I had been waiting for the news of the ECAC-HE lovefest being switched
to Hartford to post something about it.  I'm as baffled by this move
as I was baffled by the whole idea in the first place, but I figured
RPI had to have something to do with it considering some recent
scheduling gaffes.
 
Last season RPI-Union scheduled the "Capital Skates Classic" game for
a Tuesday night, when everyone knew the crowd would be appallingly low
(3,364).  This year they wisely decided on a weekend game.  However,
since the Knickerbocker Arena (sorry, Pepsi Arena) wasn't available,
they are now playing the "Capital Skates Classic," ostensibly for the
bragging rights to the Capital District, 50 miles north of the Capital
District in Glens Falls.  Thank you for inconveniencing us all.
 
Back to the ECAC-HE thing.  Most people know the ECAC used to have a
tournament each year in New York.  It was never heavily attended
since, as other posters have pointed out, no one in NYC gives a damn
about college hockey, or any other college sports.  This isn't even a
tournament, just a couple of games.  And frankly, the draws aren't so
good.  Colgate, UNH and Maine have all been to RPI in the last few
years (OK, Colgate ever year) and they aren't all that great at
pulling in fans on the road.  RPI may be the best draw of the lot,
which isn't saying much.  Then on a Tuesday the week of Christmas??
The logical short-circuits involved are mind-boggling.  Getting MSG on
a weekend is virtually impossible, so if you can't do it right, don't
do it at all.
 
I can see someone sitting around saying "Well, RPI and Colgate have a
lot of students from the Metro area, and there is a large alumni base,
so there should be a lot of people."
 
Great, but at RPI, most of the students don't attend games that are
right on campus with lower ticket prices than at MSG.  Why the hell
would they trek out to Manhattan and pay more?  What alumni are going
to head out on a Tuesday??
 
So you were never going to get a lot of people.  Therefore, 3 months
before the games, you suddenly get surprised by the low ticket sales
and switch the location to . . . Hartford??
 
Better for the UNH fans.  That's about it.
 
I checked out the original press release for this fiasco on US College
Hockey Online, where the following clips are copied from:
 
 
Quote #1:
After a 22 year absence, it is very exciting to have college hockey
back at Madison Square Garden," said Paul Munick, Vice
President, Athletics, Madison Square Garden. "This is the first step
in establishing a premier college hockey tournament in New
York."
 
Moving the games to Hartford is not the first step in establishing a
tournament in NYC.  Better luck next time Paul.
 
 
Excerpt #1:
The ECAC has enjoyed a long relationship with Madison Square Garden,
highlighted by the successful Chase Manhattan ECAC
Holiday Basketball Festival. From 1961 through 1976, the Garden was
also home to the ECAC Holiday Hockey Festival.
 
Notice they didn't use the word "successful" to describe the ECAC
Holiday Hockey Festival.
 
 
Quote #2:
"This is a terrific opportunity for college hockey to gain some
exposure in a different market. Madison Square Garden has been an
excellent host for the Chase ECAC Holiday Basketball Festival and I am
excited to rekindle a relationship that the ECAC once
had with the Garden in college hockey," said ECAC Hockey commissioner
Jeff Fanter. "I hope this is the first of many joint
ventures that we will undertake with Hockey East in the promotion of
college hockey."
 
I agree that the ECAC and HE should work more closely together to
promote college hockey, I don't agree with the underlying premise of
gaining exposure in a different market.  This isn't the pros, where
you play games in a market in the hopes of (a) increasing TV ratings
or (b) generating interest to later place a franchise.  Pro sports go
to where the people (and money) are, but people go to the college
sports.  No pro football team could last in Norman, Oklahoma, but
they'll pack 75,000 in for a Sooners game, which is probably the only
reason ever to go to Norman.  Better to play this "event" somewhere
that will generate large attendance and make it seem important than in
a city which will produce a low turnout and have everyone know the
"event" is meaningless.  Perception is more important.
 
It also intrigues me that they mention the ECAC basketball tournament,
as if some of its success would rub off on this endeavor.
 
So now they've moved this to Hartford.  I don't think they'll be any
better off.  However, I am fearful that RPI will like what they see,
tell they're friends at Union, and suddenly next year the "Capital
Skates Classic" will be in Hartford.  Well, at least the students at
the RPI campus in Hartford would get to see their school play locally!
 
If someone could explain all this to me, I'd appreciate it.
 
 
******------******------******------******------******------******------
Kurt Stutt                 [log in to unmask]                 Troy, New York
 
"I know what it is to feel lonely and helpless and to have
 the whole world against me, and those are things that no men or women
 ought to feel."
--Robert Donat in "The 39 Steps"
 
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