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Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

U

uaafanblog

AKA - "Drop The Puck"
So I've moved out of Alaska to Massachusetts and am living in N. Falmouth on the Cape. Looks to me that Providence may be the closest team to me. Are there reasons I should go to a different joint for my first college hockey game outside the state of Alaska?

Sell me? Which rink would be easiest to sneak into? Which place would I be most likely to encounter hostility (which might actually be fun for me) for wearing my Seawolves jersey? I don't care about quality of concessions or parking or any of that nonsense and over time I hope to visit all the teams here that I can get to.

I did sorta jump on the PC bandwagon last year after the 1st round of the regionals.

I honestly don't know when I'll get a chance to catch a game yet but thought I'd look for recommendations.
 
Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

People around here neither know nor care about Seawolves.
 
Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

uaafanblog said:
So I've moved out of Alaska to Massachusetts and am living in N. Falmouth on the Cape. Looks to me that Providence may be the closest team to me. Are there reasons I should go to a different joint for my first college hockey game outside the state of Alaska?

Sell me? Which rink would be easiest to sneak into? Which place would I be most likely to encounter hostility (which might actually be fun for me) for wearing my Seawolves jersey? I don't care about quality of concessions or parking or any of that nonsense and over time I hope to visit all the teams here that I can get to.

I did sorta jump on the PC bandwagon last year after the 1st round of the regionals.

I honestly don't know when I'll get a chance to catch a game yet but thought I'd look for recommendations.
Click to expand...

The John A. Ryan Skating Arena, River Street, Watertown, Mass., which is the home of the Bentley Falcons. Cheap seats, and no one will know what a seawolf is.
 
Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

Honestly your unlikely to experience any hostility wearing a UAA jersey. Mild confusion perhaps, but not hostility. Here are my opinions on some of your options:

  • My favorite arena in the Boston area is Matthews Arena at Northeastern. Its the oldest hockey arena in the world which is kinda cool, and in my opinion has the most character of any rink in the area. Northeastern usually doesn't sell out, but they have a good student section, and if you go to a game against BU or BC you'll get a great crowd.
  • Providence and Brown are your closest options. Brown has a really cool old arena, but its rarely more than a third full, and like a lot of the Ivy League schools (Cornell being a big exception) doesn't get a good student turnout. There's usually no band either.
  • Providence is fine. The arena itself has recently undergone a lot of renovations. I just went there this past fall for a game against OSU and found the fans (the adults, not the students) kind of obnoxious. They seemed annoyed that I was wearing an OSU jersey. Not in a friendly competitive way, in a a**hole-y sort of way. When my dad mentioned to a guy he was speaking to in the lobby that he was a BU alum, the guy started to go off on "what a bad school BU was" and how he "couldn't imagine how anyone would want to go there". We both looked at him expecting him to laugh like he was just giving us a hard time. He was dead serious. Whether you'll experience that is anyone's guess. Probably not, but who knows? Anyway the arena is pretty small and just pretty blah overall. You might want to check it out because its so close and because PC has a good team right now, but other than that I'd recommend driving up to Boston.
  • BU definitely has the most modern arena in the area. Unfortunately they probably also have the priciest tickets. BU will always get a good turnout, but as with Northeastern, you're much better off in that department if you can snag tickets to a rivalry game against BC or a game against a big name school from out west.
  • BC has the biggest college arena in the area. I think it has more character than Agganis (BU's arena) but not nearly as much as Matthews. BC does slightly better in attendance than BU, but its a bigger building, so there's more empty seats too. Its seating layout is actually kinda similar to Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. It doesn't have quite as many bells and whistles as Agganis, but its definitely a nice modern arena. My biggest knock on BC (besides the fact that its the root of all evil) is that its the hardest to get to. The school is in the a**-end of Boston; about as far from the major highways as you can get and also near the end of the Green Line (the slowest of all of Boston's subway lines. Also the one where you're most likely to get puked on by drunk BU/BC students.).
  • Harvard's Bright Hockey Center is a cool old barn, but its small. They generally don't get huge crowds and normally there's no band and no organized student section. If you can get tickets to the Harvard-Cornell game though you'll get all three of those things.
  • If you don't mind smaller rinks, you could go to Bentley, or DIII games at Johnson & Wales, Curry, Wentworth, Suffolk, Babson, UMass-Boston etc. Generally I would say they're not worth the drive, but if you can get tickets to the Babson vs. Norwich game or the UMass-Boston vs. Norwich game you'll probably get a sellout crowd and a pretty good game, which even in a tiny rink can be a lot of fun.

Beyond that you're looking at a bit of a hike. You're already looking at a 1+ hour drive to any of those options from North Falmouth.
 
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Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

Buckeye22 said:
... My biggest knock on BC (besides the fact that its the root of all evil)....
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Uh....I thought the root of all evil was BU (BC being the flower of all evil)
 
Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

Go to Matthews if you like history (it's seriously amazing). Agganis if you like modern arenas with better amenities. Harvard's rink is also really nice in its post-renovated state, albeit small. Conte Forum is nothing to write home about. Nor is Schneider Arena. Meehan Auditorium is a cool old barn that feels much bigger than its stated capacity, but Brown crowds are essentially nonexistent (trust me, I'm a season ticket holder!) so the atmosphere is mausoleum-esque.

Personally, I'd recommend Matthews over all of those, but I love old architecture.
 
kdiff77 said:
Go to Matthews if you like history (it's seriously amazing). Agganis if you like modern arenas with better amenities. Harvard's rink is also really nice in its post-renovated state, albeit small. Conte Forum is nothing to write home about. Nor is Schneider Arena. Meehan Auditorium is a cool old barn that feels much bigger than its stated capacity, but Brown crowds are essentially nonexistent (trust me, I'm a season ticket holder!) so the atmosphere is mausoleum-esque.

Personally, I'd recommend Matthews over all of those, but I love old architecture.
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Go to the Matthews. It's the best in the city. Pretty much any of the Hockey East rinks would be great too. (Though BC's is really a basketball court.)

Screw Bentley, it's a high school rink, literally, and it's not convenient.

Nobody is going to give an F about your Seawolves jersey but you might strike up an interesting convo with some of the more knowledgable college puck fans around.

I can also say that the Lawler is both cozy and easy to sneak into.
 
Buckeye22 said:
Unfortunately they probably also have the priciest tickets. .
Click to expand...

Face value for my ticket I bought at Merrimack: $25
Face value my tickets at Agganis last weekend: $22

Agree about Matthews. You should check it out. Try and get a seat in the balcony.
 
Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

Sorry it wasn't obvious ... I really meant my questions facetiously ... in particular the jersey one. But thanks everyone for the rundown and suggestions. For now, I think I'll try to get to a game at Matthews as my first. Don't know when since I've got lots on my plate but for sure before the end of the regular season.
 
Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

Buckeye22 said:
[*]Providence is fine. The arena itself has recently undergone a lot of renovations. I just went there this past fall for a game against OSU and found the fans (the adults, not the students) kind of obnoxious. They seemed annoyed that I was wearing an OSU jersey. Not in a friendly competitive way, in a a**hole-y sort of way. When my dad mentioned to a guy he was speaking to in the lobby that he was a BU alum, the guy started to go off on "what a bad school BU was" and how he "couldn't imagine how anyone would want to go there". We both looked at him expecting him to laugh like he was just giving us a hard time. He was dead serious.
Click to expand...

You found hokydad!?!? :eek: :p
 
Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

I'd just like to offer my condolences to all hockey fans in Massachusetts. And, really, everyone in Massachusetts and the New England area, I don't know what you did to deserve this - I guess I blame the Patriots for that somehow.
 
Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

uaafanblog said:
So I've moved out of Alaska to Massachusetts and am living in N. Falmouth on the Cape. Looks to me that Providence may be the closest team to me. Are there reasons I should go to a different joint for my first college hockey game outside the state of Alaska?

Sell me? Which rink would be easiest to sneak into? Which place would I be most likely to encounter hostility (which might actually be fun for me) for wearing my Seawolves jersey? I don't care about quality of concessions or parking or any of that nonsense and over time I hope to visit all the teams here that I can get to.

I did sorta jump on the PC bandwagon last year after the 1st round of the regionals.

I honestly don't know when I'll get a chance to catch a game yet but thought I'd look for recommendations.
Click to expand...

Meehan Auditorium (where Brown plays) isn't too bad of a rink either, although it's a graveyard most of the time. If you go into the Boston area, you may want to also consider Harvard.
 
Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

You're out east now son. To see hockey played similar to the style of the west, go here. ;) :D
 
Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

I might be the only one here that thinks Matthews is the most overrated rink. First row of that balcony is the only good seat in the building. Besides that it is a terrible place to see a game because no one has ever been there when I been (all PC games).

I think Brown is pretty good old time rink near you and Harvard. BC is a basketball arena with ice. BU should be experienced at least once. Lowell is probably the best rink in New England with diehard fans if you are willing to drive to Boston, Lowell isn't much farther.
 
Buckeye22 said:
Honestly your unlikely to experience any hostility wearing a UAA jersey. Mild confusion perhaps, but not hostility. Here are my opinions on some of your options:

  • My favorite arena in the Boston area is Matthews Arena at Northeastern. Its the oldest hockey arena in the world which is kinda cool, and in my opinion has the most character of any rink in the area. Northeastern usually doesn't sell out, but they have a good student section, and if you go to a game against BU or BC you'll get a great crowd.
  • Providence and Brown are your closest options. Brown has a really cool old arena, but its rarely more than a third full, and like a lot of the Ivy League schools (Cornell being a big exception) doesn't get a good student turnout. There's usually no band either.
  • Providence is fine. The arena itself has recently undergone a lot of renovations. I just went there this past fall for a game against OSU and found the fans (the adults, not the students) kind of obnoxious. They seemed annoyed that I was wearing an OSU jersey. Not in a friendly competitive way, in a a**hole-y sort of way. When my dad mentioned to a guy he was speaking to in the lobby that he was a BU alum, the guy started to go off on "what a bad school BU was" and how he "couldn't imagine how anyone would want to go there". We both looked at him expecting him to laugh like he was just giving us a hard time. He was dead serious. Whether you'll experience that is anyone's guess. Probably not, but who knows? Anyway the arena is pretty small and just pretty blah overall. You might want to check it out because its so close and because PC has a good team right now, but other than that I'd recommend driving up to Boston.
  • BU definitely has the most modern arena in the area. Unfortunately they probably also have the priciest tickets. BU will always get a good turnout, but as with Northeastern, you're much better off in that department if you can snag tickets to a rivalry game against BC or a game against a big name school from out west.
  • BC has the biggest college arena in the area. I think it has more character than Agganis (BU's arena) but not nearly as much as Matthews. BC does slightly better in attendance than BU, but its a bigger building, so there's more empty seats too. Its seating layout is actually kinda similar to Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. It doesn't have quite as many bells and whistles as Agganis, but its definitely a nice modern arena. My biggest knock on BC (besides the fact that its the root of all evil) is that its the hardest to get to. The school is in the a**-end of Boston; about as far from the major highways as you can get and also near the end of the Green Line (the slowest of all of Boston's subway lines. Also the one where you're most likely to get puked on by drunk BU/BC students.).
  • Harvard's Bright Hockey Center is a cool old barn, but its small. They generally don't get huge crowds and normally there's no band and no organized student section. If you can get tickets to the Harvard-Cornell game though you'll get all three of those things.
  • If you don't mind smaller rinks, you could go to Bentley, or DIII games at Johnson & Wales, Curry, Wentworth, Suffolk, Babson, UMass-Boston etc. Generally I would say they're not worth the drive, but if you can get tickets to the Babson vs. Norwich game or the UMass-Boston vs. Norwich game you'll probably get a sellout crowd and a pretty good game, which even in a tiny rink can be a lot of fun.

Beyond that you're looking at a bit of a hike. You're already looking at a 1+ hour drive to any of those options from North Falmouth.
Click to expand...

Nice post. Pretty accurate.
 
Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

If you really want to get the full monty MA college hockey experience, you need to get your buns up to the TD Garden for the Beanpot Tournament (Feb 1&8). If you don't want to drive, you should be able to catch a train from Kingston, to South Station and cab over to the Garden. Return trip (last departure 10:40 PM) might be dicey unless you want to overnight in the Big City. Or just drive. (Fair warning: parking can be pricey.)

And nobody will give you a hard time about your Seawolves jersey. Most folks will just think your on the crew of some local fishing boat.
 
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Re: Dear MA; Who's Rink Should I Visit For My 1st Non-Alaska College Hockey Game?

goldy_331 said:
I'd just like to offer my condolences to all hockey fans in Massachusetts. And, really, everyone in Massachusetts and the New England area, I don't know what you did to deserve this - I guess I blame the Patriots for that somehow.
Click to expand...
Goldy loves me ... as do all Goofer fans.
 
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