As part of their coverage of the last Norm's Stars home game (unless St. Louis managed to lose to Tampa Bay, and Minnesota manages to beat Detroit), today's (4/14/93) Star Tribune had this article speculating on how the move would affect Gopher hockey. Pam Sweeney Go Gophers!!! 1993 WCHA Playoff Champions!!! 'U' doesn't expect big changes after Stars' departure By John Gilbert Twenty years ago, the Gophers hockey program took on the NHL's North Stars by promoting itself as "the fastest game in town." But current Gophers coach Doug Woog is not gloating that his team suddenly will be the only game in town. "All in all, I think there will be a trickle-down effect where all hockey in Minnesota will suffer by the North Stars leaving," Woog said. "I'm not excited that the North Stars are leaving. I don't think our level of hockey should be the end-all. It's neat that our players can move on to another level, and our credibility is enhanced by the NHL being here. "When fans see former Gophers like Trent Klatt or Neal Broten, or Jimmy Johnson and Jon Casey and those former college players who come in on other teams, they realize how good the college hockey product is. But if you're a hockey fan in Minnesota, you're aware Gopher hockey is good. And if we're getting an extra boost from some North Stars fans it's hard to tell because we've got such great demand for our new building." Telephones at the Gophers' ticket office starting ringing with greater frequency about a week before the final decision was announced that the North Stars were moving to Dallas. But sellouts at the new 9,000-seat Mariucci Arena had been anticipated before the Stars' departure became official. The most readily apparent benefits to the Gophers program could be in broadcast coverage, and in the creative mind of Pat Forciea, the North Stars vice president. Forciea, who met earlier this week with Gophers men's athletic director McKinley Boston and senior associate director Mark Dienhart, might be hired by the university as a consultant. "I think the Gophers hockey program has the potential for some large increases in corporate revenue support," said Forciea, a former goaltender at Greenway of Coleraine. Much of the financial support Forciea envisions might be though advertising on television or radio broadcasts. Midwest Sports Channel, which has carried both North Stars and Gophers hockey games, has contacted the university about increasing the number of Gophers games it telecasts next season. And both KSTP and WCCO have shown interest in radio rights to next season's Gopher game. If KSTP were to broadcast games, Al Shaver, the voice of the North Stars for each of their 26 seasons, might do play-by-play. for two seasons Gophers fans have complained about radio broadcasts o KFAN-AM, where more than half the games were tape-delayed or moved to a secondary station because of conflicts with Timberwolves games. As for increased attendance, Gophers ticket manager Ken Buell said the Gophers "really can't accommodate any new fans" despite the new and larger Mariucci Arena, which will open in August. "The North Stars leaving does not affect us that much," said Buell. "Ever since we won our first NCAA championship under Herb Brooks, back in the mid-70s, we've never had a downturn in demand for tickets. We've sold out to the point where all we've had to sell is obstructed-view seats ever since then. We'd regularly sell 7,000 or 7,500 tickets at the old Mariucci Arena, and only about 3,000 of them had a clear, unobstructed view of the games." (Stuff about "assured seating" deleted) Had the North Stars' move been announced before plans for the new Mariucci were finalized, the Gophers still might not have wanted it any bigger. "I might have like 10,000 seats," Buell said. "But no more than that. Had we known there would be no prop hockey, it might have colored our thinking a little, but not much. Intimacy is a factor, and by keeping the capacity down, we're going to have fantastic sightlines." Woog said he welcomes any new hockey fans, but regrets that some might come at the North Stars' expense. "And I'm not interested in capturing the fur-coat crowd," Woog said. "The North Stars saw what good that did. The white-collar crowd is not a loyal hockey crowd, and they've never been Gopher hockey fans." (end of article)