PHILADELPHIA – The moderator at the NCAA's Frozen Four opened a news conference with an observation that he meant as both a joke and statement of fact.
"This is the Big Ten's first appearance in the national title game," he said.
Fans of the WCHA probably didn't appreciate the humor. The birth of Big Ten hockey remains a sore subject among college hockey fans as Year 1 of this new reality comes to a close.
The Gophers gave the Big Ten a welcoming gift by advancing to Saturday's national championship game against Union at Wells Fargo Center.
The Big Ten's associate commissioner, Jennifer Heppel, said the conference is pleased with its first year of hockey but acknowledged the league still has to win over many fans who long for the old days.
Heppel said the conference will conduct its year-end review soon and discuss possible changes or tweaks. Specifically, attendance for the inaugural conference tournament held at Xcel Energy Center was disappointing and a significant dropoff from the WCHA's Final Five.
"It takes a long time to build an event," Heppel said. "Sure, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I would have loved to see 18,000 people, but that's unrealistic and it was unrealistic when we started selling tickets. I feel very, very good about the approach that we took in marketing to fans and as part of the respect of what the WCHA had built."
Gophers go on autopilot
A motivational speaker wasn't necessary for the Gophers. They were expected to be on autopilot this deep into the season, coach Don Lucia said.
