Hockey in Hilton? Ever happened?

[Al_4_State]

Which is why I'm thankful that you aren't ISU's AD.

If you were going to add a major sport at ISU, why would you add a sport that

1) Isn't sponsored by the athletic conference to which ISU belongs
2) Presently played by only 58 Div 1 teams
3) Doesn't crack the top ten in high school particiaption (i.e. grass roots interest)

When you could add a sport like baseball that:

1) Is sponsored by the athletic conference to which ISU belongs
2) Presently has 293 particiapting teams
3) Number 3 (shool-wise) / 4 (athlete-wise) in high school particiaption

NCAA Publications - Student-Athlete Participation - 1981-82 — 2010-11 NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report

http://www.edweek.org/media/201011sp...ation-blog.pdf

Because hockey would be much more well attended and is easy to add a women's counter part to off-set the Title Whatever restrictions?

[VeloClone]

I'm surprised they had that big of an issue with condensation on the floor. all NHL rinks are iced once at the beginning of the season and they remain up all year. This includes the United Center where the Bulls and Blackhawks play and every other city that has both NBA and NHL. And it has nothing to do with size as Depaul plays in Rosemont where the lower league Wolves play. The All State arena is noticeably smaller than Hilton is. I've been down on the floor when the circus was in town and knelt down to feel the floor. They have thick hard rubber mats they use now on top of the ice and other than the boards all still being up, you couldn't tell there was ice under it at all. Not saying it wouldn't be an issue, as an especially warm humid day could definitely pose issues. I've seen it happen at Hockey games that looked more like a fight in the fog than a hockey game. I'm assuming that today's insulating technology might be a little better than it was in the 90s. Although it's an added expense, keeping it all frozen that is tough to justify for a couple of events a year.

My perception of the whole thing was that Johnny made an astute move to get one of his biggest competitors for time in Hilton out of Hilton. Without ice in Hilton he was able to get a lot more practice time in Hilton. Condensation on the floor may have been a small issue, but he used it to get what he wanted.

[BCClone]

Didn't know that the Big ten was getting their own conference going for hockey. Waldorf college in forest city just announced recently that they are joining the same hockey league as (at the time of announcement) mankato state, UMD, and thought minny was in that also.

If waldorf can do that?

My son has wrestled a few times in hockey arenas with the mats on the ice (a layer of something between but not sure what). He said it was a little cold, but there was no kids slipping. Probably was just an excuse to get rid of a competitor. I remember putting down the floor for a couple hours just in case a player or two wanted to shoot in a morning.

[IcSyU]

Because hockey would be much more well attended and is easy to add a women's counter part to off-set the Title Whatever restrictions?

I doubt it. Attendance at club hockey isn't great, and we've seen how many hockey teams fold in Central Iowa over the past 10 years? Baseball is a lot cheaper than having to rent and refrigerate ice in Hilton. Regardless, neither is gonna happen because they're both big money losers.

And because of places like the United Center, what brilliant mind thought Minneapolis needed both the Target Center for the Timberwolves and Xcel Energy Center? That's panning out really well for them.

[Broodwich]

I will commit to a lifetime of tickets for two people now for Mens' D1 Hockey at ISU.

I spend probably a more than $1500 a year going to various NHL games for tickets, lodging and transportation.

[VeloClone]

I doubt it. Attendance at club hockey isn't great, and we've seen how many hockey teams fold in Central Iowa over the past 10 years? Baseball is a lot cheaper than having to rent and refrigerate ice in Hilton. Regardless, neither is gonna happen because they're both big money losers.

And because of places like the United Center, what brilliant mind thought Minneapolis needed both the Target Center for the Timberwolves and Xcel Energy Center? That's panning out really well for them.

Those arenas aren't both in Minneapolis. Just saying.

[Broodwich]

we've seen how many hockey teams fold in Central Iowa over the past 10 years? :

One.

Hardly conclusive.

[IcSyU]

Those arenas aren't both in Minneapolis. Just saying.

Minneapolis...St. Paul...same difference. Still stupid to have to pay for two separate facilities especially with the issues they're now experiencing with the Target Center.

One.

Hardly conclusive.

The Stars and the Chops both got left at the altar. Not exactly a glowing endorsement.

[Broodwich]

Same franchise. Same ownership. Different affiliations in the NHL and a new team name.

The Washington Bullets and the Washington Wizards are the same team.

[agrabes]

Same franchise. Same ownership. Different affiliations in the NHL and a new team name.

The Washington Bullets and the Washington Wizards are the same team.

Either way, nothing came in to fill the void. The reason why: few Iowans are hockey fans.

[jbhtexas]

Because hockey would be much more well attended

Debatable and by no means certain. Especially if no alcohol is served at the games.

and is easy to add a women's counter part to off-set the Title Whatever restrictions?

ADJP has said several times that there would be no Title Whatever issues if baseball were added at ISU. It has to do with the number of full and partial scholarships given.

Also, for FBS schools, from page 36 of the link below (assuming facilities are in place):

NCAA Publications - Research — NCAA Gender Equity Report 2004-2010

Baseball:
Median Total Revenue $549,400
Median Total Expenses: $1,292,100
Net loss: $742,700

Ice Hockey:
Median Total Revenue: $1,121,400
Median Total Expenses: $2,155,200
Net loss: $1,033,800

[aeroclone]

Debatable and by no means certain. Especially if no alcohol is served at the games.



ADJP has said several times that there would be no Title Whatever issues if baseball were added at ISU. It has to do with the number of full and partial scholarships given.

Also, for FBS schools, from page 36 of the link below (assuming facilities are in place):

NCAA Publications - Research — NCAA Gender Equity Report 2004-2010

Baseball:
Median Total Revenue $549,400
Median Total Expenses: $1,292,100
Net loss: $742,700

Ice Hockey:
Median Total Revenue: $1,121,400
Median Total Expenses: $2,155,200
Net loss: $1,033,800

So what is your point with all this? That we should go ahead and try baseball again, even though it has been done here and failed? And the justification is finances, which amounts to a difference in net loss of about $300k? Even for a school with a budget at the bottom of the Big 12, $300k is chump change.

We would need to build a new facility for baseball. Nobody showed up to baseball before, why would they show up now? And we have also seen that there are basically no northern teams in the country that are highly successful in the sport, so I have no expectations that we would ever win much of anything. I'm a big baseball fan in general, but I will take a pass on repeating the baseball experiment at ISU.

[Broodwich]

Either way, nothing came in to fill the void. The reason why: few Iowans are hockey fans.

Few people in LA like pro football.

[jbhtexas]

So what is your point with all this? That we should go ahead and try baseball again

No. I was responding to a poster who said that he would certainly add hockey before baseball, and was questioning why he would do that.

even though it has been done here and failed?

Why do you say that baseball failed at ISU? It was dropped as part of a cost cutting move. As far as winning % over its history of 110 years, ISU baseball was 0.485. For reference, ISU FB has a 0.457 winning % over its history, and ISU MBB has a 0.494 winning % over its history. Relatively speaking, as far as winning and losing games, baseball at ISU wasn't that bad.

Iowa State Cyclones baseball - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Al_4_State]

I doubt it. Attendance at club hockey isn't great, and we've seen how many hockey teams fold in Central Iowa over the past 10 years? Baseball is a lot cheaper than having to rent and refrigerate ice in Hilton. Regardless, neither is gonna happen because they're both big money losers.

And because of places like the United Center, what brilliant mind thought Minneapolis needed both the Target Center for the Timberwolves and Xcel Energy Center? That's panning out really well for them.

Club hockey attendance is probably better than scholarship baseball attendance ever was.

I'm not saying hockey would rival basketball, but it would blow what we got for baseball out of the water.