RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

[DrDemento]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

While the Off Season season is on (and basically closing the barn door after the horse got out...HFH hopefully did this in prep for the renovations)...I would like to hear from this august group their opinions on rinks...the best, the worst, the criteria each of you use to judge a rink? My opinion is very jaded and old fashioned and I think we have enough of a heterogeneous sampling of minds to get a really good snapshot...and I pray the engineers for 'The Engineers' did the same thing before this project...personally, I like to wear my fur at a rink because it's cold and and I want to NEED a hot cocoa...

My intention is not to cause an argument...this is very personal ...if you like an opponent's rink, I want to go see that rink and get context...part of my hockey education...

With my long history of following hockey I have been to hundreds of rinks. Of the college rinks I have a soft spot for Hobey Baker rink at Princeton. Old fashioned and freezing inside but you are right on top of the action and it feels so intimate. My all time favorite rinks though are professional-I still remember walking into the old Montreal Forum to play in a tournament as a kid-My knees were shaking and you cold just feel the history. And of course as a 57 year fan of the NY Rangers the old MSG is at the top of my list. Also have to echo WS about the appeal of the 1980 rink at Lake Placid. Have been there numerous times and can feel the anticipation of excitement every time.

[fishcore12]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

My dog had me up early this morning so flippin thru channels and found ESPNU was showing the game vs. Princeton. Great way to get a fix of RPI hockey during the summer.

[babo]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

You're confusing the University of Buffalo with Buffalo State College, which are two different schools. They're both in Buffalo and both in the SUNY system, which is confusing, but they're definitely separate - UBuff is a D-IA school, Buff State is D-III.

Thank you for the clarification...I am still trying to process B2 & kbps ...I think I'm in over my head but I'm a good swimmer so I will continue to plod along following all of you...it feels like I'm on a tricycle in the center lane of the NYS Thruway and the 16 wheelers are all honking...

[engineerhockeyfan]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

With my long history of following hockey I have been to hundreds of rinks. Of the college rinks I have a soft spot for Hobey Baker rink at Princeton. Old fashioned and freezing inside but you are right on top of the action and it feels so intimate. My all time favorite rinks though are professional-I still remember walking into the old Montreal Forum to play in a tournament as a kid-My knees were shaking and you cold just feel the history. And of course as a 57 year fan of the NY Rangers the old MSG is at the top of my list. Also have to echo WS about the appeal of the 1980 rink at Lake Placid. Have been there numerous times and can feel the anticipation of excitement every time.

DrD, I spent much of my youth at the Old Garden. It certainly had character and a lot of pidgeon droppings on the fire escapes. Great memories, thanks for the memories.
As for college rinks, I have been to Harvard, Yale, Quinnipiac and West Point.
My favorite is still HFH. All the others are newer and are great places to watch a game, But the old Army rink (pre 1985) sounds a lot like Hobey Baker. It was freezing. If you walked around the rink down by the boards, you were only separated from the ice by some ply wood. Great building.

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

personally, I like to wear my fur at a rink because it's cold and and I want to NEED a hot cocoa...

The non-RPI rink you would most likely enjoy the most is either Hobey Baker or Appleton. I'm sure you're familiar with the former, but Appleton is where SLU plays. It's an old arena with standing room, favorable weather with it being an older building in the North Country, and a pretty good atmosphere.

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

Today is 19 July 2010. There are 81 days until RPI's next game.


This is based upon 8 October for the start of next season.

[yarblockers]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

I have a strange question. Does anyone know if there is a place to retrieve RPI's all time record vs Maine? I don't want to go through the entire history of the program game by game if I don't have to.

[Ralph Baer]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

I have a strange question. Does anyone know if there is a place to retrieve RPI's all time record vs Maine? I don't want to go through the entire history of the program game by game if I don't have to.

RPI's record vs. Maine is 5-4-0 http://www.augenblick.org/rpi/h_rvo.html.

If you want all the game scores without going through each season, you could look at the 07-08 Media Guide (last time we played them) and add the score from that year. A PDF of that Media Guide is online on the RPI athletics website. Also, Maine's site might have details.

[Jasma]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

While the Off Season season is on (and basically closing the barn door after the horse got out...HFH hopefully did this in prep for the renovations)...I would like to hear from this august group their opinions on rinks...the best, the worst, the criteria each of you use to judge a rink? My opinion is very jaded and old fashioned and I think we have enough of a heterogeneous sampling of minds to get a really good snapshot...and I pray the engineers for 'The Engineers' did the same thing before this project...personally, I like to wear my fur at a rink because it's cold and and I want to NEED a hot cocoa...

My intention is not to cause an argument...this is very personal ...if you like an opponent's rink, I want to go see that rink and get context...part of my hockey education...

Great college Rinks in the East:
Lynah/Cornell - Great ice surface; great fan support and atmosphere; great hot and strong coffee at the trainers room
Gutterson/Vermont - see first two reasons above; also burlington is fun town.
Conte Forum/Boston College - Nice facility; big crowds, great city.
Thompson Arena/Drtmouth - Great site lines everywhere. It's cold, but not freezing.
Hobey Baker Arena/Princeton - History, history, History; and nice college town.
Matthews Arena/Northeastern - Oldest building in the country; great site lines; great city.
Alfond Arena/Maine - Great atmosphere.
Awful rinks:
Achillies/Union, for reasons mentioned by others on this site.
Meehan Auditorium/Brown - Decent facility but nobody goes and nobody cares.
Schneider Arena/Providence - same as Brown
Merrimack's building- like a high school gym.

[babo]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

Having read what some of you thought about the rinks you've been to, I get the sense that you feel the way I do...bells and whistles don't make a bottom line difference because you're there as a fan of the game. I like the feeling the Montreal rink gave you, Doc...I have a similar feeling about LP. We were there a few years back for one of those Can Am tournaments and the B.R.O. told us he was going to win the shootout competition...then went ahead and did it. It was a fleeting moment, with a packed arena, that gave me the slightest sense of what that place must have been like for the '80 USA team (no where near the scale but a hint of it). We visited the NU rink while it was under construction and I would have LOVED to see it prior...the low ceiling and the closed in feeling must have seen some real good games.

[Wicked Slappaahs]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

I never said we were getting tickets on the South side, just that the First Church was getting alumni tickets for a change. Still unsure where our seats are for next year. Has anyone else heard from the box office for those that sent in forms? They still haven't even cashed my check, which troubles me...

My guess is that due to the ongoing construction, the HFH box office currently consists of a pile of cartons being stored in a janitors closet somewhere.. ...with the B.O staff currently working on their tans. In any event, rest assured they will take care of you.

[redhead18]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

As reported on Twitter a few days ago, Pat Cullen was indeed invited to Capitals prospect camp last week. Heres a short video interview with him:
http://www.csnwashington.com/pages/c...jKqXT7tZ9A5JS3

He's also shown in a few photos in the gallery:
http://www.csnwashington.com/pages/p...ds=flicker&rc=

[jmhusker]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

Great college Rinks in the East:
Lynah/Cornell - Great ice surface; great fan support and atmosphere; great hot and strong coffee at the trainers room
Gutterson/Vermont - see first two reasons above; also burlington is fun town.
Conte Forum/Boston College - Nice facility; big crowds, great city.
Thompson Arena/Drtmouth - Great site lines everywhere. It's cold, but not freezing.
Hobey Baker Arena/Princeton - History, history, History; and nice college town.
Matthews Arena/Northeastern - Oldest building in the country; great site lines; great city.
Alfond Arena/Maine - Great atmosphere.
Awful rinks:
Achillies/Union, for reasons mentioned by others on this site.
Meehan Auditorium/Brown - Decent facility but nobody goes and nobody cares.
Schneider Arena/Providence - same as Brown
Merrimack's building- like a high school gym.

Jasma has this all just about right. My amendments to his list:
Conte is OK but I wouldn't put it in the great category.
UNH's rink should be in the great category. 6K fans sold out every night.
Merrimack's rink does remind me of my high school gymnasium. However, you can't really beat the ticket prices for Hockey East and you do get an appreciation for the speed of the game when you are there. So not a great rink but a good take nonetheless.
I'm a big fan of Bright arena too - great place to see a game and it would be a great atmosphere is they had better student and fan support.

[babo]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

DrD, I spent much of my youth at the Old Garden. It certainly had character and a lot of pidgeon droppings on the fire escapes. Great memories, thanks for the memories.
As for college rinks, I have been to Harvard, Yale, Quinnipiac and West Point.
My favorite is still HFH. All the others are newer and are great places to watch a game, But the old Army rink (pre 1985) sounds a lot like Hobey Baker. It was freezing. If you walked around the rink down by the boards, you were only separated from the ice by some ply wood. Great building.

I've been to both the old and new Army rinks (We determined that my hubby played against Jim Knowlton in that rink in 1978 or 9...I watched it totally unaware of the future connection...). The old rink was definitely what the Hobey Baker rink sounds like. The new rink has the kind of feeling that I feel about the Quinnipiac rink...sterile.

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: RPI 2010 Off-Season Thread IV -- It's Looking Like No "I-V" Is Necessary!

I've been to both the old and new Army rinks (We determined that my hubby played against Jim Knowlton in that rink in 1978 or 9...I watched it totally unaware of the future connection...). The old rink was definitely what the Hobey Baker rink sounds like. The new rink has the kind of feeling that I feel about the Quinnipiac rink...sterile.

The ice is also very soft in Tate...

Northford Ice Pavilion (Q-Pac's old rink) was also, well, "special". That rink sort of reminded me of one of the rinks in The Mighty Ducks, except it was a women's game, so no infamous "hairstyle" to complete the experience. It was quite small (let's face it, it's a community center rink).

I definitely know how you feel about the fur; I almost have to want to wear a sweatshirt to the game, though it usually ends up being that I wear shorts to the games, and would probably even do so in the colder rinks.