Mike writes:
>of the Minnesota DivIII hockey teams to even make the Final Four.  Would
>they be a big enough draw?  We're talking about moving the tourney to a
>neutral venue AND placing it in a rink larger than any DivIII Final Four
>has ever been in, I think.  That's a big risk.  Will Minnesota hockey fans
>go to see four DivIII teams they have no rooting interest in, during the
>DivI tourney and almost immediately after the high school tourney and the
>WCHA Final Four?
 
First off, a clarification: the arena they were looking at was Aldrich Arena
in suburban St. Paul, not the Civic Center.  It's not that big. I was at
a regular season (albeit a big rivalry) high school game there last year
and it was jam-packed.  I believe they said there were 3800 (or was it 3200?)
people there.
 
I think the hockey-saturation point is, however, a valid one.  People turn
out in droves for the high school and WCHA tourneys, but I think the North
Stars would tell you that it seems to take a little time for people to get
their interest up for some more hockey after that.  If the North Stars were
playoff-bound, too, I don't know how successful it would be unless there
was a local interest of some sort.
 
Pam
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