vs. Western Michigan (10/23)

[mbenecke]

A little Tuesday night action at the Slater Family Ice Arena is coming up on Tuesday, 10/23 at 7:37pm.

Our Falcons are up to #17 in the country at the time of this writing (Mon. 10/15) and Western Michigan is currently #19. Our boys have an off weekend coming up, so they will be at the end of a 9 day layoff by the time the puck drops Tuesday night.

We just played WMU on October 9th in their building, and we came out on the winning side 6-2, even though the Broncos carried play for much of the first 2 periods. Ultimately, this one is going to be a battle and it's another one that we've gotta have if we want to have hope for an at-large bid when March rolls around.

I only hope our boys remain focused on the task at hand and don't look past this game and on to the home-and-home series at the end of next week with the current #1 team in the country, the Ohio State Buckeyes. I believe Coach Bergeron will have them focused and ready, and I expect an excellent game out of our guys.

Let's pack the place on a Tuesday night, eh?

[mbenecke]

Big one Tuesday night. Hope our boys get up for it.

[pdt1081]

Big one Tuesday night. Hope our boys get up for it.

Seems the marketing department has overlooked this game to focus on Saturday's.

[Critical Thinker]

Makes perfect sense. Weeknights don't draw under any circumstance and Ohio State was ranked #1 all of last week.

[pdt1081]

Makes perfect sense. Weeknights don't draw under any circumstance and Ohio State was ranked #1 all of last week.

Would've been a great time to do a buy one get one, or something like that. Sure, the teachers would hate it, but if it puts butts in the seats for a weeknight game, it's better than an empty arena.

[mbenecke]

I agree. I'm hoping we draw like 2,000 for this game, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was a clunker as far as attendance goes.

We're stressing student attendance like crazy for this game first. The OSU game on Saturday sells itself, so we're choosing not to overlook this one in our marketing from the Bleacher Creature social media.

[mbenecke]

We're up to #15 in the country.

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Any word on Baylis?

[mbenecke]

Last I heard, he could have played last weekend against Robert Morris but they were saving him and giving him extra rest during the off week. My guess is that he'll be full-go tomorrow night.

[Falconwriter]

Makes perfect sense. Weeknights don't draw under any circumstance and Ohio State was ranked #1 all of last week.

Would've been a great time to do a buy one get one, or something like that. Sure, the teachers would hate it, but if it puts butts in the seats for a weeknight game, it's better than an empty arena.

Okay, I'm an old fart who went to school in the early 1970s...and I cannot recall there EVER being a time when that ice arena wasn't all but filled for a game, weeknight or not. So what has happened to change things? I can't imagine myself as a college guy today who wouldn't still go to all of the athletic events I liked, weeknight or not.

I am sincerely wondering what's changed.

[mbenecke]

I'd be there at 2am on a Tuesday over Christmas Break.

I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of interest in hockey and the general lack of knowledge about how good our program actually is. Not a lot of people are raised watching/playing hockey, so they don't relate to it as much and therefore won't go out of their way for it.

Another issue is the lack of name recognition for opponents. When we were in the CCHA, there wasn't that issue - Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc. all sell tickets. Comparatively... Alabama-Huntsville and Bemidji State aren't name-brands for the average fan.

I want nothing more than to have that place overflowing each and every night. I just feel like that's an unrealistic expectation nowadays. My generation generally just doesn't care as much. It's sad, really.

[pdt1081]

Makes perfect sense. Weeknights don't draw under any circumstance and Ohio State was ranked #1 all of last week.

Would've been a great time to do a buy one get one, or something like that. Sure, the teachers would hate it, but if it puts butts in the seats for a weeknight game, it's better than an empty arena.

Okay, I'm an old fart who went to school in the early 1970s...and I cannot recall there EVER being a time when that ice arena wasn't all but filled for a game, weeknight or not. So what has happened to change things? I can't imagine myself as a college guy today who wouldn't still go to all of the athletic events I liked, weeknight or not.

I am sincerely wondering what's changed.

The building hasn't been consistently full since the North End expansion. I believe the actual numbers are quite close to being similar.

The other thing that happened is the Buddy Powers and Scott Paluch years. Turned a lot of people off the program because they weren't winning games. You have most of a generation of college/high school aged kids that only remember the team losing when they were growing up.

[Bgsu2016]

Makes perfect sense. Weeknights don't draw under any circumstance and Ohio State was ranked #1 all of last week.

Would've been a great time to do a buy one get one, or something like that. Sure, the teachers would hate it, but if it puts butts in the seats for a weeknight game, it's better than an empty arena.

Okay, I'm an old fart who went to school in the early 1970s...and I cannot recall there EVER being a time when that ice arena wasn't all but filled for a game, weeknight or not. So what has happened to change things? I can't imagine myself as a college guy today who wouldn't still go to all of the athletic events I liked, weeknight or not.

I am sincerely wondering what's changed.

Three hours on a weeknight anymore is just a hard find in my opinion. Students should show but the general public probably will not come out en masse

[BGDrew]

In my master plan for the Arena, I’d turn all the seating from goal line to goal line into chairbacks so they could reduce capacity. 5,000 is just too many seats to fill.

[pdt1081]

In my master plan for the Arena, I’d turn all the seating from goal line to goal line into chairbacks so they could reduce capacity. 5,000 is just too many seats to fill.

Please, no. I operate heavy equipment for a living, sitting in a cab with little leg room for 10-12 hours a day. The last thing I want to do is cram myself into an unnecessarily cramped seat with little leg room for something I enjoy. I absolutely hate the Huntington Centre, and wasn't a big fan of the Pizza Palace.

Right now, 3500 people can make the place seem full. 15 people sitting in a row that has 20 "seats" looks full. With chair backs, you'll see 5 empty seats. And, those 3500 people can squeeze together and make room for another 1500 if needed.