If you needed another example of why you cannot manufacture the atmosphere of college hockey in new buildings far away from campuses that have the college game, I give you last weekend's IceBreaker Classic at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Plenty of good seats available to watch the tournament featuring Nebraska-Omaha, Maine, Notre Dame and Army.
Now I know that when I was in school, UNO was not known for having a great number of football fans travel for road games (Northern Colorado was a member of the great Division II North Central Conference back then), so I was not surprised to see a vast number of empty seats that could have been filled by those Nebraskans and Iowans who might take in a Mavericks game at home.
And those fans are familiar with traveling to Kansas City to see the Royals or the Chiefs play. Hmm, maybe that whole Royals experience has killed the urge to make the drive down. But there still is barbecue there... and now I am on another tangent.
The hockey was fine, but it had a house league feel, and that was not the best atmosphere to drop these four teams into.
I used to attend the early season tournament that was held first at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and then at the Pond in Anaheim.
The last tournament I attended had Miami University playing a Michigan State team that had Anson Carter and Jason Muzatti. The hockey was fine, but the place was deathly quiet.
In short, maybe the teams got something out of the visit, but I doubt it was worth the time away from campus, where maybe some students might have dropped in for a game or two.
But that's me. I was never a big fan of the NHL's neutral-site league games back in the early 1990s. I say keep them on campus as much as possible. Or find a small building where a cozy group of fans can actually keep each other warm (passing a flask, perhaps?) while watching the college game.
Time to put the soapbox away. Here are the weekend scores.
FRIDAY
Hockey East
Vermont 1, at Massachusetts-Lowell 1 OT
Nonconference
Union 5, at Bowling Green 3
At Colorado College 5, Clarkson 4
At Miami 3, Colgate 0
At Providence 8, Sacred Heart 2
American International 3, at Penn State 2 OT
At RPI 3, Ferris State 1
Minnesota State 4, at Alabama-Huntsville 1
At Minnesota-Duluth 6, Ohio State 2
At Minnesota 5, Michigan State 1
At New Hampshire 5, St. Cloud State 3
At Massachusetts 4, Connecticut 1
At Michigan 7, RIT 2
Northern Michigan 2, Wisconsin 1 at Green Bay
St. Lawrence 4, at Western Michigan 3 OT
Nebraska-Omama 5, Army 1 at Kansas City, Mo.
Notre Dame 1, Maine 0 at Kansas City, Mo.
Air Force 3, Alaska 3 OT at Anchorage
Alaska-Anchorage 2, Canisius 0 at Anchorage
SATURDAY
Atlantic Hockey
At Niagara 2, Mercyhurst 1
Hockey East
At Boston University 4, Providence 2
At Northeastern 3, Boston College 1
Nonconference
Union 4, at Bowling Green 1
At Colorado College 5, Clarkson 4
At Michigan Tech 8, Lake Superior 4
At Miami 5, Colgate 1
At Penn State 4, American International 3 OT
At Quinnipiac 4, Robert Morris 0
Ferris State 2, at RPI 2 OT
Minnesota State 2, at Alabama-Huntsville 2 OT
Ohio State 3, at Minnesota-Duluth 2
At Minnesota 7, Michigan State 1
At New Hampshire 4, St. Cloud State 2
Northern Michigan 4, Wisconsin 2 at Green Bay
At Western Michigan 3, St. Lawrence 2
Air Force 3, Alaska-Anchorage 3 OT at Anchorage
Canisius 3, Alaska 1 at Anchorage
Maine 4, Army 3 at Kansas City, Mo.
Notre Dame 3, Nebraska-Omaha 2 at Kansas City, Mo.
SUNDAY
Nonconference
Robert Morris 4, at Quinnipiac 0
Summaries and recaps for the entire weekend are here.
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