Personally, I think the move away from Atlantic City is a necessary one. Last year's attendance was absolutely brutal. The main reason for this was probably because there was only one team --- Princeton --- who was even remotely close to the city, and that was a 105 minute drive.
When picking a site for the ECAC Tournament a few things come into play:
1) Distance from teams/fanbases
2) Arena size
3) City where arena is
To me, the obvious choice is the Times Union Center in Albany, which is the geographic and physical center of the conference.
Here's a look at the approximate distance (according to MapQuest) from each school to the arena:
Clarkson - 196 miles
Colgate - 107 miles
Cornell - 167 miles
Dartmouth - 135 miles
Harvard - 166 miles
Princeton - 185 miles
Quinnipiac - 130 miles
RPI - 9 miles
St. Lawrence - 199 miles
Union - 20 miles
Yale - 140 miles
As you can see, it would not be hard for any ECAC Hockey fan to travel to Albany. Sure, a SLU fan would have to travel farther than an RPI fan, but it's still not bad. I mean, would a SLU fan rather drive 199 miles to Albany or 450 to Atlantic City? It also seems that most major roadways go through Albany.
The Times Union Center also has a good enough capacity to hold the event. The place can hold about 14,000 people. While ECAC Hockey fans haven't proven to be able to put 14,000 people in one building, I can still see putting about 10,000 in the rink depending on who the teams are. Imagine how packed a Cornell-Union-RPI-Yale championship weekend would be (which isn't too far fetched for this year)? I could definitely see Boardwalk Hall (about 11,000 capacity) selling out if it were located in Albany.
I think the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, which holds a little under 8,000 people, is a good idea, but the olympic ice surface is a big problem to me. You don't want the biggest league games of the year being decided on an ice surface different from all the other games during the year. Also, whoever wins then has to go and play on an NHL ice surface the following game in the NCAA tournament. Plus, getting to LP could be a pain in the neck, as well as getting hotel rooms.
"The Dunk" in Providence is also a decent choice with their 12,000 person capacity. It would be an easy drive for Brown, Harvard, Quinnipiac, and Yale fans, but for Cornell, Clarkson, St. Lawrence, and Colgate fans it could be a real hike. But, I do like Providence as a city since there are things to do. I can say the same things about Boston, but I think ECAC Hockey would get lost there since it's the home of Hockey East. Plus, the TD Garden is too big to hold such an event.
Other places that have been mentioned include Binghamton, Syracuse, Springfield, and Worcester, but I don't like either of these places as sites. There would be no real "host" teams, plus cities like Springfield and Worcester are really not great cities. I'm not saying Albany is an awesome city, but it's definitely better than these two Massachusetts cities. I can also say the same about Bridgeport (not good city) and Hartford (rink a little too big).
The Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York is also an interesting thought since it's just an hour north of the TUC, and is less than 30 minutes away from Saratoga Springs, but the arena only holds 5,000 people.
So, in conclusion, I think the league should admit their mistakes and go back to Albany. It would make all fans happy since Albany is within legitimate driving distance of everybody and is a pretty decent and affordable city. But, I would not be disappointed if the conference tried hosting the tournament in Providence or tried once again in Lake Placid.
This is just my opinion. Some people might know more about the cities and venues I mentioned. What do you think?
Lake Placid, no question
ReplyDeleteThe four main ECAC schools that travel well are: Cornell, Clarkson, RPI and St. Lawrence. We never got to see RPI at Albany (which would have made a huge difference in attendence) but the other schools listed above traveled well to Albany the few years they were there. Overall though, Lake Placid is the home of the ECAC. This is where the tournament belongs and where it is going. Lake Placid is the only community of the possible hosts that embraces this tournament with open arms. They had a proven attendence success when the tournament was there. There was even a few years where the big draws listed above didn't make it and the fans still continued to show. Great choice by the ECAC to move it back to Lake Placid, where it belongs!
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