Hockey at UL

[DaddyCajun]

Ron Handy of the Louisiana Ice Gators spoke on KATC tonight announcing that UL would now be fielding a Div II Ice Hockey team!! Details will come in the morning press I am guessing!

If I remember correctly when this subject was first brought to the public, due to Title IX, there would have to be additional women teams for UL. I do not remember if that was dependent on whether or not UL fielded a Div Ia hockey team or a lower division!!!

DaddyCajun

[rhineaux]

_ Ron Handy of the Louisiana Ice Gators spoke on KATC tonight announcing that UL would now be fielding a Div II Ice Hockey team!! Details will come in the morning press I am guessing!

If I remember correctly when this subject was first brought to the public, due to Title IX, there would have to be additional women teams for UL. I do not remember if that was dependent on whether or not UL fielded a Div Ia hockey team or a lower division!!!

DaddyCajun _

It depends if its a "club" team or a "collegiate" team. If its a club team, and playing in Division II, then its likely not NCAA's Div II. The UL Rugby team plays in Div II of an organization called USA Rugby (or something like that), along with many other big schools. Its not a collegiate team, and not associated with the Athletic Department, so Title IX doesn't pertain to it.

[ulforlife]

_ It depends if its a "club" team or a "collegiate" team. If its a club team, and playing in Division II, then its likely not NCAA's Div II. The UL Rugby team plays in Div II of an organization called USA Rugby (or something like that), along with many other big schools. Its not a collegiate team, and not associated with the Athletic Department, so Title IX doesn't pertain to it. _

It is a club team, however they will be playing other schools like Texas, etc. who also do not have collegiate teams. My good friend made the team as goalie, he is very good.

[cayenethepepper]

_ Ron Handy of the Louisiana Ice Gators spoke on KATC tonight announcing that UL would now be fielding a Div II Ice Hockey team!! Details will come in the morning press I am guessing!

If I remember correctly when this subject was first brought to the public, due to Title IX, there would have to be additional women teams for UL. I do not remember if that was dependent on whether or not UL fielded a Div Ia hockey team or a lower division!!!

DaddyCajun _

That is great news DC!! Folks in the lafayette area have been long awaiting this. The cajundome is already geared to have ice hockey and this will attract tons and tons of local fans. Hopefully this gets cranked up real soon. Hockey is a big sport and a big fan following.

[cajunmaniac]

We have a hard enough time filling up cajun field for football games, who do you think is going to go to the games? unless we had a huge influx of cannucks i didn't know about. I'm not bashing the sport of hockey, but as long as the athletic budget isn't being affected by this facade i don't care. but when the university starts putting money into this program when it could go towards new gear for baseball or football then i'll protest it.

[rhineaux]

_ We have a hard enough time filling up cajun field for football games, who do you think is going to go to the games? unless we had a huge influx of cannucks i didn't know about. I'm not bashing the sport of hockey, but as long as the athletic budget isn't being affected by this facade i don't care. but when the university starts putting money into this program when it could go towards new gear for baseball or football then i'll protest it. _

They'll likely play at the facility in Carencro. I don't know that the CajunDome still has the means to put an ice rink down, nor would they spend time and money adding and removing it for a club team, when the team can play at a much cozier facility, like the one in Carencro, that has a rink in place permanently.

[DaddyCajun]

I agree the University should not be putting monies into a non traditional sport for the south. Especially when the existing sports are not funded where they should be.

Having the sport play at the Hockey Plex in Carencro would be perfect and more affordable for the team. Putting signs in the Hockey Plex and out front stating home of the Ragin' Cajuns or University of Louisiana's Ragin Cajun Hockey Team would be nice pub!!

DaddyCajun

[CajunAmos]

It was mentioned in an old thread (Help Turbine) that they were looking at Blackham as a possibility. I seem to remember it was mentioned that there is a new system for ice that lets you get a rink set up quickly at a much lower cost. I do agree that I'd start at the Hockeyplex as a cost cutting measure, unless the costs are equal. I know there isn't much seating at the Hockeyplex.

Turbine, I guess you'll need a new icon/avatar for hockey in the list. :-)

[Kal]

I really miss having hockey here in Lafayette. If everything falls in to place, when I graduate I'll be owning football, basketball, baseball, and hockey season tickets.

[CajunCharlie]

Unfortunately, most of the folks who attended hockey games at the CajunDome did so because of the plethora of fights. That will not be case at the level of hockey anticipated as a club sport. I am not too certain that it would/will be supported by those fans who want to see fights, not hockey.

I was stationed for three years at Grand Forks AFB, ND and attended numerous hockey games. To be honest I can only recall one or two instances of "scraps" not fights. The hockey was topnotch and I enjoyed the games for the speed and physical play. The fan attendance was phenomenal. Of course they had a history of hockey dating way back.

[geo_cajun]

I'm not sure if this is correct, but a buddy of mine said that they will be playing in blackham and a special ice surface will be made. Does anyone else know anything because it just doesn't sound right.

[RCAJUN90]

We have a hard enough time filling up cajun field for football games, who do you think is going to go to the games? unless we had a huge influx of cannucks i didn't know about. I'm not bashing the sport of hockey, but as long as the athletic budget isn't being affected by this facade i don't care. but when the university starts putting money into this program when it could go towards new gear for baseball or football then i'll protest it.

I'll be there and dare I say buy season tickets!

[RCAJUN90]

I'm not sure if this is correct, but a buddy of mine said that they will be playing in blackham and a special ice surface will be made. Does anyone else know anything because it just doesn't sound right.

e-mail Ron Handy. I did and the guy e-mailed my back the next day.

[RCAJUN90]

Unfortunately, most of the folks who attended hockey games at the CajunDome did so because of the plethora of fights. That will not be case at the level of hockey anticipated as a club sport. I am not too certain that it would/will be supported by those fans who want to see fights, not hockey.

I was stationed for three years at Grand Forks AFB, ND and attended numerous hockey games. To be honest I can only recall one or two instances of "scraps" not fights. The hockey was topnotch and I enjoyed the games for the speed and physical play. The fan attendance was phenomenal. Of course they had a history of hockey dating way back.

Good point CC but I think the IceGators developed enough of a fan base that really appreciated the sport. Being in such a low league and getting so close but never winning it all did that franchise in. Also with the minors flooding the Louisiana market with a team in every city didn't do the franchise well. It will be interesting to see if they will like the college game (not fighting). I think it will be a success in Lafayette and might even generate revenue. Right now there is no hockey in Louisiana except for Shereveport.

[CajunCharlie]

_ Good point CC but I think the IceGators developed enough of a fan base that really appreciated the sport. Being in such a low league and getting so close but never winning it all did that franchise in. Also with the minors flooding the Louisiana market with a team in every city didn't do the franchise well. It will be interesting to see if they will like the college game (not fighting). I think it will be a success in Lafayette and might even generate revenue. Right now there is no hockey in Louisiana except for Shereveport. _

I would take in some games. I would expect the usual pulling, tugging, and banging along the boards. And I would expect on occassion for it to get rowdier. Thats okay, but the frequency of fighting that occured in Ice Gator games was not my cup of tea. I did not enyoy going to a fight and a hockey game broke out!

[keithj]

I know for sure I'll be at every home game and of course I'll need a jersey to support the team.

[RCAJUN90]

I'm not sure if this is correct, but a buddy of mine said that they will be playing in blackham and a special ice surface will be made. Does anyone else know anything because it just doesn't sound right.

I e-mailed Ron Handy a few months ago and he was talking about putting it in Blackham.

[TuffGuy84]

Little known fact about me was that I attended every Icegator game for about 4 years in a row right in the middle. I just grew up and had "more important" things to do (hey, I was jr/sr in highschool by that time) but still retained my love for the sport of hockey. I think that this sport can acctually generate some revenue, and not affect our title 9 (by being a Div II sport).

Tuffguy

[Kal]

I say if all goes well that we push for the school to get a women's gymnastics team. Once we do that, we can move the hockey team up to NCAA D1 level. Of course this is like 5 or 6 years down the road. But I love hockey and if it meant that we get a gymnastics team in the process, I don't think anyone would mind.

[Hammer58]

_ I say if all goes well that we push for the school to get a women's gymnastics team. Once we do that, we can move the hockey team up to NCAA D1 level. Of course this is like 5 or 6 years down the road. But I love hockey and if it meant that we get a gymnastics team in the process, I don't think anyone would mind. _

I can't see a sanctioned hockey team being realistic. What other teams in the area have ncaa sanctioned hockey? The travel costs to go on the road would kill us and the revenue generated would likely be nill. Where would we get the money to support this? We are struggling in terms of athletic budget as it is. In an ideal world with unliimited funding I would be all for it but I think supporters of this venture would have to come up with some solid funding for it to reach the level of a sanctioned team sport at UL.