> Published Tuesday, January 20, 1998, in the Pioneer Press.
>
>
> Gophers officials study no-shows at Mariucci
>
> Ever wonder why every University of Minnesota men's hockey game in
> Mariucci Arena is ``sold out,'' yet there always are lots of empty seats?
>
> Athletic department officials are wondering the same thing, which is why they
> are in the midst of a study to determine which season-ticket holders aren't
> showing up and why.
>
> ``A person in the ticket office is going through every ticket stub for every
> game to find out which tickets aren't being used,'' assistant athletic director Pat
> Forciea said. ``Once that's done, we plan to have polite visits with those people
> and ask them why they're not showing up.
>
> ``Hopefully, we can convince them to use their tickets or allow us to get them
> to people who want them. It's frustrating that people who want to come to our
> games can't buy tickets. We have a waiting list of 2,000 (season tickets), so
> there are people who want to come. I hope to live to see the day when we go
> through this in football.''
>
> Most of the unused tickets are held by corporations, and most of those seats,
> because a premium was paid, are the prime seats between the blue lines.
>
> ``Those bright yellow seats in the middle are tremendous reminders of our
> problem,'' Forciea said. ``In the old arena, with its bench seating, you never
> knew how many people were in the building. You do in the new arena.''
>
> The no-show problem isn't new, and it isn't because the Gophers are having
> their worst season in 25 seasons. Empty seats have been a problem, even in
> good seasons, with the Gophers having between 10 and 15 percent no-shows
> in recent years.
>
> When defending NCAA champion North Dakota was in town earlier this
> season, the Gophers expected every seat to be filled. At the Saturday game on
> Nov. 1, a night after the Gophers won 6-5, there were more than 2,000 unused
> tickets.
>
> ``It's unsettling to look in the stands and see all those empty seats,'' coach
> Doug Woog said. ``It's a $20 ticket (actually $19.50), so you'd think people
> would use them. But when corporations buy them, maybe cost isn't as much
> an issue as it is to an individual buyer.
>
> ``We want those seats filled because more people put more enthusiasm in the
> building. There are enough passionate hockey fans out there who would love
> to get tickets. We have to find a way to get them in here.''
>
> The Gophers believe they need to sell all the tickets in advance because they
> are paying off the debt service on the the arena without any taxpayer money.
> Since Gophers football does not generate as much income as football at other
> schools, hockey's income is needed to offset that.
>
> This season, at the suggestion of athletic director Mark Dienhart, the Gophers
> held 200 tickets for single-game sales. They were sold out within an hour,
> which shows the demand of hockey fans.
>
> ``You could make a case that we should hold more back, but that's where it
> gets tough for us. It's hard to turn away from that guaranteed ticket revenue,''
> Forciea said. ``In the entertainment business, scarcity is the most powerful
> thing. Once you lose that demand, you might lose interest. So it's a ticklish
> problem for us.''
>
> Sioux No. 1 in RPI
>
> Going into last weekend's play, North Dakota was No. 1 in the Ratings
> Percentage Index, which is one of the factors used to determine the 12-team
> NCAA field.
>
> Following the Sioux were New Hampshire, Boston University, Michigan,
> Michigan State, St. Cloud State, Wisconsin, Colgate, Boston College, Miami,
> Providence and Yale.
>
> The Gophers, whose record of appearing in 13 consecutive NCAA
> tournaments is in jeopardy, were ranked 26th among the 45 Division I teams.
>
> Other WCHA teams were: 13, Colorado College; 22, Minnesota-Duluth; 36,
> Alaska Anchorage; and 39, Denver. Independent Mankato State was 33rd.
>
> Around the WCHA
>
> North Dakota plays at St. Cloud State this weekend in a series that could go
> a long way toward determining the regular-season champion. Friday's game
> will be televised on KMSP Ch. 9 in the Twin Cities.
>
> Colorado College makes its debut in the new 7,343-seat Colorado Springs
> World Arena this weekend against Wisconsin in another key league series.
>
> The Tigers have moved out of their on-campus Honnen Ice Rink and will
> practice full time in the World Arena.
>
> Around the country
>
> Boston College's recent scoreless tie against Maine was the Eagles' first 0-0
> game since the 1919-20 season against Fordham. Maine played a 0-0 game
> against Boston University on Feb. 19, 1994.
>
> Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Colgate will represent the ECAC, and
> Maine and New Hampshire will represent Hockey East in a doubleheader at
> New York's Madison Square Garden on Dec. 22.
>
> Women's hockey
>
> Just like the pros: The St. Lawrence women's team wrapped up what
> essentially was a two-week road trip on Sunday.
>
> The Saints left Canton, N.Y., on Jan. 5 to play two games against the Gophers
> the next two days. But because of ice storms in the East, when they flew into
> Syracuse on Jan. 8 (after being swept by the Gophers), they were advised to
> stay away from home because there was no electricity in Canton.
>
> So the weekend of Jan. 10-11, they played ``home'' games in Cornell's arena in
> Ithaca, N.Y., beating Harvard and losing to Northeastern. And they played
> two more ``home'' games over the weekend against Boston College and
> Dartmouth, also at Cornell.
>
> The first women's national championship, to be determined March 20-21 in
> Boston, calls for the two semifinal games to be played on a campus site with
> the title game in the FleetCenter at 3 p.m. before the Hockey East playoff
> championship game. Hockey East has eliminated its third-place game, which
> made room for the women's title game.
>
> The Gophers play their most-important home series of the season on
> Saturday and Sunday afternoons against Northeastern, the preseason No.
> 1-ranked team in the nation. The Huskies have been overtaken by New
> Hampshire for the top spot.
>
> Around the area
>
> Three former Gophers -- goalie Frank Pietrangelo, defenseman John Brill
> and forward Cory Laylin -- are playing in the master round of the Italian Elite
> League playoffs. Pietrangelo plays for Asagio AS, Brill for SHC Fassa and
> Laylin with HC Gardena.
>
> Former Boston University goalie Derek Herlofsky of Minneapolis Edison is
> 12-6-3 with two shutouts and a 2.65 goals-against average and .903 save
> percentage playing for the Cardiff Devils in Wales.
>
> Gregg Wong's college hockey notebook appears Tuesdays.
>
 
 
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