Bri writes:
 
>I'd have to agree with Carol that the regional would probably have
>done better in Minneapolis (or Madison for that matter). Detroit just
>isn't a HUGE hockey town. It likes the Red Wings but as far as college
>hockey, I doubt there is much sympathy. In Minneapolis or Madison, where
>there is a core of solid hockey fans, you would get a lot more attendance
>even without the Gophers or Badgers. I know I and many other in the North
>Coutnry would go to a regional if it were held in Potsdam or Canton
>even if Clarkson/SLU weren't playing. MInneapolis and Madison have proven
>that they support college hockey and deserve it more than Detroit.
>You see, Michigan and MSU just aren't big hockey schools. Football and
>basketball rule there.
 
I wouldn't say that Michigan and MSU aren't big hockey schools. A fairer
assessment would be that Minn & Wisc suck in football and basketball, so that
in addition to being big hockey areas, their hockey teams naturally get big
support from the students because it is the only mens team that does well.
 
Michigan has usually had a very good football and basketball team and the
hockey team has fallen in it's shadow. I'm sure that if their football and
basketball teams did poorly, the support for the hockey team would be much
better. Similarly for MSU, though the Spartans have had a great hockey team
for years.
 
The problem is that the NC$$ hockey tournament gets overshadowed by the
basketball tournament. Since as a general rule, basketball is bigger
in the midwest than hockey, people chose to watch basketball on tv rather
than go to Joe Louis. Their hockey teams weren't playing, so they watched
their basketball teams. In Minn or Wisc where hockey gets the edge over
basketball, things would be different.
 
Somehow, the NC$$ hockey committee must come up with a way to get out from
behind the shadow of the basketball tournament. That's been it's biggest
problem for years.
 
One thing that might spark more interest in all four conferences would be a
national tv contract. We saw discussions of such a deal with ESPN last year,
but things sort of dropped. I think that if ESPN were to show one game a week
during the entire season, people would get exposed to all four conferences.
 
This won't solve the tournament problem, but might help.
 
Paul