Harvard 6 Cornell 1 ECAC post-game & site critique

[Josh '99]

Folks on Long Island wouldn't even need a car if they took the ferry over.

Most of them would still need a car to get to the ferry, right?

I do like your baseball stadium fanfest idea; I'd say I share your not-so-fond memories of Dunn Tire Park, but I went from zero to blackout drunk in about 8 seconds after that game ended and don't actually remember it.

[RichH]

Folks on Long Island wouldn't even need a car if they took the ferry over.

The two biggest pluses for Bridgeport are A) an appropriately sized modern arena, and B) transit access.  You have I-95, CT-8 (connects to the Merritt Parkway), MetroNorth, Amtrak, and the LI Ferry all within a couple of blocks of the arena.

The downsides are: A) More complaints about the "dumpiness" of the host city and B) Many more fans just going back to NYC after each game, rather than staying and contributing to the "festival" atmosphere of the tournament.

For people who want to feel better about the region, just go over to the center of Fairfield for your typical Stepford CT experience.

[heykb]

If there is any serious talk of using the baseball stadium to do some sort of fan festival for our hypothetical Bridgeport ECAC tournament, then I would suggest looking at coordinating something with the University of Bridgeport. It's a short walk to campus and an even shorter shuttle bus ride.

If nothing else, I'd coordinate a pregame get-together for elynah folks somewhere on campus.

[Jim Hyla]

I think Bridgeport is worth a try: it's roughly two hours further from Potsdam and Ithaca than Albany, which is unfortunate, but still a hell of a lot closer and cheaper than AC. Just make it one year at first instead of three in case it doesn't work out.

It's not really "a hell of a lot closer" than AC. They're both 5 hours, give or take. Maybe 30 min closer.

[KeithK]

I think Bridgeport is worth a try: it's roughly two hours further from Potsdam and Ithaca than Albany, which is unfortunate, but still a hell of a lot closer and cheaper than AC. Just make it one year at first instead of three in case it doesn't work out.

It's not really "a hell of a lot closer" than AC. They're both 5 hours, give or take. Maybe 30 min closer.

Jim is spot on with the 30 min delta according to Google Maps (4:46 vs. 5:13). That's Ithaca though. It's a bunch worse for pretty much everyone else in the league except for Princeton.

[Roy 82]

Where does the Big Ten go, to Detroit? What about the new "super" conf?

B1G Hockey will play its first tournament in Saint Paul, MN at the Xcel Energy Center. The B1G is looking for a rotation (sound familiar?) of venues to be fair to its geographically disparate teams. The envisioned rotation includes Saint Paul and Detroit. However, the Xcel Energy Center is the only confirmed venue so far.

What dicks.  By going with a rotation, they prevent the WCHA and the NCHA from using either of the two best choices for their tournaments.  I guess maybe the NCHA will go to Denver?

(My apologies if these issues have already been settled and I'm not aware of it.)

Dick.

[Rosey]

I think Bridgeport is worth a try: it's roughly two hours further from Potsdam and Ithaca than Albany, which is unfortunate, but still a hell of a lot closer and cheaper than AC. Just make it one year at first instead of three in case it doesn't work out.

It's not really "a hell of a lot closer" than AC. They're both 5 hours, give or take. Maybe 30 min closer.

Jim is spot on with the 30 min delta according to Google Maps (4:46 vs. 5:13). That's Ithaca though. It's a bunch worse for pretty much everyone else in the league except for Princeton.

Yeah, I was referring to general ECAC proximity, not to Ithaca specifically.

[RichH]

Where does the Big Ten go, to Detroit? What about the new "super" conf?

B1G Hockey will play its first tournament in Saint Paul, MN at the Xcel Energy Center. The B1G is looking for a rotation (sound familiar?) of venues to be fair to its geographically disparate teams. The envisioned rotation includes Saint Paul and Detroit. However, the Xcel Energy Center is the only confirmed venue so far.

What dicks.  By going with a rotation, they prevent the WCHA and the NCHA from using either of the two best choices for their tournaments.  I guess maybe the NCHA will go to Denver?

(My apologies if these issues have already been settled and I'm not aware of it.)

Dick.

Characteristic. ::rolleyes::

[The Rancor]

What they need to do is play in a smaller rink, so that they fill it up and create a championship environment. I'm sure there are plenty of worthy 6-8000 arenas (like Lake Placid or Syracuse) available. 10,000 + is just too big for the league right now.

(edit: Seems like the Proletariat wants Bridgeport. I support that)

[Aaron M. Griffin]

What they need to do is play in a smaller rink, so that they fill it up and create a championship environment. I'm sure there are plenty of worthy 6-8000 arenas (like Lake Placid or Syracuse) available. 10,000 + is just too big for the league right now.

(edit: Seems like the Proletariat wants Bridgeport. I support that)

If a group of current students and alumni of an Ivy League institution constitutes "the proletariat," what has the world come to?

[Rosey]

What they need to do is play in a smaller rink, so that they fill it up and create a championship environment. I'm sure there are plenty of worthy 6-8000 arenas (like Lake Placid or Syracuse) available. 10,000 + is just too big for the league right now.

(edit: Seems like the Proletariat wants Bridgeport. I support that)

If a group of current students and alumni of an Ivy League institution constitutes "the proletariat," what has the world come to?

We are the 98th percentile!

[BMac]

I can't nobody has mentioned this... (it may be because it's stupid, but hey, so is AC):

Montreal.

Ithaca, NY to Lake Placid, NY: 4:49
Ithaca, NY to Montreal, QC: 5:34

Boston, MA to Montreal, QC: 5:28
Boston, MA to Lake Placid, NY: 5:23

providence, RI to Lake Placid, NY: 5:18
Providence, RI to Montreal, QC, Canada: 6:16

New Haven, CT to Lake Placid, NY: 5:05
New Haven, CT to Montreal, QC, Canada: 6:16

Albany, NY to Lake Placid, NY: 2:32
Albany, NY to Montreal, QC, Canada: 3:43


And so on, and so forth.

It's close to the North Country teams. It's just as close to Cornell as Lake Placid. Nobody else goes anyways, and if they did it would be a weekend trip so what's 5 versus 6 hours?

It's a destination, and lord knows they like hockey enough.

[css228]

I can't nobody has mentioned this... (it may be because it's stupid, but hey, so is AC):

Montreal.

Ithaca, NY to Lake Placid, NY: 4:49
Ithaca, NY to Montreal, QC: 5:34

Boston, MA to Montreal, QC: 5:28
Boston, MA to Lake Placid, NY: 5:23

providence, RI to Lake Placid, NY: 5:18
Providence, RI to Montreal, QC, Canada: 6:16

New Haven, CT to Lake Placid, NY: 5:05
New Haven, CT to Montreal, QC, Canada: 6:16

Albany, NY to Lake Placid, NY: 2:32
Albany, NY to Montreal, QC, Canada: 3:43


And so on, and so forth.

It's close to the North Country teams. It's just as close to Cornell as Lake Placid. Nobody else goes anyways, and if they did it would be a weekend trip so what's 5 versus 6 hours?

It's a destination, and lord knows they like hockey enough.

I suggested Canada earlier as a radical solution, but the more I thought about it, the need for passports and that kind of logistics would make the trip kind of hard to plan for.

[billhoward]

I can't nobody has mentioned this... (it may be because it's stupid, but hey, so is AC): Montreal.

There's history, too: Clarkson's founder was a hockey fanatic from Montreal. Played on the St. Lawrence River and got a breakaway.

[Swampy]

What they need to do is play in a smaller rink, so that they fill it up and create a championship environment. I'm sure there are plenty of worthy 6-8000 arenas (like Lake Placid or Syracuse) available. 10,000 + is just too big for the league right now.

(edit: Seems like the Proletariat wants Bridgeport. I support that)

Commie!