VIRG FOSS: Creation of Big Ten Hockey Conference could lead to big changes
December 7, 2012 at 1:00 pm in Grand Forks Herald
I thought of the Big Ten Hockey Conference, which begins play next season as a six-team league. I thought of what the future holds for college hockey, thrown into turmoil by the formation of the Big Ten. Continue Reading
Go Michigan ….yeah Wolverines!!
*Virg … you got to get yourself a partner. Come on now …. you got a nice smile and kind eyes. Now get out there and use them.
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I get a kick out of old timers who get their panties in a bunch over change.
DC,
You hitting on Virg? Someting tells me you two would make a cute couple
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It doesn’t look at this point that it will be a strong conference. WI, Mich, Mich St, and Ohio St are having a rough time this season. If MN loses a couple underclassmen to the NHL, they’ll be sub-par. And Penn St is pretty much still a club team.
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The Big Ten could certainly turn out to be the be the Big Flop for sure. The Gophs and Wisco went for the money and going for the bright shinny object doesn’t always end up being the big prize. The Big Ten will be looking for teams to play to fill out their schedule. MN is throwing tradition and rivalry out the door by not playing UND. Instead they will find inferior teams that they know they can beat. Where is the challenge?
I’ve heard Gophers say we have to support our other MN teams and play them. If they were so worried about the other MN teams why did they leave the WCHA? Time will tell if the Big Ten works, meanwhile the new conference that UND is in will be a good one and will provide great hockey for it’s fans.
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Talk about forming a Big 10 hockey conference has been going on for years; at to the time Woog was coaching. The clincher was the formation of the Big Ten network and the need for programing. Problem is, they are basketball mad; hockey has been shown on tape-delay at 2:00 am. Despite what people in grand Forks think, hockey is not all that popular. 7000 showed up for the CC-MN game last night. Whereas basketball commands big attendance.
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Although I agree with you that the new NCHC teams are more successful than what Hockey East or the new Big Ten will offer, lets not kid ourselves that UND desperately tried to get BC, BU, or Notre Dame in the new conference and failed. The fact is that although UND hockey is a big deal in the college hockey circle, UND is not. If the casual fan is going to watch hockey, they will watch Notre Dame or Michigan. Because UND/Denver/Duluth will not be big for tv, UND lost in conference realignment. The Big Ten will have their deal and Hockey East will get national games too. The deal with the CBS Sports Network (NCHC) is not as big as the deals with NBC Sports Network (Hockey East) and Big Ten Network (Big Ten) in terms of household reached. The concern in the future is whether UND can keep the momentum of being a top program without the high profile tv of less successful programs. After all, the circle of success is inevitable. Win, you get good players, the program is desirable, people want to watch the team, young players want to play for it…the cycle continues. TV could break this and UND will become a middle of the pack program within 20 years and maybe in that time frame, kids will be dying to play for Penn State. Interesting times in hockey
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Well stated. As I implied above, there is a major disconnect between what Grand Forkers think about UND hockey and what others do, or about college hockey in general.
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