This author had a short and simple knee-jerk reaction to the recent news that the University of Connecticut was awarded ice time in next February’s “Whaler Hockey Fest” and had enlisted Providence College as its opponent for the women’s outdoor contest at East Hartford’s Rentschler Field.
“Why would they want to play anybody else in that game? That’s not just the best choice. It’s the only choice.”
Indeed, no other opponent would cut it. Not even a rematch of the 2010 Hockey East championship with Boston University would be as fitting. Neither would a nonconference, intrastate battle with Quinnipiac, Yale, or Sacred Heart.
The difference is simple: if women’s hockey is going to climb to the same height as other NCAA sports, it will inevitably do so, at least in part, by amplifying the rivalries that already exist in football, basketball, men’s hockey, etc.
For the Lady Huskies, this means promoting the Battle of Southern New England that already draws reliable attention from Big East basketball fans. Admittedly, the Friars in particular have not exactly been the class of the court in recent years, but no one seems to use that as an excuse to shun the Dunkin Donuts Center or UConn’s Gampel Pavilion when the two institutions collide.
No. Level matchups are important, but it’s more about watching the uniform you dearly love versus the one you automatically and unconditionally hate. That’s the core of any sport’s publicity diet.
So here’s a revelation for the hoops fans: when it comes to women’s hockey, Providence and Connecticut are chin-to-chin contenders who have crossed paths in each of the last three postseasons. You have every right to keep stoking the spirit of your basketball rivalry, but if you would like to transplant some of your anti-Husky or anti-Friar sentiments to a sport where there are some more genuine bragging rights at stake, look no further than the rink. (And the rink will be pretty hard to miss when it’s placed on the UConn football field, will it not?)
That message might not get through right away, but we’ll see if things change by February 13, when the WHEA’s rendition of the Battle of Southern New England takes to the open, 40,000-seat stadium as opposed to the isolated, dinky Freitas Ice Forum. You have to think it will at least have the same effect as when the basketball teams take a break from their campus facility and treat their fans to a game at Hartford’s XL Center. You have to think it will cement this sport into the hearts of at least a few curious Rhode Islanders and Nutmeg Staters.
And once this particular outdoor adventure is over, the people in charge of women’s hockey have to make sure they keep up the promotional pace. It is unlikely that any two programs will be able to skate solo on a stadium pond project, but someone should be keeping a constant watch for the next opportunity.
Out here on the east coast, the no-duh next step is getting Boston College and Boston University together, perhaps at BC’s Alumni Stadium. The men’s programs are already on the heels of a faceoff at Fenway Park and would indubitably pounce on a like rematch. So if and when Jack Parker and Jerry York pursue their next cold-weather clash, Katie King and Brian Durocher are sure to tag along with their students.
Elsewhere, now that the Twin Cities have actually opened a few dome-free venues, one can easily envision the Minnesota Wild hosting the NHL Winter Classic sooner rather than later. And whenever the self-proclaimed State of Hockey flaunts its passion like that, the Golden Gophers do not want to be left out. A men’s and women’s doubleheader with dual Big Ten/WCHA rival Wisconsin at Target Field or TCF Bank Stadium ought to turn enough puckheads on.
Similarly, if there is ever an opportunity in Columbus, Ohio State would be well-advised to enlighten people to the existence of women’s hockey in the Buckeye neighborhood. It would be just as enlightening as the notion of a local NHL team called the Blue Jackets. It’s just too bad they can’t summon Michigan as their guest, but sport-crazy Syracuse University is close enough.
This is not to say that the likes of St. Lawrence-Clarkson, Minnesota-Duluth and Insert Fellow WCHA Bigwig Here, Mercyhurst, or any Ivy League matchup should be denied a similar experience. And no one should stop Robert Morris from trying to get in on the Heinz Field act next January when the NHL’s Penguins host the main event.
Those institutions need not be penalized for lacking any higher-profile athletic programs.
But if this game is going to continuously escalate and intensify its fan base, it will need to take at least one bold move per year a la UConn and PC with two identifiable names on the card. There is more to the relationship between those schools than court-storming students, and once that message is sent next February, women’s hockey will have earned another invaluable stripe.
Al Daniel can be reached at adaniel@beyondthedashers.com
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