>
>Memo to John Kohlstrand, Andrew Golla & Brian Gentry: I thought this was a
>college hockey discussion list.  References to the Red Wings, Vipers and high
>school hockey are not germane,  I have never doubted the loyalty of Twin
 
Okay, okay. The subject line said ``Metro hockey hotbeds.'' Granted, this is
a college hockey list, but I think there was room for confusion.
 
>Cities or Detroit fans to the game of hockey in general but can they hold a
>candle to Boston for support of COLLEGE hockey?  Before you answer, just
>remember that Boston has four Division I teams in the city.
 
What are we trying to measure here? If its the amount of college hockey
programs within a community, than Boston wins, hands down, as much due to
an accident of geography as anything. I mean, I'm sure Michigan's forefathers
weren't think of hockey when deciding to put, for instance, Michigan Tech
in a tiny town in its upper penninsula. State schools are where people go
to get educated east of the Appalachians, and Michigan's state universities
are spread across the state. The city of Detroit has one -- Wayne State --
and the tricounty area has two more: Oakland University and Michigan-Dearborn.
None are even trying for Division I status in any sport (I think Michigan-
Dearborn was at one time. The story I heard was that (a) they closed the dorms
and (b) the admininstration, based in Ann Arbor coincidentally, decided that
Division I sports didn't fit into the school's mission. E-mail me if you
have hte real story, by the way).
 
But what is a college hockey hotbed? You could look at it in several
different ways.
 
There was a time not too long ago when the Great Lakes Invitational was,
annually, the largest draw for a hockey game in North America. This may no
longer be the case, but as far as I know, the largest crowds for regular
season hockey gather at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit and The Palace of Auburn
Hills.
 
Again, an accident of geography. The Detroit metroplex has two big new
arenas, and Boston folk have to suffer Boston Garden.
 
The most interesting measure, in my mind, would be to see which American
metropolitan area produces the most hockey talent.
 
It would certainly be a project. You would have to define metropolitan areas
and decide a systematic method for determining players' hometowns. Then,
if the Minnesota folk start complaining, you would might want to divide the
number of Division I hockey players by the census figures for each
metroplex, to arrive at a statistic we might call Division I Hockey Players
Per 100,000 Metropolitan Residents (DIHPP100KMR)
 
The DIHPP100KMR might be the best measure, but *I'm* not going to figure it out.
 
 
 
 
--
The Chronicle. Elyria, Ohio, USA        "Techno is like Detroit -- a complete
John Kohlstrand, staff writer            mistake." -- Derrick May
[log in to unmask]
my opinions are my own.                  Ay Ziggy Zoomba.   Go Bowling Green.