Gopher mens hockey VS Notre Dame

It’s on right now Directv channel 220 NBCSHD.
0-0 2:30 left in the first.

Dutchboy wrote:

It’s on right now Directv channel 220 NBCSHD.
0-0 2:30 left in the first.

Where was it last night? I thought the B1G Joke conference was going to increase visibility???

Didn’t remember they played last night. Still don’t know if they won or lost. Not paying much attention to them since the money grab.

Friday night the game was on a channel called ASN or something like that. The Gophers lost 4-3.

It was 1-1 last night when I tuned in the Bama vs LSU football game. How did it end up?

I used to watch every game. Have only watched a few since the switch. It’s not worth the hassle of trying to locate the channel they are on that day. Maybe I should become a Huskies fan.
DT

DT, thats the best suggestion I’ve heard here in a long time!

muskie-tim wrote:

Friday night the game was on a channel called ASN or something like that. The Gophers lost 4-3.

I must wonder, what, exactly, are the “Big 10” cable channels for? Besides for NOT broadcasting hockey, obviously.

One of the major “sales points” of this whole Big 10 move in hockey was greater TV revenue by using the in-house network already owned by Big 10.

It is literally easier by far for me to watch Bemidji play than it is the Gophers. Every game the mighty Beavers play is on the same channel. Wow, what a freaking concept! Ivory tower geniuses at U, take note!

Big Joke Conference is exactly right. The lack of TV exposure has got to be killing in-state recruiting just when the Gophers will be needing it the most.

Gopher recruiter to prospect: What do you think of the idea of joining a hockey powerhouse like the U?

Recruit: What? The U has hockey? Never seen it on TV, but I guess Division 3 teams don’t see much airtime.

Grouse

I think the pendulum has swung as far as recruiting goes. St. Cloud, Duluth, Mankato & Bemidji have as good a chance at the blue chippers as the Gophers do. That doesn’t even take into account the few that leak over to North Dakota, Wisconsin, Omaha.

The glory days of Gopher Mens Hockey is over. They play in a conference nobody knows or cares about.

I also haven’t seen more than a handful of games since the switch. With the local network (FSN) it was about selling the team to the local/regional audience. With the B10 its about selling the BRAND to an expanded audience. I wish the B10 would get into more market specific broadcasts.

Dutchboy wrote:

The glory days of Gopher Mens Hockey is over. They play in a conference nobody knows or cares about.

That pretty much sums it up. Growing up all we talked about was playing for the Gophers and hated the Huskies and Sioux. Now if I was coming out of high school I would look at the other two or UMD.
DT

tegg wrote:

. With the B10 its about selling the BRAND to an expanded audience. I wish the B10 would get into more market specific broadcasts.

This could be a really tough sell because I think the Big Joke Network has been and will be a tremendous asset to increase exposure for some of the “Never Heard of ‘Em” hockey programs like Penn State and Ohio state. These schools had big football brands, but zero recognition of their hockey programs, so this was an awesome move for them.

But what the fools at the U failed to realize was all this increadsed brand awareness came at the expense of the U of M. We already had one of the biggest brands in college hockey. There was no need for more brand awareness, we already were the Coca Cola of hockey programs, everybody had heard of us.

Had

(past tense) being the key word. The U’s brand has now been siphoned off to build up the other Big Joke schools and it’s showing in terms of the quality of recruits that the U is attracting and more specifically who they are NOT attracting because of the increased brand presence of much bigger name schools.

Epic strategy fail on the part of the U. But then again, we should be used to it by now. Deep, strategic thinking is really not a strength of the U of M. Irony, thy name is Goldy.

Grouse

It’s only been two years so I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet. Granted, the consistency in television broadcasts needs to be drastically improved. We still have in-state rival games on the schedule between UMD, SCS & Mankato. The hope is they get UND back on the schedule once the name thing is all cleared up. You’ve added Michigan which has the potential to be a great rival. If there’s concern of Penn State & Ohio State on the schedule take your pick between Alaska Anchorage, Bemidji State or the rival that slipped into obscurity 30 years ago in Michigan Tech. When I started getting into Gopher Hockey there was a really good rival with Northern Michigan. You don’t hear any heartburn over that.

I couldn’t agree more with many of these comments. Breaking up the WCHA was the worst thing that could have been done. It was the best conference in college hockey and a good chunk of the teams in the division were a relatively easy drive so more fans would travel with the team or travel here to the U which packed the house and made for a spectacular fan experience.
Watching the games on TV now it looks like any other so-so college arena with a bunch of empty seats.
And don’t even get me started on the TV coverage…..back in the WCHA days…Fri/Sat night 7 or 8, maybe tape delay after the Wild. Big10….Fri/Sun and so many odd ball times if I recall right they played on a Monday or Tues night last year too.

While I agree there is some level of rivalry between the Michigan teams and the Gophs it will never be the foaming at the mouth, rabid, bad blood from the drop of the puck rivalry like there was with UND/St. Cloud/UMD/WI(when they were good LOL)/Mankato and even the Colorado teams came to town with a chip on their shoulder so it was always good hockey to watch and even better to be there in person.

Maybe someone will see the err in their ways and at lease bring some of these big rivalry games back on an annual basis.

I did hear that in a couple years the Gophs and UND are trying to get a game set up in Vegas…..I just might have to get tickets for that one!!

My daughter goes to UNO, I really think they have a legitimate rivalry with North Dakota, with a new arena and the frozen four last year they have the tools for success. Been to a few games last year and it was really fun to watch

I’m pretty sure the U was forced into the Big$ to provide legitimacy to the TV coverage. Yes, I know they aren’t on the Big 10 network much. What I wonder is what would have happened had the U president stood up and said, we aren’t joining the hockey conference. We are either staying with the WCHA or we will declare ourselves a independent. Then what?

Forced rivalries are a tough sell. Years past there was one with Michigan but thats because they recruit Canadians (like North Dakota) so you had that whole USA vs Canada dynamic.

In the WCHA you had many teams that hated each other which in turn sold out arena’s everywhere. Now? Unless North Dakota or Minnesota comes to town how many seats are sold in Madison?

Omaha vs North Dakota rivalry is a Dean Blais thing I think.

In any event, the boom days of the old WCHA are now a bust.

“Omaha vs North Dakota rivalry is a Dean Blais thing”

That and the two big guys on the block will always tussle. It’s really the new kid trying to take the older team out

chomps wrote:

That and the two big guys on the block will always tussle.

UNO?!? New Orleans has hockey?!? They have a long way to go to be considered one of the big guys on the block imo. The NCHC is the big dog in the West now, similar to the former WCHA. The Big 10 better start producing a better product from top to bottom soon, or they will be permanently relegated to the 2nd tier with the current WCHA and ECAC. I do miss the home and home’s of the old WCHA!!!

BigWerm wrote:

The Big 10 better start producing a better product from top to bottom soon, or they will be permanently relegated to the 2nd tier with the current WCHA and ECAC.

I don’t think we’ll ever see a conference like the wcha of the 90’s and 00’s and it has absolutely nothing to do with the big 10. We’ve entered a new generation where world class hockey players are coming from California, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, etc… These kids are going to stay close to home and give your Minnesota and Michigan teams a run for their money.

However I do believe that the big ten isn’t helping any. It is killing attendance and tv ratings and yet the big ten teams are still taking in more money from the big ten network than ever before.

As much as the big ten is hurting the product, there’s no light at the end of the tunnel because $$$ talks.