Given all the discussion about having the 1999 Championships in Southern
California, I thought I'd share some potentially enlighteing information
about College Hockey and the West Coast.
 
The Great Western Freezeout was held last October with Maine, Michigan
State, Boston College, and Miami (Ohio) being the participants.  To give
you an idea about how the tournament was supported, look at the
attendance figures:
 
Day 1 (at the Great Western Forum)
Maine vs. Miami (Ohio)
Michigan State vs. Boston College
TOTAL ATTENDANCE FOR BOTH GAMES:  317
 
Consolation Game (At the Arrowhead Pond)
Boston College vs. Miami (Ohio)
ATTENDANCE:  1,218
 
Championship Game (At the Arrowhead Pond)
Maine vs. Michigan State
ATTENDANCE:  2,000
 
These numbers are off of the CCHA web site, so don't scream at me if
they're wrong (for the love of hockey, I hope that Day 1 figure is off by
a factor of 10).  As you can see, the fan base was prettymuch nonexistent
last year.  If the tournament is held again this year, check out the
numbers to see if there's an improvement.
 
 
Marshall J. Brown
University of Michigan Law School
 
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