2024 University Cup

[MiamiHockeyII]

I have to comment on some of the "pipe dream" posts about possible hosts and rinks.

I've spoken enough about Kitchener over the years and my comments apply to ANY Ontario school except Lakehead. Lakehead plays in a old building with a bunch of small dressing rooms. They had trailers outside for the gear. The room we we in could barely fit the players. But, in terms of attendance it was good.

Mcgill is a no, not sure on UQTR. Anywhere in the AUS works well for attendance and, if a NS team is hosting. the Mero center has loads of room. UPEI was fine, except for having the gear in the other side if the complex in cages. Makes extra work for the equipment guys.

In CW, UofA and UofS are the only 2 venues for me.

 

[AUS Fan]

A couple of "final" thoughts on the Nationals.
The hockey, overall was fairly good. The venue is very good.
I met some folks I haden't seen in years (Dave Morell,Maureen Sparks and Earl "the Pearl" Zukerman). Got to see some of the usual UNB fans who travel. They're nice people; just UNB fans.

Chatted with Ben Steiner daily. He's a little nerdy, but he's a smart kid. Works hard at his craft. If you don't follow 49 Sports on Xwitter, you should. Lots of USports stuff. I wish him all the best.

Can't close without mentioning the remarkable year UNB had. I fully expect them to follow up next season.

Next year will be 25 consecutive and may be time to hang up the blades after that.

For now I'll work on some recruiting stuff from Elite prospects and post it.

Cheers.

 

[Rob]

I have to comment on some of the "pipe dream" posts about possible hosts and rinks.

I've spoken enough about Kitchener over the years and my comments apply to ANY Ontario school except Lakehead. Lakehead plays in a old building with a bunch of small dressing rooms. They had trailers outside for the gear. The room we we in could barely fit the players. But, in terms of attendance it was good.

Mcgill is a no, not sure on UQTR. Anywhere in the AUS works well for attendance and, if a NS team is hosting. the Mero center has loads of room. UPEI was fine, except for having the gear in the other side if the complex in cages. Makes extra work for the equipment guys.

In CW, UofA and UofS are the only 2 venues for me.

I spoke with a UBC fan who said their Olympic size venue could handle it. He conceded that he didn’t think there would be much local support though.

So as said previously, hopefully it is someplace that has a real fan base

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

I think the costs involved + having the proper size venue are two of the more important factors when deciding who can/would be willing to host. It would probably make more sense financially to sell-out a 1500-2000 seat rink (even better if the school owns it) rather than rent a CHL rink and only fill a 1/3 of it. Or maybe you could use two venues....for example a place like Saskatchewan, would it make sense to hold the non-Saskatchewan QF games at Merlis Belsher and then the Saskatchewan QF game/semi-finals/finals at the Blades rink? Or would that be a logistical nightmare?

 

[dm8895]

I’m pretty sure in Edmonton they played at both Clare Drake and whatever Northlands was called at that time

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

I spoke with a UBC fan who said their Olympic size venue could handle it. He conceded that he didn’t think there would be much local support though.

So as said previously, hopefully it is someplace that has a real fan base

As long as they can handle the budget, why not?
It's an up and coming program that just hosted it's first CanadaWest championship??
I wouldn't compare that program with Lethbridge that wasn't scrapped after Nationals.

 

[AUS Fan]

I’m pretty sure in Edmonton they played at both Clare Drake and whatever Northlands was called at that time

Yes they did. Semi and finals.

 

[Hollywood3]

If MRU/Calgary ever wanted to bid, they would host the entire event on the Olympic-size ice at the Winsport Arena. I can't imagine a worse place to host the University Cup than Father Bauer or the Saddledome.

They held the womens usports nationals there, several Team Canada junior camps, and the curling events during covid lockdown. Problem is they would have to rent it. I don't believe they own it, but do own Father David Bauer Arena.

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

I’m pretty sure in Edmonton they played at both Clare Drake and whatever Northlands was called at that time

Yes, but since then, the Oil Kings have moved into town, so Alberta has NHL and WHL to deal with, so I doubt that they would get a walk up crowd that big again, but....
UNB vs Alberta cup final in Edmonton might be a big draw?

 

[UNB Bruins Fan]

Yes, but since then, the Oil Kings have moved into town, so Alberta has NHL and WHL to deal with, so I doubt that they would get a walk up crowd that big again, but....
UNB vs Alberta cup final in Edmonton might be a big draw?

Was that the lockout year too?

 

[Rob]

As long as they can handle the budget, why not?
It's an up and coming program that just hosted it's first CanadaWest championship??
I wouldn't compare that program with Lethbridge that wasn't scrapped after Nationals.

Certainly the USports brass are just concerned with guaranteed money. Fans in the stands is secondary. Unless some rich alumni wants to be generous I can’t see it happening

 

[MiamiHockeyII]

They held the womens usports nationals there, several Team Canada junior camps, and the curling events during covid lockdown. Problem is they would have to rent it. I don't believe they own it, but do own Father David Bauer Arena.

Winsport is a Non-Profit, so the rent would not be exorbitant, and the main arena is not busy as it does not have a main tenant. The fact they held USports Women's Nationals there suggests that it is affordable.

 

[MiamiHockeyII]

Yes, but since then, the Oil Kings have moved into town, so Alberta has NHL and WHL to deal with, so I doubt that they would get a walk up crowd that big again, but....
UNB vs Alberta cup final in Edmonton might be a big draw?

Was that the lockout year too?

Yes, and yes. It was 2005, the NHL lockout year AND the Oil Kings had yet to return. So, there was nothing happening in Edmonton. Rexall Place (as it was known then) sat empty.

Zero chance of a University Cup Final being held in Rogers Place. The fortunate timing in 2005 will never be repeated (unless there are simultaneous WHL and NHL lockouts).

I am not sure why anyone thinks it's a good idea to have the UCup Final in a large arena. Outside of perhaps Halifax, there's not one market in Canada large enough or that will sell enough tickets to make a 5000 seat arena look remotely full. It makes much more sense to have the UCup Final in an arena that holds 3000 or fewer and to actually sell those tickets instead of giving them away.

We will see that again in Ottawa in 2025 ... an empty TD Place arena.

 

[Rob]

Yes, and yes. It was 2005, the NHL lockout year AND the Oil Kings had yet to return. So, there was nothing happening in Edmonton. Rexall Place (as it was known then) sat empty.

Zero chance of a University Cup Final being held in Rogers Place. The fortunate timing in 2005 will never be repeated (unless there are simultaneous WHL and NHL lockouts).

I am not sure why anyone thinks it's a good idea to have the UCup Final in a large arena. Outside of perhaps Halifax, there's not one market in Canada large enough or that will sell enough tickets to make a 5000 seat arena look remotely full. It makes much more sense to have the UCup Final in an arena that holds 3000 or fewer and to actually sell those tickets instead of giving them away.

We will see that again in Ottawa in 2025 ... an empty TD Place arena.

I expect TD Place to be pretty empty as well. At the very least you hope they can get better student support for the Gee Gees game. Or games.
One explanation given for the low student turnout for TMU is that it is a “commuter school.” Most students have to travel everyday for classes.

 

[AUS Fan]

Several years ago I was at the Nationals and talking to the then OTT coach about attendance. He said the school had 40K enrollment but a lot of the students are foreign students and they don't draw much for games.

To repeat myself for the umpteenth time, this plays out at EVERY Ontario school except Lakehead.

 

[Hollywood3]

I expect TD Place to be pretty empty as well. At the very least you hope they can get better student support for the Gee Gees game. Or games.
One explanation given for the low student turnout for TMU is that it is a “commuter school.” Most students have to travel everyday for classes.

Why not hold it the arena under Lansdowne?

 

[RED ARMY EAST]

I think that's were they are hosting, Ottawa Civic Centre?

 

[dm8895]

Why not hold it the arena under Lansdowne?

That’s where it’s at, current naming rights are owned by TD. Drove by this weekend actually , went down to the Oilers-Sens game this weekend. Much better location than the Sens rink which is in a sea of car dealerships 25 mins out of town

 

[MiamiHockeyII]

I expect TD Place to be pretty empty as well. At the very least you hope they can get better student support for the Gee Gees game. Or games.
One explanation given for the low student turnout for TMU is that it is a “commuter school.” Most students have to travel everyday for classes.

Several years ago I was at the Nationals and talking to the then OTT coach about attendance. He said the school had 40K enrollment but a lot of the students are foreign students and they don't draw much for games.

To repeat myself for the umpteenth time, this plays out at EVERY Ontario school except Lakehead.

That’s where it’s at, current naming rights are owned by TD. Drove by this weekend actually , went down to the Oilers-Sens game this weekend. Much better location than the Sens rink which is in a sea of car dealerships 25 mins out of town

TMU is a commuter school, but so is Alberta. That's a weak explanation for nobody showing up at 1100 on a Sunday morning.

Most Canadian universities have large proportions of international students (30% or more), including Alberta and Saskatchewan. Government funding has been cut to the point where universities need international students - and their much higher tuition rates - to stay afloat (not joking). So, yes Ottawa has a large proportion of international students, but there are still ~ 25,000 domestic students who also choose to not attend Gee-Gee games.

TD Place is not inconvenient, but it's also not on campus. The reality is that Ottawa is not a college town, and neither Carleton nor University of Ottawa are relevant on the local sports scene.

 

[Rob]

Due to renovations at McConnel arena, McGill's men and women's hockey teams will be playing at Place Bell in Laval. The arena has three ice surfaces. The main one for the Laval Rocket holds over 10,000. They have an Olympic ice surface that holds 2,500 and a practice rink that holds 500.