Ford Field Rink Installation

[MichFan]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Those who didn't like Ford Field will probably be relieved by these remarks from Kristin Fasbender, associate director of championships for the NCAA, in the Detroit Free Press:

Would the NCAA consider holding the Frozen Four in another football stadium?

“I would never say never,” Fasbender said. “Do I think it is something we’ll turn around and do in the next five or six years? I would say not at this time. …

“It’s been a great experience for these student-athletes, a once in a lifetime thing for them. NHL buildings have been really good to us the last few years. My guess is we’ll go back to NHL buildings for a while.”

Full article:
http://www.freep.com/article/201004...s-happy-with-Frozen-Fours-showing-in-Detroit-

 

[aallenpollreisz]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Just returned from Detroit. Frankly, I had a great time.

As noted in my previous post, though the view was a little flat, I could see everything fine from 132. (I think I said 138 last time. Trust me, it was 132.)

Really big crowd tonight that was decidedly pro-Wisconsin (or pro-RIT, depending on who you talk to), so it doesn't surprise me that the atmosphere was not spectacular. Frankly, the Badger faithful had jack squat to cheer about (at best). Beyond that, the Frozen Four this year was marred by three blowouts, and I'm sure that, regardless of venue, the atmosphere would have taken a enormous hit anyway.

The ice tonight didn't seem as horrible as I thought it'd be. The building was absurdly humid, so I was expecting the puck to do some weird things, but nothing of significant note happened. Sure, the ice still looked like crap, and there was plenty of snow to be shoveled during stoppages, but I don't think it adversely affected the speed or play of either team.

I thought the league and the city put on a great show, given how big of an experiment it was. Would I like to see another Frozen Four at a football stadium? In time. Thing is, we can now properly assess the positives and negatives from the event as a whole...

Obviously, the risers were a failure on both sides. They were useless (and created flat views for those in fixed seats) on the permanent-seating side, and were totally useless on the opposite side of the rink because of the lack of pitch. That said, the rest of the building had good views. I think, if you take out the risers on the bench-side, push the rink back toward the fixed-seating side about 10 or 12 feet, and erect significantly steeper risers on the non-fixed side without the gap between the first row of seating and the glass, there wouldn't have been a bad view in the house.

Couple that with a larger, more-complete curtain to separate the rest of the building from the "ice arena" side, and you'd have a workable venue.

Regardless, again, I enjoyed my first Frozen Four experience. It'll likely be my last solely because of geographic issues, but Thursday and tonight were events I will always remember (for good reasons).

 

[HockeyMan2000]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

If the ESPN guys are saying the ice is bad, that makes me inclined to believe that the ice was actually not that bad.

I'd ordinarily be inclined to agree with you, but seeing as they are typically the masters of self-promotion and avoid criticism of any kind, I think it was telling.

Thorne laid on the sarcasm a whole bunch of times too. At one point they showed the long overhead shot of the stadium with the risers and the half of the field that was uncovered, and Thorne said "isn't that beautiful" to Melrose, who just started laughing.

I get the feeling they hated being there.

 

[davyd83]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Its hard to imagine BC making all those tic-tac-toe cross ice tape to tape passes on a truly bad ice surface.

As for the event as a whole, I had a friend from the Detroit area who took his three kids to the Frozen Four. There's no way he could have done that were it in an NHL arena. Add the fact that there was nearly double the crowd of any previous FF, and 18,000 more people got to take part in the event that have never had the chance in the past. I like that.

 

[Bill]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Aside from the now-notorious risers, can anyone say that it was a failure after tonight? The place was packed and the atmosphere was far better than Thursday. Too bad Wisconsin didn't get at least one goal because the Badger fans outnumbered BC fans by about 8 to 1 and the place would have exploded.

A little better atmosphere, but still not that good. It was like the fans were over here and the ice surface and players were way over there, and there was not much connection between them. There was more noise from the fans than Thursday, but still nothing like the atmosphere you'd have at a Frozen Four in a hockey arena, and it wasn't just because Wisconsin didn't score.

 

[STATEdude3]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Can we really accurately measure crowd interaction when none of the fanes were close down the stretch? There was not much to cheer for, for half the cans in any of the 3 games.

 

[Bill]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Can we really accurately measure crowd interaction when none of the fanes were close down the stretch? There was not much to cheer for, for half the cans in any of the 3 games.

Two of the three games were close for several minutes into the third period. At a typical Frozen Four, you'd have a lot of noise and electricity throughout the entire game, not just the last 10 minutes. It's not that there wasn't any fan noise in the stands at Ford Field, but the noise that existed seemed disjointed from the game itself. And much of it was lost in the acoustics of the larger arena. You could have decent views of the game, albeit from farther away than in a hockey arena, but a lot of the noise from the on ice game was lost to the crowd and vice versa.

 

[jen]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

There was NO atmosphere. I could hardly hear ANY fan noise, and it's not because the fans were spread out or because "Wisconsin fans sat on their butts." It's because HALF THE STADIUM WAS EMPTY and the bands were right on the glass. We were on the BC band side (after switching), and could hardly hear the Wisconsin band. It's NOT because they were being quiet. I would think the teams got absolutely no energy from the fans. The atmosphere was PATHETIC compared to the 14 other Frozen Fours I've attended. No other word for it - and it was because of the venue, not because the games weren't close or because the fans didn't cheer.

The ice was awful.

The way they treated the highest priority ticket holders by giving them riser seats behind the benches is unforgivable. Blind drunk monkeys would have known those seats would suck once there were actually PLAYERS on the bench, not to mention other people in the seats. The first row of the risers was BELOW the benches. HOW DID THEY NOT NOTICE THAT? Those were $40 seats AT BEST, and we paid $189 for them. Watched the Thursday games on the video screen pretty much (could see one offensive zone if we moved). On Saturday, they had officials down there handing out tickets in other sections.

If they ever have it in ANYTHING other than a hockey rink, I'm watching from my hotel room and not giving the NCAA a ****ing cent. Very, very disappointed.

Having said all that - I still had a lot of fun because I'm not going to let it ruin my trip. But hearing people say it was a success because it broke an attendance record makes me feel ill. Definitely going to contact the NCAA about my opinion of Ford Field and can't wait for Xcel next year.

 

[CLS]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

They had 37,000 in the house for the title game, and it looked much better than the semis did in terms of TV.
. .

But interestingly enough, both teams played in front of larger crowds this year.

 

[MaizeRage]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Definitely going to contact the NCAA about my opinion of Ford Field and can't wait for Xcel next year.

Don't sell yourself short. The X has a very shallow grade on the seats in the lower bowl, the upper deck is a mile away, and it's a gimmick playing the event in a pro arena. You should see if the NCAA will switch next year's Frozen Four to the Chisholm Sports Arena. All 800 seats have a great view, and it guarantees that the NCAA will make no money and will keep out any ********* that doesn't have 10 years of Frozen Four priority out in the cold.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Those who didn't like Ford Field will probably be relieved by these remarks from Kristin Fasbender, associate director of championships for the NCAA, in the Detroit Free Press:




Full article:
http://www.freep.com/article/201004...s-happy-with-Frozen-Fours-showing-in-Detroit-

At least they figured it out.

Terrible idea, hopefully they never do it again.

 

[jen]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Don't sell yourself short. The X has a very shallow grade on the seats in the lower bowl, the upper deck is a mile away, and it's a gimmick playing the event in a pro arena. You should see if the NCAA will switch next year's Frozen Four to the Chisholm Sports Arena. All 800 seats have a great view, and it guarantees that the NCAA will make no money and will keep out any ********* that doesn't have 10 years of Frozen Four priority out in the cold.

that's an excellent completely irrational extrapolation. good job.

if the NCAA decides to put a system in place to reward repeat ticket holders... then they should reward them, not **** on them.

I guess my opinion of my own experience was wrong. I actually had an awesome view behind the benches, the atmosphere was spine tingling, and the ice was fantastic. sorry about that.