Minnesota's own Beanpot?

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2008/03/21_thehotdish.php

This is interesting, I'm confused about the set up though, would all games be played at Xcel?

ha, "The Hotdish"

I kinda like it

So what happenes if Bemidji State joins the WCHA. That would make 5 Minnesota schools and and awkward situation.

As a Boston area college hockey fan I have a couple issues with this article. The Beanpot isn't an exclusively Hockey East event, Harvard is an ECAC school and all games are technically non-conference, even when BC, BU and Northeastern play each other.

Secondly, even though imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, the dynamic of a mid winter tournament between schools that are literally down the street from each other with dramatically different cultures (BC's Catholic, BU's Cosmopolitan, Harvard's Ivy League and Northeastern's Blue Collar) will be hard to replicate between four state universities separated by hundreds of miles.

Minnesota's got a great hockey tradition and I'm sure they'll make an awesome tournament of their own, although I think it would be better to maybe put it around the winter carnival in late january than the beginning of the season in early november. I'm also curious to see if this doesn't just become a glorified couple of home games for the Gophers.

SCCU, and MSU are are both loess than 100 miles. It takes about an hour to get to St Cloud and about 90 min to ge to MSU. UMD is a bout a 2-2.5 hour drive. Allthough thats not your point.

The X is kind of a home games or the gophers. The fianl 5 draws a good number from other schools. Still look at the revenu the schools can get. Sell 5-10 thousand tickets at home or split 16-18 thousand tickets.

It is a home advantage for the gophers. But all the schools benefit from it. It would be really nice to see BSU in there. Could really boost their program.

Call it the Lutefisk Caserole

SCCU, and MSU are are both loess than 100 miles. It takes about an hour to get to St Cloud and about 90 min to ge to MSU. UMD is a bout a 2-2.5 hour drive. Allthough thats not your point.


yeah, i'm sure a few less than a hundred miles seems like a short distance in minnesota, but as you noted that's not comparable to taking the T to all four schools in boston and the garden in less than thirty minutes. the beanpot's a city tournament, that's what makes it so special.

this series of games needs to be a mid-season tournament instead of a couple of regular season games played in st. paul in november. it also needs to be run by independent tournament committee, not the wcha. and btw, the midwest has a great tradition of rivalry trophies in big ten football, like the paul bunyan axe, floyd of rosedale and the little brown jug. i'm sure you guys can come up with something befitting.

yeah, i'm sure a few less than a hundred miles seems like a short distance in minnesota, but as you noted that's not comparable to taking the T to all four schools in boston and the garden in less than thirty minutes. the beanpot's a city tournament, that's what makes it so special.

this series of games needs to be a mid-season tournament instead of a couple of regular season games played in st. paul in november. it also needs to be run by independent tournament committee, not the wcha. and btw, the midwest has a great tradition of rivalry trophies in big ten football, like the paul bunyan axe, floyd of rosedale and the little brown jug. i'm sure you guys can come up with something befitting.

We have the DQ cup as it is. I really think it is all about money. MSU, UMD, SCSU MN all have much smaller rinks than the X. They can make a lot of money, get on TV, i am sure FSN will cover it. Get more metro area kids out seeing their program. It really helps the out of metro program recruit from with in.

yeah, i'm sure a few less than a hundred miles seems like a short distance in minnesota, but as you noted that's not comparable to taking the T to all four schools in boston and the garden in less than thirty minutes. the beanpot's a city tournament, that's what makes it so special.

this series of games needs to be a mid-season tournament instead of a couple of regular season games played in st. paul in november. it also needs to be run by independent tournament committee, not the wcha. and btw, the midwest has a great tradition of rivalry trophies in big ten football, like the paul bunyan axe, floyd of rosedale and the little brown jug. i'm sure you guys can come up with something befitting.


Mn already plays in the College Hockey showcase, which although it doesn't get the fawning eastern press coverage like the Beanpot, it has much better teams, that have won a combined total of 23 National Championships. And, of course, all 4 teams made it into the NCAA's this year, and have won 4 out of the last 6 national championships. so, Mn is already playing in a better tourney than the Beanpot, this new one is really for the benefit of the other teams.

i don't think you understood me... i was just saying the beanpot's unique, i never said it was better. im sure the showcase is a better competition than the beanpot. there's a reason why bu seems to win the beanpot every year after all.

I think this idea is stupid. They should do it early in the year or over the holidays and call them exhibitions instead, but whatever. Money talks. Gimmicky league games don't make sense to me.

i don't think you understood me... i was just saying the beanpot's unique, i never said it was better. im sure the showcase is a better competition than the beanpot. there's a reason why bu seems to win the beanpot every year after all.


OK, my bad.

It's not the Beanpot, never will be. But with that being said, any chance for four great college programs to get together and create something new to play for can't be bad. A tournament like this really benefits the other three schools the most (not the U), since they get some more major exposure in the Metro area. We all know these games are going to be sellouts given how college-hockey crazy the state of MN is, so why not do it.

Another sidenote, I would call it something like the Walleye Classic or the Lakeside Showdown, or something like that. The Hotdish is just too cheesy of a rip off of the Beanpot.

I think the "beanpot" phrasing is more of a media-driven phenomina than anything. The Bean may have been the inspiration for this proposed tournament but I doubt the planners were thinking of it in terms of being on the same level. When you factor in that A) hockey is huge in MN; most people will gladly drive 200+ miles for a premier high school game, and B) MN colleges have a strong rivalry and play each other nearly to the death each time they meet...this makes a strong case for an in- state tournament.

MN is one of the few states that can field a tournament of teams. I think MA is the only state that does so (Governors Cup and Goldpan don't count because it's only 2 teams) so Beanpot references are inevitable.

I like Hasbro's idea of "Lutefisk Casserole":laugh:

Call it the Lutefisk Caserole

:laugh:
Cod Lutefisk smells like ammonia, I guess getting dunked in lye is gonna have some negative consequences..