Illinois may add Men's Hockey program
- Thread starter Lion8286
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That's a natural, if you ask me. There are a lot of good hockey players that come out of the Midwest. It never made sense to me that Illinois never had a team.
Hmm they have a ton o land south of the basketball arena and it would keep all the athletic buildings in one area but thats not downtown
Can't exactly see where they would put in downtown champaign unless on the other side of 74 or on the other side of Neil Street
Just another sport they will suck at. Never forget they were on our campus, right after the sanctions we're announced, trying to get our kids to transfer.
If Pitt ever announces they will add hockey, at that same press conference, they will also say they already have 9 NCAA hockey national championships.
Speaking of Pitt, they reportedly undertook a feasibility study to ascertain if college hockey would work for them. If some people want a college hockey team in Pittsburgh then why don't they throw their support behind Robert Morris? Anyway, a Pitt hockey team would probably operate like Pitt football in that they'd pretend they're an affiliate of the local professional team. That strategy has been a failure for Pitt football and would be even worse for a Pitt hockey team. Fan support has to be there and Pitt doesn't have it.
Unlike Pitt, Illinois has had success at the club level and therefore they have something to build upon if they decide to take the leap. I doubt Penn State would have had such quick success if it wasn't for the base of support developed by the Icers.
Well, like Pitt basketball and football, I am sure you will spend a lot of time on this board talking about it - so....looks like they have at least one fan.
Pitt's problem, if they play in the Penguins' home, is that there will be too many seats. Penn State did it right in that they built an arena large enough to be a great atmosphere but not so large that on a night that it's only half full, it looks empty. 3,000 fans in Pegula doesn't look nearly as empty as it would in PPG Paints Arena. And 6,000 makes it loud and full. 6,000 in PPG would still look empty.
If Pitt wants to get behind hockey, they really need their own arena. And that might put it out of reach.
I agree to a point on the club team building a base. But, I also know several Penn State Icers' fans that won't follow the varsity club because it's now under the control of the AD. I think they are being silly, but there is some give and take with the upgrade. ASU is another example of a quality club team making the jump. They haven't had near the early success we have had. But they still don't have their own home.
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ASU recently approved construction plans which include an on campus ice arena which will seat around 5,000 people. It is to be ready for the 2020-2021 season. Exciting times for them like it was for us a few short years ago. It'll be interesting to see where the new arena takes their program.
My guess is they would put a hockey arena near the other athletic buildings off of Florida Avenue.
I found this. Looks like it all happened in the last couple of months after their original plans fell through.
http://arizonasports.com/story/1408...ovated-wells-fargo-arena-new-asu-hockey-home/
I actually think they were one of the handful of schools - along with Illinois and, I think, Syracuse - to be given money by the NHL to do feasibility studies.
Pitt also has a pretty big problem when it comes to the conference. Illinois and even Iowa are pretty easy and seamless adds to the Big Ten, but there isn’t any hockey infrastructure in the ACC at all - BC and ND both play in other leagues, and aside from Syracuse I don’t really see any other potential hockey markets in that conference. I’m more surprised that Pitt hasn’t added lacrosse moreso than hockey considering the strengths of the ACC.
Unrelated to Pitt, but there have been talks for over a year now that the city is partnering with the Penguins and others to turn the historic Hunt Armory in the Shadyside neighborhood into a hockey facility. I’m not sure how many seats you could fit into that site, but I wonder if that couldn’t be a potential fit if Pitt wanted to go further.
Only seems natural. I'm amazed northwestern doesn't have a team. Chicago is as big as it gets for hockey in America. Lots of talent comes out of that area.
Not sure what you mean by this. Chicago has a huge hockey base, but it's by no means as big as it gets. That comment out of the way, Illinois, if provided proper funding and coaching, would be really good. No reason they wouldn't be.
To understand why, scroll to the bottom of this link. There is a table that shows number of players by state. It's pretty interesting. Once you see that Illinois is 5th in Div 1 players (Pennsylvania is tied for 7th), go back up to the list of schools by state and notice that Illinois doesn't have a single division 1 program (PA has 3).
http://www.scholarshipstats.com/hockey.html
Pitt possibly could join the B10 in hockey only like ND. That is if the B10 would take them.
May have been due to the U of I system. Their Chicago campus had a D1 team back in the 80s and 90s. Some of the Illinois schools had to split teams between their campuses--SIU had football at Carbondale and soccer at Edwardsville (and other splits) for example.
Not ready to pull the trigger yet.
Theoretically, the move makes perfect sense, but there are some issues. Remember, the State of Illinois is flat broke busted. So they can forget about getting any state cash. That is why they are pinning everything on a new downtown arena - built and paid for sans UI money.
There is a lot of talent out there and only 60 D-1 teams - that is why everybody has at least a couple terrific players. So it makes good sense from that standpoint.
However, Illinois' athletic department is such a total wreck right now, I don't know if they want to make a major move until they get football and basketball resurrected from the dead.
8 teams in the B1G would be nice though . . . .
www.uscho.com/2018/03/08/illinois-releases-results-of-d-i-hockey-feasibility-study-not-prepared-to-make-the-ultimate-decision/
Theoretically, the move makes perfect sense, but there are some issues. Remember, the State of Illinois is flat broke busted. So they can forget about getting any state cash. That is why they are pinning everything on a new downtown arena - built and paid for sans UI money.
There is a lot of talent out there and only 60 D-1 teams - that is why everybody has at least a couple terrific players. So it makes good sense from that standpoint.
However, Illinois' athletic department is such a total wreck right now, I don't know if they want to make a major move until they get football and basketball resurrected from the dead.
8 teams in the B1G would be nice though . . . .
www.uscho.com/2018/03/08/illinois-releases-results-of-d-i-hockey-feasibility-study-not-prepared-to-make-the-ultimate-decision/
