URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

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URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by steviep123 »

This was posted on URI Hockey's Facebook Page:

URI Alums Want Div I Hockey

(http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2 ... xplore.php)

from College Hockey News
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

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I've been all for this for awhile. I think it would be a great move.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

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Puke. Fix football first.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by Rhode_Island_Red »

We should trade football for hockey in a heartbeat.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

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Rhode_Island_Red wrote:We should trade football for hockey in a heartbeat.

It would likely be another program that eats money and isn't successful just as football. The ice facilities are sub-par for high major college hockey just as with football. URI would be relegated to the Atlantic Hockey League which no one would really get excited about (Boss is not suited for anything better). Could possibly beat Atlantic Hockey teams but then get rolled by Hockey East and most ECAC teams. Furthermore, the hockey season is directly up against the hoops schedule and there are not enough fans to support both at the same time.

There is no guarantee that URI hockey would succeed. Look at UConn and UMass which have started programs in the last two decades. Neither has been all that successful even though both states produce a lot of hockey talent.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by hrstrat57 »

Done right URI hockey makes money.

Can't wait, be there with bells on every game!
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by Bos8 »

STC wrote:Puke. Fix football first.
Agreed. It's another winter sport, which would contend with basketball and cut into attendance. Nothing beats a Fall Saturday at a football game. I would travel back to campus for a football game, I would not for a hockey game. I regularly watch URI football games on TV, something that wouldn't happen with hockey.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

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Agree, Bos! Let us know when you're back up this way.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by Maineiac66 »

Given URI's history of doing everything on the cheap (Ryan Center excepted) I don't think it would be a good idea and would drain funds. Both UNH and Maine make money, but they have 5,000 - 6,000 arenas. I don't see URI being able to do this and the Boss Arena is too small for major college hockey. They are also in Hockey East and have an extensive national schedule. This year Maine will travel to Alaska. I'm not sure if PC makes money on their program but they do have the Providence Metro area to draw from.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

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Maineiac66 wrote:Given URI's history of doing everything on the cheap (Ryan Center excepted) I don't think it would be a good idea and would drain funds. Both UNH and Maine make money, but they have 5,000 - 6,000 arenas. I don't see URI being able to do this and the Boss Arena is too small for major college hockey. They are also in Hockey East and have an extensive national schedule. This year Maine will travel to Alaska. I'm not sure if PC makes money on their program but they do have the Providence Metro area to draw from.
Boss was designed for easy expansion however.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by Puck Frovidence »

URI96 wrote:Boss was designed for easy expansion however.
Yeah this has been discussed before but Boss is already adequate for NCAA use (nicer than what many schools have) and was designed with eventual expansion in mind. As far as draw is concerned, I know it can be hard to see if you're not a hockey fan, but the sport has a very big draw in Rhode Island generally and at URI specifically. Just as an offhand observation, Bruins gear outnumbers Celtics at least 2 or 3 to 1. The club teams draws 300-500 to an average game and that's without any advertising or the kind of promotion the athletic dept would be able to offer.

Also, hoops and hockey schedules are unlikely to overlap, nearly all college hockey games are played Friday and Saturday, both at 7pm. On this year's schedule that would mean a possible two games that might overlap (and that's if they were both played at home).

I guess the most confusing idea to me is that it would somehow take attention away from hoops... basketball will always be the alum (and probably student) #1, but having more Rhody sports both in Kingston and on TV seems like a win/win to me. Cox covers both PC hoops and puck online and OSN and they don't pre-empt each other... obviously bball takes precedence on TV, they just sprinkle in some hockey as well.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by ATPTourFan »

If PC, in their new hockey palace in the state's capitol, struggles to fill that arena despite a winning team, what hope does URI have in South County?
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

Rhode_Island_Red wrote:We should trade football for hockey in a heartbeat.
I agree with this. Why keep our only division two sport that needs $20-30 million invested just to have league average facilities when we can add two division one programs that would be cheaper and have a better pool of local recruits to work with and therefore have a better chance at success. The Boss Arena right now is perfect for the Atlantic Hockey Association as is, and it's easily expandable if we have the option to move up in conferences at a later date.

And I don't buy into the idea that URI hockey will poach fans from basketball. Due to how the professional calendars line up, people tend to already be either hockey people or basketball people. Hockey people for the most part already aren't going to the basketball games because they just don't care for the sport. URI hockey is far more likely to poach school and community groups in South County from the PBruins than an average fan of the URI basketball team.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

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ATPTourFan wrote:If PC, in their new hockey palace in the state's capitol, struggles to fill that arena despite a winning team, what hope does URI have in South County?
They had struggled with attendance because they had a run of several years of bad teams. Last year attendance was very good and it will probably be better now that they're toward the top of Hockey East.
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Unread post by Puck Frovidence »

RhowdyRam02 wrote:They had struggled with attendance because they had a run of several years of bad teams. Last year attendance was very good and it will probably be better now that they're toward the top of Hockey East.
For 'struth. Also worthwhile to remember that Schneider Arena (still a concrete abomination, although much improved IMHO) may be in the "state's capital", but it's wayy far from downtown or any high-activity areas. Nestled away on the campus of a school with less than half the students at URI, in a city with many other attractions may not be the best point of comparison.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

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As long as football is at Rhody they will add no other men's sports........Title IX implications......
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Unread post by hrstrat57 »

Ramulous wrote:As long as football is at Rhody they will add no other men's sports........Title IX implications......

Men's and Women's varsity ice hockey will have to be added together.......and the Lady Rams are equally deserving.
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Unread post by hrstrat57 »

RF1 wrote:
Rhode_Island_Red wrote:We should trade football for hockey in a heartbeat.

It would likely be another program that eats money and isn't successful just as football. The ice facilities are sub-par for high major college hockey just as with football. URI would be relegated to the Atlantic Hockey League which no one would really get excited about (Boss is not suited for anything better). Could possibly beat Atlantic Hockey teams but then get rolled by Hockey East and most ECAC teams. Furthermore, the hockey season is directly up against the hoops schedule and there are not enough fans to support both at the same time.

There is no guarantee that URI hockey would succeed. Look at UConn and UMass which have started programs in the last two decades. Neither has been all that successful even though both states produce a lot of hockey talent.
Ryan Center could be piped for ice with little effort. Friday night college varsity hockey would have zero negative impact on D1 hoops.
6K in the RC cheering on the Rams in Hockey East every Friday nite I'll be there! Atlantic Hockey is a good first step towards that goal.....the sight lines in the RC would be amazing for hockey third level would be killer!
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by hrstrat57 »

Maineiac66 wrote:Given URI's history of doing everything on the cheap (Ryan Center excepted) I don't think it would be a good idea and would drain funds. Both UNH and Maine make money, but they have 5,000 - 6,000 arenas. I don't see URI being able to do this and the Boss Arena is too small for major college hockey. They are also in Hockey East and have an extensive national schedule. This year Maine will travel to Alaska. I'm not sure if PC makes money on their program but they do have the Providence Metro area to draw from.
Whittemore Center seats 6500 for hockey.....fabulous facility and tix can be tough to get. Wildcat hockey is the show in NH.

http://www.whittcenter.com/

I would think the RC could seat 6k for hockey once it was piped and rink was laid out.....piping RC for ice and blowing out the north side of Boss to add seats would probably cost about the same, would make no sense to upgrade Boss IMHO. Two sheets of ice is always good, Boss is rented over 360 days a year I believe....makes money every day.
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hrstrat57 wrote:I would think the RC could seat 6k for hockey once it was piped and rink was laid out.....piping RC for ice and blowing out the north side of Boss to add seats would probably cost about the same, would make no sense to upgrade Boss IMHO. Two sheets of ice is always good, Boss is rented over 360 days a year I believe....makes money every day.
Interesting idea hrstrat57... Boss is definitely in constant use for local hockey/skating/indoor lacrosse. Ice in RC would solve the problem of a practice rink, as the Boss could be used for those purposes. Could also open up the possibility of URI hosting other hockey/ice events. Ryan Center with ice would easily be among the top tier facilities for New England college hockey programs.
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Unread post by hrstrat57 »

Puck providence I wish I could take credit for the brainstorm but it is discussed behind the scenes.

I believe it will happen and soon.

I remember those Friday nights at the Arena on N Main St!!
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Unread post by Rhode_Island_Red »

hrstrat57 wrote:Puck providence I wish I could take credit for the brainstorm but it is discussed behind the scenes.

I believe it will happen and soon.

I remember those Friday nights at the Arena on N Main St!!
Nothing like seeing the Reds at the Auditorium, located at "one thousand one hundred eleven North Main Street," as George Patrick Duffy used to say on WEAN. God, we're getting old.
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Unread post by hrstrat57 »

Rhode_Island_Red wrote:
hrstrat57 wrote:Puck providence I wish I could take credit for the brainstorm but it is discussed behind the scenes.

I believe it will happen and soon.

I remember those Friday nights at the Arena on N Main St!!
Nothing like seeing the Reds at the Auditorium, located at "one thousand one hundred eleven North Main Street," as George Patrick Duffy used to say on WEAN. God, we're getting old.
Yep but we know how exciting Friday night hockey is!!!

I often wonder how many of the hockey naysayers here on keaney blue have ever been to a sold out D1 hockey game? The intensity is amazing!
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Unread post by Puck Frovidence »

hrstrat57 wrote: Yep but we know how exciting Friday night hockey is!!!

I often wonder how many of the hockey naysayers here on keaney blue have ever been to a sold out D1 hockey game? The intensity is amazing!
Seconded! If anyone has the chance to go to the Tsongas Center (Lowell), "Lake Whitemore" (UNH), Alfond (Maine), or "The Gut" (UVM), this season, definitely take it. All of the ECAC schools in upstate NY (Cornell, Clarkson, etc) are a blast as well. And our East Coast arenas are comparatively tiny next to the ice palaces out west...



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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by The Dude »

This could be cool!
Haha…pardon the pun. RI is a great place for Hockey. Geographically we are in a good area for hockey. You can get some good homegrown talent out of Mount St. Charles and Hendricken in RI. Plus, there's some really good hockey high school teams in MA(BC High,Maiden Catholic, Springfield Cathedral, Xavierian, Austin Prep., Central Catholic, Beverly, and on and on…) and CT (Fairfield Prep.,Notre Dame-West Haven, Notre Dame-Fairfield, Darien).
This could be interesting.
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Bos8 wrote:
STC wrote:Puke. Fix football first.
Agreed. It's another winter sport, which would contend with basketball and cut into attendance. Nothing beats a Fall Saturday at a football game. I would travel back to campus for a football game, I would not for a hockey game. I regularly watch URI football games on TV, something that wouldn't happen with hockey.
100% agreed. A football game even at uri is awesome with the leaves falling and the band playing, play it's football.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by Maineiac66 »

Is the floor area of the Ryan Center large enough for a NCAA sized rink? Was it designed to allow for ice at some future date?

Hrstrat57: It's interesting about your reference to the Rhode Island Auditorium. The 50's and early 60's were exciting times in March then the New England High School basketball and hockey tournaments were held at the Boston Garden and Rhode Island Auditorium respectively. Then it was a six state deal with Wilbur Cross and Hillhouse wreaking havoc in Boston and Melrose and Burrilville doing the same in Providence. Those were fun times and we ARE getting old.
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Unread post by hrstrat57 »

Maineiac66 wrote:Is the floor area of the Ryan Center large enough for a NCAA sized rink? Was it designed to allow for ice at some future date?

Hrstrat57: It's interesting about your reference to the Rhode Island Auditorium. The 50's and early 60's were exciting times in March then the New England High School basketball and hockey tournaments were held at the Boston Garden and Rhode Island Auditorium respectively. Then it was a six state deal with Wilbur Cross and Hillhouse wreaking havoc in Boston and Melrose and Burrilville doing the same in Providence. Those were fun times and we ARE getting old.
Of course it is big enough the whole lower tier comes out. Check out the SRI home show!

Re n Main st RIA my town did not have HS hockey but I was still a rink rat and many of my best buddies played for bolt, oakers or lasalle - rarely missed a game as those schools were alwAys playing there during the state playoffs and often other times - many of the big HS games were sat nite at RIA
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Unread post by hrstrat57 »

Also for those unaware SK, narragansett and prout play home games at boss perhaps Nk too
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Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

The UConn Huskies hockey team went division 1 in 1998 and have been playing in the AHA. Perhaps if we had jumped to division 1 in 2002 when the Boss Arena opened it would be URI beginning their first season in Hockey East this season instead of UConn.
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ATPTourFan wrote:If PC, in their new hockey palace in the state's capitol, struggles to fill that arena despite a winning team, what hope does URI have in South County?
Schneider was filled to about 91% capacity last season for the Friars.

Averaged almost 2,700 per game.

With National Championship aspirations, that percentage is expected to rise this season.
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Unread post by Bos8 »

rjsuperfly66 wrote:
ATPTourFan wrote:If PC, in their new hockey palace in the state's capitol, struggles to fill that arena despite a winning team, what hope does URI have in South County?
Schneider was filled to about 91% capacity last season for the Friars.

Averaged almost 2,700 per game.

With National Championship aspirations, that percentage is expected to rise this season.
So we should drop a sport that just had a game with over 6,000 people in a down/rebuilding season, to add a sport that can only hope to average 2,500 if they are a national championship contender that are located in a metropolitan area?
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Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

Well URI plays 5 home football games a year, while hockey teams play 3 times as many home games a year. So while the average is lower, we would get more total fans, it would be cheaper, and it would be division 1 instead of division 2. Plus we have a hockey arena ready to go while our football stadium is a death trap.
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Unread post by hrstrat57 »

rjsuperfly66 wrote:
ATPTourFan wrote:If PC, in their new hockey palace in the state's capitol, struggles to fill that arena despite a winning team, what hope does URI have in South County?
Schneider was filled to about 91% capacity last season for the Friars.

Averaged almost 2,700 per game.

With National Championship aspirations, that percentage is expected to rise this season.
PC will ramp up the marketing blitz this season, they have a quality club and worked very hard to build it = time to ramp it up.....especially on campus.

As stated elsewhere in this thread a D1 hockey game packed with chanting obnoxious students is outstanding. I fully expect this will happen for PC this year....

Re football I am certainly not suggesting dropping football to add hockey....tho I did believe in that argument when I was on campus in the 70's.

I see men's and women's hockey as a linked discussion with no relationship to football. As was the case at UConn a deep pocketed champion of hockey needs to step up again as Mackel tried to do many years ago.....
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by Puck Frovidence »

By the by, URI men's home opener is tonight vs Lehigh. Rams gonna be very good this year, methinks. There's live radio on 90.3 FM and WRIU website.
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Unread post by Rhode_Island_Red »

hrstrat57 wrote:
rjsuperfly66 wrote:
ATPTourFan wrote:If PC, in their new hockey palace in the state's capitol, struggles to fill that arena despite a winning team, what hope does URI have in South County?
Schneider was filled to about 91% capacity last season for the Friars.

Averaged almost 2,700 per game.

With National Championship aspirations, that percentage is expected to rise this season.
PC will ramp up the marketing blitz this season, they have a quality club and worked very hard to build it = time to ramp it up.....especially on campus.

As stated elsewhere in this thread a D1 hockey game packed with chanting obnoxious students is outstanding. I fully expect this will happen for PC this year....

Re football I am certainly not suggesting dropping football to add hockey....tho I did believe in that argument when I was on campus in the 70's.

I see men's and women's hockey as a linked discussion with no relationship to football. As was the case at UConn a deep pocketed champion of hockey needs to step up again as Mackel tried to do many years ago.....
I'll suggest dropping football for hockey again. Or even just eliminate the huge money suck that is football.
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by RIFan »

They need to sit down and look at their 5 and 10 year athletic plans and figure how much money they really have, and then determine which sport they can fund at a competitive level, including facilities...hockey or football. Then go all in with that sport. I believe we are the only NE state U that does not have D1 Hockey...if we dropped football we would not be alone.

The more I think about it...it's probably more difficult then usual to project athletic funding 5+ years out. We appear to be going "all in" on our basketball program, with the hopes and intentions that it will improve not only the money for athletics in years to come, but the whole university.
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The Dude wrote:This could be cool!
Haha…pardon the pun. RI is a great place for Hockey. Geographically we are in a good area for hockey. You can get some good homegrown talent out of Mount St. Charles and Hendricken in RI. Plus, there's some really good hockey high school teams in MA(BC High,Maiden Catholic, Springfield Cathedral, Xavierian, Austin Prep., Central Catholic, Beverly, and on and on…) and CT (Fairfield Prep.,Notre Dame-West Haven, Notre Dame-Fairfield, Darien).
This could be interesting.

Why then aren't Brown, UConn, and UMass more successful in hockey with all this local talent?

Given URI's history in athletics, why do people assume Ram hockey will recruit well, win games, and draw fans?
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

Unread post by Hal Kopp »

RF1-spot on!! Anyone that thinks that adding hockey (not a bad idea) and dropping FB will change anything does not know state of RI or URI. The only sport deserving of any investment is track and field. Dropping FB makes sense if they cut the other struggling sports (which is most of them). The argument is "that team is bad,but it costs less,so keep it",I hope does not fly from a business perspective.
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Hal, you ignore one giant difference between our football team and our other struggling programs besides money. Football is getting killed in what is essentially division 2, where all of our other sports are in division 1.
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RF1 wrote:
The Dude wrote:This could be cool!
Haha…pardon the pun. RI is a great place for Hockey. Geographically we are in a good area for hockey. You can get some good homegrown talent out of Mount St. Charles and Hendricken in RI. Plus, there's some really good hockey high school teams in MA(BC High,Maiden Catholic, Springfield Cathedral, Xavierian, Austin Prep., Central Catholic, Beverly, and on and on…) and CT (Fairfield Prep.,Notre Dame-West Haven, Notre Dame-Fairfield, Darien).
This could be interesting.

Why then aren't Brown, UConn, and UMass more successful in hockey with all this local talent?
You can't just click your magic heels and expect to be good. There's lots of local talent in basketball. Do we realistically expect Brown or Central Connecticut to make big pushes in recruiting? Same exists in hockey. You need to put resources in to get results out. You need to pay a good, proven coach and continually update facilities. Teams that do this tend to get results. With only 60 or so teams and 16 making the tournament, a team making this commitment can turn around a program reasonably quickly. You don't need to be a "power" program to make a strong impact in D1 hockey. Look at teams with some recent success - Union, Quinnipiac, Yale, etc. Heck, Union doesn't even offer scholarships and won the Championship last year. But they spend appropriately.
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Puck Frovidence
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Re: URI Alums Want to Explore Division I Hockey

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rjsuperfly66 wrote:
RF1 wrote:Why then aren't Brown, UConn, and UMass more successful in hockey with all this local talent?
You can't just click your magic heels and expect to be good. There's lots of local talent in basketball. Do we realistically expect Brown or Central Connecticut to make big pushes in recruiting? Same exists in hockey. You need to put resources in to get results out. You need to pay a good, proven coach and continually update facilities. Teams that do this tend to get results. With only 60 or so teams and 16 making the tournament, a team making this commitment can turn around a program reasonably quickly. You don't need to be a "power" program to make a strong impact in D1 hockey. Look at teams with some recent success - Union, Quinnipiac, Yale, etc. Heck, Union doesn't even offer scholarships and won the Championship last year. But they spend appropriately.

RJsupafly is right, and these are apples to oranges comparisons

UMass-Amherst is at best the sixth strongest program in its state (after BC, UMass-Lowell, BU, Northeastern and Merrimack respectively) and if Bentley, AIC or Holy Cross are having a decent year, they are significantly lower. They had problems even recruiting a coach, not to mention decent players. However, Lowell (D2 in everything other than hockey before this year) recently reinvested in athletics and has turned into one of the best hockey programs in all of New England. They have made the national tournament 3 years in a row, reaching the Frozen Four and winning back-to-back Hockey East Championships.

UConn similarly is at the bottom rung in Connecticut, with Yale and Quinnipiac (athletic depts with far fewer overall resources) making huge noise in recent years (Yale won NCAAs in 2012). UConn has hockey been consistently under-supported at the University, even lacking an on-campus indoor rink. Consequently they have not been competitive since they upgraded from D3 in 1997 (although they have a new coach and conference this year which may be an indication of greater commitment).

Brown doesn't commit particularly strongly to any of its athletic programs, least of all hockey, but despite that the team has been competitive in the recent past, upsetting the national champion Yale in their first game last year and playing in the final for the ECAC Championship in 2013. They received votes in the USCHO Pre-Season Poll released today.

RF1 wrote:Given URI's history in athletics, why do people assume Ram hockey will recruit well, win games, and draw fans?
I mean, by this logic, why would we hope/work for improvement in any sports? Ironically (for this statement) the history of URI hockey has been one of uninterrupted success for more than 20 years. Although the team receives no Athletic Department support, the are (almost unfailingly) one of the best teams from the highest level of play amongst all of the hockey teams nationwide who receive no Athletic Department support from their universities. In the ACHA they are a perennial powerhouse and regularly bring 300-500 people to games with basically zero advertising or promotion.
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