At Western Michigan Thread

Yep, hockey is back……

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I get it, Bonk, you’re a hockey guy going back multiple boards. That’s great and all, but are you content with the last decade of hockey results? I know basketball has been bad as well, but at least it’s a nationally relevant sport.

GuardHawk, question: why don’t you think hoops can return to national success? I think any of our big could. If the right conditions played out. Hockey wins at least 14-15 games this year btw.

I guess it depends on what you consider “national significance” to be. Can they return to being a top MAC team? Of course. Can they consistently make NCAA tournaments? Maybe. But at its height, hockey was a national title contender. Will we see that again? I hope so, but if not, what’s the purpose of this program? Hockey is niche. There’s, what, 60 D1 programs? How often do you even see top hockey programs on ESPN outside of the Tournament?

Hockey is a niche sport if you’re not a fan, for certain. But it’s really more of a regional sport like LAX. It’s more popular in New England than football. And there is a lot of interest in the Midwest, where Miami’s located.

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I believe we can be top 25 again in all our sports. (At some point, not all at once.) If Coastal Carolina can win a national in baseball and be top 25 in football we can. Not easy or likely, but possible.

Edit for the younger fans who haven’t seen it before:
-we’ve been top ten in football.
-we’ve been top ten in men’s golf.
-we’ve been top 25 in men’s hoops, women’s swimming and diving, men’s soccer, tennis, women’s volleyball and women’s field hockey.
-we’ve been #1 in hockey and synchro hockey.

When I went to Miami I wondered if I’d ever see a top 25 team in person. I’ve now seen every one on that list. It can happen again. Let’s hope.

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I may not be a huge fan, but I don’t actively root against them. I check the game threads every week and hope for wins. They’re just few and far between. We had a good start this season, and maybe this is just a bump in the road. I’m hoping for a good year. Football, basketball, softball, hockey- any team wearing the red and white I want to succeed. I’m just trying to be practical, though “practical” is subjective of course.

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And fwiw, this thread has 28 posts, 6 of which are mine. MHT is where the biggest Miami fans are, and it seems even most of us have become indifferent at best.

You’re nuts. I’ll take the under for $2 million**

(** contingent on me winning the Powerball tomorrow)

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We had a dumpy result tonight. We win the next one. Berg is gonna light a fire after this result.

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Is the goal to be on ESPN (bearing in mind that basketball last season only had a single game on ESPNU and one on CBSSN), or to have a entertaining activity for students/families/fans?

Biggest Miami fans sure, but Miami hockey fans skew younger than the average poster here (no offense to any of the older posters, I enjoy hearing the stories of Miami before my time) and generally speaking aren’t on this board. There is a reason why the hockey instagram/twitter both have 2x the followers of the basketball instagram/twitter, but basketball threads get way more comments than hockey threads here.

Besides, for the hockey fans that do post here, I’m not surprised it’s irregularly when there’s frequent threads about how we should really just drop hockey. Not exactly the most welcoming environment.

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ESPN may not be the “goal,” but it’s exposure. Basketball is routinely on ESPN3, which isn’t a national broadcast, but anyone with a subscription can watch. Can hockey routinely be viewed on a streaming platform? I honestly don’t know.

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Well put.

It’s been seven years, and no, of course I’m not happy with that, but that doesn’t mean it should go away. I’m also very displeased at the team’s performance tonight but this team has much more talent and has done better overall than most expected.

As for crowds, Miami sold out several games last season despite being brutal to watch at times and has had OK crowds the first four considering it went against MU football twice and the NFL once. I expect more sellouts after football winds down.

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WGAS about ESPN?

Every game that is not picked up by a network is available to stream on NCHC.tv. Other conferences have similar streaming options.

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Players? Exposure? Are you telling me you’re not looking forward to being on ESPN2 next week?

I hope Berg sends the first guy who gets a penalty to the showers tonight.

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NCHC TV

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Berg, prove me right and get those young squirrels focused for a win tonight. I’d be very happy with a MAC champ in field hockey and hockey win over a ranked team in the same day. Make it happen!

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