Petition for NCAA Hockey at Rutgers!

[robcac26]

https://www.change.org/p/rutgers-at...&utm_term=mob-xs-no_src-no_msg&fb_ref=Default

Some alumni of the club team are trying to get the ball rolling on this. Obviously there are many factors at play here, but if you'd like to see Rutgers compete in NCAA hockey, it wouldn't hurt to at least sign the petition to show that there is support for this becoming a reality. Looks like some progress is starting to be made behind the scenes:

"Our 250+ member Rutgers Hockey alumni group, led by current Assistant Coach Adriaan Klaassen and a small committee of dedicated and influential alumni, has begun taking steps to raise support and endowment funds necessary to accomplish the goal of bringing NCAA Ice Hockey to Rutgers."

 

[ruknight87]

https://www.change.org/p/rutgers-at...&utm_term=mob-xs-no_src-no_msg&fb_ref=Default

Some alumni of the club team are trying to get the ball rolling on this. Obviously there are many factors at play here, but if you'd like to see Rutgers compete in NCAA hockey, it wouldn't hurt to at least sign the petition to show that there is support for this becoming a reality. Looks like some progress is starting to be made behind the scenes:

"Our 250+ member Rutgers Hockey alumni group, led by current Assistant Coach Adriaan Klaassen and a small committee of dedicated and influential alumni, has begun taking steps to raise support and endowment funds necessary to accomplish the goal of bringing NCAA Ice Hockey to Rutgers."

With the highest subsidy to an athletic department in the nation? I don't think so. We have enough sports currently (more than many big 10 schools) and we need to address these. This would just dilute the meager funds that we can raise to upgrade facilities for the sports that we do have.

 

[Scarlet4ever]

https://www.change.org/p/rutgers-at...&utm_term=mob-xs-no_src-no_msg&fb_ref=Default

Some alumni of the club team are trying to get the ball rolling on this. Obviously there are many factors at play here, but if you'd like to see Rutgers compete in NCAA hockey, it wouldn't hurt to at least sign the petition to show that there is support for this becoming a reality. Looks like some progress is starting to be made behind the scenes:

"Our 250+ member Rutgers Hockey alumni group, led by current Assistant Coach Adriaan Klaassen and a small committee of dedicated and influential alumni, has begun taking steps to raise support and endowment funds necessary to accomplish the goal of bringing NCAA Ice Hockey to Rutgers."

As a huge fan of hockey, I would love for RU to compete in hockey in the B1G. That said, signing a petition doesn't show support for this becoming a reality. Donating money does. The reality of the situation, is that we have a problem funding our current scholarship teams at an appropriate rate. Taking on a new one is a burden that is pretty much a fantasy, unless this 250+ member group can somehow fund this project themselves. Title IX would also require both a mens and womens team as well which means 40 scholarships, equipment, and an arena.

 

[beaced]

As a huge fan of hockey, I would love for RU to compete in hockey in the B1G. That said, signing a petition doesn't show support for this becoming a reality. Donating money does. The reality of the situation, is that we have a problem funding our current scholarship teams at an appropriate rate. Taking on a new one is a burden that is pretty much a fantasy, unless this 250+ member group can somehow fund this project themselves. Title IX would also require both a mens and womens team as well which means 40 scholarships, equipment, and an arena.

You could get around that by having just one sexually mixed team with the women playing a separate schedule of their own.Sharing the locker room and showers would show a willingness for RU to be a leader ,moving into the 21st Century of Sports.

 

[BoroKnight]

I would love for Rutgers to have ice hockey teams, and I do think at some point it will happen. But so many things have to happen first.

Definitely get the ball rolling as far as donations and such, but until we are in a much stronger position funding our current sports, our facilities are on par with the middle of the Big Ten, and our subsidy is below average, I couldn't possibly sign a petition to make it happen.

Those things will happen, and hockey will happen. But don't wait up nights.

 

[Caliknight]

Sweet! We aren't close to fully supporting the programs we have, yet let's add a couple of very expensive new ones.

Sounds like a recipe for sure success!

 

[robcac26]

If you don't want a hockey team, then don't sign the petition. Like I said, there is obviously a lot of work that would go into it besides just the petition, including securing the funding, etc.. There has been support for this idea on here in the past, so I figured I'd post it.

 

[NotInRHouse]

We don't need petitions, we need donors. The Sabres owner funded TTFP's entire program from scratch. Find someone to do that, maybe the bball team can play in the arena.

 

[mal359]

The only way this will happen is if the alumni can support it out-of-pocket well beyond 2019. I don't see that happening.

 

[Blueblood4eva]

Man, I love hockey but .........it hurts too much to even think about how out of this world that proposal is.

 

[Leonard23]

The only way this will happen is if the alumni can support it out-of-pocket well beyond 2019. I don't see that happening.

I don't see how this ever happens as donors would need $100M+ to support men's & women's hockey. Let's focus on the sports we already have & adequately fund them for once.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

If the Devils, Rangers, Islanders, and Flyers got together and gave $50 million each, then this could happen.

 

[MozRU]

Unless there is money behind your signature, there isn't support.

 

[Knight_Light]

"A" for effort.

Penn State just got their Men's and Women's Hockey teams to the Div I level...and they were only able to do that (a school with a heck of a lot more donors than RU), was because one of their super rich Florida Alums, Terry Pegula (owner of the Buffalo Sabres and now new owner of Buffalo Bills), has donated over $102 MILLION to help fund both hockey programs, plus building a beautiful new hockey arena on campus.

RU would need probably several Pegula's...as RU Athletics overall needs tens of millions of $$$ just to get about of their annual deficit, let alone trying to start up a new program that could cost them a ton of $$$.

 

[ru8081]

There is only one way this could happen. Tie this together with a minor league hockey franchise affiliated with either the Devils or Rangers which would initiate the building of a downtown arena. This has been talked about before and didn't go anywhere. Also tie in the NJ sport group that manages the Meadowlands.

 

[HeavenUniv.]

I have said this before,but here goes--New Jersey had about 45 players in NCAA Division 1 hockey this past year. Penn State is playing games at the new Spectrum and Madison Square Garden and playing on national TV. New Jersey kids will grow up viewing Penn State as their hockey team. If we wait 20 years to start a program,we will be fighting the same battle we have for football and wrestling. If the money can be raised,start the program yesterday !---For those of you looking for Rutgers Hockey clothing and gear for children,men, and women,here you go--http://achastore.com/rutgers/

 

[robcac26]

Again, everyone involved in this is well aware of the amount of money needed to get it off the ground. They are actively involved in trying to make this happen, and they know more about what it would require than anyone on here does. Maybe the petition would help them get some funding from wealthy alumni who are hesitant to pull the trigger until they see that it would be worth it, who knows? It is closing in on 1000 signatures already and hasn't even been up for a full day yet.

 

[TheB1GTerp]

https://www.change.org/p/rutgers-at...&utm_term=mob-xs-no_src-no_msg&fb_ref=Default

Some alumni of the club team are trying to get the ball rolling on this. Obviously there are many factors at play here, but if you'd like to see Rutgers compete in NCAA hockey, it wouldn't hurt to at least sign the petition to show that there is support for this becoming a reality. Looks like some progress is starting to be made behind the scenes:

"Our 250+ member Rutgers Hockey alumni group, led by current Assistant Coach Adriaan Klaassen and a small committee of dedicated and influential alumni, has begun taking steps to raise support and endowment funds necessary to accomplish the goal of bringing NCAA Ice Hockey to Rutgers."

I would go for it, you need a big donor to get this off, but Hockey can be a revenue nuetral sport. The main issues are scholarships and the women's Title IX. I would then increase your women's rowing crew.

 

[derleider]

This reminds me of the repeated attempts to get a Rutgers PAC off the ground on this site. All of this is good and noble, but at the end of the day no one is going to put in the massive work that is needed for these kind of projects.

 

[dollarbill]

You could get around that by having just one sexually mixed team with the women playing a separate schedule of their own.Sharing the locker room and showers would show a willingness for RU to be a leader ,moving into the 21st Century of Sports.

I guess you would have no shortage of athletes under your modern scenario. $$$$

 

[robcac26]

This reminds me of the repeated attempts to get a Rutgers PAC off the ground on this site. All of this is good and noble, but at the end of the day no one is going to put in the massive work that is needed for these kind of projects.

People are already putting in the work. There is more going on than just this petition, this isn't just some people on a message board with an idea.

EDIT: I'm not saying this will definitely happen, but people on here seem to be dismissing it as if it's just some clueless fan trying to beg Rutgers to start a team without knowing the ins and outs of what it would take. I know some of the people working on this, and they know what they are doing.

 

[Caliknight]

I have said this before,but here goes--New Jersey had about 45 players in NCAA Division 1 hockey this past year. Penn State is playing games at the new Spectrum and Madison Square Garden and playing on national TV. New Jersey kids will grow up viewing Penn State as their hockey team. If we wait 20 years to start a program,we will be fighting the same battle we have for football and wrestling. If the money can be raised,start the program yesterday !---For those of you looking for Rutgers Hockey clothing and gear for children,men, and women,here you go--http://achastore.com/rutgers/

The money can't be raised. That is the problem. PSU had a donor foot the what, $100MM tab? Not happening at RU.

Focus on making the sports we currently have the very best they can be. It is what the administration is doing, and is the obvious smart play.

 

[e5fdny]

The figure is too high.

It will happen. Probably not on the timetable a lot would like.

But it's coming and not to a huge building near you either.

 

[PSU_Nut]

I would go for it, you need a big donor to get this off, but Hockey can be a revenue nuetral sport. The main issues are scholarships and the women's Title IX. I would then increase your women's rowing crew.

It can be done but it is almost impossible. Here a look at Penn State financials. This was with sell out of a 6,000 seat arena. If Penn State had to pay for an arena and did have a $25 million + donations for the endowment they would have lost money.

Revenue
Ticket Sales $ 1,583,027
Guarantees $ 32,500
Contributions $ 675,581
Program Sales, Concessions, Novelty Sales, and Parking $ 585,184
Endowment Income $ 1,620,939
Total: $ 4,497,231
Expenses
Scholarships $ 1,092,320
Guarantees $ 9,000
Support Staff $ 204,452
Recruiting $ 89,776
Travel $ 562,206
Equipment $ 224,277
Gameday $ 233,938
Marleting $ 10,689
Facilities Maint and Rentals $ 11,786
Membership Due $ 470
Other $ 960,476
$ 3,399,390

 

[OntheBanks]

Why don't we just play the other B1G teams without scholarship players. That would be both Men & Women teams.
Add 1 scholarship player to each team a year if donations are sufficient to do so.
You have to start somewhere and you don't need to have an on campus arena and full scholarships on day one.

 

[robcac26]

Why don't we just play the other B1G teams without scholarship players. That would be both Men & Women teams.
Add 1 scholarship player to each team a year if donations are sufficient to do so.
You have to start somewhere and you don't need to have an on campus arena and full scholarships on day one.

They would get absolutely annihilated playing national powerhouses with a roster full of walk-ons/club players.

 

[e5fdny]

Why don't we just play the other B1G teams without scholarship players. That would be both Men & Women teams.
Add 1 scholarship player to each team a year if donations are sufficient to do so.
You have to start somewhere and you don't need to have an on campus arena and full scholarships on day one.

You don't need the former (at first) but you would need the latter to do this.

 

[PSU_Nut]

Why don't we just play the other B1G teams without scholarship players. That would be both Men & Women teams.
Add 1 scholarship player to each team a year if donations are sufficient to do so.
You have to start somewhere and you don't need to have an on campus arena and full scholarships on day one.

. Scholarship is only one cost. You still have a ton of other costs. Using my example you would still have $2.2 million in expenses not mention any costs for a women's team.. Secondly the constant losing would kill any hope of revenue.

 

[Caliknight]

Fielding a team with no scholarship players to play they best in the country? Seriously, some people need to understand what the goal is and what getting your head bashed in every game would do to the team and department as a whole.

We have enough losing right now. We don't need more. No offense On, but that suggestion is less than great. We need to focus on things that get wins in the programs, not adding another to get its @ss kicked every game.

 

[OntheBanks]

Fielding a team with no scholarship players to play they best in the country? Seriously, some people need to understand what the goal is and what getting your head bashed in every game would do to the team and department as a whole.

We have enough losing right now. We don't need more. No offense On, but that suggestion is less than great. We need to focus on things that get wins in the programs, not adding another to get its @ss kicked every game.

We're getting our @sses kicked in many other sports right now with scholarship players. So why not 2 more to just get the ball (puck) rolling.
I would expect that those that are petitioning for these teams would be able to donate the funds to pay for the additional expenses such as those listed by PSU_Nut, excluding the scholarship expenses.

 

[bac2therac]

this thread is 20 years premature, its not happening

 

[ScarletKnightRider]

I would loooove love love love love to have a Rutgers hockey team. I think RU hockey could be HUGE here. Even bigger than most people think. Ton of hockey fans in the area....

BUT

That being said, its not time yet. We are ATLEAST 7-10 years away from this even being in discussion. A petition would not make our dreams come true at this point i'm afraid. We need mo' money. If we're going to make a real hockey program we've got to do it right.

 

[e5fdny]

I would loooove love love love love to have a Rutgers hockey team. I think RU hockey could be HUGE here. Even bigger than most people think. Ton of hockey fans in the area....

BUT

That being said, it's not time yet. We are ATLEAST 7-10 years away from this even being in discussion. A petition would not make our dreams come true at this point i'm afraid. We need mo' money. If we're going to make a real hockey program we've got to do it right.

Yes and yes to the bolded.

 

[Caliknight]

We're getting our @sses kicked in many other sports right now with scholarship players. So why not 2 more to just get the ball (puck) rolling.
I would expect that those that are petitioning for these teams would be able to donate the funds to pay for the additional expenses such as those listed by PSU_Nut, excluding the scholarship expenses.

Because we don't have the money for it, and what money that would be allocated would be MUCH better spent on funding programs that we currently have that are way underfunded.

Adding two more to list of programs getting their @sses kicked sounds awful on every level.

 

[getmyjive11]

Rutgers would need about $20 million just to fully endow the scholarships.

 

[RU62]

Cali how do you know there is no money for it. No question B1G hockey is among the best but even now at the club level Rutgers hockey has done well. Key is having an on campus ice arena that can also generate income and be usable and available for all students. In this regard it would be able to generate some income and have some practicality. View this in opposition to some of the other team sports like tennis, golf or even field hockey which generate little income and whose facilities are of limited use for students.

The group would do well to share some planning details as to how much $$ is needed and how much income an arena could generate to help offset expenses snd potential use by students.

 

[Knight_Light]

.... If we wait 20 years to start a program,we will be fighting the same battle we have for football and wrestling. If the money can be raised,start the program yesterday !---For those of you looking for Rutgers Hockey clothing and gear for children,men, and women,here you go--http://achastore.com/rutgers/

You already know the answer (i.e. money can NOT be raised at this time).

If you want to be the sugar daddy Pegula like PSU has and wants to donate over $100 Million to RU Hockey, go for it.

 

[RU1977]

If the Devils, Rangers, Islanders, and Flyers got together and gave $50 million each, then this could happen.

This

 

[derleider]

We're getting our @sses kicked in many other sports right now with scholarship players. So why not 2 more to just get the ball (puck) rolling.
I would expect that those that are petitioning for these teams would be able to donate the funds to pay for the additional expenses such as those listed by PSU_Nut, excluding the scholarship expenses.

Because the goal is to field winning teams, not just have teams. If the goal is to just have the team, then the club team already exists.

Also - you are kidding yourself if you think that the petitioners are going to come up with $2-3 million (renting the arena costs money. Travel will be slightly more expensive than PSU_Nuts numbers, since we are futher away) EVERY year. They almost surely wont come up with that money for just one year.

Like I said - its like the PAC idea. It seems great. There are dedicated and knowledgeable people working on the project. But for something like this you either need a sugar daddy, or an army of volunteers, and we almost surely have neither.

I doubt RU ever gets NCAA hockey. Too expensive. Not enough interest. Not enough chance of being good (NJ isnt Minnesota - there just arent enough recruits here to compete with the best in the biz.)

 

[lighty]

It is far from a perfect scenario, but what if Rutgers played games at the Trenton arena or Princeton or Bridgewater (even Newark) while searching for sponsors for a downtown arena? I love the idea of the tri-state teams possibly contributing. 25 million from Rangers, Devils, Flyers, and Isles would be feasible if things were creative with marketing aspects (not just ads, but special Rangers fan nights, team development camps, pre-season facility use, etc.)

As mentioned, New Jersey has been developing a list of NHL players in the past 15 years and we've started to include actual STARS on that list like Johnny Gaudreau who is one of the finalists for rookie of the year, James Van Riemsdyk, and Bobby Ryan.

If Rutgers can begin competing better across the board in Big Ten sports over the next few years, is it far-fetched to think the conference might want to help Rutgers start a program? They already know how fertile the area is for recruiting in many sports. I'm sure some of the teams already are keeping an eye on New Jersey for hockey as well.

And the comment about Penn State being the team they watch is dead on. They may want to play for traditional teams like Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota -- but those who want to be in an area where their parents could drive to some games will look at PSU. The longer PSU has the only game in town, the worse it will be for Rutgers.

I think the wildcard might actually be Maryland. With the money they get from Under Armour... if the Capitals are interested (and Ted Leonsis is a HUGE sports fan who loves the area) they might wind up having the money to move from club to conference faster than one would think.