Re: Who's Coming to Erie?
Just got home a couple hours ago. We had a great time at the games. Our seats were in section 20 row EE so we were down by the boards. We had no problems with vision other than seeing around the bench down to the corner, but that's fairly normal at any venue when you are sitting close to the boards.
Sorry we missed you; I really did try to spot the Buckeyes/Pens combo. We were on the other side of the ice in Section 8. We made over to your side of the building during a couple of the intermissions, but obviously not enough to connect.
Glad the seats in the lower rows worked out for you. I wondered about that, especially since others have questioned whether that was a good vantage point.
We thoroughly enjoyed watching NCAA women's hockey being played at its highest level. We ran into Meghan Agosta at the semi final games Friday night and she graciously signed a couple things for us. Earlier today we saw a couple of Wisconsin Olympians and got some pictures with them (Molly Engstrom and Erika Lawler). We had a great time and were glad we made the trip.
Agreed on the games and the trip. Also, very cool autographs. No wonder we couldn't find you. While we were looking, you were busy hanging with the stars!
You never know when the Frozen Four is going to come back around to a venue that is this close (reasonable drive), so we took advantage of the opportunity... Kudos to the folks at the arena and Mercyhurst for making it happen. We had a really great time in Erie. For those Hurst fans who call Erie home, hope you can get the women's Frozen Four again some time! I wish we could get it around here, but in central Ohio, we just do not have the right size venue. The Schott/OSU hosted the men's Frozen Four in 2005, but it's a little too big for the women's Frozen Four. I suppose they could pull the curtains in the upper deck.
Way too big. My feeling is the only way we'd draw enough local fans to justify using the Schott is if the Buckeyes were in the FF field. Since we've yet to make the field of 8, that's really going some.
Also, I think the weekend in question is likely to spoken for by one of the high school state tournaments, meaning both BB tourneys plus wrestling. I'm not 100% sure, as I believe the h.s. schedules are about to be tweaked a little. But the h.s. events are well attended money makers, and it's hard to imagine us bumping one of them for a one-time event.
The Fairgrounds Coliseum would be the right size, but I am not sure if they still even have a sheet of ice there. Back in the day, the old Columbus Chill (ECHL) played there.
Unless something has changed in the last year, they have ice -- just not during the high school basketball playoffs. For that reason, using that facility would mean last minute ice, if it was available at all. Yes, the size would be about right. Unfortunately the location isn't the best for a FF. In the middle of the fairgrounds, you don't have the hotels and eateries within easy walking distance. Also, it's an older facility. No doubt it would suffice, but it wouldn't be ideal for an NCAA championship. (Those with Twin Cities connections, think Hippodrome and you've basically got the picture.) In any event, while Tullio is ready for the planned renovations, it rates better on the other criteria than our Fairgrounds Coliseum.
If the dream of a medium-sized, OSU hockey-only facility is ever realized, then yes: We should be bidding on the Women's Frozen Four. But until such a happy eventuality occurs, no.
