Al wrote:

<<I need to step in and make a few comments as the regionals are getting underway.  I just watched
Maine beat Harvard, a good game, but many empty seats.  It's between periods of the UND/HC games,
and again, many empty seats.  There has also been a lot of discussion about the lack of TV
coverage at the regionals.>>

Thom Davis replied:

<<I think that if RPI (host), Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Colgate, Cornell, or Union had been the ECAC
champion, things might have been different with attendance in Albany. In contrast, the Northeast
Regionals in Manchester have been sold out for months.>>

I made the same observation as Al did – until the camera panned to the corner where the Maine fans
were sitting.  That corner looked pretty filled to me.  I think that Thom is correct about what
would have been the case if a New York ECAC team had been there.  It would have helped if the
other eastern team had been a team that “travels” better than Harvard, and if the other game had
included some eastern teams or someone like Michigan, which has a good following in the east.

This is also an adjustment period because of the new 16-team format.  The last Albany regionals
that I went to, the attendance was pretty good – but that regional had six teams that included St.
Lawrence, BU (is that game still going?), Michigan, Maine, Colgate, and I think UNH.

The attendance at the western regionals has been discussed before.  Wherever you put them, a lot
of folks will have to travel a long way.

In the east, there’s no travel problem.  Some of the schools sell out for garden variety games
during the season, so there would be a lot of folks who would want to attend, but don't.  but I
don’t think that the NCAA is going to move away from pre-determined sites.  If they had them at
on-campus location, there would be a mad scramble to do travel accommodations, etc. in a very
compressed period of time  Also, IMO, that’s too much of a home ice advantage.  I think it’s to
the NCAA’s credit (I don’t compliment them very often) that they think that seeding teams fairly
is more important than futzing with the seedings to improve attendance.

Clay


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