Nicest CCHA Arena?

[BGSU33]

Unlike all the MAC football and basketball stadiums and arenas I have visited, I haven't been to all the CCHA arenas .... yet. I've been to half of them and have been to the hockey arenas at Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Miami, Notre Dame and of course, BG. I actually never made it into WMU's. Out of all of those, I liked MSU's arena the best myself. I thought Michigan's was pretty cool too. I thought Miami's current arena was pretty bland, though that will change, after seeing the renderings of Miami's new arena that is being built right now - it looks flat out awesome! Notre Dame's arena felt sort of lost to me in one of the two bubbles of the JJACC, OSU's facilties is huge and nice, but reminded me more of an NHL arena than a college arena. That's not a knock on the place at all because it's awesome, but I'm not much of a fan of multi-purpose venues.

Anyway, I was wondering what some of the other CCHA arenas that some of you have visited were like, and which ones you liked best too or how they compared to BG's?

[Bleeding Orange]

I must preface this by saying that, for me, the BGSU Ice Arena is Mecca. Plain and simple. There is no other place on earth that I would want to watch a game (though I would like very much to see a SOG board installed).

That being said, Yost is one of the coolest places that I have ever seen a game. Yes, the sight lines absolutely blow. Yes, the fans are mostly douches. But my God does that place have atmosphere. Everything about that building just screams old-time hockey, and the smell of cinnamon roasted almonds that pervades the place is one of my all-time favorites. The place just has character.

The only reason I hate the place is because I have never seen BG win there. I am always proud to wear my Brown and Orange there though, and even if I was the only one doing so, I always sang Ay Zig out loud after every BG goal there! I one day hope to see a BG victory over the 'Goons there in person, but I don't know when I will be able to get back to Yost anytime soon. Moving back and forth across the country tends to get in the way of that.

Seeing us beat those idiots there on TV this Friday, though, would be almost as good!

[TG1996]

Lawson Arena at WMU is kind of like a hybrid between BG and Munn if I remember correctly. It's a bowl-shaped setup, with all entrances from the top (like Munn, I believe), but has similar bench seating and a similar size to the BG Ice Arena.

Then again, it's been almost 10 years since I've been to either of them, so maybe my memory is a little sketchy.

[BGDrew]

As far as the "pretty" factor, Miami will soon get that distinction.

With that said, teams FEAR coming into our Barn to play. I think that's all you have to say.

[NYFalcon]

Came across this website and thought it may help.

http://www.chtg.net/

[BGSU33]

Came across this website and thought it may help.

http://www.chtg.net/

Thanks, that's a great link.

[ffejfalcon]

If I had to rank them...(based on quality of rink)

1-Ohio State Uiversity
2-Michigan State University
3-Nebraska Omaha
4-University of Michigan
5-Bowling Green State Univeristy
6-Northern Michigan University
7-Western Michigan University
8-Alaska Faribanks
9-Lake Superior State University
10-Notre Dame
11-Ferris State University
12-Miami University (a dump) that will be changing though...

[McConvey]

First, here are the arenas I've been to:
BGSU (duh!), Northern Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Miami, Notre Dame.
(I have not been to Fairbanks, Omaha, Western, Ferris, Lake Superior State).

Prettiness factor: Northern Michigan and Munn. The Schott is pretty, but it just feels like a basketball arena to me. Because it is. At Northern and Mich St, you actually feel like you're watching a hockey game!

Atmosphere: Yost and Berry. No competition here.

Ugly, horrible arenas to watch hockey in: Joyce, Goggin.

Pretty, horrible arenas to watch hockey in: Ohio State

Best food: I'm not sufficiently qualified to judge this one. I'll leave it to people who actually eat at the arena. I will, however, give props to the roasted cinnamon cashews at Yost! Wicked good!! I must also give props to the people at the North concession stand at BG... we always had this crappy Pepsi upstairs and if I took them an unopened bottle of diet, they'd trade it for a Dr. Pepper!!

Best fans: again, probably not sufficiently qualified to judge this one. For as much as I hate Michigan fans as a group, on a one-to-one basis, I've never had problems with them. Northern Michigan fans were generally nice as well. Didn't really talk to any Miami fans, so I can't say one way or the other.

Worst fans: probably Ohio State. The first night I was there, they were great. The second night I was around different people and they were less than cordial. Didn't care for Notre Dame fans, either.

Worst all-around experience: Goggin. The arena itself blew, it was half empty (spring break) and I was sick as a dog, which didn't add to the flavor one bit. We won, so it's not like I'm angry about the games.
Close second and probably the winner had I not been sick as a dog at Miami: Notre Dame's Joyce Center. Who the hell designed that building? There's a basketball court over here, and then off to the side is this sheet of ice. It's not even in different rooms! They just turn the bleachers around (would it really have broken the budget to build a wall and purchase separate bleachers?) Add to that the fact that there was no atmoshphere whatsoever to speak of and it just wasn't a fun weekend. But they did give me about 50 copies of the CCHA News, so there is that.

Best all-around experience: Either Yost or Berry. Michigan games are much more tolerable if you go when you have no interest in the outcome (I've seen LSSU and Harvard there. Rooted for both of them over the Wolverines, of course ). Berry is a nice building with a great atmosphere. Plus we won the game in overtime, which I'm sure adds to my opinion of what a great place it is. Note, I was still sick as a dog when we went to NMU.


----You may notice I didn't mention BGSU in any of these. That's because I was trying to judge other buildings vs. one another. My rampant homerism leads me to choose BGSU on every level if I add them into the mix BGSU is far and away my favorite place to watch a college hockey game.

[moneymaker02]

i know they arent in our division, but the best college arena in the country by far is north dakota. they have recruits just walk in there and committ on the spot.

[rc_ziggy84]

First, here are the arenas I've been to:
BGSU (duh!), Northern Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Miami, Notre Dame.
(I have not been to Fairbanks, Omaha, Western, Ferris, Lake Superior State).

Prettiness factor: Northern Michigan and Munn. The Schott is pretty, but it just feels like a basketball arena to me. Because it is. At Northern and Mich St, you actually feel like you're watching a hockey game!

Atmosphere: Yost and Berry. No competition here.

Ugly, horrible arenas to watch hockey in: Joyce, Goggin.

Pretty, horrible arenas to watch hockey in: Ohio State

Best food: I'm not sufficiently qualified to judge this one. I'll leave it to people who actually eat at the arena. I will, however, give props to the roasted cinnamon cashews at Yost! Wicked good!! I must also give props to the people at the North concession stand at BG... we always had this crappy Pepsi upstairs and if I took them an unopened bottle of diet, they'd trade it for a Dr. Pepper!!

Best fans: again, probably not sufficiently qualified to judge this one. For as much as I hate Michigan fans as a group, on a one-to-one basis, I've never had problems with them. Northern Michigan fans were generally nice as well. Didn't really talk to any Miami fans, so I can't say one way or the other.

Worst fans: probably Ohio State. The first night I was there, they were great. The second night I was around different people and they were less than cordial. Didn't care for Notre Dame fans, either.

Worst all-around experience: Goggin. The arena itself blew, it was half empty (spring break) and I was sick as a dog, which didn't add to the flavor one bit. We won, so it's not like I'm angry about the games.
Close second and probably the winner had I not been sick as a dog at Miami: Notre Dame's Joyce Center. Who the hell designed that building? There's a basketball court over here, and then off to the side is this sheet of ice. It's not even in different rooms! They just turn the bleachers around (would it really have broken the budget to build a wall and purchase separate bleachers?) Add to that the fact that there was no atmoshphere whatsoever to speak of and it just wasn't a fun weekend. But they did give me about 50 copies of the CCHA News, so there is that.

Best all-around experience: Either Yost or Berry. Michigan games are much more tolerable if you go when you have no interest in the outcome (I've seen LSSU and Harvard there. Rooted for both of them over the Wolverines, of course ). Berry is a nice building with a great atmosphere. Plus we won the game in overtime, which I'm sure adds to my opinion of what a great place it is. Note, I was still sick as a dog when we went to NMU.


----You may notice I didn't mention BGSU in any of these. That's because I was trying to judge other buildings vs. one another. My rampant homerism leads me to choose BGSU on every level if I add them into the mix BGSU is far and away my favorite place to watch a college hockey game.

I pretty much agree with everything McConvey said there. Munn is great, OSU sucks and Yost is fun.

Here's a question slightly off topic. But when we play up at the Joe this year, will they re-paint the blue-lines? I caught a Wings game on TV yesterday and notice that the defensive zones are absolutely huge due to the <b>assanine</b> rules changes the NHL made. Certainly they'll change that come tournament time right?

[McConvey]

I pretty much agree with everything McConvey said there. Munn is great, OSU sucks and Yost is fun.

Here's a question slightly off topic. But when we play up at the Joe this year, will they re-paint the blue-lines? I caught a Wings game on TV yesterday and notice that the defensive zones are absolutely huge due to the <b>assanine</b> rules changes the NHL made. Certainly they'll change that come tournament time right?

Absolutely not!!

It happens out here sometimes. A good example is the Dartmouth/New Hampshire game at Verizon Arena (Manchester, NH) this past weekend. Since Manchester is in the AHL and the A usually adopts whatever the NHL does, the lines are NHL regulation. It's just something that the teams have to deal with.

The worst was Blueline For Dummies last year. Those really fat bluelines that gave me headaches to look at and made no difference whatsoever in the linesman's ability to call the puck offsides and a negligible difference in the players' abilities to keep the puck in.

One of the Hockey East teams shares its arena with an AHL team, so they play all their games with those dimensions.

[rc_ziggy84]

That really sucks...