Ice Bus skids, but Huskies continue to build New York presence

To much fanfare, the #IceBus pulled into Barclays Center on Sunday, unloaded and unleashed a two-hour showcase of UConn hockey in New York City.

Kind of.

The Huskies fell behind 3-0 after one period. 5-1 after two. By the time the game ended, UConn was staring at an 8-2 loss, complete with the most humiliating own-goal you’ll ever see. As far as a hockey game goes, this was about as bad as it gets. The smattering of UConn fans in attendance were left in disbelief.

And UConn needs more days like this.

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OK, maybe not exactly like this. But it needs more games in New York’s big arenas. In any sport. This isn’t anything new, in fact we’ve been saying this for a while. This has been important ever since UConn was left out of the Power 5 shuffle and Rutgers was not, partly because of its “presence” in New York. It was further highlighted by how UConn took over Madison Square Garden for the 2014 NCAA Tournament, driving ticket prices up in historic fashion.

The next year, UConn football played a game at Yankee Stadium and women’s basketball played at Madison Square Garden. This year, it’s hockey, men’s and women’s basketball.

It needs to keep happening. We’ve seen how much the ACC and Big Ten value New York City; both have taken their conference tournaments out of their league’s more geographically sane locations in favor of MSG or Barclays for upcoming seasons. But the onus is not only on the athletic department. The fans need to show up. If an #IceBus falls in the Barclays Center and no UConn fan is there to see it, does anyone care?

I’ve lived in New York long enough to know there are a ton of UConn fans here — both alumni and just people like myself who appreciate championships. Those fans were lacking in Brooklyn on Sunday, but I’m not going to bash anyone for that. College hockey isn’t exactly a big-time sport in this city and the #IceBus is still gaining speed. Those who showed up were loud and enthusiastic, and for now, let’s settle for that. Going forward, it would be great to see UConn promote its New York events a little more, encouraging people around the city to attend and maybe those from Connecticut to make the trip too. Spread the word. The interest is there.

Syracuse has ads on top of taxis and at Yankee Stadium reminding the world that they think they are New York’s college team. UConn fans can claim to know otherwise, but they need to back that up. Hopefully those who made the trip to Barclays Center on Sunday are also planning to see the men’s basketball team play Maryland at the Garden on Dec. 8, then the women’s team face the Terps there on the 20^th.

If we’re lucky, the men will have a great season and be sent to Brooklyn for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, creating another 2014-like situation. Tickets for all those events can be found below.

I had a great time watching the #IceBus on Sunday. Let’s make the next event even better:

Men vs. Maryland
Women vs. Maryland
NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds

Baseball also plays at Columbia on March 25. Go, because why not? Check GoColumbiaLions.com as the event gets closer for ticket info.