I'll add a few cents worth on Saturday's games at Joe Louis. I am surprised
at the number of Hockey-lers that seem to have been at the game. Mr and Mrs
Instone were the only ones I saw. And at the point I saw Keith, he had not
seen anyone else either.
I doubt I could have been missed. I definitely was the only one wearing a BG
hockey jersey.
Unlike Doug Peterson, I felt that the second game was much more exciting that
the Michigan/Wisconsin game. The passing/break-out skills of both UMD and LSSU
were a pleasure to watch. Both goaltenders played a good game. UMD's defense
was definetly a problem, and I don't think I'd attribute it to the fact that
they played on Friday. The defensively players for UMD paid more attention to
the initial LSSU skater into the zone (guy with the puck) and turned their
backs on the trailing LSSU skakers and in many cases, did not clear out the
LSSU player who would camp on the opposite side of the goal from the guy with
the puck. LSSU got at least two goals via rebound in this manner.
LSSU on the other hand would turn and find UMD's trailers and move to engage
them. Making it very difficult for UMD to pick up rebound shots. Plante and
Rolston, both had great games. 3 pts for Plante and 2 for Rolston (I believe).
The officiating was better than the first game, but that's not saying much.
No other way to put it, but the officiating in the Michigan/Wisconsin game
sucked. They let way too much go. I knew both teams were physical, but there
were alot of elbows from Michigan and ALOT of stick work by Wisconsin. I was
very unimpressed by Wisconsin and turned off due to all the stick work
(slashing, hacking, hooking above the waist, etc...) and hope that their play
was not indicative of their play all year. The game flow ebbed from the
second period on as neither team seemed able to or willing to pick up their
game. Michigan tried to pass the puck way too much and kept retreating back
towards their own goal when attempting to break out while being confronted by
Wisconsin forecheckers. Better officiating would have made it a better game.
The best call all night was the one in the UMD/LSSU game when with less than
3 minutes or so, UMD was called for spearing. I could not believe that the ref
actually made the call. I did remind him that it should be for 5 minutes, and
he agreed. :-)
As far as the attendence factor, the Detroit area is a big supporter of hockey.
They have the Red Wings (tickets hard to get), they have several tier I & tier
II teams that are supported in the area, the Toledo Storm is within an hour
(they finished first in the ECHL and are in the playoffs), and both Michigan
and MSU are supported.
What people in the Boston area and Minnesota/Wisconsin area don't understand is
that college hockey is not covered in the Midwest very well. Either via print
or television media. PASS only covers a very small market. With out the
coverage, you can't expect people to spend money on an unknown commodity.
Friday's games involved Wisconsin, Miami, UMN, and Brown. None of these teams
have had much exposure in the midwest and hence only fans loyal to those teams
showed up. Saturday's attendence was much better, but Michigan and LSSU played.
Look at the attendence figures when Michigan and MSU battled it out at the
Joe earlier in the season.
Moving the West regional to Minnesota or Wisconsin will not solve the
underlying problem. If we can't convince the NC$$ to showcase college hockey
more effectively, then maybe we can convince the division I schools to take
on that burden themselves. Without increasing the exposue the sport has, we
will continue to find people staying home to watch college basketball rather
than watch college hockey.
___________________________________________________________________________
Paul Marchant | CCHA, BEST in NCAA Hockey | (513) 865 - 1637
Mead Data Central | | Statutes Conversion Eng.
P.O. Box 933 | Go BGSU Falcons! | [log in to unmask]
Dayton, OH 45401 | | ...!uunet!meaddata!paulm
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