By Tim Robertson
Every Chronicle reader knows what a huge college hockey fan I am, so this column may seem a tad biased given my strong attraction to the nation’s best sport.
Over my four years at Hofstra, I’ve come to the realization that the Pride club hockey team isn’t going D-1 or even D-3 anytime soon, but wouldn’t it be nice?
The Jets are moving on out, and I have a fantastic idea for their old practice field – turn it into a hockey rink with a few thousand seats.
Look at schools in the area that have D-1 hockey programs, and try to tell me that Hofstra couldn’t compete:
Niagara,Quinnipiac, Connecticut (though not very good), RPI, RIT, Mercyhurst (Pa.) and, not-so-local Alabama-Huntsville. That’s right. Alabama-Huntsville has a team.
In the hockey is very popular. College sports are very popular. How about Hofstra combines the two?
The Islanders draw around 15,000 a game to the Coliseum across the way, and they’re not even good. Plus, their tickets are as expensive as a John Edwards haircut.
Through the other sports at Hofstra, we’ve seen the appeal the Pride has with youth sports organizations. How about giving youth hockey programs an outlet to watch quality hockey at an affordable price?
I know Hofstra couldn’t transform its club team into a D-1 or D-3 program over night. They would have to recruit, offer scholarships (in D-3 most athletes receive academic scholarships, because schools can’t dole out athletic ones), find a coach, and join a league. But the fan base is here already.
Hockey is an expensive sport to operate, but the new rink could offer classes to students and outside skaters. It could rent ice time to local organizations and charge for public skating sessions. Right now there are very few places that allow anyone to skate at a reasonable price. No more traveling the LI-double R to go to Bryant Park, Rockefeller Center or worse (i.e. more expensive) the Trump rink in Central Park.
Geez, I think I’m on to something.
In addition, I think Mr. Wang and Islanders GM Garth Snow should favor this move. For one, it won’t take away from their fan base of Garden City Blackberry fanatics who don’t know a hockey stick from a baseball bat. Secondly, we’ve seen that Snow loves to “recruit” college players anyway. Kyle Okposo, a freshman from the University of Minnesota, left school earlier this year to get his big pro contract from the Islanders. Snow could just pluck players – if good enough, although lately it probably wouldn’t matter too much – from across the street. The kids probably still could take classes. That’s a whole new meaning of internship.
And, because Hofstra doesn’t want to mess with its Title IX requirements, the school could start a women’s swim team. We already have the Olympic-sized pool (that’s cut in half for some insane reason) and the NCAA banner (why?). See Mr. Hayes, I’ve solved all your problems. (Remember, the University of Connecticut, Athletic Director Jack Hayes’ old employer, had hockey.)
Maybe picking up a men’s hockey team (and a women’s swim team) is a far-fetched idea, or at least one that won’t happen tomorrow, but can I get one game? Just one?
I know the club team would get throttled by Quinnipiac or Niagara (both currently are ranked), but teams like RPI and UConn are bad enough on the D-1 level that the Pride might make things interesting. And, a win could rank up there with Appalachian State beating Michigan or the Mighty Ducks beating the Hawks.
OK, maybe not.