Jack Dougherty to Ohio State

Shinbone_News · Post by **Shinbone_News** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 2:00 pm

All I will say is: OHIO?!

Ish. I hope they gave him a big huge skolly. Going from STA to USA to Ohio State is a bit anti-climactic, IMHO.

Big doubts about the "BIG TEN" in hockey. It's a football and basketball conference. Ugh. I'm gonna miss the WCHA.

Can't wait to see Iowa, Purdue, Nebraska, Illinois and Indiana in skates. [sarcasm] Does this list just scream "hockey" to you???

:: Illinois
:: Indiana
:: Iowa
:: Michigan
:: Michigan State
:: Minnesota
:: Nebraska
:: Northwestern
:: Ohio State
:: Penn State
:: Purdue
:: Wisconsin

How about this:

>>The new Big Ten hockey conference: Exciting?
Jason Joyce on Thursday 02/21/2013, (1) Comment

Quoted in the Lansing State Journal a few weeks ago, Michigan State hockey coach Tom Anastos was enthusiastic about the new Big Ten hockey conference, which begins play next year.

"I think Big Ten hockey will be a real exciting brand of hockey," he said.

Anastos' Spartans are currently battling with Michigan, another Big Ten team, for dead last in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. They have lost three of four games to Ferris State, which definitely isn't very exciting.

The traditional college hockey conferences — CCHA, WCHA, ECAC and Hockey East — contain a mixture of big universities with well-funded athletic programs along with smaller schools for which hockey is the marquee attraction. And Big Ten hockey is becoming a reality largely because the big schools are sick of sharing revenue with the small schools who routinely beat them on the ice.

Of the six schools who will skate in the Big Ten next year — Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State — only Minnesota is ranked in the top 10 by U.S. College Hockey Online. The Gophers are joined there by schools like Quinnipiac, New Hampshire and St. Cloud State, which consistently assemble competitive squads packed with Canadian and even European players. These are guys who might prefer playing at a school where hockey players are the superstar athletes on campus. (Remember when that was the case at Wisconsin?)

It will be fun to see Wisconsin's rivalries with Michigan and Ohio State transfer to the rink next year when the Badgers play four games apiece against the other conference teams. Fans are assured that matchups with old foes from the WCHA will be scheduled as well. But it's hard to argue that the Big Ten will be the most competitive conference in college hockey.

The Exiled One · Post by **The Exiled One** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 3:51 pm

Shinbone_News wrote:Big doubts about the "BIG TEN" in hockey. It's a football and basketball conference. Ugh. I'm gonna miss the WCHA.

Your post is very cynical, but makes some good points.

One thing it made me think of is roadtrips for the kid's family. For example, if a metro kid goes to Minnesota, only one conference road trip is within a 6 hour drive (same if they pick Mankato or Bemidji). If they play in the NCHC, there are three roadtrips under six hours. It's a small thing, but it's something to think about.

thestickler07 · Post by **thestickler07** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 5:35 pm

The Exiled One wrote:Your post is very cynical, but makes some good points.
One thing it made me think of is roadtrips for the kid's family. For example, if a metro kid goes to Minnesota, only one conference road trip is within a 6 hour drive (same if they pick Mankato or Bemidji). If they play in the NCHC, there are three roadtrips under six hours. It's a small thing, but it's something to think about.

Flipside is that it gives more opportunities for kids to play further from home with visibility here on BTN.

As much as people complain about the death of the WCHA it is 3-5 in the NCAAs this year, and will only hit .500 if Jan wins the title. Was it cool having all the local schools around? Definitely. But there were a lot of other logistical problems and realignment needed to happen.

The Minnesota Cup will be a good Beanpot-esque showcase for DI hockey in the state. Plus the away series promised to the school left out in a given year is a nice gesture.

Overall the death of the CCHA and WCHA (as we know it) will prove to be good for college hockey.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:00 pm

The Exiled One wrote:One thing it made me think of is roadtrips for the kid's family. For example, if a metro kid goes to Minnesota, only one conference road trip is within a 6 hour drive (same if they pick Mankato or Bemidji). If they play in the NCHC, there are three roadtrips under six hours. It's a small thing, but it's something to think about.

The way it sounds at the moment, the Gophers will play 20 home games at Mariucci. In addition to the fact that they will play at least 4 other games in MN (MN Cup thing and an away series in MN). That is regular season games alone. That's 24 games in MN. This year in the WCHA, they had 26 regular season games within the state borders (and no trip to UND). Not much of a difference. Certainly not much to "think about" (especially when you consider that anything the family doesn't travel to will be on HDTV... something NCHC teams won't have).

To me, it is a bit of a wash when you exchange potential conference road trips to DU, CC, UAA, and MTU with trips to Penn State, MSU, Michigan, and Ohio State. MTU is the "closest" of all of those and even that is a pretty lengthy trip.

The Exiled One · Post by **The Exiled One** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 10:22 pm

Gopher Blog wrote:
The Exiled One wrote:One thing it made me think of is roadtrips for the kid's family. For example, if a metro kid goes to Minnesota, only one conference road trip is within a 6 hour drive (same if they pick Mankato or Bemidji). If they play in the NCHC, there are three roadtrips under six hours. It's a small thing, but it's something to think about.
The way it sounds at the moment, the Gophers will play 20 home games at Mariucci. In addition to the fact that they will play at least 4 other games in MN (MN Cup thing and an away series in MN). That is regular season games alone. That's 24 games in MN. This year in the WCHA, they had 26 regular season games within the state borders (and no trip to UND). Not much of a difference. Certainly not much to "think about" (especially when you consider that anything the family doesn't travel to will be on HDTV... something NCHC teams won't have).

To me, it is a bit of a wash when you exchange potential conference road trips to DU, CC, UAA, and MTU with trips to Penn State, MSU, Michigan, and Ohio State. MTU is the "closest" of all of those and even that is a pretty lengthy trip.

I appreciate the Gophers scheduling a lot of in state non-conference games. That's a win-win for all involved. Like I said, it's only a small thing, but UMD and SCSU will have more in-state and/or "short" roadtrips than the Gophers, even if only a couple.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Fri Apr 05, 2013 8:43 pm

The Exiled One wrote:I appreciate the Gophers scheduling a lot of in state non-conference games. That's a win-win for all involved. Like I said, it's only a small thing, but UMD and SCSU will have more in-state and/or "short" roadtrips than the Gophers, even if only a couple.

Looking at SCSU's schedule next year, how many games does SCSU play inside MN next year? UMD on the road, MN Cup games, and 18 to 20 home games? That's pretty much the same as MN has.

And the reality is the only "short road trip" outside of the state for SCSU is at UND.

Traveling to UNO is further away than MN traveling to UW... and Miami, CC, DU, and WMU aren't exactly next door. Not really significantly closer than the Big Ten clubs in Michigan, Ohio, or Penn. Seems like pretty close to a wash in that sense.

If by a "small thing", you mean miniscule... you may be right.

bemused · Post by **bemused** » Mon Apr 15, 2013 2:33 pm

Well, I am thinking the pipeline to OSU just closed. With Osiecki fired I hope they still honor their commitments to Sheehy and Dougherty. It appears Mark got fired so they can hire Gwozdecky who was fired from Denver..

gopherpuck516 · Post by **gopherpuck516** » Mon Apr 15, 2013 7:13 pm

Don't get me wrong, Gwozdecky is a fantastic coach with a very good track record - but I'm very surprised by that move. Mark Osiecki has a bright future as a college coach. He'll get another opportunity somewhere and will make the most of it.

Reg7 · Post by **Reg7** » Fri Apr 26, 2013 10:31 am

bemused wrote:Well, I am thinking the pipeline to OSU just closed. With Osiecki fired I hope they still honor their commitments to Sheehy and Dougherty. It appears Mark got fired so they can hire Gwozdecky who was fired from Denver..

Steve Rohlik was just named Head coach at OSU so commitments should be good...but you never know what coach Rohlik is looking for now that he is at the helm...