A Big Ten-NCHC Challenge

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IceBoxGopher

IceBoxGopher

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Sorry if this has been brought up before, but I was thinking last night as I was listening to the game that maybe something like a challenge could be beneficial to the Big Ten. There are eight teams in the NCHC and seven in the B1G so there would be an odd team out, but for the most part I figure it could work. Obviously college hockey is a different animal than basketball, but I feel it's something that could help build up the conference more.
 

While I don't believe it will build up the conference more, I do like the idea.
 


I think the difficulty of this kind of "challenge" is that the conferences already play a ton of cross over games with teams scheduling these opponents as is due to proximity and history. Don't think the conference needs to be built up more. It's just that a couple of the national brands we have (Minn, WI, MI) have been poor for the past few years. Clearly this year they all appear to be back
 

upnorthkid said:
Don't think the conference needs to be built up more. It's just that a couple of the national brands we have (Minn, WI, MI) have been poor for the past few years. Clearly this year they all appear to be back
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If you've followed the program over the last ten years you'd know that the conference has caused major damage and something like this is needed to get a significant amount of people back in the arena. Adding Illinois, Iowa, Arizona State, whoever will not make a significant change for the Gopher hockey program.

College hockey is a niche sport. There will be opportunities to try new things.

I've been talking about a "super conference" between these two conferences for years. The West (10 teams) could be DU, CC, UND, uw, UMN, SCSU, UMD, ASU (add with new arena), MNSU (add to NCHC), UNO.

East (8 teams) could be UM, MSU, ND, PSU, OSU, WMU, Miami, and Illinois if they get a program
 


bonin21 said:
If you've followed the program over the last ten years you'd know that the conference has caused major damage and something like this is needed to get a significant amount of people back in the arena. Adding Illinois, Iowa, Arizona State, whoever will not make a significant change for the Gopher hockey program.

College hockey is a niche sport. There will be opportunities to try new things.

I've been talking about a "super conference" between these two conferences for years. The West (10 teams) could be DU, CC, UND, uw, UMN, SCSU, UMD, ASU (add with new arena), MNSU (add to NCHC), UNO.

East (8 teams) could be UM, MSU, ND, PSU, OSU, WMU, Miami, and Illinois if they get a program
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oh i'm well aware (I'm on GPL as much as here) and yeah I agree they've done a huge degree of damage to the fans. That's why they thought the North Star College Cup would be a hit (it wasn't) and why they tried to bring in MN teams for the Ice Breaker. It won't work unless there's conference realignment. People miss what the WCHA used to mean. I don't think we can get that back outside of the type of thing you're talking and that would take mountains to move given the B10 would have to be cool with that which I can't ever see happening?
 

To expand the fan base into Canada, B1G should add the Univ of Toronto to the hockey league.
 


I would love to get to play some old WCHA teams more often, other than UMD/UND/SCSU that we are regularly playing in nonconference. Playing at CC last year was pretty cool, I'd love to play Denver regularly. Heck even Michigan Tech once in a while would be fun.
 




bonin21 said:
If you've followed the program over the last ten years you'd know that the conference has caused major damage and something like this is needed to get a significant amount of people back in the arena. Adding Illinois, Iowa, Arizona State, whoever will not make a significant change for the Gopher hockey program.

College hockey is a niche sport. There will be opportunities to try new things.

I've been talking about a "super conference" between these two conferences for years. The West (10 teams) could be DU, CC, UND, uw, UMN, SCSU, UMD, ASU (add with new arena), MNSU (add to NCHC), UNO.

East (8 teams) could be UM, MSU, ND, PSU, OSU, WMU, Miami, and Illinois if they get a program
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You mean, the WCHA and the CCHA. :cool:
 

Something like that. Oh, and add St Thomas to the west. Maybe instead of ASU.
 

Gophers1992 said:
I would love to get to play some old WCHA teams more often, other than UMD/UND/SCSU that we are regularly playing in nonconference. Playing at CC last year was pretty cool, I'd love to play Denver regularly. Heck even Michigan Tech once in a while would be fun.
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You do know that in the old WCHA, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan St. and Norte Dame were members
 



bonin21 said:
Something like that. Oh, and add St Thomas to the west. Maybe instead of ASU.
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I'd take ASU in a heartbeat. Great round-trip opportunity every year and there are a lot of MN snowbirds in AZ. It would look like a home game with the number of Gophs fans who would attend the series. Same thing happens when the Purple play the Cardinals...huge number of transplanted MN fans show up.

Would love Illinois and Northwestern to add men's and women's hockey. A 10-team men's B1G would be perfect.
 

It can't be perfect without rivalry games against UND, UMD, SCSU, and to a lesser extent MNSU.
 
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PMWinSTP said:
I'd take ASU in a heartbeat. Great round-trip opportunity every year and there are a lot of MN snowbirds in AZ. It would look like a home game with the number of Gophs fans who would attend the series. Same thing happens when the Purple play the Cardinals...huge number of transplanted MN fans show up.

Would love Illinois and Northwestern to add men's and women's hockey. A 10-team men's B1G would be perfect.
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It would look like a home game for both teams anywhere
 



It won't happen. Hockey is a niche, regional sport. To not play teams within easy road trip distance for fans in meaningful conference games is just leaving money on the table for everyone. Not to mention the fact that those teams are stacked with Minnesotans you watched play in the state and section tournaments and wish we got "that guy". Also way more trash talking with co workers because they went to those schools. For the limited number of non-uw Big Ten coworkers you have, odds are they don't care about college hockey.
 

bonin21 said:
It won't happen. Hockey is a niche, regional sport. To not play teams within easy road trip distance for fans in meaningful conference games is just leaving money on the table for everyone. Not to mention the fact that those teams are stacked with Minnesotans you watched play in the state and section tournaments and wish we got "that guy". Also way more trash talking with co workers because they went to those schools. For the limited number of non-uw Big Ten coworkers you have, odds are they don't care about college hockey.
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Biggest mistake B1G made was not appreciating the value of road teams packing arenas and buddies from different colleges going to games together. Michigan will never fill the arena like North Dakota. B1G hockey was a disaster. BTN should have made deals to broadcast the conferences that B1G teams were in to fill inventory, rather than mucking up the system. It would have been a wash financially.
 

bonin21 said:
It won't happen. Hockey is a niche, regional sport. To not play teams within easy road trip distance for fans in meaningful conference games is just leaving money on the table for everyone. Not to mention the fact that those teams are stacked with Minnesotans you watched play in the state and section tournaments and wish we got "that guy". Also way more trash talking with co workers because they went to those schools. For the limited number of non-uw Big Ten coworkers you have, odds are they don't care about college hockey.
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You're right that it won't ever go back to what the 2000's and before were, but enough winning and a couple championships will do a lot to help fans get over things IMO. There is no arguing the B1G move was a bad one, but there wasn't as much complaining about it in 2014 when we almost hung a banner. It's one of those things that people use to pile on when the team is losing.
 

Watching the speed, skill, and physicality in the Duluth-Denver game it's clear the Gophers have not had a big test yet.
 

Watching SCSU vs UMD, two contenders for a championship, it's clear the Gophers got the third and fourth best Brodzinskis and the second best Perbix 🤬
 

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