an East fan I am obligated to despise Kyle Rau until the end of time, but...the kid is the ultimate instigator and catalyst. With all due respect to Wilcox, he's the heart and soul of this team.

Union is going to be a different sort of test. I like Minnesota's depth, and if Union isn't careful to cover when those mobile defensemen jump into the rush as they like to do, the Gophers are going to destroy them in transition. But if they do bring the same energy they had against BC, controlling the puck and getting good traffic in front of the net, they could be tough.

Well, so much for my praise for the Gopher D. Great game by Union, though. They earned that title.

My summary: http://apatientcycle.com/2014/04/13/nca ... is-strong/