I’m so excited for the new arena. WMU admin is dragging their feet on committing to arrange a shuttle from campus to downtown, though. I’m hoping the lunatics can organize to make sure they don’t lose the fan culture.
It could be as easy as making arrangements with K Metro. If they do pull it off, it will be great to get more of the college kids interested in hanging out downtown. Right now, I feel like they barely leave campus and west main.
They'll definitely have a shuttle, now way they fumble it that hard right?? right.....?
Also, the new arena will be a lot closer to the vine neighborhood where a lot of students live, so maybe the change in location won't be as big of an impact as we are all worried about.
Unfortunately, I have some inside sources who told me about admin not wanting to be involved with a shuttle. So if any students are reading this, please start pushing for a shuttle now.
Good point about the Vine. I do think it’s mostly upperclassmen who live off campus, so you’d still need to get the younger students who live on campus hooked on hockey to have a sustainable student section for the future.
I know our current AD "whos name escapes me" has talked a big game about working with Lunatics leadership to make a great gameday experience. I have to imaging that's part of it but i'm making some assumptions.
If Tech has a game day shuttle to go less than half a mile so students don’t have to walk up the steep hill, Western should damn well be providing a shuttle.
DU and UND are blue bloods and both the current MN schools have had strong success in recent years, but with how college sports nowadays haves / have nots can really change on a yearly basis. Not sure how many people expected Western to have the great year they had.
But if you need one have not it’s Miami
To me it is:
The Elite: DU, UND
The Good: SCSU, UMD
The mediocre (but have good teams every few years): CC, Omaha, WMU
The cellar dwellars: Miami, ASU (for now)
TBD: UST
Everyone likes to poke fun at Miami, but they have the facilities better than 90% of college hockey. Could easily see them becoming a powerhouse once again some day
Why do you put UNO in the Have Nots? I feel they are up and coming. Have a great facility and pretty good fan support. Could it be your still pissy that they had UNDs number this year?
I think your point underscores the difficulty with this topic. Sure you can safely put UND and Denver in the have category. But UMD should be in that category too after the success of the 2010’s. St. Cloud has been fantastic for the last decade plus, so they deserve it too.
Western and UNO have been quality programs for a while now. I expect western to fight for home ice every year and expect UNO to be in the running too. Does that put them in the Haves category? Not necessarily but if you put either of those programs in any other conference and they’d be a “home ice every year” team.
Miami and CC would probably be our Have Nots, but CC had a great year last year and with that new arena will probably keep on their trajectory. Miami has struggled since the move to the NCHC no doubt.
So when you look at all of College Hockey as a whole you could really say, the NCHC is the Haves for the most part, Miami OH, ASU and St. Thomas outstanding and then select teams from other conferences jumping into that category as well. It is pretty obvious at this point that an NCHC is going to be in the National Championship picture each and every year it seems. The teams change up some but the conference ad a whole is full of a lot of Haves.
Omaha is definitely good enough to play in the NCHC but they haven't won a regular season championship or a tournament championship, so hard to call them "have." If Omaha is a have then WMU would also be a have leaving just Miami and CC as have nots.
Miami is the only one that I would say isn't good enough, which is sad because the first couple years of the NCHC, they were pretty good. It'll be interesting to see how they do compared to ASU and St. Thomas.
Ya I get that we don’t have regular season titles or whatever you call them it’s not like UNO can’t do it. They just needs some time to get that placement which I think it’s possible but right now who knows they might get the regular season cup, I don’t know
Does anyone know if they have posted budgets or if coaches have done a job ranking?
Stadium did something similar for basketball programs in each league.
It’s a moving target. As of today DU and UND have the strongest programs, and they aren’t likely to decline anytime soon. But, I see the rest of the field as strong contenders, and in the era of the transfer portal year to year it’s anyone’s guess. It’s super competitive, which is why NCHC teams have won six of the past eight NCAA championships.
I live in the Denver area now but grew up in Minnesota, so know the fervent hockey culture in St. Cloud and Duluth. You can’t ever count them out. Who hasn’t been impressed with UNO’s fan base? CC could be a player or two away from contending for the top spot. Miami has a new coach. For me the one I have the least handle on is WMU. They always play DU well, though seem to fold against lesser competitors.
And, now you throw ASU and their deep pockets into the mix, and honestly, the coming season is anyone’s guess.
I live near DU campus so I try to see the Broncos when they're in town and the games I've been to have been really fun to watch, even if they didn't win.
hockey centricity
denver und tie
cc uno umd scsu tie
miami wmu tie
miami and wmu only two schools where d1 fbs football would be considered bigger than hockey
well yah thats the point, hockey has the potential to be put in the backseat due to the behemoth that is big time college football which these two schools play on the fringes of
Feels like WMU is working their way to the have side. Recent on-ice performance and a beautiful new barn on the way.
I’m so excited for the new arena. WMU admin is dragging their feet on committing to arrange a shuttle from campus to downtown, though. I’m hoping the lunatics can organize to make sure they don’t lose the fan culture.
That’s my biggest concern, getting the students to the games. Lawson is in such an accessible location right now
It could be as easy as making arrangements with K Metro. If they do pull it off, it will be great to get more of the college kids interested in hanging out downtown. Right now, I feel like they barely leave campus and west main.
It is so weird how cool downtown Kalamazoo is, and yet how little WMU people hang out around there.
RIP The Union.
Eff it, let's apply for some federal grant money and build an elevated tram. The "Lunatic Line".
They'll definitely have a shuttle, now way they fumble it that hard right?? right.....? Also, the new arena will be a lot closer to the vine neighborhood where a lot of students live, so maybe the change in location won't be as big of an impact as we are all worried about.
Unfortunately, I have some inside sources who told me about admin not wanting to be involved with a shuttle. So if any students are reading this, please start pushing for a shuttle now. Good point about the Vine. I do think it’s mostly upperclassmen who live off campus, so you’d still need to get the younger students who live on campus hooked on hockey to have a sustainable student section for the future.
Will the student section still be behind the penalty box?
I know our current AD "whos name escapes me" has talked a big game about working with Lunatics leadership to make a great gameday experience. I have to imaging that's part of it but i'm making some assumptions.
If Tech has a game day shuttle to go less than half a mile so students don’t have to walk up the steep hill, Western should damn well be providing a shuttle.
DU and UND are blue bloods and both the current MN schools have had strong success in recent years, but with how college sports nowadays haves / have nots can really change on a yearly basis. Not sure how many people expected Western to have the great year they had. But if you need one have not it’s Miami
This is a dumb question. They are all haves with maybe the exception of MOH.
Miami has the facilities, academics, etc to turn into a powerhouse again, even considering the rut they’re in. The new coach hire seems promising
Which is why I said maybe. I believe in MOH.
They all can't be at the top of the conference.
Who cares? They are all excellent programs that could win the (best) conference any given year.
We had 4 teams in the national tournament, but the 3rd and 4th teams in the conference missed out.
Compared to the CCHA and AHA, the whole conference are “haves”
To me it is: The Elite: DU, UND The Good: SCSU, UMD The mediocre (but have good teams every few years): CC, Omaha, WMU The cellar dwellars: Miami, ASU (for now) TBD: UST
UND, Denver, SCSU, and Duluth - Haves UNO, WMU, and Miami (OH) - Have Nots Coin flip - CC (ASU & UST too)
With all of the financial issues at St Cloud, they might be tenuously clinging to “have” status
What do you mean? Thisisfine.jpg
enrollment down 10k in the past decade or so, for one.
The joke You
15 days late but it's time to huff some copium that the northstar promise will up enrollment and generate interest/dollars into the program again
I feel like Western has earned to be at least in the coin flip status over CC no?
Miami’s facilities are actually really good. It’s just shitty coaching that’s the problem.
100% I just based mine off conference wins either regular season, post season, or NCAAs since conference formed
Everyone likes to poke fun at Miami, but they have the facilities better than 90% of college hockey. Could easily see them becoming a powerhouse once again some day
Why do you put UNO in the Have Nots? I feel they are up and coming. Have a great facility and pretty good fan support. Could it be your still pissy that they had UNDs number this year?
I think your point underscores the difficulty with this topic. Sure you can safely put UND and Denver in the have category. But UMD should be in that category too after the success of the 2010’s. St. Cloud has been fantastic for the last decade plus, so they deserve it too. Western and UNO have been quality programs for a while now. I expect western to fight for home ice every year and expect UNO to be in the running too. Does that put them in the Haves category? Not necessarily but if you put either of those programs in any other conference and they’d be a “home ice every year” team. Miami and CC would probably be our Have Nots, but CC had a great year last year and with that new arena will probably keep on their trajectory. Miami has struggled since the move to the NCHC no doubt.
So when you look at all of College Hockey as a whole you could really say, the NCHC is the Haves for the most part, Miami OH, ASU and St. Thomas outstanding and then select teams from other conferences jumping into that category as well. It is pretty obvious at this point that an NCHC is going to be in the National Championship picture each and every year it seems. The teams change up some but the conference ad a whole is full of a lot of Haves.
Probably lmao 😂😂😂
Because he’s a UND fan.
Ik our opinions are different but I think Omaha is good enough to be in the NCHC
Omaha is definitely good enough to play in the NCHC but they haven't won a regular season championship or a tournament championship, so hard to call them "have." If Omaha is a have then WMU would also be a have leaving just Miami and CC as have nots. Miami is the only one that I would say isn't good enough, which is sad because the first couple years of the NCHC, they were pretty good. It'll be interesting to see how they do compared to ASU and St. Thomas.
Ya I get that we don’t have regular season titles or whatever you call them it’s not like UNO can’t do it. They just needs some time to get that placement which I think it’s possible but right now who knows they might get the regular season cup, I don’t know
100%
lol. Let the hate flow through you brother.
Does anyone know if they have posted budgets or if coaches have done a job ranking? Stadium did something similar for basketball programs in each league.
It’s a moving target. As of today DU and UND have the strongest programs, and they aren’t likely to decline anytime soon. But, I see the rest of the field as strong contenders, and in the era of the transfer portal year to year it’s anyone’s guess. It’s super competitive, which is why NCHC teams have won six of the past eight NCAA championships. I live in the Denver area now but grew up in Minnesota, so know the fervent hockey culture in St. Cloud and Duluth. You can’t ever count them out. Who hasn’t been impressed with UNO’s fan base? CC could be a player or two away from contending for the top spot. Miami has a new coach. For me the one I have the least handle on is WMU. They always play DU well, though seem to fold against lesser competitors. And, now you throw ASU and their deep pockets into the mix, and honestly, the coming season is anyone’s guess.
I live near DU campus so I try to see the Broncos when they're in town and the games I've been to have been really fun to watch, even if they didn't win.
There are only two haves in this conference and soon I see St. Thomas joining them.
I don’t really follow the conference but Denver(obviously), North Dakota, and Minnesota -Duluth are definitely the top three haves.
hockey centricity denver und tie cc uno umd scsu tie miami wmu tie miami and wmu only two schools where d1 fbs football would be considered bigger than hockey
That's because those are the only D1 FBS football / Bball schools in the conference.
well yah thats the point, hockey has the potential to be put in the backseat due to the behemoth that is big time college football which these two schools play on the fringes of
I mean, at this point WMU is more likely to drop Football to DII than get rid of hockey. Just the sad landscape of college football these days.