What's up with the empty seats?

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MennoSota

MennoSota

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I watched OSU last week on BTN and Mich St tonight. Both Mariucci and Munn Arena have a lot of empty seats.
I haven't kept up with MN hockey for a few years, it looks like it hasn't just been me. What's the deal?
 

college hockey is dying a slow death.
 


GophersInIowa said:
Big Ten hockey sucks. Way to go Barry.
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Right now in the top 16 Pairwise there are:

3 B1G (PSU, OSU, Gophers) 50% of the league
4 NCHA (UMD, Denver UND, WMU) 50%
5 HEA (Lowell, UVT, BU, BC, Notre Dame) 42%
4 ECAC (Harvard, Union, St. Lawrence, Cornell) 33%

The 3 biggest non-Minnesota names in the B1G are not playing well. OSU & PSU are scoring up a storm right now. I would say the B1G might be the most entertaining league right now.
 




People like rivalries. It's going to take a long, long time for people to get up for PSU, OSU, MSU...

I'm a season ticket holder, and the atmosphere is pretty weak for Big Ten games. Hence the open seats. Those two teams haven't played great schedules, either.
 

Nobody gives a sh*t about Ohio State. Or Penn State. Or Michigan State. Or whoever has been kicking our tails in at the Mariucci Classic. People wanna see No. Dak., UMD, St. Cloud, Denver, and so on. WI and Mich are the only two Big Ten teams I might tune in to watch. Even then, I can barely handle Ben Clymer.
 

bonin21 said:
People like rivalries. It's going to take a long, long time for people to get up for PSU, OSU, MSU...

I'm a season ticket holder, and the atmosphere is pretty weak for Big Ten games. Hence the open seats. Those two teams haven't played great schedules, either.
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Penn St. must have played an OK schedule. They are #2 in the Pairwise, behind only UMD.
 





MennoSota said:
I watched OSU last week on BTN and Mich St tonight. Both Mariucci and Munn Arena have a lot of empty seats.
I haven't kept up with MN hockey for a few years, it looks like it hasn't just been me. What's the deal?
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Combo of the new priority seating system and gutting the WCHA for an inferior product. The Big Ten and WCHA are sold bad now they are playing their post season tourneys on the home team's campus
 




Ignatius L Hoops said:
I do.
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Well, that's good. However, literally no one I know has ever been excited to go see any of those three teams, either live or on television. By the looks of the empty seats, most folks feel the same way. It's sad because the Gophers have been pretty good and, regardless of the quality of the league, 5 straight conference titles is impressive. It seems like more than a coincidence that the quiet arena became common after the arrival of Big Ten hockey.
 

Seeing the empty seats is disheartening. Losing the traditional rivals would be my guess as the #1 reason
 

Everything everyone has stated so far is on point, but the fact also remains the team isn't very good. Add it all up and the whole lure of Gopher hockey simply isn't there.
 

I say you have to stick with Big Ten Hockey. With the network the money is too good. In the long run college hockey is better off nationally and internationally when you have the Gophers playing fellow big ten teams. I went to a good number of CCHA games back before big ten hockey and I have to say games with Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Notre Dame when they were in the CCHA meant more to most fans than games against Ferris State, Bowling Green, UM-Dearborn when they had a team, and Northern Michigan when they were in the CCHA.
 

metrolax said:
Seeing the empty seats is disheartening. Losing the traditional rivals would be my guess as the #1 reason
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Wisconsin has always been a traditional rival. Michigan was a traditional rival before UND, UMD, St Cloud and Denver ever were. Rivalries take time. With Penn State being very good now, a rivalry with them will pick up. Same with Ohio State. 15 years ago, Denver and CC games were always big games. None of their alumni are here, and they aren't a geographical rivalry. It is all about being competitive and letting the rivalries develop naturally.
 

If anybody is still wondering why nobody but diehards goes to watch this bunch play, take a look at tonight's game with UMD. This is the new norm for Gopher hockey. Clueless for large portions of an important game, fall behind in typical fashion, and then sort of fight back before finally losing. Then have Lucia explain how they tried really really hard, but the other team just made a few more plays and so on. Rinse, repeat.

The slogan for Gopher hockey really should be changed from Pride on Ice to Embracing Mediocrity.
 

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