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Best atmospheres in DIII hockey?

Re: Best atmospheres in DIII hockey?

How's Hamilton? I know the rink is the oldest (?) in college hockey, but there's a line between old-world charm and just plain old. All of the tradeoffs aren't always worth it. For example, Fenway is a must-see for people from put of town when they visit Boston, but after you've seen it the cramped concourses and isles, and the obstructed views, can leave me yearning for a modern park without those "charms".

I tuned into a few different games this past weekend, and really they looked packed all around. I'm sure the fact that many of these were rivalries helped (Bowdoin-Colby, Norwich-Castleton), but it was good to see.
 
Re: Best atmospheres in DIII hockey?

NU Pastime said:
How's Hamilton? I know the rink is the oldest (?) in college hockey, but there's a line between old-world charm and just plain old. All of the tradeoffs aren't always worth it. For example, Fenway is a must-see for people from put of town when they visit Boston, but after you've seen it the cramped concourses and isles, and the obstructed views, can leave me yearning for a modern park without those "charms".
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They renovated the rink back in 1993 (added individual seats replacing bleachers amongst other things), but they kept (had no real choice) the same layout to it. So, there are still view obstructing pillars and odd nooks and crannies and balconies where seats are and a very cramped oddly located press box.

Yes, it's old -- the second oldest college rink. It is historic. It certainly has "character." I believe scenes from Love Story were filmed there.

Every time I've been there, it's been more empty than full.

But, considering the name of the rink is Russell Sage Rink, it's my favorite rink... :D
 
Re: Best atmospheres in DIII hockey?

Our old rink , Romney field house , still has the older guys wagginq their tongues that it had a lot of old charm. Trust me you froze your posterior off and today you do not need a heavy coat on at the Campus Center in Oswego. We have been fortunate for a large fan base in Oswego, the atmosphere is exciting because of the great crowd.
Over the years visiting Cornell and Colgate and Appleleton in St Lawrence there is great atmosphere at those venuess. Traveling to Norwich and later this winter to Middlecbury we see very good atmosphere . Although the rinks present unique moments of good atmosphere , it is always a great crowd at these rinks that really create the best atmosphere
 
Re: Best atmospheres in DIII hockey?

lakont55 said:
Our old rink , Romney field house , still has the older guys wagginq their tongues that it had a lot of old charm. Trust me you froze your posterior off and today you do not need a heavy coat on at the Campus Center in Oswego. We have been fortunate for a large fan base in Oswego, the atmosphere is exciting because of the great crowd.
Over the years visiting Cornell and Colgate and Appleleton in St Lawrence there is great atmosphere at those venuess. Traveling to Norwich and later this winter to Middlecbury we see very good atmosphere . Although the rinks present unique moments of good atmosphere , it is always a great crowd at these rinks that really create the best atmosphere
Click to expand...

Nothing beats Romney and Clarkson's old Walker Arena. NOTHING.
 
Re: Best atmospheres in DIII hockey?

NU Pastime said:
How's Hamilton? I know the rink is the oldest (?) in college hockey, but there's a line between old-world charm and just plain old. All of the tradeoffs aren't always worth it. For example, Fenway is a must-see for people from put of town when they visit Boston, but after you've seen it the cramped concourses and isles, and the obstructed views, can leave me yearning for a modern park without those "charms".
Click to expand...

Yeah, while Hamilton doesn't charge admission, it's a fairly lousy venue in which to watch a game.

There are obstructions a-plenty, and many of the local soccer-moms seem to regard the Sage as free community day-care. There are scads of unsupervised kids and their heedless mothers at most afternoon games. And none of them give a flying ___ about the game.

If you go, be prepared to stand on the rails, and to move around frequently. (Even then, it can be a challenge to see the ice.)
 
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Fishman'81 said:
There are obstructions a-plenty, and many of the local soccer-moms seem to regard the Sage as free community day-care. There are scads of unsupervised kids and their heedless mothers at most afternoon games. And none of them give a flying ___ about the game.
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Would you say they are the type of fans who, if Hamilton was hosting the NCAA D3 Final four but didn’t qualify for the tournament themselves, may not even attend the championship weekend?
 
Russell Jaslow said:
Nothing beats Romney and Clarkson's old Walker Arena. NOTHING.
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Of all the ice rinks we have seen, never made it to Ckarkson, we saw St Lawrwnce play Clarkson at Apleton.
I saw the first game in Romney in 1964, it was the first ice hockey game in Oswego and we never missed a game after that or since
 
Re: Best atmospheres in DIII hockey?

lakont55 said:
Of all the ice rinks we have seen, never made it to Ckarkson, we saw St Lawrwnce play Clarkson at Apleton.
I saw the first game in Romney in 1964, it was the first ice hockey game in Oswego and we never missed a game after that or since
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Interestingly, I've never been to Appleton.
 
Re: Best atmospheres in DIII hockey?

altazo said:
Would you say they are the type of fans who, if Hamilton was hosting the NCAA D3 Final four but didn’t qualify for the tournament themselves, may not even attend the championship weekend?
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Absolutely! Why would they care much, especially if their team wasn't in the mix, since they don't even show any interest in their own team in the first place?

(Do you attend the D-1 Final Four, for example..? Puh-leeze.)
 
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Re: Best atmospheres in DIII hockey?

What is it like in Plymouth? Rink is small but seems to be filled almost to capacity every game.
 
Re: Best atmospheres in DIII hockey?

worldhockeyreport said:
Love the responses from everyone!! There is about 10-15 schools noteworthy that could compete but it's hard to include a few that I haven't been to. I know this is a NCAA thread but I also did an ACHA one from the same perspective! Give it a read and would love to hear more opinions. https://worldhockeyreport.wordpress.com/2017/12/05/best-rinks-in-the-acha/
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That's great that you've covered ACHA as well. I took a look at it and the only suggestion I have is to add more detail if you can. If you could include their regular attendance figures that would be good (is it hard to find those stats for ACHA?) and a bit more about the rinks (old/new, in town or on-campus etc.) and maybe something about the fan support - is it loud? Like the thread here, a smaller, packed rink might have more atmosphere than a bigger crowd which only fills 30% of a large facility. Good coverage and interesting perspective on the college leagues though. Well done!
 
Re: Best atmospheres in DIII hockey?

MELIN27 said:
That's great that you've covered ACHA as well. I took a look at it and the only suggestion I have is to add more detail if you can. If you could include their regular attendance figures that would be good (is it hard to find those stats for ACHA?) and a bit more about the rinks (old/new, in town or on-campus etc.) and maybe something about the fan support - is it loud? Like the thread here, a smaller, packed rink might have more atmosphere than a bigger crowd which only fills 30% of a large facility. Good coverage and interesting perspective on the college leagues though. Well done!
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Thanks! Very hard to find numbers for the schools. There are some other good rinks and atmospheres out there for sure, but I tried to factor in everything from quality of rink, to fan base and student section turnout. Would love to hear what other people think are the best!
 
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