ECAC Finals Weekend not on TV

[jtn27]

there are so many good arenas in the northeast, from Hartford to Bridgeport to Syracuse to Atlantic city, and they are all good, and more or less centrally located. Only Atlantic City truly offers a destination and attractions, even if its not so family friendly. which is a problem, i think.

If your two criteria for how to select an arena for the tournament are:
1) It's centrally located - I would amend this to include that it's near a large alumni base.
2) The city it's located in has family friendly destinations and attractions
Then I think there's only one arena that fits the bill: Madison Square Garden. However,  I think we can all agree that's unrealistic (and debatably even a bad thing because it won't even be close to selling out). Since that's the case, the league is stuck in the unenviable position of needing to pick the rink which is the least reprehensible.

I know this is probably an unpopular opinion here (and I was unable to attend AC last year, so maybe I'll change my opinion in a week), but I think Atlantic City is probably the best option. The league chose to eschew the game being centrally located (meaning in upstate NY or New England) in favor of being within driving distance of the large alumni bases in New York and Philadelphia (I know Cornell has a lot of alums in these 2 cities, and, while I don't know for sure, I think it's safe to assume that the other Ivies do too. I don't know about the other smaller schools in the ECAC though). And being unable to find any feasible rink in a city with family friendly attractions, it settled for just having attractions, instead of nothing at all.

[css228]

there are so many good arenas in the northeast, from Hartford to Bridgeport to Syracuse to Atlantic city, and they are all good, and more or less centrally located. Only Atlantic City truly offers a destination and attractions, even if its not so family friendly. which is a problem, i think.

If your two criteria for how to select an arena for the tournament are 1) It's centrally located - I would amend this to include that it's near a large alumni base - and 2) The city it's located in has family friendly destinations and attractions, I think there's only one arena that fits the bill: Madison Square Garden. However,  I think we can all agree that's unrealistic and debatably even a bad thing because it won't even be close to selling out. Since that's the case, the league is stuck in the unenviable position of needing to pick the rink which is the least reprehensible. I know this is probably an unpopular opinion here (and I was unable to attend AC last year, so maybe I'll change my opinion in a week), but I think Atlantic City is probably the best option. The league chose to eschew the game being centrally located (meaning in upstate NY or New England) in favor of being within driving distance of the large alumni bases in New York and Philadelphia. And being unable to find any feasible rink in a city with family friendly attractions, it settled for just having attractions, instead of nothing at all.

Eh, our alumni base in Philly isn't as big as you'd think. Also Boardwalk Hall isn't really a rink, at least not a hockey specific one. They did host this year's AHL all star game, but its more often used for concerts, and sporting events like boxing and basketball, not to forget, the Miss America Pageant. There have been hockey tenants (I think an ECHL team was there for four years) but its definitely not a hockey oriented facility, as evidenced by the terrible ice conditions last year. Let's put it this way though, Its really too bad the Spectrum was torn down, I mean they were using it for nothing in particular (other than the Phantoms), but it really would have been the perfect scenario for this, City people actually want to go to, Real rink. Thinking about Philly and throwing out crazy ideas, I wonder if an ice rink could be put in the Palestra or the Liacorous Center if you aren't going to use a hockey oriented building anyway. If Penn's Class of 23 Arena were twice the size, I'd advocate that for sure.

[billhoward]

It's totally fair to blame the league office, because they've created an unmarketable tournament ...

Maybe the ECAC office dropped the ball but look what it has to sell: ECAC hockey. The caliber of the league might be the culprit. We have not been a strong league at the national championship level for almost a generation. RPI and Harvard (shame) won the NCAAs in 1985 and 1989, Colgate made the title game in 1990. Since then, four trips to the Frozen Four, the most recent in 2003 (Cornell). For Hockey East, 2003-2011, 10 trips. TV sees the ECAC tournament crowning another one-and-done NCAA qualifier, so why bother. Swamp drag racing may be a better draw.

Fan interest in the ECAC playoffs doesn't suggest a lot of support for ECAC hockey either. What will the ECAC title game draw (actual attendees sitting in seats during the title game): 5,000? 3,000? By the way, the box score attendence figures for the three Yale-at-Harvard quarterfinal games: 1551, 1853, 801.

If anybody's going to fix the ECAC's lack of successful NCAA hockey, it feels as if half of the responsibility falls to Cornell and the other half falls to the other 11 teams. Yale or Union could have done something the previous two years and ... nada. Up to us. Too bad no Brian Ferlin.

[billhoward]

The ECAC may be damaged goods. Albany is where the ECAC belongs after 2013. For a lot of fans, Albany can be a day trip Friday for Boston and NYC region fans and if your team wins, you day trip back Saturday also. Or finally show up on Saturday as Yale fans do.

Lake Placid works if you can convince fans it's a fun vacation weekend. Bridgeport could be possible, much as I dislike the thought. Is Prudential Center in Newark a possibility sometime in the future, lower bowl only with curtains over the top half?

If the league is looking for a revenue guarantee from the arena, maybe the league has to (with what money?) rent the auditorium and hope attendance covers costs. I'm curious to see if Atlantic City offers the ECAC an inducement to leave a year early. If nothing else is knocking on AC's door for mid-March 2013 and even the small turnout covers costs, then there's little reason for AC to end it a year early.

[bnr24]

there are so many good arenas in the northeast, from Hartford to Bridgeport to Syracuse to Atlantic city, and they are all good, and more or less centrally located. Only Atlantic City truly offers a destination and attractions, even if its not so family friendly. which is a problem, i think.

If your two criteria for how to select an arena for the tournament are 1) It's centrally located - I would amend this to include that it's near a large alumni base - and 2) The city it's located in has family friendly destinations and attractions, I think there's only one arena that fits the bill: Madison Square Garden. However,  I think we can all agree that's unrealistic and debatably even a bad thing because it won't even be close to selling out. Since that's the case, the league is stuck in the unenviable position of needing to pick the rink which is the least reprehensible. I know this is probably an unpopular opinion here (and I was unable to attend AC last year, so maybe I'll change my opinion in a week), but I think Atlantic City is probably the best option. The league chose to eschew the game being centrally located (meaning in upstate NY or New England) in favor of being within driving distance of the large alumni bases in New York and Philadelphia. And being unable to find any feasible rink in a city with family friendly attractions, it settled for just having attractions, instead of nothing at all.

Eh, our alumni base in Philly isn't as big as you'd think. Also Boardwalk Hall isn't really a rink, at least not a hockey specific one. They did host this year's AHL all star game, but its more often used for concerts, and sporting events like boxing and basketball, not to forget, the Miss America Pageant. There have been hockey tenants (I think an ECHL team was there for four years) but its definitely not a hockey oriented facility, as evidenced by the terrible ice conditions last year. Let's put it this way though, Its really too bad the Spectrum was torn down, I mean they were using it for nothing in particular (other than the Phantoms), but it really would have been the perfect scenario for this, City people actually want to go to, Real rink. Thinking about Philly and throwing out crazy ideas, I wonder if an ice rink could be put in the Palestra or the Liacorous Center if you aren't going to use a hockey oriented building anyway. If Penn's Class of 23 Arena were twice the size, I'd advocate that for sure.

I'll reserve my judgment about Boardwalk Hall as a rink until this weekend, but I agree with a lot of this. While I agree that Philly isn't quite as big on Cornellians as one would think, there are a lot more than meet the eye, especially when you look at Cornellians within graduate programs in Philly (I know 12 from my year alone at Penn, Jefferson, and Drexel for PhD/MPH/MD programs).

The Spectrum would've been wonderful if the Phantoms hadn't moved to the Adirondacks and they lost all financially feasible use for it, but I think there's a lot to be said about Penn's Class of 1923 rink.  Not big enough for the tournament alas, but a really nice barn nonetheless.  Though one has to wonder why Drexel doesn't just buy it from Penn when they use it for hockey more than Penn does.

But I digress.

Basically, I think AC is way too south for a tournament to be financially (and environmentally) feasible, especially given the fact that keeping the ice cold in March down here is sadly actually a problem. Especially as it's going to be in the high 60/70s most of the week and weekend.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

Allentown gets our new rink in a couple years.  We're reasonably located close to New York and Philly.  The ECAC can hold it here.

Ducks for cover. ::bolt::

[Aaron M. Griffin]

there are so many good arenas in the northeast, from Hartford to Bridgeport to Syracuse to Atlantic city, and they are all good, and more or less centrally located. Only Atlantic City truly offers a destination and attractions, even if its not so family friendly. which is a problem, i think.

If your two criteria for how to select an arena for the tournament are 1) It's centrally located - I would amend this to include that it's near a large alumni base - and 2) The city it's located in has family friendly destinations and attractions, I think there's only one arena that fits the bill: Madison Square Garden. However,  I think we can all agree that's unrealistic and debatably even a bad thing because it won't even be close to selling out. Since that's the case, the league is stuck in the unenviable position of needing to pick the rink which is the least reprehensible. I know this is probably an unpopular opinion here (and I was unable to attend AC last year, so maybe I'll change my opinion in a week), but I think Atlantic City is probably the best option. The league chose to eschew the game being centrally located (meaning in upstate NY or New England) in favor of being within driving distance of the large alumni bases in New York and Philadelphia. And being unable to find any feasible rink in a city with family friendly attractions, it settled for just having attractions, instead of nothing at all.

Eh, our alumni base in Philly isn't as big as you'd think. Also Boardwalk Hall isn't really a rink, at least not a hockey specific one. They did host this year's AHL all star game, but its more often used for concerts, and sporting events like boxing and basketball, not to forget, the Miss America Pageant. There have been hockey tenants (I think an ECHL team was there for four years) but its definitely not a hockey oriented facility, as evidenced by the terrible ice conditions last year. Let's put it this way though, Its really too bad the Spectrum was torn down, I mean they were using it for nothing in particular (other than the Phantoms), but it really would have been the perfect scenario for this, City people actually want to go to, Real rink. Thinking about Philly and throwing out crazy ideas, I wonder if an ice rink could be put in the Palestra or the Liacorous Center if you aren't going to use a hockey oriented building anyway. If Penn's Class of 23 Arena were twice the size, I'd advocate that for sure.

I'll reserve my judgment about Boardwalk Hall as a rink until this weekend, but I agree with a lot of this. While I agree that Philly isn't quite as big on Cornellians as one would think, there are a lot more than meet the eye, especially when you look at Cornellians within graduate programs in Philly (I know 12 from my year alone at Penn, Jefferson, and Drexel for PhD/MPH/MD programs).

The issue is not a critical mass of alumni. I am certain that almost any major city in the United States could make the case that it has the essential critical mass of Cornellians, lest we forget that there are eleven other schools in the ECAC which it appears as though many of us have done too readily on here, and alumni from other Ivies. The crucial issue is an effective mass of alumni within the city from the given institutions who will take the time to attend a hockey tournament in the host city. I am not sure if Philadelphia-based Cornellians have such dedication to take the time out of their schedule or classes, if they are currently graduate students, to attend an ECAC Championships. I know that there are at least a couple of Faithful on here from the Philadelphia area, but I know far more Cornellians in the Philadelphia area who would be no more inclined to attend the ECAC Championships were it held in Philadelphia than were it held in Atlantic City.

I would counter that New York City-based Cornellians have proven that they share the interest in the sport and will take the time to attend Cornell hockey events within the City. Additionally, New York City has the benefits of being an attraction that offers family-friendly entertainment and draws in students, fans, and alumni from the surrounding regions readily. It is reasonably accessible from the Capital Region, New Haven, Cambridge, and Princeton. I believe that for the ECAC Championships to be successful the host city needs to be a backdrop that attracts the needed audience. I am not alone in feeling this way. I read a post recently that put forth the argument that the ECAC Championships should be held in New York City.

What other city/site could possibly be easily accessible for teams and fans, have many attractions & accommodations outside the arena, actually have a facility that can host a hockey game, and lastly have a love for the game of hockey...'these streets will make you feel brand new, the lights will inspire you, lets here it for New York, New York, New York...' as Alicia Keys poetically sings...So who and what kind of people become the lawyers, doctors, financial gurus and live in NYC? Bingo! The ones that attended the prestigious Ivy League college and universities that make-up the ECAC Hockey Conference. What better event than hockey to get together and root for your alma mater while grabbing a few 8oz. beers at $10.00 a pop. This gives ECAC Hockey its instant big time identity above and beyond those other so-called super conferences.

Now, I think that The Garden might be out of the Conference's price range or unreasonable for other reasons for the ECAC to start with that location in the City. I think that the idea to host the ECAC Championships in New York City is an intriguing idea nonetheless. The Barclays Center in Brooklyn will open in September. It is smaller than The Garden (14,500 vs. 18,200) and it would be likely far cheaper than hosting an event in Manhattan at The Garden. The Barclays Center will be looking for new tenants, why should the ECAC Championships not be on that list? That is the avenue that I would like explored. It would allow the ECAC to tout and market the ECAC Championships as being in New York City without all the costs of hosting the event at The Garden.

[Jordan 04]

Silver lining: no TV timeouts.

[Trotsky]

Now, I think that The Garden might be out of the Conference's price range or unreasonable for other reasons for the ECAC to start with that location in the City. I think that the idea to host the ECAC Championships in New York City is an intriguing idea nonetheless. The Barclays Center in Brooklyn will open in September. It is smaller than The Garden (14,500 vs. 18,200) and it would be likely far cheaper than hosting an event in Manhattan at The Garden. The Barclays Center will be looking for new tenants, why should the ECAC Championships not be on that list? That is the avenue that I would like explored. It would allow the ECAC to tout and market the ECAC Championships as being in New York City without all the costs of hosting the event at The Garden.

This would also make the ECAC the officially-recognized hipster-poser conference.

[jtn27]

Now, I think that The Garden might be out of the Conference's price range or unreasonable for other reasons for the ECAC to start with that location in the City. I think that the idea to host the ECAC Championships in New York City is an intriguing idea nonetheless. The Barclays Center in Brooklyn will open in September. It is smaller than The Garden (14,500 vs. 18,200) and it would be likely far cheaper than hosting an event in Manhattan at The Garden. The Barclays Center will be looking for new tenants, why should the ECAC Championships not be on that list? That is the avenue that I would like explored. It would allow the ECAC to tout and market the ECAC Championships as being in New York City without all the costs of hosting the event at The Garden.

As I wrote earlier, I think the Garden would be the best location, but it isn't feasible. While the Barclays would probably be better than a lot of the alternatives, I'm not so sure that's the way to go. For one thing, it's still an NBA arena, so there could be scheduling conflicts and/or they might think they can attract higher level events, such as big concert tours, for that weekend. Second, no offense to those of you that live there, but Brooklyn just doesn't have the same draw as Manhattan. It doesn't have the same level of tourist attractions/night life to go to before/after the game, and it's harder to get to. I live in Nassau County on Long Island and despite Brooklyn being geographically closer to where I live than Manhattan, it's harder to get to (2 trains versus 1) and it would definitely be harder to get to for anyone in NJ/NE/Manhattan/Upstate NY. That being said, the league should at the very least talk to the Barclays Center about the possibility.

Are there any other smaller arenas in NYC other than MSG and the Barclays (and if you want to include it Nassau Coliseum)?

[Rosey]

Now, I think that The Garden might be out of the Conference's price range or unreasonable for other reasons for the ECAC to start with that location in the City. I think that the idea to host the ECAC Championships in New York City is an intriguing idea nonetheless. The Barclays Center in Brooklyn will open in September. It is smaller than The Garden (14,500 vs. 18,200) and it would be likely far cheaper than hosting an event in Manhattan at The Garden. The Barclays Center will be looking for new tenants, why should the ECAC Championships not be on that list? That is the avenue that I would like explored. It would allow the ECAC to tout and market the ECAC Championships as being in New York City without all the costs of hosting the event at The Garden.

The core question involved in this decision is draw: is NYC, expensive as it is, enough of a draw by itself to put way more asses in seats than the ECAC currently draws to less expensive venues? Or is Albany, depressing as it is, cheap enough to get people to show up for two nights and put up with Albany during the non-game hours? NYC would be acceptable to me, and it might change fans' responses from, "Ah, what the hell; I'm not doing anything that weekend" to "I'm really looking forward to next weekend!" OTOH, the league could try to demonstrate that they give a shit and organize a bunch of stuff for people to do on Saturday so as to make it a family-friendly weekend destination: there's a lot the league could do to make an Albany tournament more appealing, but it probably involves organization and, you know, some actual legwork to implement.

I don't feel *any* of the love (well, AD-calculator-by-proxy) several of you are expressing for Atlantic City: it's nearly as far from NYC to AC as it is from NYC to Albany and way farther from most of the schools whose fans don't travel well, it's not particularly family friendly (or in fact non-criminal friendly), it's expensive to stay there, and the venue is at least as much of a dump as the Albany name-of-the-week rink.

[adamw]

css228 ... not trying to be disrespectful either, but you're obviously young, still in school, and haven't seen it all like us old people. Note I said you were "being clueless" - not that you "are clueless"

Before I get to individual points, generally, I believe your whole premise is flawed -- that no one tried, no one got creative, etc...  How do you know?  I can assure you that every possibility was explored. Just because it didn't happen, doesn't mean the things you suggest weren't thought of.

You mentioned that the coaches feel things were wrong with the league, and they would know better than us.  Well, first off, there are 2 things here -- venue of the championship, and television. And the coaches were only commenting about the TV part.  They can't be complaining about the Atlantic City part, because most of them approved, including Cornell.

As for TV - I love all the coaches involved, and certainly mean no disrespect towards them either - but I think their complaints are unfair. But really, only Mike Schafer's comment was particularly critical. Rick Bennett's comment was not being snarky, it was merely deflecting the question because he didn't want to talk about it. Ted Donato's comment was completely benign. Don Vaughan said it was disappointing and "hard to believe" - but what is he going to say: "Yes, I believe it, our league is not very good, so of course no one would want us." ... Even Schafer's comment didn't call out the league office in particular, but said it was a "big failure of our league." It would be unfair to suggest Steve Hagwell in particular did nothing creative to try. Can the league as a whole do better?  Sure.  It could pony up all sorts of cash to get something done. I think Coach Scahfer's concern is that, he believed the guarantee money from Atlantic City could help fund a TV production on their own. But the guarantee money went to help solve other shortfalls, with not enough left over.

Like with anything else, these are multi-faceted issues, and far too easy to scapegoat one individual.

Onto your other points:

1) I can't find any information on Atlantic Hockey being televised. I can't find it on their web site. Maybe it's happening, but I can't find it.

2) This is not doable for a variety of reasons. I can assure you it was explored.

3) What makes you think all of your radical ideas weren't either a) thought about/explored or b) any more radical than what was already done. Again, these places have to WANT the ECAC. And of the ones that wanted them, Atlantic City was fairly radical, no? You say, why not give radical ideas a shot. They did. And that's still not good enough.  And they took the cash. But again - that arena decision was not the league office's. It was the decision of the athletic directors/schools. The coaches themselves don't want it in Lake Placid anymore, because of the size of the ice surface. The coaches themselves don't want the tournament to be on campuses.

Believe me, I have seen incompetence and been fairly critical of the ECAC administration in the past, when it was the prior administration. I wrote numerous articles picking them apart, while the coaches cheered me on.  The ECAC made many improvements since then.  Unfortunately, things have become harder and harder to keep up with the joneses in college hockey. It's been a slow, steady decline in overall interest since the split with Hockey East.  Even Cornell's crowds, you could argue, are not as rabid as they used to be.  But there are many factors.

The ECAC is a great league with great coaches, great players, and I fully support and defend its mission as a home for true (or true-er) student-athletes. But the league is stuck between a rock and a hard place so to speak, and people can find scapegoats if they want, but the fundamental issues will not change, no matter who was the commissioner.

Oh - and as for officials ... every coach and every fan in every town in every league that I've ever seen, bitches and moans about officiating until the cows come home. EVERYWHERE. To some extent, this is just run of the mill complaining. In college hockey, it's also a function of these being part-time refs and not as good as, say, NHL refs. Nothing will ever change that.

Bottom line - nobody gave up or got out-maneuvered. Nobody failed to try, or failed to think creatively.  There is nothing wrong with suggesting there is more that can be done, but I am telling you that most have been tried.  Certainly there's always a better job anyone can do, including coaches, media, and anyone else.

And - while I'd agree that I prefer Gary Bettman over Bud Selig - Bettman is also soundly booed in every arena he walks into. I think those people are misguided too.

Sorry for the novel.

[Jordan 04]

Now, I think that The Garden might be out of the Conference's price range or unreasonable for other reasons for the ECAC to start with that location in the City. I think that the idea to host the ECAC Championships in New York City is an intriguing idea nonetheless. The Barclays Center in Brooklyn will open in September. It is smaller than The Garden (14,500 vs. 18,200) and it would be likely far cheaper than hosting an event in Manhattan at The Garden. The Barclays Center will be looking for new tenants, why should the ECAC Championships not be on that list? That is the avenue that I would like explored. It would allow the ECAC to tout and market the ECAC Championships as being in New York City without all the costs of hosting the event at The Garden.

As I wrote earlier, I think the Garden would be the best location, but it isn't feasible. While the Barclays would probably be better than a lot of the alternatives, I'm not so sure that's the way to go. For one thing, it's still an NBA arena, so there could be scheduling conflicts and/or they might think they can attract higher level events, such as big concert tours, for that weekend. Second, no offense to those of you that live there, but Brooklyn just doesn't have the same draw as Manhattan. It doesn't have the same level of tourist attractions/night life to go to before/after the game, and it's harder to get to. I live in Nassau County on Long Island and despite Brooklyn being geographically closer to where I live than Manhattan, it's harder to get to (2 trains versus 1) and it would definitely be harder to get to for anyone in NJ/NE/Manhattan/Upstate NY. That being said, the league should at the very least talk to the Barclays Center about the possibility.

Are there any other smaller arenas in NYC other than MSG and the Barclays (and if you want to include it Nassau Coliseum)?

The question isn't how Barclays compares to MSG. It's how it compares to Albany, Atlantic City, Providence, Bridgeport, Rochester, etc., etc. I think it does quite favorably in those comparisons. (That said, I'm sure the conversation is moot, as it's likely never going there).

[adamw]

The question isn't how Barclays compares to MSG. It's how it compares to Albany, Atlantic City, Providence, Bridgeport, Rochester, etc., etc. I think it does quite favorably in those comparisons. (That said, I'm sure the conversation is moot, as it's likely never going there).

The thing is, no team's fans are travelling anywhere, except Cornell's - unless it's in their backyard.  And local interest is non-existent pretty much everywhere.  Clarkson fans will go as far as Albany.  Quinnipiac - if they ever make it - would bring some.  RPI and Union fans would go to Albany, but probably not anywhere else.  What's left?

[Aaron M. Griffin]

Now, I think that The Garden might be out of the Conference's price range or unreasonable for other reasons for the ECAC to start with that location in the City. I think that the idea to host the ECAC Championships in New York City is an intriguing idea nonetheless. The Barclays Center in Brooklyn will open in September. It is smaller than The Garden (14,500 vs. 18,200) and it would be likely far cheaper than hosting an event in Manhattan at The Garden. The Barclays Center will be looking for new tenants, why should the ECAC Championships not be on that list? That is the avenue that I would like explored. It would allow the ECAC to tout and market the ECAC Championships as being in New York City without all the costs of hosting the event at The Garden.

As I wrote earlier, I think the Garden would be the best location, but it isn't feasible. While the Barclays would probably be better than a lot of the alternatives, I'm not so sure that's the way to go. For one thing, it's still an NBA arena, so there could be scheduling conflicts and/or they might think they can attract higher level events, such as big concert tours, for that weekend. Second, no offense to those of you that live there, but Brooklyn just doesn't have the same draw as Manhattan. It doesn't have the same level of tourist attractions/night life to go to before/after the game, and it's harder to get to. I live in Nassau County on Long Island and despite Brooklyn being geographically closer to where I live than Manhattan, it's harder to get to (2 trains versus 1) and it would definitely be harder to get to for anyone in NJ/NE/Manhattan/Upstate NY. That being said, the league should at the very least talk to the Barclays Center about the possibility.

Are there any other smaller arenas in NYC other than MSG and the Barclays (and if you want to include it Nassau Coliseum)?

The question isn't how Barclays compares to MSG. It's how it compares to Albany, Atlantic City, Providence, Bridgeport, Rochester, etc., etc. I think it does quite favorably in those comparisons. (That said, I'm sure the conversation is moot, as it's likely never going there).

Were I being selfish, I would support the ECAC Championships moving to Rochester, NY or Buffalo, NY, those are within easy driving distance of my law school and within 1-2 hours of my hometown in Upstate New York. However, I was trying to think of something that would allow the ECAC to rebrand itself and seek to re-establish itself as a brand in college hockey. Admittedly, I know that success on the ice on a national stage will need to correspond with any successful rebranding. That is the catch-22. The ECAC cannot get a new venue or media platform until it is successful, and the ECAC will not be successful until it can get more high quality recruits through increased exposure through better venues and media platforms. Also, Atlantic Hockey has the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY reserved for its championships. I know that most on here will assume that the ECAC, as one of the "Big Four," could push easily Atlantic Hockey out of the venue, but I think one needs to re-examine our condescension toward Atlantic Hockey. The Atlantic Hockey Championships will be televised. Atlantic Hockey has had a team make the Frozen Four within the last two years (RIT in 2010), the ECAC has not.