Mike Machnik wrote:
 
> HE depends much more on getting the right teams to its Final Four
> than the ECAC, IMO.  If the teams were, say, Maine, BU, UNH, and
> UMass (this obviously couldn't have happened this year since
> BU-UMass and Maine-UNH were qfinal matchups), then the attendance
> would have soared as it did in 93 when Maine and UNH played in the
> final.
 
Boston Univeristy played Maine in teh 1993 final, not New Hampshire.
Maine and New Hampshire meet in 1992, the second, and unfortunately
last, year of the failed HockeyFest experiment.  The ECAC final was
between St. Lawrence and Cornell, and it may be that some of the fans
in attendance were from Cornell and St. Lawrence.
 
I personally think that the large attendance thatt year was a sign
that HockeyFest would have been a huge success if the ECAC had not
felt overshadowed by Hockey East.
 
> Lowell had a good showing, but PC did not have many fans.  I also
> think that if the final was Maine-BU, attendance would have easily
> topped 10,000 and more.  And, many people interested in BU may have
> stayed away from the final when BU lost on Friday.
 
This year the Hockey East Championship had teh same four teams
participate as last year, yet the attendance for the two days was up
a total of 4099 over last years two day total!  The breakdown:
 
                  1995     1996      Diff
Semifinals       5,533    8,238    +2,705
Championship     7,575    8,969    +1,394
 
2-Day Totals    13,108   17,207    +4,099
 
I think that this shows that Providence and Lowell fan support is
increasing as the teams have continued to improve.
 
First, I highly doubt that the +2,000 increase between last year's
semifinals and final was due to Maine fans.  I think much of the
increase is likely due to Providence fans attending to support and
watch their team.
 
As for this year, I also doubt that the near 50% increase in
attendance for the semifinals was due to Maine fans.  Providence and
Lowell fans most likely made up a very large part of that increase.
 
> Only a huge Maine contingent saved the Sat turnout from being below
> what LP drew.
 
I disagree completely.  This year attendance for the final only
increased by 731, which, assuming every one was a Maine fan, is
hardly a "huge contingent".
 
I am sure some Boston Univeristy and Lowell fans did not attend the
second night, however, I am also sure that there were more Providence
fans than the night before.
 
>But if you took the fan
> base of the top four HE teams (following-wise, not finish) and
> compared it to the fan base of the top four from the other three
> conferences, I think HE would come in last.
 
I am not so sure, however, first we need to determine the top four
teams in fan support for each league.
 
 
On a slighty different note, how does the NCAA selection comittee
*know* Lowell has a smaller fan base than Cornell?  They have not
given Lowell fans a chance to prove how strong (or show how weak)
their support is.  Until the committee puts Lowell in an East
Regional we will likely *never* know.
 
Sean Pickett            E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Go Terriers  NCAA and Beanpot Champions
BU Hockey:  http://www.tiac.net/users/spickett/hockey.html
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But I Digress:  http://www.tiac.net/users/spickett/bid.html
 
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