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Source: The Wisconsin State JournalSept.迷你倉 19--ST. PAUL, Minn. -- As a new item in the men's college hockey display case, the Big Ten Conference has done some eye-catching things thus far.No gasps of genius or beauty mind you; just a nice collection of pieces that reflect a higher level of competence and earnestness than we're used to seeing from some of the more established operations.One example is being offered here today. The Big Ten has brought its six coaches, select players and top administrators to the Xcel Energy Center for a preseason media gathering.It's hardly a new concept for the Big Ten -- the league has long done it for football, men's and women's basketball -- but it's a novel approach for many of the long-timers who follow college hockey.There's nothing like putting faces to names -- making meaningful contact with coaches and key decision-makers in the league -- especially when the alternative has long been a torturous 90-minute teleconference where the commissioner, of all people, routinely chimed in with questions of the coaches while a handful of participants winced.The inaugural Big Ten media gathering is being staged in St. Paul because of its vibrant hockey heritage and because the well-appointed 'X' will be the site of the inaugural league playoff tournament in March. All six schools -- Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and the University of Wisconsin -- will play in the single-elimination event with a berth in the NCAA tournament going to the victor.The media day model is so inviting that the newly formed National Collegiate Hockey Conference -- which counts Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State among its eight members -- is staging the same thing today in downtown Minneapolis.The Big Ten gathering comes the same week that the league rolled out the bulk of 文件倉ts Big Ten Network schedule. If there's one item in the display case that grabs your attention, it's all the projected TV exposure. By the time the full lineup for 2013-14 is complete, it's expected that more than half of all Big Ten games will be televised nationally.That prime-time ratio overwhelms the rest of college hockey -- 53 schools of varying budgets and profiles scattered over five other leagues -- and feeds into the fear that the well-heeled Big Ten will drive smaller programs out of business.That paranoia has raged ever since a billionaire, Terry Pegula, gave Penn State more than $100 million to fund men's and women's hockey programs and an arena on campus three years ago. That gave the Big Ten the six members it needed to sanction the sport and led to massive realignment, which will be unveiled when the season begins next month.What critics fail to appreciate is that, because of the Big Ten, college hockey now has a more formidable identity.Issues and inequities that have plagued the sport -- whether with the NCAA or the NHL -- have largely gone unresolved over the years. Why? Because college hockey's fragmented, overmatched leadership resembled a bunch of squeaky voices in the back of the room.That won't be the case with the Big Ten. Its booming baritone tends to be heard loud and clear on matters of athletic administration, governance and protocol. Its methods of persuasion, while arrogant to some, tend to get results.In short, the Big Ten gives college hockey a presence it's never had before. That shouldn't be feared. It should be embraced.Contact Andy Baggot at abaggot@madison.comor 608-252-6175.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) Visit The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) at .wisconsinstatejournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services存倉