National Collegiate Hockey Conference

[jtwcornell91]

Last night, RIT beat St. Lawrence 6-5 in OT in front of a homecoming sell-out of almost 11,000 at Blue Cross Arena.

According to the Rochester paper, their next two homecoming opponents will be Penn State in 2012 (good karma to schedule them) and Michigan in 2013 (how much money did it take to make that happen?).

Kudos to a hockey program in our backyard doing good things. Should the ECAC happen to lose RPI or (cough) Quinnipiac, I hope RIT is on the top of the replacement list.

RIT hockey in general and that game in particular is growing in popularity at an amazing rate.  I went to buy tickets at the RIT ticket office on Thursday, and it was already sold out.  Sucks for me, since my house is about 1/2 mile from the Blue Cross Arena, but really impressive for the program.  (Last year was not a sellout, but it was a bigger crowd than the Amerks--the local AHL team--got for their home opener.)

[Trotsky]

Just to be pedantic, that would be Yal-Brn staying the same as well.

Argh.  I always forget whether Princeton's partner is Quinnipiac or Yale.  My subconscious rebellion that Yale and Quinnipiac aren't a partnership.

[marty]

That was a great game last night. Began watching it with 10 minutes left in the 3rd. Hopefully Quinnipiac decides to go (if one of them has to go wouldn't you prefer to keep RPI?) and we can bring RIT into the conference.

Depends how they work out the travel partners. RIT for RPI seems simpler.

I am in favor of keeping either RIP or the Deer-ticks dependent on their worth as legitimate D-1 contenders.  The travel partner thing is nice but should be of secondary import.  Unfortunately, the fine gentlemen in charge of Hokey East are more in charge of who moves where than are those at ECACH-IJK-L-MNOP.

There is no wall (except perhaps one covered in Ivy) holding anyone in our league.

[css228]

That was a great game last night. Began watching it with 10 minutes left in the 3rd. Hopefully Quinnipiac decides to go (if one of them has to go wouldn't you prefer to keep RPI?) and we can bring RIT into the conference.

Depends how they work out the travel partners. RIT for RPI seems simpler.

I am in favor of keeping either RIP or the Deer-ticks dependent on their worth as legitimate D-1 contenders.  The travel partner thing is nice but should be of secondary import.  Unfortunately, the fine gentlemen in charge of Hokey East are more in charge of who moves where than are those at ECACH-IJK-L-MNOP.

There is no wall (except perhaps one covered in Ivy) holding anyone in our league.

Agreed, All I was saying is in terms of ECAC Hockey quality, I think RIT for Qpac is win for the ECAC.

[RichH]

According to the USCHO reporters, both Notre Dame and RPI to Hockey East looking like a real possibility, if not likelihood:  USCHO Hockey East Preview

For that to occur, you'd have to think UCONN has made clear it has no intention of becoming a serious player in college hockey.

If RPI does leave -- and I'd be disappointed if they do -- RIT would seemingly be the obvious replacement.

Not so fast...

UConn To Evaluate Men's Ice Hockey Program

[Chris '03]

According to the USCHO reporters, both Notre Dame and RPI to Hockey East looking like a real possibility, if not likelihood:  USCHO Hockey East Preview

For that to occur, you'd have to think UCONN has made clear it has no intention of becoming a serious player in college hockey.

If RPI does leave -- and I'd be disappointed if they do -- RIT would seemingly be the obvious replacement.

Not so fast...

UConn To Evaluate Men's Ice Hockey Program

Interesting development. Now that they've taken football from annual I-AA showdown with Yale to Fiesta Bowl over the course of a decade, time to turn the investment dollar to another potential revenue sport?

UConn was literally playing outdoors up until the late 90's if I recall correctly and still has a long way to go in terms of facilities and campus/community interest. But if the University finally supports the program like it did with football, the program could be relevant in the not too distant future. As I said further up the thread, institutionally they are absolutely a natural HEA fit.

If you're in the area and hockey starved, the annual UConn tournament is a fun, cheap event and you'll get to see first hand just how far behind UConn is. This year RPI and UMass-Lowell are the non-conference teams joining UConn and Army from AHA. Games are next Thursday/Friday.

[Jim Hyla]

Well, we're not now hearing a lot about RPI, are we? So maybe HE has talked to UConn.

[RichH]

Step 2: Student newspaper writes op-ed which may raise campus awareness of details.

It's basic, but for the random UConn student, informative.

COLUMN: Hockey East or bust

[Trotsky]

Step 2: Student newspaper writes op-ed which may raise campus awareness of details.

It's basic, but for the random UConn student, informative.

COLUMN: Hockey East or bust

Whoever made one sentence paragraphs mandatory in sportswriting should be shot out of a cannon.  It's all shite since Roy Orbison Red Smith died.

[Aaron M. Griffin]

http://www.denverpioneers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18600&ATCLID=205371533

More evidence that CBS Sports and NBC Sports think that there is a market for college hockey? Seems that the ECAC is going to be left out. B1G Hockey will have BTN. NCHC will have CBS Sports. Notre Dame and HEA will have NBC Sports.

[css228]

http://www.denverpioneers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18600&ATCLID=205371533

More evidence that CBS Sports and NBC Sports think that there is a market for college hockey? Seems that the ECAC is going to be left out. B1G Hockey will have BTN. NCHC will have CBS Sports. Notre Dame and HEA will have NBC Sports.

Time Warner Cable Sports anybody?

[Aaron M. Griffin]

http://www.denverpioneers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18600&ATCLID=205371533

More evidence that CBS Sports and NBC Sports think that there is a market for college hockey? Seems that the ECAC is going to be left out. B1G Hockey will have BTN. NCHC will have CBS Sports. Notre Dame and HEA will have NBC Sports.

Time Warner Cable Sports anybody?

I would be fine with that. Their coverage is not bad either. Our options are dwindling. On a self-interested note, Time Warner Cable Sports seems more preoccupied with 'Gate and Union.

[underskill]

http://www.denverpioneers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18600&ATCLID=205371533

More evidence that CBS Sports and NBC Sports think that there is a market for college hockey? Seems that the ECAC is going to be left out. B1G Hockey will have BTN. NCHC will have CBS Sports. Notre Dame and HEA will have NBC Sports.

Except those conferences have Michigan, Notre Dame, UND, etc.  The ECAC has Clarkson and RPI.  There's no sizeable TV markets besides Boston, which is already taken by HEA.

[CowbellGuy]

I would be fine with that. Their coverage is not bad either. Our options are dwindling. On a self-interested note, Time Warner Cable Sports seems more preoccupied with schools that pay them.

FYP

[Rosey]

TV deals do not work on the long tail because broadcasting consumes a lot of limited resources and so relies on large-scale viewership to be profitable. Cornell hockey, and the ECAC in general, are way out on the tail. The only reason why big college football teams, for instance, get TV deals is that there are lots of people who want to watch: their viewers include lots of people who didn't go to said schools, for instance. The same isn't going to be true of ECAC hockey in any likely future.

Please, for the love of whatever god you worship, if you're going to expend any effort on this, stick to what's possible. For the foreseeable future, that is internet streaming.