WCHA adding Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha starting in 2010-2011

[g_manpucker]

sorry, but this statement is so contradictory to itself and patently false that it is not even funny.

Okay that one sentence didn't make much sense but I stand behind the rest of it. I don't think the Big Ten will undertake a hockey conference because they are THE conference in the north part of the U.S. for football and basketball. Wrestling is the next biggest sport in line and that isn't going away with the TWO biggest and most prolific figures in the history of amatuer wrestling attached to Big Ten schools, Dan Gable-Iowa and Cael Sanderson-Penn State. Enough with the Big Ten and lets look at the WCHA.

As a Gopher fan and hockey player you can honestly say that when they play the Susies, Landcows, or Jan Brady (I am intentionally leaving out Becky because she is in the Big Ten)that you don't love beating up on them and dispise losing to them? Denver is a NATIONAL powerhouse in the college hockey world so playing against them is playing one of the best every year. Having these average (UMD, MSU-Mankato, Colorado College) and less than average (UNO, Bemidji State, Alaska-Anchorage) in the WCHA is exciting because they can and have beat very good teams...Bemidji made it to the Frozen Four this year with some exciting play, UMD won the McNaughton Cup with great play against top tier teams.

I believe that a Big Ten hockey conference would benefit Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State more than the rest because the CCHA is not Hockey East or the WCHA which are the traditional hockey power conferences.

 

[trixR4kids]

i played high-level competitive hockey growing up, continue to follow college hockey fairly close and have watched/attended gopher hockey games since i was 5 years old and i have to say that i completely disagree with your sentiments.

i love watching the gophers play their fellow big ten teams each year in ohio state, michigan state, michigan. far more than watching them play non-big ten schools like st. cloud, minnesota state, CC, denver. a big ten hockey conference would be a great thing.

I have a hard time believing that you're telling the truth here but even if you are, you are a part of the vast minority. pucker explained why we love these rivalries and it might have something to do with the fact that we love gopher hockey much more than the gopher sports which are a part of the big ten. That's why I couldn't care less about our rivalry with MSU, OSU and Michigan (two of which we play every single year anyhow).

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

I have a hard time believing that you're telling the truth here but even if you are, you are a part of the vast minority. pucker explained why we love these rivalries and it might have something to do with the fact that we love gopher hockey much more than the gopher sports which are a part of the big ten. That's why I couldn't care less about our rivalry with MSU, OSU and Michigan (two of which we play every single year anyhow).

why wouldn't i be telling the truth. that comment doesn't make any sense. it is my opinion. can't of hard to not "tell the truth" when it comes to one's personal opinion.

and here is where you and a guy who calls himself "pucker?!?!?" are in the minority son.....there are far more gopher football and basketball fans out there than there are gopher hockey fans. don't get me wrong there are a lot of gopher hockey fans, but no where near as many as there are for true national sports like football and basketball. you assume a lot when you think that everyone in minnesota by default just plain loves hockey. minnesota (when you look at the WHOLE state from north to south) is a football state first, basketball second and hockey thrid. and yes, i am telling the truth here!

 

[Hammy]

minnesota (when you look at the WHOLE state from north to south) is a football state first, basketball second and hockey thrid. and yes, i am telling the truth here!

When it comes to overall community involvement around the state, hockey is far and away the dominant sport. There isn't anywhere near the grassroots development here for football and basketball that we have for hockey.

I don't dispute that the Vikings are the #1 show in terms of college/pro teams though.

From a Gopher perspective, Gopher football and Gopher basketball may have more of a fan following than Gopher hockey simply because we are the only D1 teams in the state in those other two sports and the fan base isn't fractured like it is for hockey (given there are five different D1 hockey programs in MN). I know a number of fans of other hockey programs that detest the Gophers in hockey but cheer for the football team and basketball team. But that is mainly because they have no other local option.

 

[The Brewmaster]

i played high-level competitive hockey growing up, continue to follow college hockey fairly close and have watched/attended gopher hockey games since i was 5 years old and i have to say that i completely disagree with your sentiments.

i love watching the gophers play their fellow big ten teams each year in ohio state, michigan state, michigan. far more than watching them play non-big ten schools like st. cloud, minnesota state, CC, denver. a big ten hockey conference would be a great thing.

This is perhaps the most ridiculous statement in this thread -- and there are a lot of them. I hate to accuse because I don't know you, but I can't imagine you finding more than 1/1,000 people that might enjoy those watered down, inconsistent and meaningless games more than rivalries in college hockey that actually mean something and that fan bases actuall give a damn about (Gophs v. UND, v. Wisky, v. every MN team). Maybe you hang out with the bizzarro world of Gophers hockey fans, and that's fine, but if you took your opinion for reaffirmation (and actual intellgent and moderated discussion) with the actual Gopher fans of this world at GPL, I think you would find that you and your imaginary friends hold a minority view in line with [trying to think of something 'readers' on GH can relate to...] those pining to keep Monson over his eventual replacement.

If you enjoy football and basketball more than hockey, that's fine, just don't make baseless conclusions that prove precisely how little you know about the sport at the U. As true Gophers, we all support all of the institution's athletic endeavors and, ultimately, it's not a contest betwixt programs. However, people like you that go off half-cocked without a shred of proof or support for your claims are only harming things. The WCHA is as great to college hockey as the Big Televen is to college football. Leave it alone and encourage the administators to do the same -- for the good of the U.

See you at GPL for further discussion where your BS won't pass the sniff test.

 

[trixR4kids]

why wouldn't i be telling the truth. that comment doesn't make any sense. it is my opinion. can't of hard to not "tell the truth" when it comes to one's personal opinion.

A lot of people make up their credentials on the internet. You wouldn't be the first nor the last.

and here is where you and a guy who calls himself "pucker?!?!?" are in the minority son.....there are far more gopher football and basketball fans out there than there are gopher hockey fans. don't get me wrong there are a lot of gopher hockey fans, but no where near as many as there are for true national sports like football and basketball. you assume a lot when you think that everyone in minnesota by default just plain loves hockey. minnesota (when you look at the WHOLE state from north to south) is a football state first, basketball second and hockey thrid. and yes, i am telling the truth here!

Hammy made a good point about this and I don't need to repeat it. What I mostly got out of these statements is that there are a lot of fans who like basketball and football who like the big ten. Therefore it should carry over to hockey. This logic really doesn't follow though for the many reasons stated before ie: the vast majority of the people who actually follow college hockey want to keep the WCHA intact. That is just one of the many arguments and you have yet to really counter said arguments. There is no reason to start a big ten conference for hockey considering that you'd alienate the true college hockey fans who are later going to pass this tradition on to others who may not be into the sport as well as their sons and daughters. It is obvious that many others feel the same way which is why the WCHA isn't going anywhere and doing so would be suicide for such a great sport.

minnesota (when you look at the WHOLE state from north to south) is a football state first, basketball second and hockey thrid. and yes, i am telling the truth here!

Jesus Christ this man is serious...

 

[g_manpucker]

minnesota (when you look at the WHOLE state from north to south) is a football state first, basketball second and hockey thrid. and yes, i am telling the truth here!

That's why I see all sorts of football tournaments around the state in the fall like pond hockey tournaments in the winter. And it's amazing how many football facilities dedicated to football there are around the state with youth and adult leagues having 2 to 3 seasons of play!

That statement is like saying that Carp is the official gamefish of Minnesota!! Growing up in Iowa I associated two things with Minnesota...Hockey and Walleye. I believe that most people in the state of Minnesota have those things on their minds too.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

That's why I see all sorts of football tournaments around the state in the fall like pond hockey tournaments in the winter. And it's amazing how many football facilities dedicated to football there are around the state with youth and adult leagues having 2 to 3 seasons of play!

That statement is like saying that Carp is the official gamefish of Minnesota!! Growing up in Iowa I associated two things with Minnesota...Hockey and Walleye. I believe that most people in the state of Minnesota have those things on their minds too.

you don't see football tournaments all around the state in the fall because that is not how the sport of football is structured here or anywhere else for that matter. you don't play in "tournaments" for football like you do in sports like hockey and basketball. don't be so clueless next time.

second, considering you grew up in iowa and not minnesota i don't really feel there is much need to put a lot of confidence in what you "believe" most minnesotans have on their mind in regards to their sports preferences. hockey is a very niche sport (even in mn) that only a select group of people of a certain income level seem to be able to play at a very high-level all the way through traveling youth hockey, high school and even college (and this is coming from a person who actually played high-level hockey. sounds like you did not). where as football and basketball can be played by just about anyone of any income level. that is why football and basketball are more popular and are played by more people across the entire state of mn than hockey. this is especially true south of the twin cities. and i suspect that there are a lot more people from minneapolis on south than there are people who live north of minneapolis where hockey seems to be much more popular.

 

[trixR4kids]

Even if basketball and football are more popular at the non-professional level in this state (which is questionable at best) it isn't really a reason to split up the WCHA and form a big ten conference, which is what we were originally arguing.

 

[GophBen]

3 first time posters in 1 thread? Seen it before. Not worth any more of my time.

Why? Word of the stupidity of some of the people in this thread reached GPL. They're trying to offer some semblance of common sense to balance things out.

 

[psych]

I realize this thread is a month old, but some of the stuff written in here about Gopher hockey makes me laugh. For people ripping on Alabama-Huntsville, you do realize that they have a fairly rich hockey tradition, right?
Bronco Nagurski (if you even read this thread anymore), I find it very hard to believe (as other true Gopher hockey fans on here) that you actually are who you say you are. Any sensible self-respecting college hockey fan realizes the WCHA is a fantastic conference that features some awesome in-state rivalries as well as bad blood rivalries like UND vs. UMN that aren't seen in other sports. To say watching Ohio State vs. the Gophs is more interesting than UND vs. UMN is asinine at best. In fact, some of us Gopher fans hate UND more than Becky.
Anyways, to clarify another couple incorrect comments on the thread: 1. There is no Division 2 hockey, so the University of St. Thomas is a D3 school, not Division 2. Secondly, UND is D1 in all sports. That's right: every sport.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

I realize this thread is a month old, but some of the stuff written in here about Gopher hockey makes me laugh. For people ripping on Alabama-Huntsville, you do realize that they have a fairly rich hockey tradition, right?
Bronco Nagurski (if you even read this thread anymore), I find it very hard to believe (as other true Gopher hockey fans on here) that you actually are who you say you are. Any sensible self-respecting college hockey fan realizes the WCHA is a fantastic conference that features some awesome in-state rivalries as well as bad blood rivalries like UND vs. UMN that aren't seen in other sports. To say watching Ohio State vs. the Gophs is more interesting than UND vs. UMN is asinine at best. In fact, some of us Gopher fans hate UND more than Becky.
Anyways, to clarify another couple incorrect comments on the thread: 1. There is no Division 2 hockey, so the University of St. Thomas is a D3 school, not Division 2. Secondly, UND is D1 in all sports. That's right: every sport.

1.) ahh i see we have attracted a UND fighting bison fan to the board. congrats and welcome!

2.) go ahead and find it hard to believe (doesn't mean anything to me) that i am who i say i am in regards to playing hockey. i can back up everything i said about the fact that i grew up playing high-level hockey in minnesota. second, just about everything i said in regards to the direction of hockey in minnesota is true. finally, the only people who deep down really seem to love playing the UND fighting bison in any sport (hockey or otherwise) are generally (not always, but generally) people who are orginally from the western or northwestern parts of mn. small part of the state population. i would venture a majority of people in the minneapolis/st. paul area (where most of the state lives) who are more familiar with big ten teams would rather see us play conference hockey against our fellow big ten brethren (michigan, michigan state, ohio state, penn state, illinois) and possibly notre dame as well.

i venture that i am going to make you even more annoyed with this response, so have at it.

 

[psych]

1.) ahh i see we have attracted a UND fighting bison fan to the board. congrats and welcome!

2.) go ahead and find it hard to believe (doesn't mean anything to me) that i am who i say i am in regards to playing hockey. i can back up everything i said about the fact that i grew up playing high-level hockey in minnesota. second, just about everything i said in regards to the direction of hockey in minnesota is true. finally, the only people who deep down really seem to love playing the UND fighting bison in any sport (hockey or otherwise) are generally (not always, but generally) people who are orginally from the western or northwestern parts of mn. small part of the state population. i would venture a majority of people in the minneapolis/st. paul area (where most of the state lives) who are more familiar with big ten teams would rather see us play conference hockey against our fellow big ten brethren (michigan, michigan state, ohio state, penn state, illinois) and possibly notre dame as well.

i venture that i am going to make you even more annoyed with this response, so have at it.

No, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. But any true college hockey fan knows UND is a much bigger power than Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Michigan State (even combined). Only Michigan rivals UND in terms of tradition in college hockey. Arguing that the U playing Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan State, or Michigan is more intriguing than the U playing UND is, as I said before in my opinion, asinine. You of all people (if you are who you say you are) should realize the rich and storied tradition of the two schools, and the pure hatred each has for the other. The U doesn't have nearly as good of a rivalry against Wisconsin as they do against UND.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

No, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. But any true college hockey fan knows UND is a much bigger power than Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Michigan State (even combined). Only Michigan rivals UND in terms of tradition in college hockey. Arguing that the U playing Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan State, or Michigan is more intriguing than the U playing UND is, as I said before in my opinion, asinine. You of all people (if you are who you say you are) should realize the rich and storied tradition of the two schools, and the pure hatred each has for the other. The U doesn't have nearly as good of a rivalry against Wisconsin as they do against UND.

many U of M hockey fans would disagree in respect to our hockey rivalry with wisconsin not being bigger (as you said) than our hockey rivalry with und. i think und fans like to view it that way for some reason, but most u of m fans would disagree. we have been playing wisconsin in sports since the 1800's. not the case with und. the rivalry with wisconsin is much stronger in ALL sports.

 

[MrGopher]

I myself, and several people I know (all season ticket holders), definitely hate UND hockey more than wisconsin hockey.

We hate wisconsin just by default.... we have to hate them in everything they do. But the history of the rivalry of our hockey team and UND hockey certainly trumps that.

 

[psych]

I myself, and several people I know (all season ticket holders), definitely hate UND hockey more than wisconsin hockey.

We hate wisconsin just by default.... we have to hate them in everything they do. But the history of the rivalry of our hockey team and UND hockey certainly trumps that.

Exactly, thank you MrGopher. Bronko, you're definitely wrong about the Badgers being a bigger rivalry in hockey than the Sioux. The Gophers have something like a 2 to 1 advantage in the series against the Badgers (150-80-18) or something around there, whilst the series against the Sioux is 130-124-12.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

Exactly, thank you MrGopher. Bronko, you're definitely wrong about the Badgers being a bigger rivalry in hockey than the Sioux. The Gophers have something like a 2 to 1 advantage in the series against the Badgers (150-80-18) or something around there, whilst the series against the Sioux is 130-124-12.

i don't listen to anyone who uses the word "whilst"! where do you think we are? london?!

p.s. you and mr. gopher are both wrong! gophers & badgers any day over gophers & und fighting bison.

p.s.s when are you going to admit you are really a und fighting bison fan who accidentally wandered onto this gopher board? i'm waiting!

 

[psych]

i don't listen to anyone who uses the word "whilst"! where do you think we are? london?!

p.s. you and mr. gopher are both wrong! gophers & badgers any day over gophers & und fighting bison.

p.s.s when are you going to admit you are really a und fighting bison fan who accidentally wandered onto this gopher board? i'm waiting!

Your post had some real substance. Like I said, we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

Your post had some real substance. Like I said, we'll have to agree to disagree.

too funny! man, in case you couldn't tell i really don't give a rip about this conversation. i am just playing with you a little bit.

apparently sarcasm flies right over your head. but, then again you are from north dakota/root for north dakota, so i am not surprised.

 

[XMan]

Love that the two teams are coming in

I am very excited for the addition of the two teams to the WCHA. Bemidgi is a great program (contrary to ditt1605's post....they are not a bad team).

Final Four or not last year, they are a quality program and belong in the WCHA.

Also, I disagree with a Big Ten Hockey conference. The biggest rivalry in college hockey is Minnesota vs. UND.

 

[RodentRampage]

Bemidji State moved up to D-I because the D-II championship was eliminated because there were too few teams playing D-II hockey. Moving to D-III wasn't an option, as all of BSU's teams would have to move to D-III, and BSU would have to leave the NSIC and join a new conference. That left moving to D-I or dropping hockey. Bemidji State was a stroing hockey tradition, and they were no more willing to give up hockey than they were to give up their right arms.

Perhaps D-I schools ought to add hockey, but we can't exactly make them do it.