A Eulogy for the Showcase

We gather here, on this cold November day, to mourn the loss of the College Hockey Showcase. It only recently celebrated its 17th birthday, and already it has gone the way of Fruit Brute cereal, the DeLorean Motor Company and Heath Ledger (too soon?).

It began as the brainchild of four coaches (Jeff Sauer, Doug Woog, Ron Mason and Red Berenson), who thought it would be a great idea for the former WCHA rivals and Big Ten foes to meet each other in non-conference play. The first Showcase was held 1993 as a single-venue event in Auburn Hills, MI. It moved around a bit in its infancy, but finally settled on its most recent format.

It served as a reminder of the titan-like status each of the four schools hold in the college hockey community. Currently, the four schools collectively hold 23 of the 63 official D-I NCAA hockey championships. Along with BC, BU, UND and DU- they are THE strongest programs in the country. While the games weren't necessarily memorable in themselves (certainly, the atmosphere tended to be thin, on account of it being over Thanksgiving weekend, when students and old people alike frequently had other plans), you always knew that you would be seeing a matchup of some of college hockey's finest talent.

Now, it is dead. Killed mostly by Barry Alvarez, who last year decided to opt out of the arrangement, citing the desire to include Ohio State in the mix. Of course, we all know that it isn't really gone. It's just like a villain from a slasher flick. We will all pretend like it's dead and gone, but the wise and savvy among us know better. It's only a matter of time before the Showcase's jerky corpse rises from the dead, rebrands itself as the Big Ten Hockey Conference and hobbles about, slashing the throats of the annoying teenagers who dare get in its way.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. Fade to the BTHC.

Post Script: A few links discussing the demise of the Showcase, and the inescapable connection to the BTHC:

Andy Baggot (Madison.com)
Roman Augustovitz (Star Tribune):
Neil Koepke (Lansing State Journal/GreenAndWhite.com)

A few articles out there (notably in Augustovitz's column linked above) are noting the WCHA's attempts to be proactive by (a) offering a non-conference scheduling agreement to Wisconsin and Minnesota and (b) hiring some consultants to help them plan out some damage control. Something to keep in mind. I'm no expert on Minnesota's Athletic Department (other than knowing that Maturi has been the one AD that has spoken out against the BTHC), so I can't say anything about how they will react to such a proposal. I've a sneaking suspicion that Alvarez will tell the WCHA to shove it, since my gut instinct says that he's probably going to want to go the same route as basketball and football- go with whatever non-conference schedule gives you the most home dates, since that's better for the bottom line. To assume that UW will have 14 non-conference games and eagerly fill most of them with ex-WCHA teams is foolish. It only happens if we get all or most of those games at home, I can promise you that.

Other, tangentially related news: The Pioneer Press has quoted Paul Kelly as hinting that the Big Ten (Twelven? Tenve?) has once again made an offer to Notre Dame. With the BTHC as a cherry on top of whatever sundae the Big Ten had offered the last time around (you know, when Notre Dame rejected it and we got Nebraska instead). WCHBlog has the most amusing reaction to it, so you can find the article through there.

(Last Ever) College Hockey Showcase Week

Reminder: Saturday game time vs Michigan State has been changed from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM due to the football game time switch.

Coming in to the 2010-2011 hockey season, Wisconsin hockey fans prepared themselves for a roller coaster ride. So with the highs (6-0 drubbing of Minnesota), come the lows (back to back home sweeps at the hands of UND and UMD).

This weekend is a chance for redemption for the Wisconsin Badgers who despite losing the last four games, have played tough, including taking the near unanimous number one team in the country to overtime on back to back nights.

This holiday weekend brings to town Michigan and Michigan State for the College Hockey Showcase. This event which has been held annually for the past 17 years will be the final one.

Last weekend the Badgers despite being swept showed a lot of moxie. It was the first time this season that the goaltending wasn't top notch but the team battled through it and showed some poise including scoring a goal with an extra attacker to force overtime on Friday night.

Freshman forward Tyler Barnes found the back of the net a few times over the weekend and is looking more and more conferable every time on the ice. Looked upon by the coaching staff as a point producer coming into the season, Barnes success with the Badgers the rest of the season will go a long ways in determining how far they can go.

Mark Zengerle continues to rack up assists compiling three more last weekend. The New York native is now third in the country in assists and fifth in the country in total points. Zengerle leads the country in points scored by a freshman.

Junior forward Jordy Murray buried two goals over the weekend and is now in an elite group of only 4 other players in the country so far to have reached double digits in goals. The hard nosed winger out of Shattuck St. Marys has found a home out in front of the net and isn't afraid to get his beak dirty.

Michigan rolls in to town on Friday night ranked #8 in the country by both national polls and sports an 8-3-3 record so far. The Wolverines swept Lake Superior State last weekend 7-2, 3-2.

A veteran team, the Wolverines are led up front by a pair of seniors in Louie Caporusso and Carl Hagelin. Caporusso has recorded 40 points the past two seasons and Hagelin hit the 50 point mark a season ago.

Defensively watch out for electrifying freshman Jon Merrill who was drafted #38 overall in this past seasons NHL draft by the New Jersey Devils. Merrill, who committed to Michigan at fourteen years old has put up a solid 8 points through his first 14 college hockey games.

In net, Shawn Hunwick and Bryan Hogan have each played seven games for the maize and blue. The tandem has been rotation for the most part of the season but Hogan seems to have the better statistics early in the this young season. It looks like Hunwick has been starting on most Friday nights including the past two, so odds are that trend continues.

Saturday night Michigan State will take the four hour bus ride from the twin cities down 94 East to face the Badgers in the second night of the College Hockey Showcase. The Spartans haven't had the success they are accustomed to this season with only a 4-6-3 record. Sparty was swept over the weekend by Notre Dame and lost a rare Tuesday game against Ferris State last night.

Junior forward Brett Perlini is the leading scorer for State so far in the season. The Ontario native has 8 goals so far in 13 games, doubling any other player on the team. Perlini's 13 points already eclipse his 12 points last year as a sophomore.

Don't be surprised if you see a familiar face in the crowd this weekend. Former Badger Chris Chelios has two sons that now play for Michigan State. Jake, a freshman is second on the team in goals with 4 and has 6 points. Dean, a sophomore has two points.

Drew Palmisano has handled the bulk of the goaltending duties for the boys out of East Lancing so far this season. Palmisano has played 12 out of the 13 games for Sparty and sports a respectable .908 save percentage.

COVERAGE

Friday night there is no TV coverage. The game will be on bigtennetwork.com but I think they charge a small fee. The same is true for the Saturday game. My TV guide lists the Saturday game on television so you can check on Charter Extra, but I'm not holding my breath.

POLLS

Wisconsin dropped from #15 to #16 in the USCHO.com poll and from #15 to the "also receiving votes" category in the USA Hockey/USA Today poll. Wisconsin's Friday opponent, Michigan comes in ranked #8 in both polls. Michigan State is "also receiving votes" in the USCHO poll and is un-ranked by USA Hockey/USA Today.

INJURIES

The only injury I'm aware of right now is the ankle injury of Gavin Hartzog. I haven't heard an update on his status in quite some time. Even if he is healthy, there is a lot of competition for the last one or two spots in the lineup.

PREDICTIONS

Wisconsin needs victories in the worst way. Wisconsin has hung in with every team in the country so far and they have played some pretty good teams. There isn't a team out there right now that is going to come into a game with our Badgers and blow us away. Hungry, energized, and focused I think the Badgers come away from this weekend with a pair of victories.

Friday: Wisconsin 3, Michigan 2
Saturday: Wisconsin 6, Michigan State 2

chuckschwartz@live.com
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Last Weekend

Last weekend may have been the final College Hockey Showcase. We've alluded to it here, but I don't know that the college hockey saavy readers of this blog really view this as much of a secret. Thanksgiving weekend is an awkward draw (the Kohl Center atmosphere is never the same), and it's a poorly kept secret that the Big Ten would like to see some more developments in seeing the B10 schools play each other more. That means Ohio State gets to join the party. That means looking at new formats.

Fear not, oh loyal readers. This isn't the precursor for the dreaded BTHC. Among other issues, it can't happen with only five schools. It just means that the Big Ten schools are probably going to be re-evaluating how they use their non-conference games to play each other. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out on two fronts:

1) Will this cause more than 4,000 people to actually give a rip about OSU hockey?
2) What the heck do the hockey teams have to do to get some BTN exposure around here?

On that second note, let's take a look at this gem from Mike Eave's press conference before last weekend's games:

QUESTION #3: Could you tell us the future of this, I know you’ve spoken about this a little bit, but the future of the College Hockey Showcase and where it stands right now, Mike?

EAVES: Well, I think some changes are in the future. I think that, we’ve talked about this before, the evolution of the Big Ten Network has put things in a different perspective, and we’re looking out to different scenarios that might become part of that. The next revenue sport, once basketball and football are up and running, is hockey. And they need some airtime that could be filled by hockey, and so I think we’re taking a look at different scenarios. But I think there’s a metamorphosis that’s going on right now as to what it is or what it will become, it’s tough to say.

QUESTION #4: And yet neither one of the games this weekend are on the Big Ten Network.

EAVES: Well, that is out of my control.

Pretty amusing to read. I can only imagine how awkward it was for him to navigate around the ugly truth: the BTN wants more hockey games... they just don't want to actually have them on TV. Logical, right? There are a litany of games featuring Big Ten schools that can go on airwaves, yet we rarely see it. Fridays, like Eaves said, are a dead zone for them, so why not do it? Are we supposed to think that this is better than in 2007-08, when a game against Minnesota was pre-empted by a basketball press conference?

The ideal solution for the Big Ten schools is for the WCHA and CCHA to reduce the number of conference games to 20 or 22 (I know blockski has championed this for quite some time). That would free up more dates for non-conference dates with Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. Not sure what the "smaller" schools would think of that, but I would imagine that the Big Televen schools have enough clout to make it happen if they wanted.

On another note:

When I was a Crease Creature ('03-'04 through '07-'08), I occassionally thought of new songs and cheers to try. 99% of them never caught on (you wouldn't believe me if I told you which one of my ideas did catch on). One idea I always had that I never tried was to sing this song when Tech came to town (to the tune of "If You're Happy And You Know It"):

If you want a sausage fest, go to Tech *clap*clap*
If you want a sausage fest, go to Tech *clap*clap*
Where the women aren't worth mention
Like a comic book convention
If you want a sausage fest, go to Tech *clap*clap*

Another lame cheer of mine that would have never caught on? Probably. But it amused me when I thought of it and now I'm kind of ticked that I never gave it a test run.

College Hockey Showcase Outlook

Is this the last season of the annual College Hockey Showcase? The event which was created in 1993 faces a very realistic possibility that this could be the end.

We had a weird off season news wise with the announcements of the Culvers Camp Randall game, Bemidji and Nebraska-Omaha entering the league, and talk of a Big Ten Hockey conference as well as talk that Wisconsin had internal talks about joining the CCHA. Lost in the shuffle was the news about the potential abortion of the CHS.

From an Andy Baggot update in late October, "UW is looking to incorporate CCHA member Ohio State, the fifth hockey-playing entity from the Big Ten, into the rotation. That could result in a series with the Buckeyes one year, followed by one with Michigan and Michigan State the next."

I know that the interest generated by the College Hockey Showcase has been down in recent years, but I still absolutely love the current format. In my opinion it would be an absolute travesty to only be able to play Michigan once every three seasons.

The hockey history that Ohio State brings to the table pales in comparison to the histories of Michigan and Michigan State. To tell you the truth, if Ohio State didn't have the Big Ten name legacy, their hockey program wouldn't have a pot to piss in. They play in a huge arena and get zero fan support. The last thing I want to do is skip a bi-annual trip to legendary facilities like Yost and Munn so that we can play in front 4,200 fans in a facility that seats 17,000? What a joke.


2009 College Hockey Showcase Predictions

Friday Night vs Michigan State

In my opinion Wisconsin is the best team in the showcase this year. If they are the best, State has to be second. I think that Wisconsin comes out and dominates from the beginning. The talent is too much to overcome for Michigan State.

Wisconsin 5, Michigan State 2

Saturday Night vs Michigan

Michigan is always a battle no matter what. They weren't predicted to finish as high as they were for no reason. With that said, I still think we're a much better team and should take care of business.

Wisconsin 3, Michigan 2


Photo by RedHeat15

The end of the Badger Hockey Showdown and College Hockey Showcase?

Today, Andy Baggot tells us that this may be the last year for the Badger Hockey Showdown and the College Hockey Showcase.

Yeah, yeah, I know the Badger Hockey Showdown has been on a decline since it moved from Milwaukee. Attendance is lousy, and it's hard to get good quality opponents, especially since there are a ton of holiday tournaments these days. And I've been pretty outspoken (perhaps not here, but in person to those who would listen) in lamenting the weak opponents of the Showdown in recent years. But I really like being able to go to a holiday tournament and see 4 games, and I'd have a hard time making a holiday tourney road trip. So I'm pretty bummed about this.

Baggot tells us that the nature of the PWR formula and the .500 criteria are driving forces behind the scheduling changes, but I gotta tell ya, this logic makes absolutely no sense in regards to the Badger Hockey Showdown. (In all fairness to Baggot, he's repeating what the UW staff has told him.) The opponents win percentage was recently (sometime in the past couple years, not sure exactly when) given less weight in the PWR, and ya gotta have a .500 record to make the NCAA tourney. So the coaching staff has talked about needing to schedule cupcakes (my word, not theirs, of course) to ensure that .500 record. But the Badgers are more likely to play cupcakes in their own holiday tourney (which has recently featured cupcakes, not that it has guaranteed wins, however) than if they go to someone else's holiday tourney where they might have to play the host team, which is usually a top team (or at least better than many of the invitees).

And then Eaves says that rather than a holiday tournament, they'd like to "get a quality team in here at Christmas time where we can play two games and (Badgers fans) can see the same team back-to-back, that will be fine." So, no cupcake? Or is "quality team" a code phrase for cupcake?

And I don't understand how nixing the College Hockey Showcase makes any sense. Baggot tells us that it has to do with getting Ohio State in the mix. So they're going to nix a perfectly good showcase to add 1 team into the rotation? Sounds stupid to me.

And if the UW wants to schedule softer teams, well then sure, OSU will probably be easier to beat than UM or MSU. But that doesn't change that we'll still have to play both UM and MSU some years, and once again there goes the logic of scheduling non-conference cupcakes to try to get a .500 record.

I might be an idiot, but something about all this logic just doesn't seem logical to me . . .

Will Davies play?

Yesterday, Todd at TCT had a piece about Michael Davies getting closer to returning to the lineup.

It's hardly a sure thing, but Michael Davies is at least getting closer to returning to the Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey lineup.

We usually use that kind of language when talking about an injured player; Davies is trying to earn his spot in the lineup again after falling out of favor.

But it is a little like a player returning from injury. Davies needs to show Mike Eaves and the UW coaching staff that he's willing to do what they have asked him to do -- contribute more to the team all over when he's on the ice.

"He's inching closer," Eaves said Tuesday. "That's probably the best way to put it. Today was a little look and see how he responded and how he looked."

I think Michael deserves a chance to get out there and see what he does back in the game setting. Sure he hasn't performed this season, but a six game layoff is far too long for someone who could potentially be one of our top scorers. Plus for those w/ season tickets on fridays, it is Michael's night on the ticket. Put him on the ice!

Here were the lines combos on tuesday:

Eaves said the line combinations the team used Tuesday -- it had an optional skate without coaches on Monday -- likely would change before Wednesday's practice. For the record, Blake Geoffrion was centering Jordy Murray and Derek Stepan; Andy Bohmbach was centering Tom Gorowsky and Davies; Sean Dolan was centering John Mitchell and Ben Grotting; Matt Thurber was centering Patrick Johnson and Chris Hickey; and Aaron Bendickson was centering Podge Turnbull and Tom Bardis.

In the past, the Showcase has been an opportunity for the backup goalie to get some action. In the last two seasons, both Shane Connelly (2006) and Scott Gudmandson (2007) started saturday night against Michigan State. While Goody played great against Tech earning the shutout (w/ some puck luck), we need to get to .500 and for the PWR rankings we need the wins. If Connelly plays well friday night, I want to see him in against Michigan, they are the better of the two teams we're facing this weekend, we need to bring our best.