Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

[Stauber1]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

I'll nominate the Penobscot Ice Arena in Brewer, ME the biggest dump in the state and since Maine should be a shoe in for the Futile Four it would be fitting.

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/02/...ot-ice-arena-in-brewer-disturb-local-coaches/

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/01/...-arena-taking-small-steps-toward-improvement/

“When we were there, there was feces on the floor. Both toilets were overflowing. And there wasn’t any hot water anywhere..."
“It needs an overhaul,” agreed Orono High coach Greg Hirsch.

Nomination for understatement of the year.

 

[Ralph Baer]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

Shout out to Ralph Baer... isn't this the building with the ridged spar roof and adobe facade plainly visible from the Red Line just after the New York Avenue Metro stop? How did they miss this in DC's recent Frozen Four effort?

Yes, that's where it is. I have never been inside. It does seem dumpy enough, but as Patman wrote, the proximity to Union Station is a negative. BTW, I think it now called the Washington Coliseum. Believe it or not it was originally the home of a minor league hockey team, so although there may not be icemaking equipment there, it's the correct size.

Edit: From Wikipedia

The building still stands today in the NoMa neighborhood near Union Station, what was formerly known as Swampoodle. It was used as a trash transfer station by Waste Management, the company that handles trash disposal for the District of Columbia, from 1994 to 2003. Waste Management Inc. applied for a demolition permit on May 9, 2003.[4] The D.C. Preservation League listed the building in its "Most Endangered Places for 2003".[12] In order to protect it from efforts to raze the building, it was added to the official protection list of the D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board in November 2006. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, on May 17, 2007.

It is a popular spot for graffiti. [13] It is now used as an indoor parking lot. The coliseum is currently owned by Doug Jemal.[14] Redevelopment plans are pending.[15]

How can we resist a place that was once a trash transfer station.

 

[BUPhD]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

Yes, that's where it is. I have never been inside. It does seem dumpy enough, but as Patman wrote, the proximity to Union Station is a negative. BTW, I think it now called the Washington Coliseum. Believe it or not it was originally the home of am minor league hockey team, so although there may not be icemaking equipment tehre, it's the correct size.

Edit: From Wikipedia



How can we resist a place that was once a trash transfer station.

Yup, it's the building by the Red Line at the Noma/Gallaudet station. I pass it every day on the way to work.

On its side of M St., the nearest thing is a liquor store. But on the other side, you've got the amenities of the new Metro stop. It may be the last possible year to use it as the area around it is just getting "too good" for an event like this.

 

[Freddie]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

I don't remember there being a Futile Four last year? Can we possibly get a list of say, the past 2 Futile Four locations, as we wouldn't want them to be familiar with any locations. Ya know, new places are scary

There was no FutileFour last year. The committee was incarcerated in Haiti, over that unfortunate black market sterno incident.

The 2011 BFB regionals were held at:
Hockey Town USA in Saugus MA
St Lawrence Centre Mall in Massena NY
George Gipp Arena in Laurium MI
Palouse Ice Rink in Moscow ID
The FutileFour was at The Ice Park in Flowood MS

All records from previous tournaments have been either discarded for reasons of public health, or simply misplaced due to the negligence and constant inebriation of the committee. Our memory (fuzzy, as it may be) says other recent regional sites have included: Amarillo TX, Knoxville TN, Flint MI, Queens NY, Fremont OH, and Ottumwa IA...and it seems to me we held FF somewhere in Delaware.

 

[BUPhD]

Proximity to Union Station is a problem... but its proximity to New York Ave does increase the chance of gun violence... choices, choices, choices.

edit: of course, Union Station is the home of a major train station. This would provide an advantage to the eastern schools, however, it would provide a major disadvantage to the western schools as it could take days to arrive

I think you can work around this. Make it the West Regional site. Should an Eastern team land there, invoke the 'a flight is a flight' rule and route them to DC via Singapore.

 

[Priceless]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...PsdUd_mBI7LrQeJn4GQDA&ved=0CFAQ9QEwBg&dur=468


Adelard Arena in Woonsocket, RI. Home of the Mount St. Charles Mounties, winners of 27 consecutive state championships from 1977-2004.

How is this place so terrible, you may ask? Well, the coach, Bill Belisle, has been there for as long as anyone's been alive, and REFUSES to adhere to fire codes and modernities. Thus, the rink has no heat, the locker rooms fit approximately half a youth team (but there are only two, so you have to cram everyone in anyway), the rink is lined with chicken wire fences, and the seats haven't been replaced ever.

Also, it used to be an airplane hangar. So that's pretty cool.

Now, a potential concern is its proximity to civilization. Not to worry! Woonsocket is such a horrible place that no one in their right mind would go there anyway, unless they wanted to get stabbed (not out of the question).

I've been to Adelard. It has all the short-comings you mention, but it does have charm. You have to dress accordingly for the game. The locals also talk up how quaint it is that no one is allowed into the Mount locker room. There's a picture of Ray Bourque standing outside waiting to talk to Jeff Jilson. They also told us about the time MSC lost a game they shouldn't have (which was pretty much all of them) and when they got back to Adelard Bill put the score up on the scoreboard, put buckets on each faceoff dot and told the players to skate until the buckets were full. He then turned off the lights and went home, telling the waiting parents outside that their sons may be a while. He's a taskmaster. But the arena is no comparison to the wind tunnel of an arena one of the preps has up by Lake Winnipesaukee (Brewster?) with two walls and open ends behind the nets that serve as a great conveyor belt for wind down from the mountains straight onto the lake. Talk about cold. Or another NH prep where the "locker rooms" (and I use the term advisedly) are in another building, there's no heat, no snack bar, only a couple rows of stands (not seats, stands) and the only warm place for a team to go between periods is a hut that's too small.

I would recommend the search committee check out the barn where Skowhegan High School played for a couple of seasons, but to my knowledge no pictures exist. And I don't say 'barn' as in an old arena...I mean quite literally a barn. As in on a farm. They flooded the floor and played inside. The committee could also check the outdoor pond where North Yarmouth Academy played before we built our arena. No locker rooms, no stands, no benches...just a pond behind a bank down the hill from the school. The only issue might be that the Futile Four is held so late in the season we might have to play water polo instead.

 

[LtPowers]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

Yup, it's the building by the Red Line at the Noma/Gallaudet station. I pass it every day on the way to work.

Fantastic! Gallaudet can host! If we make sure all of the sign language interpreters are out of town that weekend, the host committee should be completely unable to communicate with the teams.

Bill put the score up on the scoreboard, put buckets on each faceoff dot and told the players to skate until the buckets were full.

Are the buckets still available?


Powers &8^]

 

[Priceless]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

Fantastic! Gallaudet can host! If we make sure all of the sign language interpreters are out of town that weekend, the host committee should be completely unable to communicate with the teams.

There is still pen and paper

Are the buckets still available?

Knowing what a masochist Bill is I would expect he saved at least one of the buckets to display to incoming freshmen.

 

[BUPhD]

Fantastic! Gallaudet can host! If we make sure all of the sign language interpreters are out of town that weekend, the host committee should be completely unable to communicate with the teams.


Are the buckets still available?


Powers &8^]

Gallaudet is where I teach. Surely we can make some arrangements. We did have a hockey team back in the 60s that played there. People I've talked to said, "It was something the Candadain students did."

If RIT makes it into the tournament, we'd have to watch for favoritism and advantage there as NTID is housed under RIT and they might have exposure to ASL

 

[Patman]

I also nominate this one in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aguadilla_Ice_Skating_Arena

Does PR's nice weather disqualify it though??

Any arena that can afford a lazer light show is clearly too nice of a venue

 

[Patman]

Gallaudet is where I teach. Surely we can make some arrangements. We did have a hockey team back in the 60s that played there. People I've talked to said, "It was something the Candadain students did."

If RIT makes it into the tournament, we'd have to watch for favoritism and advantage there as NTID is housed under RIT and they might have exposure to ASL

I'd be more worried about the imported Canadians ability to read and write first before I'd worry about them knowing ASL

 

[MCgrad07]

I'll nominate the Penobscot Ice Arena in Brewer, ME the biggest dump in the state and since Maine should be a shoe in for the Futile Four it would be fitting.

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/02/...ot-ice-arena-in-brewer-disturb-local-coaches/

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/01/...-arena-taking-small-steps-toward-improvement/

Played there 15 years ago as a kid. I remember the locker rooms were bad and my mom hated the stands. My dad was the coach and he laughed because it reminded him of a dump in New Brunswick, Canada.

 

[kdiff77]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

I've been to Adelard. It has all the short-comings you mention, but it does have charm. You have to dress accordingly for the game. The locals also talk up how quaint it is that no one is allowed into the Mount locker room. There's a picture of Ray Bourque standing outside waiting to talk to Jeff Jilson. They also told us about the time MSC lost a game they shouldn't have (which was pretty much all of them) and when they got back to Adelard Bill put the score up on the scoreboard, put buckets on each faceoff dot and told the players to skate until the buckets were full. He then turned off the lights and went home, telling the waiting parents outside that their sons may be a while. He's a taskmaster. But the arena is no comparison to the wind tunnel of an arena one of the preps has up by Lake Winnipesaukee (Brewster?) with two walls and open ends behind the nets that serve as a great conveyor belt for wind down from the mountains straight onto the lake. Talk about cold. Or another NH prep where the "locker rooms" (and I use the term advisedly) are in another building, there's no heat, no snack bar, only a couple rows of stands (not seats, stands) and the only warm place for a team to go between periods is a hut that's too small.

I would recommend the search committee check out the barn where Skowhegan High School played for a couple of seasons, but to my knowledge no pictures exist. And I don't say 'barn' as in an old arena...I mean quite literally a barn. As in on a farm. They flooded the floor and played inside. The committee could also check the outdoor pond where North Yarmouth Academy played before we built our arena. No locker rooms, no stands, no benches...just a pond behind a bank down the hill from the school. The only issue might be that the Futile Four is held so late in the season we might have to play water polo instead.

SHHH...we're trying to win a bid, here!

Adelard is the kind of rink I love...dumpy, historic, and old school. But from an outsider's perspective, it looks like a piece of crap. That's why I suggested it.

 

[Federal League]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

Here's a candidate in Gunnison, Colorado. It's only five years old and appears to have some pretty good lighting, which could detract from its case to host this tournament. But I think the lack of seating and potential for carbon monoxide poisoning will make it an attractive option for the committee.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/07/us-hockey-illness-idUSTRE71669L20110207

Some photos: http://www.cityofgunnison-co.gov/parks_and_rec/ice_rink.html

 

[Federal League]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

And for this year only, these two rinks in New York could make for good hosts:

Long Beach Ice Arena in Long Beach: http://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/donation-to-be-used-to-fix-long-beach-ice-arena-1.4615380

Playland Ice Casino in Rye: http://yonkers.dailyvoice.com/news/new-york-rangers-help-rye-playland-ice-casino-repairs

Both were heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy, and neither one has reopened yet. Now, both are set to undergo massive repair projects. But fear not- I have talked to the rink managers at each and they have assured me that should they be selected as a host for this tournament, the reparations will be put on hold until its conclusion. Or, at the very least, they will at least be delayed long enough so as to be under construction during the tournament, thereby creating mass chaos for everyone trying to get to the rink, including the teams.

Long Beach Ice Arena is the older of the two venues, and clearly the more rundown pre-storm. Both took on several feet of water during the storm, resulting in heavy damage to the ice and refrigeration systems. The one thing that might make Playland Ice Casino more attractive is the fact that it had two doors and parts of the roof blown off. I will leave it up to the committee to decide which one is more appealing for this tournament. If necessary, both could even host.

 

[Priceless]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

And for this year only, these two rinks in New York could make for good hosts:

Long Beach Ice Arena in Long Beach: http://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/donation-to-be-used-to-fix-long-beach-ice-arena-1.4615380

Playland Ice Casino in Rye: http://yonkers.dailyvoice.com/news/new-york-rangers-help-rye-playland-ice-casino-repairs

Both were heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy, and neither one has reopened yet. Now, both are set to undergo massive repair projects. But fear not- I have talked to the rink managers at each and they have assured me that should they be selected as a host for this tournament, the reparations will be put on hold until its conclusion. Or, at the very least, they will at least be delayed long enough so as to be under construction during the tournament, thereby creating mass chaos for everyone trying to get to the rink, including the teams.

Long Beach Ice Arena is the older of the two venues, and clearly the more rundown pre-storm. Both took on several feet of water during the storm, resulting in heavy damage to the ice and refrigeration systems. The one thing that might make Playland Ice Casino more attractive is the fact that it had two doors and parts of the roof blown off. I will leave it up to the committee to decide which one is more appealing for this tournament. If necessary, both could even host.

How far apart are they? Is there a suitable lack of mass transportation that will leave teams and spectators stranded between the two arenas?

 

[SteveP]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

I'll throw in a vote for the Morgantown (WV) Municipal Ice Arena, home of the Mountaineers ACHA team. There's no photos or website, but the small lobby has a stone fireplace, the visiting locker room is in the corner of the rink (we broadcast our one game there from the roof of the locker room) and there's only seating for about 500.

Come to think of it, several ACHA arenas that I was in over the past decade could fill the bill quite admirably, including one that offers the carbon monoxide option.

 

[Federal League]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

How far apart are they? Is there a suitable lack of mass transportation that will leave teams and spectators stranded between the two arenas?

According to Google Maps, they're 40 miles apart. And you have to go through Queens and the Bronx to get from one to the other. So I'd say transportation from one to the other will definitely be maddening, especially if the games are scheduled during rush hour.

 

[ericredaxe]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

The arena itself does not look too bad... but the access would be pretty expesive and difficult for all involved. And as an added benefit the manager of the skating rink says over the years, the number of muggings and gang-related activity in the area has increased.

The Ice Palace in Hawaii.

Read more: http://www.kitv.com/news/Teenagers-...4/9719962/-/aducyw/-/index.html#ixzz2KzrH6sDm

Unfortunatley they do have a snack bar, and it appears a small row of bleachers on one side. I would imagine the ice cannot be great in this perpetually warm climate. It appears the lockers are of the sort where you have to insert a quarter to operate them so perhaps the players could be made to bring their own change.

 

[Twitch Boy]

Re: Bottom-Feeders Bracket: Road to "Futile Four" Site Selection Process

This is truly an historic moment for hockey. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Carnival Cruise Lines, and donation of a ship worthy of the participants and fans that make this great tournament what it is, the Futile Four reveals it will have the honor of unveiling another hockey first: hockey at sea.

I nominate the main deck of the Carnival Triumph.