Cornell 5 St. Lawrence 1

[Trotsky]

"If you win they will come."

There is a reason RPI's greatest period of fan support was the mid-80s and, for that matter, that ours was the late 60s.

Even otherwise pathetic Harvard had a packed building through the 80s.

[BearLover]

"If you win they will come."

There is a reason RPI's greatest period of fan support was the mid-80s.

This is clearly false at this point. Cornell has been a perennial power and made the NCAA 5 of its last 6 seasons, including two 1-seeds.

[Trotsky]

"If you win they will come."

There is a reason RPI's greatest period of fan support was the mid-80s.

This is clearly false at this point. Cornell has been a perennial power and made the NCAA 5 of its last 6 seasons, including two 1-seeds.

Win more.

When we were at our best we went to Frozen Fours, not Quarterfinals.

[BearLover]

"If you win they will come."

There is a reason RPI's greatest period of fan support was the mid-80s.

This is clearly false at this point. Cornell has been a perennial power and made the NCAA 5 of its last 6 seasons, including two 1-seeds.

Win more.

When we were at our best we went to Frozen Fours, not Quarterfinals.

Lol, come on dude. This point is absurd. There's nobody in the greater Ithaca area whose decision whether to buy tix on a given night has anything to do with whether we finished in the final 8 or the final 4 in the prior year. Cornell has made one frozen four in the past 40 years. Cornell was the #1 team in the country when the 2020 season was canceled. You're picking completely arbitrary cutoff points to determine how good we are, which the casual fan doesn't care about in any event, to support this crazy argument.

[Trotsky]

"If you win they will come."

There is a reason RPI's greatest period of fan support was the mid-80s.

This is clearly false at this point. Cornell has been a perennial power and made the NCAA 5 of its last 6 seasons, including two 1-seeds.

Win more.

When we were at our best we went to Frozen Fours, not Quarterfinals.

Lol, come on dude. This point is absurd. There's nobody in the greater Ithaca area whose decision whether to buy tix on a given night has anything to do with whether we finished in the final 8 or the final 4 in the prior year. Cornell has made one frozen four in the past 40 years. Cornell was the #1 team in the country when the 2020 season was canceled. You're picking completely arbitrary cutoff points to determine how good we are, which the casual fan doesn't care about in any event, to support this crazy argument.

I'm not arguing. I'm saying the more we win the more students will come. If you want to argue the more we win the fewer will come, be my guest.

[BearLover]

"If you win they will come."

There is a reason RPI's greatest period of fan support was the mid-80s.

This is clearly false at this point. Cornell has been a perennial power and made the NCAA 5 of its last 6 seasons, including two 1-seeds.

Win more.

When we were at our best we went to Frozen Fours, not Quarterfinals.

Lol, come on dude. This point is absurd. There's nobody in the greater Ithaca area whose decision whether to buy tix on a given night has anything to do with whether we finished in the final 8 or the final 4 in the prior year. Cornell has made one frozen four in the past 40 years. Cornell was the #1 team in the country when the 2020 season was canceled. You're picking completely arbitrary cutoff points to determine how good we are, which the casual fan doesn't care about in any event, to support this crazy argument.

I'm not arguing. I'm saying the more we win the more students will come. If you want to argue the more we win the fewer will come, be my guest.

I'm arguing that recent success is clearly insufficient to fill Lynah. I'd think this is pretty clear given this year's somewhat lackluster attendance follows an extremely successful period for the program. Those students and townies who really care about team success are already buying tickets. The fan Cornell needs to attract is the marginal fan who has no idea what the PWR or ECAC is. Obviously, I am not arguing that the more we win the fewer will come. Rather, I am arguing that to attract more fans, winning more clearly isn't the answer.

[BearLover]

Here are some actual observations about the game. I missed most of the game so my comments may be off-base; I can really only speak with respect to what I was able to see:
—man, pretty brutal for Jack O'Brien to finally get into the lineup and then on maybe his first shift have the forward score on him. He wasn't out of position but as ViewfromK said, he probably needed to play the StL player more aggressively.
—the Robertson-to-Walsh goal was pretty. Robertson is so good, damn.
—Fegaras seemed to have a good game. He was very involved and had some nice hard shots on net. Then he was rewarded with the goal, though I thought it may have hit a stick shortly after George shot it rather than it going in cleanly via snipe.
—Shane seemed shaky. StL had only 13 SOG, but one got behind Shane which Stanley kept out, and another hit the post.
—that was a dominant game. If you outshoot the opposing team 34-13 you're usually going to win.

[VIEWfromK]

There was a wrestling event and basketball last night but I'm not sure how much either of those took away folks who otherwise would have been at hockey.  Could use the extra support tonight since Clarkson usually travels decent compared to the other schools.  Plus their band is always there.

[upprdeck]

tickets are being sold. people are not coming..  In the old days people came all the time.. Now many townies have tickets but dont come both nights. You cant give them away any more so sold tickets become empty seats more often on the townie side.


I dont think pricing is keeping the students away.

And while many dont care I know covid is still a thing driving some to stay home.

[The Rancor]

"If you win they will come."

There is a reason RPI's greatest period of fan support was the mid-80s.

This is clearly false at this point. Cornell has been a perennial power and made the NCAA 5 of its last 6 seasons, including two 1-seeds.

Win more.

When we were at our best we went to Frozen Fours, not Quarterfinals.

Lol, come on dude. This point is absurd. There's nobody in the greater Ithaca area whose decision whether to buy tix on a given night has anything to do with whether we finished in the final 8 or the final 4 in the prior year. Cornell has made one frozen four in the past 40 years. Cornell was the #1 team in the country when the 2020 season was canceled. You're picking completely arbitrary cutoff points to determine how good we are, which the casual fan doesn't care about in any event, to support this crazy argument.

I'm not arguing. I'm saying the more we win the more students will come. If you want to argue the more we win the fewer will come, be my guest.

I'm arguing that recent success is clearly insufficient to fill Lynah. I'd think this is pretty clear given this year's somewhat lackluster attendance follows an extremely successful period for the program. Those students and townies who really care about team success are already buying tickets. The fan Cornell needs to attract is the marginal fan who has no idea what the PWR or ECAC is. Obviously, I am not arguing that the more we win the fewer will come. Rather, I am arguing that to attract more fans, winning more clearly isn't the answer.

Some hardware and a trip to the Frozen Four would do wonders for lay fan interest and excitement. A pair of Whitelaws back to back and an NCAA finals run would surely do the trick. Us Longtimers know the team has had overall success for decades, but it's that flash that reels in the Facetimers. The 2000's squads, especially around the 2003 team, had insane crowds at Lynah. You're both right here.

[RichH]

tickets are being sold. people are not coming..  In the old days people came all the time.. Now many townies have tickets but dont come both nights. You cant give them away any more so sold tickets become empty seats more often on the townie side, even with very good teams.


I dont think pricing is keeping the students away.

And while many dont care I know covid is still a thing driving some to stay home.

I loathe To say a wirtzian thing, but at this level, I feel that having every game on cheap streaming is going to impact the in-person attendance to some degree. It's just easier to have the game on at home, and reduces the need/desire to get in the bleachers for every game.

I think that's true everywhere. Attendance for live college games are just down.

[BearLover]

"If you win they will come."

There is a reason RPI's greatest period of fan support was the mid-80s.

This is clearly false at this point. Cornell has been a perennial power and made the NCAA 5 of its last 6 seasons, including two 1-seeds.

Win more.

When we were at our best we went to Frozen Fours, not Quarterfinals.

Lol, come on dude. This point is absurd. There's nobody in the greater Ithaca area whose decision whether to buy tix on a given night has anything to do with whether we finished in the final 8 or the final 4 in the prior year. Cornell has made one frozen four in the past 40 years. Cornell was the #1 team in the country when the 2020 season was canceled. You're picking completely arbitrary cutoff points to determine how good we are, which the casual fan doesn't care about in any event, to support this crazy argument.

I'm not arguing. I'm saying the more we win the more students will come. If you want to argue the more we win the fewer will come, be my guest.

I'm arguing that recent success is clearly insufficient to fill Lynah. I'd think this is pretty clear given this year's somewhat lackluster attendance follows an extremely successful period for the program. Those students and townies who really care about team success are already buying tickets. The fan Cornell needs to attract is the marginal fan who has no idea what the PWR or ECAC is. Obviously, I am not arguing that the more we win the fewer will come. Rather, I am arguing that to attract more fans, winning more clearly isn't the answer.

Some hardware and a trip to the Frozen Four would do wonders for lay fan interest and excitement. A pair of Whitelaws back to back and an NCAA finals run would surely do the trick. Us Longtimers know the team has had overall success for decades, but it's that flash that reels in the Facetimers. The 2000's squads, especially around the 2003 team, had insane crowds at Lynah. You're both right here.

I really don't think this is true at all. Like, at all. But there's only one way to prove it...

[Trotsky]

Some hardware and a trip to the Frozen Four would do wonders for lay fan interest and excitement. A pair of Whitelaws back to back and an NCAA finals run would surely do the trick. Us Longtimers know the team has had overall success for decades, but it's that flash that reels in the Facetimers. The 2000's squads, especially around the 2003 team, had insane crowds at Lynah. You're both right here.

The thing that really fills the student section is when it becomes a social event for the Greek types.  Winning turns on the BIRG tap for the ahem Basic students.

Holding NC$$ games on campus would really fluff that as well.

I'm not worried that the back of the Lynah Faithful has been broken.  Returning to winning so soon after COVID helped a lot, but the sport itself is just intertwined with Cornell culture; it fits.  It's cold and miserable and a rink is actually more cozy than walking around outside in February.  We'll never lose that -- at worst, during down periods it will go dormant.

[CU2007]

I think a lot of it is the improved product on ESPN+ vs the early days of ILDN, which had like one camera and was real glitchy. Also the improved reliability of home WiFi. I've spoken to plenty of people who just stay home and watch on tv. I'd love to know how many people watch each Cornell game on ESPN+ (and where they are geographically) though I doubt that info is available to the public.

[BearLover]

I agree that ESPN+ is part of it. I hope not many from the Ithaca area, and certainly not many students, are watching home game webcasts, but I don't really know.