Too early to look forward? Not for me. While Saturday night's win was worth some enthusiasm, some point(s) on Friday night would have made a big difference. The task this weeked sounds simple. Figure out how to play on Friday like you played on Saturday and then play that way on Saturday. But as with anything else, it isn't simple. First, you have to accept that there was some component on Friday night that you can correct. Generally, we tend to think of that as some variation of the effort from the players.
Here's what I think. UAA didn't lose on Friday because it tried to little. They lost because they tried too much. They seemed a little tight to start the game I thought. Maybe overly-amped up for a game at home in front of a friendly crowd. The passing was stiff and clunky from where I sat. Over the next 10 minutes of the game, there was a lot of individual play. The ol' "I just do it myself" mindset encroached.
Then with 1 second to go in the period CC takes a penalty and the guys have the whole period break to find the determination to score. And all that tightness becomes apparent during the power play and so the Seawolves pressed harder, then when a really really quick guy jumped on one of the tight passes. The virtually the same exact situation happens for a shortie at the beginning of the third.
So there it is ... I'm thinking the guys were just wound up too tight. Maybe the key this week is to govern the excitement a bit and be professional in your overall approach to the game at hand.
Winning at home in the WCHA = Success. So with only 4 home games remaining (Duluth comes up for the last weekend of WCHA action), what has been learned must be applied. There isn't a player on the ice for UAA this weekend that didn't learn more than one lesson. The coaching staff saw some examples of good things from the players that can be reinforced and repeated. All of that needs to be defined, quantified, reinforced and locked into mental and physical memories. So now onto the forward looking portion of our show ...
The Battle for 7th -
The Gophers are 1 point ahead of the Seawolves and have played two fewer games. A series sweep would put UAA ahead of Minnesota by three points. With the Gophers having two more games to play that isn't a particularly comfortable lead. Certainly nothing for anyone to hang their hat on. St. Cloud and Mankato are road trips that UAA will be taking and road trip points are always difficult to come by in this league.
A UAA sweep would also help toward a somewhat thin, but possible chance for home ice. And the flip side Gopher sweep would give them a bit more reasonable chance at hosting a playoff series.
The "Fucking Hate" Factor -
Last time these two teams played wasn't pretty. I think everything that happen can be tracked to the Leddy incident and Jordan Schroeder losing an edge. The Leddy hit happens ... between periods tDon rallies the guys with a something like a "not in our barn" reference and just a couple of minutes into the next period Schroeder loses an edge with a Seawolves player challenging for the puck. It was dust-up-city regularly from there.
I don't think some events from a couple of months ago will really be in the forefront of many players. There's too much reason to focus on the task at hand to look back into the past. Both coaching staffs will be reiterating that to their teams this coming week. Any dust-ups that do occur will have their own natural causes but I think that's when the past rises to intensify things.
I think that's enough to make this series compelling on some level. If the Seawolves can govern their adrenaline levels slightly then I think we'll see two hockey games that look much more like this past Saturday night than Friday.
46 comments:
Two solid games this weekend like we played this past Saturday would be sweet, better yet Sweep!
Let's try to win one game at a time, minnesota state plays michigan this weekend.
If we do not beat minnesota we could slip to 9th.
ONly 8 wcha games left.
Split every weekend and we may hold 8th place. Win this weekend maybe 7th.
All the best to the boys, a big crowd would be nice.
So far the team is having a great second half, lunden being back adds strength to another line.
Clarky is on fire, grant is gearing up for a big second half also.
Impressed with the whole team.
Win 4, five or 6 more wcha games.
This team deserves more recogniton, and it will come.
Play tough and take no prisoners this weekend.
Minnesota will be without there top goal scorer.
FAn
UAA Fan (not) in Florida made some good points about Derek and how he should be trying like hell to get some butts in the seats.
If you have any suggestions, promotion ideas, ANY input on how to increase the attendance this coming weekend, please e-mail him and LET HIM KNOW!
Derek Donald
UAA Marketing and Promotions
anded1@uaa.alaska.edu
The green and gold jersey think is "ok", but it's NOT enough. The attendance this past weekend was pathetic. If you don't let Derek know how much we care - just like last weekend, he'll do nothing.
E-mail him with suggestions!!
---> anded1@uaa.alaska.edu
A few places that Derek isn't taking advantage of as far as promoting the games are-
The "Play" section of the adn. It's free to advertise your upcoming game, event, etc. in there, yet Seawolves hockey hasn't taken advantage of it this year. You simply e-mail the info in, and they place it in Friday's calendar of events, plus they put it on-line.
Mark and April's "Weekend To Do List". Every Thursday morning the crew from 98.9 AM have a live segment on Channel 2 where they discuss upcoming events. A couple of years ago when Marcus was still there, he and April sported UAA jerseys as they announced the game. This year no one has mentioned any of the games. You just call them to have your event advertised for free.
The Anchorage Press on-line and print weekly rag advertises all events for free. You just have to let them know about it!
And about those Green & Gold jersey nights, if they don't seem to be cutting it, change it up! I know plenty of people who don't bring kids to the game.
Do a "two for one while tickets last" and see what happens.
This should be a huge weekend and I really hope Derek is doing everything in his PR powers to pack those ugly plastic seats!
I hate to say it, but I agree with your comments FL. :-(
He said he wants feedback and everyone who wants the Sully filled should provide him with the input he wants. I've sent my e-mail! Have you?
I feel as though UAA's attendance could be helped if he worked with the ASAA and the scheduling of their games. Have it be that they don't schedule games the night of a Seawolves game, or have it be that they play early enough where they are done before the start of the UAA game. Do some marketing with the ACES, You need to reach the hockey fans where they are - at Hockey games. Whatever they are doing isn't working. I don't care how many promotions they have between periods, that isn't what draws fans.
Dude: Good points!
I remember a few years ago, the high school coach's at the Boeke had something worked out with the Sully for getting the high school hockey teams who played the night of a Seawolves game in for free.
The JV or girl's teams that finished up at 7:00 pm got to see the entire Seawolves game, and the Varsity teams made it over to the Sully when they could.
The coach's had a stamp they put on the hand of any high-schooler wanting to go to the game. What was neat about it was that parents and others also wound up going to the game with their kid.
For as poor as attendance is right now, they need some sort of serious JOLT.
For now though, Derek needs a serious promotion and any ideas that we have for them.
For every new fan that comes in on a special promotion, there's the possibility of a new fan for life.
I also agree that the "between periods" promotions aren't working.
A 'two for one' deal will give the guys a decent crowd for once.
E-mail Derek!
anded1@uaa.alaska.edu
All good ideas, but until the team plays more consistently at home and WINS MORE GAMES most advertising and promotional attempts are going to be of limited success. Three times this season my family and I have brought groups of our friends and neighbors to Seawolf hockey games hoping to make fans for life. Each time (Friday night being the most recent) the team has gotten walloped... Long story short, it’s going to take a lot of pleading on my part to get any of them back to the Sully to watch another UAA game...
The fact is, only die-hard fans are willing to support their team through the tough times. For UAA the tough times started long ago. Personally, I go to the games and can (usually) enjoy and appreciate the individual efforts of the players even if they lose the game. But expecting to draw large crowds and expand the “die-hard” fan base when the team has a home record below .500 and has endured countless losing seasons just isn’t going to happen. A couple of winning seasons in a row and the place would be overrun with fair-weather fans, advertising or not…
you can pack the joint, good or bad if it's for a free adult ticket.
ewe just went thru a rough strectch, did a promo & the joint was filled. Fill it when they're down. fill em when they're up.
what's that guy's email?
Aces Front Desk
Let's rock the place this weekend
Derek, get it together man!
The team is playing better than 500 hundred hockey, and has improved the last four years from 10 th to 8th and now a opportunity for 7 th. If this team succeeds this year, the seniors will leave and tell all incoming recruits there are better teams with bigger fan bases.
Lawson, crowder, and beagle are some recent success stories. Chad anderson plays in the ahl with hamilton.
Clark and grant will go on to play pro down the road, what will incoming recruits ask them. Great place to play but no fan base.
Whey because they are waiting for us to win the wcha final five.
Thank god the other teams in the wcha don't think like that. This is the premier league in college hockey. Check the rankings each week and the number of nhl draftees.
Anchorage has a good echl fan base, the university has to start promoting this team has a division 1 team.
All the best to the players this weekend, they will still win in front of there 3000 faithfull fans.
Fan
ZZzz is absolutely right. I have also brought friends who watched a PATHETIC effort on UAA's part, and they have never come back. Instead they are die hard Aces fans.
The team needs to play with the same passion and "will to win" on EVERY night. Only they can win the fans back.
I was thinking about attendance last night, and a 2 for 1 or some kind of promo for an adult ticket also seemed to pop into my mind. But first you need to get the word out that there is a game, Anchorage is a busy town with a lot going on.
When the team played last weekend, they had been off for 5-6 weeks, yet there was no article in the ADN about them. No coaches show on TV. No TV commercials saying the boys were back in town. Don't know if it was on the radio, but I sure didn't hear it. You have to get the word out!!
Heck, take out a half page ad in the ADN if you have to. It takes money to make money, and right now the University doesn't seem to get that.
How come UAA doesn't do a military appreciation night like the Aces do? Give the military a bunch of free tickets. At least it's butts in the seats, and maybe they will see a great game and become a fan.
And we can all BRING A FRIEND with us! I see the same people every weekend, and they never have a friend with them. Heck, some of the regular fans don't even come to the games themselves.
Anon @ 7:37 AM, I agree that a two-fer ticket deal may just work, but the person being paid to boost attendance needs to get the ball rolling and get the word out fast.
There's still time as long as they start contacting the media outlets this morning.
Give free tickets to kids through the schools. Parents who bring the kids with free tickets also get in free. Fill the joint. At least someone will make some money on the concession. And what's wrong with the thousands of UAA students? So what if the arena is off campus? They need to get off their rears. But the reality is that until the Wolves win something in the playoffs, the people won't pay. People don't like winners, they need winners. (And this year they're going to get one!
Those thousands of students are, often times, older students who commute to school, and have part time or full time jobs as well.
UAA is far from a typical college, but the students that are on campus need to be tapped into.
As far as graduating players bad mouthing the program that allowed them to play in the nations most prestigious league, I certainly hope that doesn't happen. Shame on them if it does.
-30- I like your ideas!
Doesn't it make sense to the PR person to do a considerable promotion when the seats will be otherwise dead empty?
This season seems to have the worst attendance ever. Yet, this is the year they actually hired someone to work on the problem.
Something is not right with this picture! :(
For UAA promotion suggestions and ideas contact: anded1@uaa.alaska.edu
The Seawolves should keep an eye on Mankato, who are playing Tech this weekend. The Huskies may be playing at home, but it really doesn't mean anything for this MTU squad. They play with zero emotion and rarely is there a sense of urgency. If Mankato shows up and plays well enough, four points should be theirs, keeping them in the fight for 7th/8th.
Do they have buses in Alaska, no reason not to bus students from the university to the game.
A little thought behind the marketing of a team.
This team is making waves this year, they are playing minnesto gophers this weekend, knock of the gophers and we will be the talk of the wcha.
Spend a little money on some buses, fill them up and get the student to and from the university.
4000 screaming uaa fans would be great.
Prediction for friday game.
5 to 2 anchorage.
Clark 1 goal 2 assists.
Grant 1 goal 1 assist
Lunden 1 goal and 2 assists
Baldwin 1 goal
Gellert 1 goal
Yes, we have plenty of buses. That's not the problem. They actually quit running the Seawolf Shuttle that ran from UAA over to the arena because (evidently) not enough of the students were taking advantage of it.
I'm not sure how other cities that have a college team and a minor-pro team split the fans like we do? Right off, I can think of New Hampshire (D1) in Manchester who also have the AHL playing there, and the DIII Lancers in Worcester, MA who also have an AHL team in the same town.
All I know is that we rarely do promotions anymore and we sure need one NOW!
Making most of the stadium wet where people could drink while they watch the game would help attendance. It's not like there are incidents left and right at the Aces games where people can drink. Face it people like to drink at sporting events, I know this is a huge surprise to Anchorage, but they might as well face it. I'm sure a lot of it is from UAA, but the average age there is over 21 and it's not even on campus. That would bring far more people to the game than busing them in.
namreggolb, having $1 dollar beers would increase attendance. I stood in the "wet corner" of the arena this weekend with my friends who were drinking their TEN DOLLAR beers and there was plenty of room on all sides of us.
namreggolb, having $1 dollar beers might increase attendance. But I stood in the "wet corner" of the arena this weekend with my friends who were drinking their ((TEN DOLLAR)) beers and there was plenty of room on all sides of us.
UAA doesn't sell beer, the arena does. There is no way they are selling beer for a buck.
And why do fans insist on standing around the perimeter of the arena instead of sitting in the seats? I have never understood this.
There is a wet area at the Sully, and it's not even close to being full, so that is not the answer!
Just a thought, but what good does it do to have a promotion if the school doesn't PROMOTE it? Gotta get the word out people.
Suze - but that's just it.
Derek has time, but he needs to do it..
Hope this sends.. I'm on my phone &
the keyboard is too *%# tiny
Good luck on that. Happy to see fans that care. It was actually depressing watching last weekends games. Shit was empty. I got thinking - AA doesn't have as many people as COS - but then I googled it. Yes a few hundred thousand less but 300,000 should afford a good fan base. I really felt bad for your players. Again we have 500,000 peeps in COS (and no other hockey - (unless you want to count Air Force) - but you live in Alaska...
DD - u have a good blog - so I'll check it from time to time.
That's it. I think I've got it! The reason Shyiak recruits from small town Alberta, BC, and Yukon is that these kids are quite accustomed to playing in big ol' empty barns. Genius. Pure genius!
You can have all the promotions you want, free tickets, bring a friend to a game, kids get in free night, heck free beer night, but if the guys on the ice play like we saw again Friday night, you just aren't going to get people to come to a game and then return for another game. Winning will put those butts in the seats. Until then it will be us diehard fans that buy season tickets and show up for every game. The Aces haven't built their fan base by consistently loosing games. Win more games and the fans will return.
The aces stink this year, uaa is playing 500 hockey, in 8th place, chance to move in to 7th place this weekend.
Buy one ticket for friday, get in free saturday. Uaa has a marketing department.
When this team makes the final five, it will cost you a few dollars to fly to the final.
Best of luck this weeekend.
fan
Heck I am encouraged. There is hope, just look at the dialog we have going here. Donalds Blog is hopping and appears to be growing steadily. All this for a 7th place team. People do care, but it will take some W's to get the people back in the seats. Maybe too late for this year. But this year sets up next year.
Good luck guys. Gophers dont eat fish - wait... do they???
I think UAA should have this one in the bag!
Clark, lunden, backstrom, johnny, tuton, selby and grant if he leaves early. Wait for next year, next year will be a rebuilding year.
My suggestion is for the fans to come out to the last 5 games.
You will not see clark and lunden and all the seniors back, these guys have pulled this team from 10th place when they started here.
Out of respect for there hard work and dedication, you are finally getting better recruites everyear.
Minnesota, fairbanks and minnesto-duluth are all teams we can beat.
Enjoy this year, next year lots of new freshman and sopohomores.All the best to the team this week. Seventh place on the line, no team has come close in the last four years but this group.
Fan
A
tion is for the fans to come out to the last 5 home games.
Allow the drinks in the seats. There is security if someone gets out of hand. Have a pre-game pub crawl. Drinks and appetizers before the game at a few (or one) sponsoring watering hole and then a bus takes you and your busload of fans from the bar(s) to the game and back. Non-alcoholic game day events can be organized in the same way with a pre-game pizza and then the bus to the game and back to the sponsoring restaurant. Have each restaurant take a turn sponsoring one game and then have deals for the patrons to pre-eat and drink there and then a bus to the game and back to the restaurant. A win win for the restaurants. Get the restaurants to help with the advertising the week before their turn. Just some ideas on getting groups to the games.
We used to take a bus from Red Robin to the Sully. It was great as there was never any place to park, and the busses were FULL. Haven't seen that happen for quite some time.
Amaxing what a little idea about the buses can generate.
Every team in North America has programs associated with restuarants and bus lines.
Our marketing department needs a budget and spending sometime out off the office.
fan
Never to late to start.
Fan
to all you anons out there that bitch about promotions, there is rockband at humpy's that is put on by the Ath dept, u all could show up and win stuff.
Bring the rockband to the Sully before the game. Promote each others events. Also, how about designating an area in the Sully that restaurants could also sponsor and when the bus loads come, they could sit there and their drinks and appetizers, pizza..subs, whatever could be continued there. Birthday party packages, womens packages with champagne...anything in a group is always fun.
There has been so much damage in the local hockey community over the years that it is going to take many years of doing things right to bring people back.That starts with Recruiting locally and building relationships locally. There is not alot of love for the program in the local hockey community. I dont really see many youth teams or Coaches showing up or hear of any excitement on any level of Alaska hockey. The reputation of our Hockey team is dismantled.Every person who has had contact with the team and had a negative experience shares this with 10 other people. Add years of sour relationships and you have what we got. Every one is not going to agree all the time with the ditection of things. The key is to be sophisticated in building relationships and not alienating people. This starts with every person who comes in contact with anybody envolved with the program must be treated fairly and felt to be important. I would say marketing this hockey program would be a very difficult job considering the years and situations that have been completley screwed up and the type and importance of the people who felt screwed by the program. We have a huge problem here and I would love to see things change. In fact I am hoping it will. The solution is to try and start over if it can be done. I cant imagine having Donalds job and having to find a way to fix it all by himself. Unfortunately thats where we are at.
I don't have to comment on all this do I? Because I really don't want to.
All good suggestions ... the best one being to communicate with Derek. If you're a blueliner, then attend their meetings or whatever they have and get heard. Run for blueliner prez if you have strong ideas and/or concerns about this.
As for me ... I'm not suggesting, volunteering or advocating anything. I have lots of reasons.
Ultimately, winning will go a long way to solving the issue.
I think an article, in the ADN, the Northern Light, on this blog perhaps, about the history of the Seawolves hockey program, their place in D1 college hockey, and how far they have come would be an eye opener for 95% of the people who read it. It would have been a great time to feature the Wolves in the ADN this week, to hype up the importance of this series against the Gophers considering we're one point behind them.
I find, when I invite people to the games, they have no idea about the WCHA and how skilled all the student atheletes are. I have a lot of fun teaching people about the program.
At most, anything that gets written here reaches about a maximum of 500 people.
just an fyi folks, there will be pep rallies for the uaf and umd series.
And what exactly does that mean? Are they actually trying to get the students involved?
If the article gets written it could be forwarded to the Seawolves Facebook page or printed and included with the weekends program that is handed out at the games.. Teach the masses!!
On the surface, it seems that UAA has a lot of promotions going on, but people don't know about them. The fri & sat promo is only mentioned here and on the school site. It doesn't reach enough people.
The newsletters get emailed to those who already have tickets, what good does that do to get new fans into the Sully?
The team used to be on the radio, (the Scott & Stu Morning Zoo). Every Friday morning of a game day they had Talafous and two of the players on, talking about the upcoming series and doing fun trivia with them. My daughter used to love that portion of the show, she listened to it when she was getting ready for school.
I still remember Doug Teskey trying to say "I love unique New York" three times fast. He kept saying "I love unique u-nork". LOL
The University and Derek are trying, but it's not working.
Fan who said "You will not see clark and lunden and all the seniors back, these guys have pulled this team from 10th place when they started here".
UAA ended the season last year in 9th, not 10th. They are in 8th now. If they lose this weekend and Mankato sweeps Tech, it's back to 9th place. And Minnesota and Mankato have 2 games in hand on us.
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