There is no way to hide it. The experience of attending a women’s college hockey game is usually lacking in a quality atmosphere. On a constant basis, attendance and outspoken interest in PC’s team, among countless others, is much too shallow to do any justice to the main attraction down at ice level.
Too often, it appears as if the ticket holders are casually socializing and passing through the concourse and the Friends of Friar Room, oblivious to the rink in the middle as if it were the ceiling cavity on the third floor of Providence Place Mall.
What can be done to improve this? Well, where do you want to start? There are several relatively easy methods of enhancing the vigor in the arena on game night and promotional ideas to maintain attention.
I’m not naïve by any means. I understand that Schneider Arena does not have all of the resources to replicate the atmosphere of the TD Garden or even the Dunkin Donuts Center. But just the same, even with what it does have to give, the pleasure of attending a Friars game has yet to play to its full potential. More energy and more professionalism are needed behind the scenes.
This author may not have much experience working a sideshow or running a public relations office, but he does have enough experience with, well, experiences (both good and subpar) at sporting events to confidently suggest the following five steps to reeling in more fanfare at PC women’s games:
Shoot out the lights- There’s something about darkening the building and enlisting a couple of spotlights that draws more attention to the ice and instills extra adrenaline leading up to game time. The PC men’s team has already been doing this for two years running, so why not the women’s?
Power up the playlist- To build on that last point, more needs to be done to corral the attention of the fans early, get them to anticipate the game more keenly, and keep them engaged when they have fixated their eyes on the ice. It all starts by playing more heart-pumping, sweat-flowing music. (Urgent note to the DJ: Sugar Ray never hit a real sports fanatic’s sweet spot and it never will.)
Again, compare/contrast the vibe in Schneider Arena for a men’s game versus a women’s contest. The men’s team typically storms out to the likes of “Enter Sandman” or “Always Hardcore.” The Skating Sorority gets stuck with a canned, dead beat version of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Even worse, that darned clunker of a fight song is recycled for every goal and the start and conclusion of every period.
That’s not to say this is the sole reason why attendance at women’s games is so sparse and why it’s so easy for the visiting masses to have their voices heard and usurp home ice advantage. But it is definitely an accomplice at best. In fact, so far as this author can tell, this particular area needs to be addressed more than any other if teams like the PC women are going to pile up on public relations.
The solution: first, the quick fix for goals. Ever heard of Rock and Roll Part II? If not, then look up “Providence Bruins goal horn” on YouTube. Or how about Kernkraft 400? For that, simply query “Boston Bruins goal horn” and it’ll cut you to the chase.
As for the pregame buildup, the list of options is vaster and deeper than Team Canada’s Olympic tryout roster.
You could try any one of these (remember, lights off) for the last 3-4 minutes before the players emerge for the first period: “New Divide” by Linkin Park; “Bring Me to Life” by Evanescence; “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” by AC/DC; “The Pretender” by Foo Fighters; “Boom” by P.O.D.; “Burn It To The Ground (radio edit)” by Nickelback”; “State of Massachusetts” by the Dropkick Murphys; or even “Time to Go” by the Dropkick Murphys.
And then, once the starting goaltender sets her first blade on the pond, try the opening portion of one of these: “Crazy Train” by Ozzie Osbourne; “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC; “Animals” by Nickelback; “Right Now” by Van Halen; or “Kickstart My Heart” by Motley Crue (as the P-Bruins have proven, once that song reaches “Kickstart my heart, hope it never stops,” you can sense that everyone is ready to go).
Book some good guests- Nothing like two local sports teams crossing their personnel over to show that they are in it together catering to the same fan base. The PC women can easily benefit by –at least on occasion- bringing in other Rhode Island sports figures to drop a ceremonial first puck and/or sign autographs in the lobby at intermission.
Whether it’s a hype-magnet of a new PC men’s basketball recruit, a locally bred PawSox player within tasting distance of the major leagues, or an-ex PC icer now with the P-Bruins (by now you’ve heard Nolan Schaefer is coming back to the Divine City), the possibilities abound. They should be utilized.
Host a team Superskills competition- It doesn’t get a whole lot of publicity at the pro level, and it’s not even clear if any teams still do it. But in the past, NHL teams have been known to assemble a crowd at their home arena, split their team into two squads, and let them flaunt their flair with proceeds going to charity. When the Bruins did this, such events included hardest shot, fastest skater, puck control relay, shooting accuracy, and breakaway relay.
It couldn’t hurt a publicity-starved team to try such an exhibition. The best time for the Friars to do this would probably be a Friday evening when the PC men are slated to play a game at 7:00 while the women are tuning up for a Saturday/Sunday weekend slate. Perhaps, in lieu of the usual 4-6 practice window, Bob Deraney’s pupils could test and flaunt their skills for those waiting to watch the Tim Army Corps. Fans could be let into the building an hour earlier than the usual 6:00 doorbust and be enlightened to the sport’s diversity.
Start a YouTube channel- It came to this author’s attention earlier this past season that the Friars already have a Facebook and Twitter page, so why stop there? Within the WHEA alone, four programs –Boston University, New Hampshire, Northeastern, and Vermont- regularly post game highlights and quick features on YouTube. And once you’re there, you literally have a planet’s worth of prospective viewers.
Al Daniel can be reached at hockeyscribe@hotmail.com
This article originally appeared in the Friartown Free Press
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
On Women's Hockey: Outdoor Game A Whale Of An Opportunity
Unlike the debate over the merits of a Super Bowl in metropolitan New York –a full-scale quarrel with no ending in sight even with the event already set in place- no visible breath can be considered wasted when speaking in favor of the occasional outdoor hockey game.
The Providence College women’s team, which based on longevity was probably the only Hockey East team left out of Frozen Fenway that could claim it was snubbed, got rapid reparation yesterday. The Friars will be reeled in to Rentschler Field in East Hartford next winter, when they shall tangle with rival Connecticut on February 13 as part of a 10-day celebration of hockey in The Nutmeg State.
Yesterday, the people in charge of a new movement to revive the Hartford Whalers –an endeavor just as controversial as proposing a Snowglobe Super Bowl- proved they have this much going for them. The committee, led by seasoned NHL executive Harold Baldwin, will stage the so-termed “Whaler Hockey Fest” with, to the best of their ability, every available trimming to match the unique week everyone had in Boston last January. With further details still yet to be finalized, events will reportedly range from a Bruins-Whalers alumni clash, to an AHL Hartford Wolf Pack game, to innumerable youth hockey contests.
Whatever this might ultimately do to bring The Show back to the area, the countless remoras coming over to Rentschler are sure to get the goods they desire.
Of the event’s impact on his group, Friars’ head coach Bob Deraney said in a statement, “Not only does it showcase the sport of women’s ice hockey, but it also features two formidable Hockey East teams that have developed a fierce rivalry with one another.
“Every team wants to play in an outdoor event like this and we are grateful to have this opportunity for our student-athletes, staff and fans.”
For the Friars, who will be in their thirty-seventh year of operation, this is a chance to breathe the same kind of pond hockey air as what the 30-year-old Northeastern and 33-year-old New Hampshire programs soaked in at the Yawkey Yard. It is PC’s chance to reassert itself as being among the grassroots girls of Division I hockey.
And in this particular sport, few methods of seizing attention are more highly recommended than pitting two institutions that are already prominent in the more privileged sports. So for both participating clubs, this will be an unprecedented opportunity to flaunt the flair of the PC-UConn rivalry and let more people know the animosity is hardly confined to basketball. Some novice spectators might even agree to take a history lesson and learn that, unlike in hoops, the two hockey teams have routinely met in the postseason, including each of the last three years.
For the women’s hockey world in general, this will be a helpful follow-up on what was likely the most publicly progressive season in at least a decade. There will be no Olympics in 2010-11 (although plenty of world class players are coming to study and skate around these parts), but there is now another bonfire to be stoked.
Barring any announcements elsewhere in the nation akin to that made yesterday in East Hartford, this will be only the third event of its kind in NCAA women’s history. The other two have happened within the last five months, those being the UNH-NU clash and Wisconsin’s home date with Bemidji State back on February 6.
Predictions are precarious, and there isn’t a whole lot of history to help shape one’s speculation, but this game is sure to draw extra eyes. The Fenway women’s game, which was largely looked upon as an opening act to the BC-BU men’s battle, had a listed audience of 6,889 fans plus an indefinite number of regional TV viewers on NESN and national watchers on the NHL Network. The Badgers played in front of a reported 8,263 fans at Camp Randall Stadium before their male counterparts arrived on the scene along with a much heftier mass of 55,031 rooters.
There is no certainty of live TV coverage for the Friar-Husky game. And unlike the previous doubleheaders, this one will not follow the classic “ladies-first” policy. Rather, it will be the UConn men’s game versus Sacred Heart preceding the Friars’ tangle with Heather Linstad’s pupils.
The difference between seeing who shows up early and watching who sticks around as a courtesy to the female athletes should be interesting. The difference it makes in terms of attendance, if it does make any difference, will only be certain come game day.
But it will be, at the very least, a small plus if the Huskies can play before a crowd bigger than what their full-time home, Freitas Ice Forum, can accommodate. That dinky barn, which in terms of size and atmosphere is far better suited for a Junior B program, seats a mere 2,000 fans. Once they shuffle things over the Rentschler, the maximum capacity will instantly swell up to around 40,000.
Cue the cliché tempest. This means that the limits are astronomically high. And on the eve of the next Valentine’s Day, some new people might learn to love women’s puck.
Al Daniel can be reached at hockeyscribe@hotmail.com
This article originally appeared in the Friartown Free Press
The Providence College women’s team, which based on longevity was probably the only Hockey East team left out of Frozen Fenway that could claim it was snubbed, got rapid reparation yesterday. The Friars will be reeled in to Rentschler Field in East Hartford next winter, when they shall tangle with rival Connecticut on February 13 as part of a 10-day celebration of hockey in The Nutmeg State.
Yesterday, the people in charge of a new movement to revive the Hartford Whalers –an endeavor just as controversial as proposing a Snowglobe Super Bowl- proved they have this much going for them. The committee, led by seasoned NHL executive Harold Baldwin, will stage the so-termed “Whaler Hockey Fest” with, to the best of their ability, every available trimming to match the unique week everyone had in Boston last January. With further details still yet to be finalized, events will reportedly range from a Bruins-Whalers alumni clash, to an AHL Hartford Wolf Pack game, to innumerable youth hockey contests.
Whatever this might ultimately do to bring The Show back to the area, the countless remoras coming over to Rentschler are sure to get the goods they desire.
Of the event’s impact on his group, Friars’ head coach Bob Deraney said in a statement, “Not only does it showcase the sport of women’s ice hockey, but it also features two formidable Hockey East teams that have developed a fierce rivalry with one another.
“Every team wants to play in an outdoor event like this and we are grateful to have this opportunity for our student-athletes, staff and fans.”
For the Friars, who will be in their thirty-seventh year of operation, this is a chance to breathe the same kind of pond hockey air as what the 30-year-old Northeastern and 33-year-old New Hampshire programs soaked in at the Yawkey Yard. It is PC’s chance to reassert itself as being among the grassroots girls of Division I hockey.
And in this particular sport, few methods of seizing attention are more highly recommended than pitting two institutions that are already prominent in the more privileged sports. So for both participating clubs, this will be an unprecedented opportunity to flaunt the flair of the PC-UConn rivalry and let more people know the animosity is hardly confined to basketball. Some novice spectators might even agree to take a history lesson and learn that, unlike in hoops, the two hockey teams have routinely met in the postseason, including each of the last three years.
For the women’s hockey world in general, this will be a helpful follow-up on what was likely the most publicly progressive season in at least a decade. There will be no Olympics in 2010-11 (although plenty of world class players are coming to study and skate around these parts), but there is now another bonfire to be stoked.
Barring any announcements elsewhere in the nation akin to that made yesterday in East Hartford, this will be only the third event of its kind in NCAA women’s history. The other two have happened within the last five months, those being the UNH-NU clash and Wisconsin’s home date with Bemidji State back on February 6.
Predictions are precarious, and there isn’t a whole lot of history to help shape one’s speculation, but this game is sure to draw extra eyes. The Fenway women’s game, which was largely looked upon as an opening act to the BC-BU men’s battle, had a listed audience of 6,889 fans plus an indefinite number of regional TV viewers on NESN and national watchers on the NHL Network. The Badgers played in front of a reported 8,263 fans at Camp Randall Stadium before their male counterparts arrived on the scene along with a much heftier mass of 55,031 rooters.
There is no certainty of live TV coverage for the Friar-Husky game. And unlike the previous doubleheaders, this one will not follow the classic “ladies-first” policy. Rather, it will be the UConn men’s game versus Sacred Heart preceding the Friars’ tangle with Heather Linstad’s pupils.
The difference between seeing who shows up early and watching who sticks around as a courtesy to the female athletes should be interesting. The difference it makes in terms of attendance, if it does make any difference, will only be certain come game day.
But it will be, at the very least, a small plus if the Huskies can play before a crowd bigger than what their full-time home, Freitas Ice Forum, can accommodate. That dinky barn, which in terms of size and atmosphere is far better suited for a Junior B program, seats a mere 2,000 fans. Once they shuffle things over the Rentschler, the maximum capacity will instantly swell up to around 40,000.
Cue the cliché tempest. This means that the limits are astronomically high. And on the eve of the next Valentine’s Day, some new people might learn to love women’s puck.
Al Daniel can be reached at hockeyscribe@hotmail.com
This article originally appeared in the Friartown Free Press
Sunday, April 25, 2010
On Women's Hockey: Genevieve Lacasse's MVP Feat Bodes Well For Friars
It comes as no real surprise that sophomore stopper Genevieve Lacasse left the Providence College women’s hockey awards banquet yesterday with an MVP trophy firmly in her clutch like an opponent’s futile slap shot. Some could even argue she was a year overdue for such recognition.
And although this part wasn’t the case, no one should have been perplexed if Lacasse’s latest hunk of hardware came with the special inscription “Please don’t change a thing.”
Lacasse is the Friars’ first non-senior to claim the team MVP prize since then-junior Karen Thatcher in 2005. She earned it by giving a perfectly passable follow-up on her freshman season that consisted of 29 games played, a Hockey East goaltending championship, and a league Rookie of the Year laurel. And she earned it by shrugging off a little added pressure that came with having one unripe backup in Christina England this year as opposed to the three elder colleagues with whom she shared the crease in 2008-09.
On an individual base, there wasn’t a whole lot more for Lacasse to prove in her second season, but she did it. First, she had to prove herself resistant to the urban legend they call the sophomore slump. Granted, her goals-against average crept up from 1.94 to 2.14, her save percentage did dip a little from .933 to .920, and she posted three fewer shutouts. But none of that seemed to prod head coach Bob Deraney into giving her a night off.
On the contrary, he put her in for every last game on the schedule, only forking her out for the occasional purpose of deploying a six-pack attack and for giving England one four-minute, 48-second shift of firefighting duty in a forgettable 5-1 loss to Brown University.
Accordingly, Lacasse followed up on those 29 freshman appearances with 35 swirls, thus tying Amy Thomas of 2004-05 for the program’s single season record. She consumed 2128:41 minutes for exactly 99 percent of the team’s crease time and, with 3799:09 worth of ice time on her career, ascended to No. 3 behind the barely mortal likes of Sara Decosta and Jana Bugden.
And those 878 shots she repelled over these last 35 games and 2128:41 minutes? That would be a new single-season record, surpassing the 794 saves Decosta made as a freshman in 1996-97. On the whole, her 1,634 career saves again rate her behind only her two bar-raising predecessors. Ditto those 64 career games, which is already more than half of the all-time leader Bugden’s 115.
And unlike last spring, Lacasse is now eligible for listing on the Friars’ career GAA leaderboard. At 2.05, she currently rates higher in that category than Decosta and Bugden.
That’s all compelling data, which makes a gourmet feast for the talkers and typists who love those feel-good record stories. But what has this amounted to for PC on the ice?
Try the fact that, with the Scarborough Save-ior on duty, the 2009-10 Friars surrendered a two-goal differential on only six occasions and went through a full seven-game winning streak in January without trailing for a nanosecond. Discounting empty netters, they confined the opposition to two goals or fewer in 23 out of 35 games.
All of that is reasonably reminiscent of Lacasse’s rookie year, when she only authorized seven multi-goal deficits in 29 appearances and finished what she started 26 out of 28 times.
Furthermore, one of the reasons she has rapidly piled on the minutes is because 11 of the Friars’ 35 games went to overtime last season. And she often played an unquestionable part in pressing those games on to a shootout.
She ultimately went 1-1-9 in the fourth period, stopping a cumulative 25 of 26 opposing shots in an aggregate 50 minutes and 55 seconds. Add that to the four OT games she worked as a frosh, when she stopped five of seven shots face and charged up 13:34 of bonus action.
Kind of makes one tempted to change that 64 to 65 career games, does it not?
Only at the halfway mark of her stay in Friartown, Lacasse shall enter next season much like she did the last one. Not an overwhelming quantity of questions, but a few biggies at that.
For the addicted cynics, can she fend off the “junior jinx” (if one is to believe in such a thing)?
More notably, she vacuumed 15 victories in her first year, then gulped down exactly 15 more Ws last season. Can she, together with the teammates she so often pampers, get her up to at least 16 or 17?
Then, of course, for all the accolades she has to herself, Lacasse has not so much as stretched her season beyond the Hockey East semifinals. Guess that kind of speaks for itself.
But whenever a team has its formally pronounced MVP returning to defend her title, as the Friars now will come September, that’s a decent starting point for a viable postseason run.
Al Daniel can be reached at hockeyscribe@hotmail.com
This article originally appeared in the Friartown Free Press
And although this part wasn’t the case, no one should have been perplexed if Lacasse’s latest hunk of hardware came with the special inscription “Please don’t change a thing.”
Lacasse is the Friars’ first non-senior to claim the team MVP prize since then-junior Karen Thatcher in 2005. She earned it by giving a perfectly passable follow-up on her freshman season that consisted of 29 games played, a Hockey East goaltending championship, and a league Rookie of the Year laurel. And she earned it by shrugging off a little added pressure that came with having one unripe backup in Christina England this year as opposed to the three elder colleagues with whom she shared the crease in 2008-09.
On an individual base, there wasn’t a whole lot more for Lacasse to prove in her second season, but she did it. First, she had to prove herself resistant to the urban legend they call the sophomore slump. Granted, her goals-against average crept up from 1.94 to 2.14, her save percentage did dip a little from .933 to .920, and she posted three fewer shutouts. But none of that seemed to prod head coach Bob Deraney into giving her a night off.
On the contrary, he put her in for every last game on the schedule, only forking her out for the occasional purpose of deploying a six-pack attack and for giving England one four-minute, 48-second shift of firefighting duty in a forgettable 5-1 loss to Brown University.
Accordingly, Lacasse followed up on those 29 freshman appearances with 35 swirls, thus tying Amy Thomas of 2004-05 for the program’s single season record. She consumed 2128:41 minutes for exactly 99 percent of the team’s crease time and, with 3799:09 worth of ice time on her career, ascended to No. 3 behind the barely mortal likes of Sara Decosta and Jana Bugden.
And those 878 shots she repelled over these last 35 games and 2128:41 minutes? That would be a new single-season record, surpassing the 794 saves Decosta made as a freshman in 1996-97. On the whole, her 1,634 career saves again rate her behind only her two bar-raising predecessors. Ditto those 64 career games, which is already more than half of the all-time leader Bugden’s 115.
And unlike last spring, Lacasse is now eligible for listing on the Friars’ career GAA leaderboard. At 2.05, she currently rates higher in that category than Decosta and Bugden.
That’s all compelling data, which makes a gourmet feast for the talkers and typists who love those feel-good record stories. But what has this amounted to for PC on the ice?
Try the fact that, with the Scarborough Save-ior on duty, the 2009-10 Friars surrendered a two-goal differential on only six occasions and went through a full seven-game winning streak in January without trailing for a nanosecond. Discounting empty netters, they confined the opposition to two goals or fewer in 23 out of 35 games.
All of that is reasonably reminiscent of Lacasse’s rookie year, when she only authorized seven multi-goal deficits in 29 appearances and finished what she started 26 out of 28 times.
Furthermore, one of the reasons she has rapidly piled on the minutes is because 11 of the Friars’ 35 games went to overtime last season. And she often played an unquestionable part in pressing those games on to a shootout.
She ultimately went 1-1-9 in the fourth period, stopping a cumulative 25 of 26 opposing shots in an aggregate 50 minutes and 55 seconds. Add that to the four OT games she worked as a frosh, when she stopped five of seven shots face and charged up 13:34 of bonus action.
Kind of makes one tempted to change that 64 to 65 career games, does it not?
Only at the halfway mark of her stay in Friartown, Lacasse shall enter next season much like she did the last one. Not an overwhelming quantity of questions, but a few biggies at that.
For the addicted cynics, can she fend off the “junior jinx” (if one is to believe in such a thing)?
More notably, she vacuumed 15 victories in her first year, then gulped down exactly 15 more Ws last season. Can she, together with the teammates she so often pampers, get her up to at least 16 or 17?
Then, of course, for all the accolades she has to herself, Lacasse has not so much as stretched her season beyond the Hockey East semifinals. Guess that kind of speaks for itself.
But whenever a team has its formally pronounced MVP returning to defend her title, as the Friars now will come September, that’s a decent starting point for a viable postseason run.
Al Daniel can be reached at hockeyscribe@hotmail.com
This article originally appeared in the Friartown Free Press
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