WCHA, no more?

Tigers33 · Post by **Tigers33** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 10:37 pm

Mulefarm - well put! Wisconsin and Minnesota were going to end up in the Big 10 conference at some point in time. We all knew it would happen. Quit talking about it now.

Super conference - Not sure why that got joined. It helps Miami of Ohio but thats all.

Way out west - Are you going to miss the games against CC, Denver, and Alaska. How many of those teams brought loads of people. I imagine there will be more Penn St. and Ohio St. fans then those teams brought. Also, do you think Minnesota is never going to play SCSU, UMD, No. Dak, Mankato St. or Bemidji ever again? They are done for good, huh? They will still need to find about 10 games every season for non-conference.

BodyShots · Post by **BodyShots** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 9:44 am

In my opinion, the conference schedule of the Big 10 will be nice, because I always liked playing the Michigan's and Michigan States in the College Hockey Showcase. Now we get to play these teams more often.

The best part of this new direction is that our non-conference games should be much better than in the past. We can now replace the Unions, Ferris States, and Brittish Columbia's with St. Cloud, UMD, BSU, ND, CC, DU and Mankato State. Heck, the Gopher's Holiday tournament was a joke. Now they hopefully will bring in some of these old WCHA rivalries for an interesting Holiday tournament worth attending. Wouldn't it be nice to have a Holiday tournament that matched four MN teams? And the MN team that doesn't get to play in the Holiday tournament, can be the Gopher's opponent during Hockey Day in Minnesota!

mulefarm · Post by **mulefarm** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 9:55 am

BodyShots wrote:In my opinion, the conference schedule of the Big 10 will be nice, because I always liked playing the Michigan's and Michigan States in the College Hockey Showcase. Now we get to play these teams more often.

The best part of this new direction is that our non-conference games should be much better than in the past. We can now replace the Unions, Ferris States, and Brittish Columbia's with St. Cloud, UMD, BSU, ND, CC, DU and Mankato State. Heck, the Gopher's Holiday tournament was a joke. Now they hopefully will bring in some of these old WCHA rivalries for an interesting Holiday tournament worth attending. Wouldn't it be nice to have a Holiday tournament that matched four MN teams? And the MN team that doesn't get to play in the Holiday tournament, can be the Gopher's opponent during Hockey Day in Minnesota!

Great idea about holiday tournament and Mn teams. I just don't see the arena buzzing when the B10 teams come in, except Wis.

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 10:14 am

WayOutWest wrote:
JSR wrote:
WayOutWest wrote: So basically you are saying this is a bad idea because YOU no longer wil be able to drive to all teh rinsk to see the match ups. Gotchya, nothing self centered about that at all......
Did you read the entire thread, or is that just too difficult for you, for it requires you to actually obtain someone ELSE'S opinion? I clearly indicated where my personal viewpoints lie. I also indicated where and why this is bad for college hockey as a whole.
And trust me, if I am going to miss the historic and traditional rivalries, and the easy travel between sites, and the presence of both fan bases at the rinks, so will numerous other folks.
Meanwhile, what are you going to be doing? Will you be sitting there thinking, "Hey, it's too bad there are no Penn State fans in the stands here at Mariucci, but who needs them? And, it is too bad that Penn State was such a pushover, but I was getting tired of seeing the Gophers play St. Cloude nose-to-nose anyway. The real win is that the U is making money." Yeah, sure you will. Sure you will.

Lastly, your ironic posts are ludicrous. You whine about me employing name-calling, but you gladly get right down to it yourself. And if you truly followed the thread, you would see that you actually initiated it. But then again..........that too would require you to actually read other folks' posts and pay attention........two things that you have shown a distinct inability to do.

You go though, lady.
The fact you keep calling me "lady" tells me you have ZERO valid points, no insight whatsoever and I have beaten you so thuroughly in this argument you have resigned yourself to 3rd grade style name calling. It is funny watching you squirm though. I've read every post on this thread fully and with comprehension. You still are trying to figure out how to make yourself not liook liek the moron who said the BTHC would never happen and now you consistantly try and redirect the conversation as to why it shouldn't have happened. Also, if YOU ever read ANY threads with ANY amount of effort you'd know I am a Wisconsin fan and I do not give two sh%ts about a St.Cloud-vs-MN rivalry or how far you do or don't have to drive to watch those games. And yes, I intiated the thread to inform, you provided the low brow entertainment however. Oh an dby the way, for somone who is so concerned with others opening their minds how about this, guess what, there is ALOT of hockey outside of Minnesota, especially at the D1 college level, the universe doesn't revolve round homers like you.

Tigers33 · Post by **Tigers33** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 12:47 pm

JSR - Very well stated!

Bodyshots - That would be a great idea!

WayOutWest · Post by **WayOutWest** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:47 am

JSR wrote:The fact you keep calling me "lady" tells me you have ZERO valid points, no insight whatsoever.

Dude?

"thuroughly"
"consistantly"
"liook liek"
"an dby"

Seriously?

What do you suppose complete ignorance with regard to the English language says about your credibility?
Start with the basics. Then build from there. You may do better.

And no, comprehension is most certainly not your thing either. That would be an "advanced" skill, for you, at this point.

WayOutWest · Post by **WayOutWest** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 7:02 am

Tigers33 wrote:Way out west - Are you going to miss the games against CC, Denver, and Alaska. How many of those teams brought loads of people. I imagine there will be more Penn St. and Ohio St. fans then those teams brought. Also, do you think Minnesota is never going to play SCSU, UMD, No. Dak, Mankato St. or Bemidji ever again? They are done for good, huh? They will still need to find about 10 games every season for non-conference.

You do understand that for a number of schools currently in the WCHA, (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Bemidji State, St. Cloud, UMD, Mankato ) travel to the opposition's rink is quite easy. In the Big Ten, Minnesota and Wisconsin will have that, and Michigan and Michigan State will have that. That's it. There is a significant difference there.
Agreed that CC, Denver, Alaska didn't bring in a lot of fans, but I am sure you see the difference regardless.
As for the Gophers (or any other BTHC team) playing the "old" WCHA teams, I am sure there will be opportunities. But those will not be guaranteed, are not fully at the discretion of the BTHC schools, and will absolutely be minimized greatly. A lot is dependent upon how the conferences truly shake out in the end. Many of those schools could have very full conference schedules, and non-conference priorities that do not match those of the BTHC schools. How often BTHC schools play the old WCHA schools is pure speculation, at this point.

Tigers33 · Post by **Tigers33** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:04 am

Way out west - Get over it!! This whole message board is sorry that you are not going to have as many away fans coming to the games. I understand that is going to really be a downer for you. Easy solution - Dont go to any games!!

Everything on this board is simply "speculation"

Right now you are speculating. The only schools that actually brought people to Mariucci are No. Dakota, SCSU, UMD, and Wisconsin. Thats three schools out of the WCHA that are not in our conference.
Do you think there will be more Michigan fans and Ohio St. fans then Tech? What about CC, Denver, Alaska? Maybe even Nebraska-Omaha?

My guess is we are going to play at least one of those three mentioned schools at home; SCSU, UND, and UMD. So if we play one of them at hoem then you are losing out on the opportunity for two of them to be there. And in fact UND didnt come to Mariucci last year anyways. So, really wayoutwest. If this is ruining your college hockey life, then simple - find a new team and dont go to the games.

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:26 am

WayOutWest wrote:
JSR wrote:The fact you keep calling me "lady" tells me you have ZERO valid points, no insight whatsoever.
Dude?

"thuroughly"
"consistantly"
"liook liek"
"an dby"

Seriously?
What do you suppose complete ignorance with regard to the English language says about your credibility?
Start with the basics. Then build from there. You may do better.

And no, comprehension is most certainly not your thing either. That would be an "advanced" skill, for you, at this point.

Ahhh yes, the grammar/spelling police retort. The last resort of a message board poster who has been beaten so badly he can no longer even respond with anything even remotely intelligible. Sorry I don't have time or want to spell check message board posts. Too funny, you sir are the dancing monkey of this board, please keep dancing for our amusement

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:53 am

WayOutWest wrote:
Tigers33 wrote:Way out west - Are you going to miss the games against CC, Denver, and Alaska. How many of those teams brought loads of people. I imagine there will be more Penn St. and Ohio St. fans then those teams brought. Also, do you think Minnesota is never going to play SCSU, UMD, No. Dak, Mankato St. or Bemidji ever again? They are done for good, huh? They will still need to find about 10 games every season for non-conference.
You do understand that for a number of schools currently in the WCHA, (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Bemidji State, St. Cloud, UMD, Mankato ) travel to the opposition's rink is quite easy. In the Big Ten, Minnesota and Wisconsin will have that, and Michigan and Michigan State will have that. That's it. There is a significant difference there. Agreed that CC, Denver, Alaska didn't bring in a lot of fans, but I am sure you see the difference regardless.
As for the Gophers (or any other BTHC team) playing the "old" WCHA teams, I am sure there will be opportunities. But those will not be guaranteed, are not fully at the discretion of the BTHC schools, and will absolutely be minimized greatly. A lot is dependent upon how the conferences truly shake out in the end. Many of those schools could have very full conference schedules, and non-conference priorities that do not match those of the BTHC schools. How often BTHC schools play the old WCHA schools is pure speculation, at this point.

Really??? You are sure about that...... and thank you for including Wisconsin in your most recent nonsensical, uninformed rant:

Currently for WI Travel distances are as follows in the WCHA for five schools (note I did four Minniesota schools and north Dakato just for you, and I didn't even include the likes of Denver or the Alsaka schools):

St. Cloud = 342 miles
Duluth = 331 miles
Bemidji = 480 miles
Minnesota = 272 miles
North Dakota = 585 miles

Now, with the move to the Big Ten, here are travel distances:

Michigan - 385 miles (about 40 minutes difference drive time than St. Cloud)
Mich St = 367 miles (about a half an hour difference drive time than Duluth)
Ohio State = 502 miles (about 20 minute difference drive time than Bemidji)
Minnesota = 272 miles (exactly the same)
Penn State = 712 miles (about and hour and a half difference in drive time than North Dakota, but at this distance does that really matter, if you are driving that many hours what is another 90 minutes give or take)

The reality this actually makes things ALOT easier on WI from your arguments standpoint. Why you ask? Well because I have just proven that conference wise WI is about exactly the same if not in a better position travel wise for team and fans considering CC, Denver and the Alaska schools, but even taking those out in conference travel will be about the same. But now they also have the opportunity to schedule the likes of the Upper Peninsula Michigan schools and those other MN schools in nonconference which will bring alot of quality nonconference games closer to home. Will all of them work out, no but I have no doubt that some will, and enough likely will to make it pretty worthwhile. You really should do some research before spouting off.......

Watch WOW try and spin this to say that he "meant" WI would stil have it easy overall and that he didn't mean just MN and WI when they play eachother

WayOutWest · Post by **WayOutWest** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 1:14 pm

JSR wrote:
Really??? You are sure about that...... and thank you for including Wisconsin

Yep, you're right. I should not have included Wisconsin. UW skews the results. But the concept was still obviously there, and you again missed it entirely.

From Minnesota, the following distances are:
St. Cloud : 66
Mankato: 81
UMD : 154
UND : 234
Bemidji : 225

Very easy drives, for all six schools.
This benefit is obviously HUGELY degraded, with the BTHC and the Super Conference.
If you cannot fathom how five schools (nearly six) in one state, playing in one conference, is a travel and fan benefit, we can go no further.
But then again, we really couldn't go any further since you announced, "Hellow mie naem iz JayEsArr."

But, you keep going, lady!

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 1:53 pm

WayOutWest wrote:
JSR wrote:
Really??? You are sure about that...... and thank you for including Wisconsin
Yep, you're right. I should not have included Wisconsin. UW skews the results. But the concept was still obviously there, and you again missed it entirely.

From Minnesota, the following distances are:
St. Cloud : 66
Mankato: 81
UMD : 154
UND : 234
Bemidji : 225

Very easy drives, for all six schools.
This benefit is obviously HUGELY degraded, with the BTHC and the Super Conference.
If you cannot fathom how five schools (nearly six) in one state, playing in one conference, is a travel and fan benefit, we can go no further.
But then again, we really couldn't go any further since you announced, "Hellow mie naem iz JayEsArr."

But, you keep going, lady!

And we are back to WOW's extremely selfish and homer reasons for not doing it and his complete disregard for the fact that D1 hockey exists outside of Minnesota and that decisions, thankfully for the rest of us, were made based on the entire college hockey landscape and all 56+ schools involved and not just the 6 in Minnesota........ Wisconsin doesn't skew any results, it just fills your argument full of holes.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:10 pm

Will NC games be at the discretion of BTHC schools? Of course not entirely. But the reality is that money talks and the BTHC has way more of it.

Look at it from the Gopher point of view. Teams constantly jacked up the pricing of the Gopher series on their rink to capitalize on their drawing power. Do you really think the Gophers aren't going to use that leverage in future NC scheduling? The Gophers don't need Mankato, St. Cloud, etc. to continue to rake in the money. They can find many more avenues for scheduling if necessary and those other schools know it. Would you rather have the Gophers visit your rink once every two or three seasons or not at all? I can guarantee you the Mankatos of the world would not want to say no to that. Heck, Mankato was scheduling a WCHA "home" game at XCel to capitalize on the Gophers drawing power. So you think those schools are going to try to play hard ball with the Gophs now? LOL, good luck with that.

Certainly the Gophs would prefer to schedule future NC games against the in-state teams for obvious reasons but the reality is their program can easily figure ways around it with the money they bring in. SCSU doesn't want to play? OK, just go find a CCHA team in need of money to come visit. Know what I mean? Money talks. If you have it, you talk louder than those that don't.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:20 pm

mulefarm wrote:Great idea about holiday tournament and Mn teams. I just don't see the arena buzzing when the B10 teams come in, except Wis.

I'd add Michigan to that as well.

The reality is people are too caught up in the short term stuff and lose sight of the long term possibilities. It takes time to build up a rivalry. Of course Minnesota vs. Ohio State isn't a rivalry now compared to a Minnesota vs. UMD.

But expand out ten years... Could be much different when you play a team four times every year (and maybe playoffs too) and you have built up some opportunities to truly dislike the other squad.

Looking at these things from a one to three year window starting in 2013 is far too short sighted. Current rivalries will eventually be replaced with new ones in time.

PuckU126 · Post by **PuckU126** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:29 pm

JSR wrote: Too funny, you sir are the dancing monkey of this board, please keep dancing for our amusement

Gotta love these threads...

WayOutWest · Post by **WayOutWest** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:53 pm

JSR wrote: Sorry I don't have time or want to spell check message board posts.

Obviously. This is the point.
You're lazy, and it shows in your opinions.
The only responses you truly read (or at least comprehend) are your own, for they are either simple enough for you, or you are a narcissist.

Nice work calling me self-centered. You do know that I was talking about a full SIX schools in the WCHA, don't you? You were speaking of exactly one. Does this strike you as ironic? Of course it doesn't. (Psst.....look up "irony.")

Are you seriously THAT thick? 4 year olds have better comprehension than you do.

WayOutWest · Post by **WayOutWest** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:06 pm

Gopher Blog wrote: Current rivalries will eventually be replaced with new ones in time.

Sure.
And if you chop all the mature trees down in your yard and plant saplings. In time, they be replaced with excellent new ones. What is your tolerance for waiting?
Non-conference schedules may help to bridge the gap, but if you are not competing for the same title vs. UND or UMD, those rivalries take a significant hit, as well.
There is no doubt that this realignment means a significant hit to rivalries, for the foreseeable future.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 7:27 pm

Obviously my patience is longer than yours. I don't need it to happen overnight to enjoy the games. It'll take some time... maybe a few seasons, maybe longer. We'll see. But it'll happen.

We'll still see the in-state clubs too. That's good for all involved. I don't need to have them be conference games to enjoy them just the same way I did before. Ultimately, those teams will still want to beat the hell out of the Gophers and vice versa.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:47 am

NMU officially returns to WCHA in 2013-14

http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/spo ... ?id=642648

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:52 am

College hockey: Gophers want to play state teams

http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... 1107200056

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 11:40 am

WayOutWest wrote:
JSR wrote: Sorry I don't have time or want to spell check message board posts.
Obviously. This is the point.
You're lazy, and it shows in your opinions.
The only responses you truly read (or at least comprehend) are your own, for they are either simple enough for you, or you are a narcissist.

Nice work calling me self-centered. You do know that I was talking about a full SIX schools in the WCHA, don't you? You were speaking of exactly one. Does this strike you as ironic? Of course it doesn't. (Psst.....look up "irony.")

Are you seriously THAT thick? 4 year olds have better comprehension than you do.

I never said that I liked the move based solely on Wisconsin, so your point is negated. You saying someone else has no comprehension skills is the only thing ironic here.

Keeping dancing monkey

WayOutWest · Post by **WayOutWest** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:26 pm

JSR wrote: I never said that I liked the move based solely on Wisconsin

I never implied you did. Yet, you inferred it.
Maybe if you take one sentence at a time, and focus like a laser beam on definitions and sentence structure, that might help?
Or better yet, have your mom explain these fancy words to you?
Good luck, lady.

JSR · Post by **JSR** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:39 pm

WayOutWest wrote:
JSR wrote: I never said that I liked the move based solely on Wisconsin
I never implied you did. Yet, you inferred it.
Maybe if you take one sentence at a time, and focus like a laser beam on definitions and sentence structure, that might help?
Or better yet, have your mom explain these fancy words to you?
Good luck, lady.

Yes, you did. Apparently now you aren't even smart enough to decipher the stuff YOU wrote.

Now.....

Dance monkey, keep dancing. I'll fire up the organ grinder you keep dancing.

Although, you have to admit, he and his family are awefully talented....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44Y-_JAjAwE