specialidiot
Break Glass, Smoke Lucky
While the local Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) schools have been playing hockey for a couple of weeks, I took in my first St Thomas home game vs St Johns last night.
Yes, it was the Tommies vs the Johnnies, we also have the St Olaf "Ole's". MIAC is a conference of 9 private schools, 4 of which are located in Minneapolis/St Paul, the rest within an hours drive or so. Competition is fierce - the conference is well represented at the NCAA DIII final four, with Gustavus Adolphus losing in the final last year. The kids are talented players, just not quite big or fast enough for a D1 scholarship. Players in the conference are about 80% local boys. Some of them have Junior Hockey experience, but it is more normal to come in to the program as a natural freshman.
The Tommie home ice is just 3 miles from my house, admission is $7 and I can park within a couple of hundred feet of the entrance for free. In contrast, the MN Wild NHL team plays just 2.5 miles from my house, but a decent ticket is $75 and any parking lot within 7 or 8 blocks will cost you $10. I've only been to 2 Wild games in my life, but I rarely miss a Tommie home game, and sometimes I'll travel the 8 miles to see the Augsburg Auggies play.
I much prefer the D3 style of play over NHL. Give me free admission to either and I'll take in a college game any day. Our local D1 team (Gophers) charge $35 a seat (if you can get one) in their 10,000 seat arena!
Last night's game started out with a cautious 0-0 first period. Tommies notched 2 power play goals in the second stanza. The Johnnies scored early in the 3rd to bring it to 2-1, and it was off to the races with end to end action. At around the 12:00 minute mark, things began to get rough out there as 11 penalties were issued in the last 8 minutes of the game.
Tommies killed off a 2 man advantage lasting 1:45 with five minutes to go to secure the win. Teams in the MIAC usually play home and home weekend series, so they are up in St Cloud tonight.
pro photos:
My crappy iphone pictures:
Yes, it was the Tommies vs the Johnnies, we also have the St Olaf "Ole's". MIAC is a conference of 9 private schools, 4 of which are located in Minneapolis/St Paul, the rest within an hours drive or so. Competition is fierce - the conference is well represented at the NCAA DIII final four, with Gustavus Adolphus losing in the final last year. The kids are talented players, just not quite big or fast enough for a D1 scholarship. Players in the conference are about 80% local boys. Some of them have Junior Hockey experience, but it is more normal to come in to the program as a natural freshman.
The Tommie home ice is just 3 miles from my house, admission is $7 and I can park within a couple of hundred feet of the entrance for free. In contrast, the MN Wild NHL team plays just 2.5 miles from my house, but a decent ticket is $75 and any parking lot within 7 or 8 blocks will cost you $10. I've only been to 2 Wild games in my life, but I rarely miss a Tommie home game, and sometimes I'll travel the 8 miles to see the Augsburg Auggies play.
I much prefer the D3 style of play over NHL. Give me free admission to either and I'll take in a college game any day. Our local D1 team (Gophers) charge $35 a seat (if you can get one) in their 10,000 seat arena!
Last night's game started out with a cautious 0-0 first period. Tommies notched 2 power play goals in the second stanza. The Johnnies scored early in the 3rd to bring it to 2-1, and it was off to the races with end to end action. At around the 12:00 minute mark, things began to get rough out there as 11 penalties were issued in the last 8 minutes of the game.
Tommies killed off a 2 man advantage lasting 1:45 with five minutes to go to secure the win. Teams in the MIAC usually play home and home weekend series, so they are up in St Cloud tonight.
pro photos:
My crappy iphone pictures: