Placid v Albany

I still like Lake Placid more, but Albany did demonstrate some very big advantages that can't be ignored:

(1) I didn't hear anybody even mention the effect of "big sheet vs little sheet" all weekend, and that was a pleasure. Maybe it was the difference between an overtime loss and an overtime win. There were more than a few times that a Harvard forward was trying to flank the Cornell D and just plain ran out of room.

(2) The Cornell contingent was absolutely enormous. Granted, this is partly due to having a long, great season after another great season and the bandwagon is overbooked, and it is partly due to the other three teams having, combined, a fan presence about equal to Yale's. But it has to be in part due to the more convenient location and the larger population base of the immediate surroundings.

In addition, the town did what it could to promote. There was signage and banners, there was a cutesy little festival outside the building, and one of the state high rise offices had a message about ECAC Hockey spelled out in lit rooms.

The disadvantages remain: the area around the building is a pit, there is no Lake Placid area charm, etc... But Cornell did go a little ways towards establishing some tradition, inaugurating the building with one of the greatest finals in ECAC history.

Anyway, of course we are where we are and there's no going back, but in honor of Age's poll I decided to share my thoughts. In the long run, considering the sheet, the proximity, and the greater capacity, Albany is probably better for the program than Lake Placid, and ultimately that is the most important thing.

I happened to think Albany was a fantastic city. Lotsa places to go

I missed Lake Placid, but I thought Pepsi Arena did a great job, especially letting us re-enter the second day. It seemed like they were open for suggestions and willing to accomodate fans.

My biggest complaint was with the ice surface and the boards... The ice was awful all weekend, and clearly affected play... The boards, too, were completely unpredictable, and there were a TON of weird bounces off those boards...

Never went to Placid, but I had a great time in Albany despite losing to Satan...err...Hahvahd.

I am fully aware of Placid's place in USA hockey history, but let's be realistic. For the final they still drew more fans in a half full Pepsi Arena than could fit at Placid. And that was without RPI/Union/Clarkson/SLU/UVM.

Given a couple more years at Albany, I think this will start to draw 10,000+ fans consistently.

They just need to get a new zamboni driver, ditch the trivia contest, and get some more uniform boards. I saw way too many wierd bounces on routine clears. Oh, and get that 12 year old to sing the national anthem for all 4 games, especially if the other one can't get the words right.

My chief complaint was a complete lack of decent food options around the arena during/after game times. Placid had lots of places that were good eateries open within walking distance. Albany was a bit of a ghost town around the rink, and the food options were that late night PizzaBar and Jillians, where the food quality was weak. Also, there just wasn't an atmosphere of hockey outside the rink, the way it was at Placid.

That said, if we win every year, I'm ok with Albany...

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed the flubbing of the anthem. That really irked me.

Placid was cool. I enjoyed being there in 1997 (thought so much in 1998). The town in certainly nicer than downtown Albany. But I'm not sure I would have made it this weekend if the games were in Placid - just too hard to get there from the west coast. So I for one am happy for the change since I'm stuck in California for the time being.

The Albany folks certainly ought to improve a few things, the ice quality and the board being the most obvious. (Which is odd, since a professional hockey team does call hat place home.) But it wasn't a bad start.

Yes, "For the land of the free" ticked me off also.

A professional hockey team calls the place home, but so does an indoor lacrosse team, an arena football team, and some college basketball teams. If there's one thing that's well established in the NHL, the arenas that are used for more than hockey have the shittiest ice.

Now about the boards....they just suck.

JH

ok. It isn't worth starting another thread, but what the heck are Entenmann's and Freihofer's. I have never heard of either.

Good thing if you're on the Atkins diet.

Melissa'01 wrote:

ok. It isn't worth starting another thread, but what the heck are Entenmann's and Freihofer's. I have never heard of either.

Good thing, if you're on the Atkins diet.

Cakes and pastries. No comparison, if you've ever tried Entenmann's.

I liked the way Lake Placid was dominated by hockey fans. The person sitting across from you at dinner was certainly a fan and would ask which team you were for (well, they did of other people, I was wearing my jersey).

But... the smaller ice surface makes a difference, Albany is quite a bit closer to most of the fans, and they did try to make us feel welcome.

The years at Placid will be remembered fondly, but the future is at Albany.

J.P.

oh. thanks.
hmmm. are they special regional ones? ie. related to providence or something?

gosh, you have never heard of entenmanns? look in your grocery store for boxed donuts or cakes next time you go.

will do.
is it really that weird that i've never heard of these?
i like to cook so whenever i get some sort of sweet pastry-like craving i make something myself and then bring the rest to work.

For that matter, I'm amazed you live in Albany and have never heard of Freihofer's (more local and better cookies if you ask me). You are familar with Stewart's, right?

Are people who only went to one site allowed (ethically) to vote for the one they went to, or do they have to vote "Didn't go"? In particular, are the "I would never go to Placid because it's such a ripoff crowd" voting for Albany or N/A?

Stewart's root beer is a keeper. Amazingly I've even seen Stewart's sodas in the grocery stores all the way out here.

Biggest ice effect was when the Harvard shot headed straight for our empty goal turned on its side and veered left and missed by a foot. I'm happy for that ice!

The Root Beer is from a very different Stewart's from Colorado:

[www.root-beer.info]


This Saratgoga NY Stewart's is known for bargain priced soft drinks and mid-priced dairy items:

[www.stewartsshops.com]


Oddly or maybe not so oddly, Entenmann's and Freihofer's are both currently owned by the same conglomerate - CPC International, Inc., aka Bestfoods. Freihofer's originated in Troy and was family owned until the 1990's.



Post Edited (03-24-03 23:36)

Man was the ice shitty, Ive never seen so many people laying on their be-hinds... and man, i want the video of when the harvard dude was checked through the glass...

And how many times did the Zamboni guy look back over his shoulder and realize that he'd missed a spot and would have to go over that part again? I wondered if we had the Safety Zamboni guy all weekend.

That ice was terrible. When you leave only 2 minutes for it to refreeze in a warm building before the team returns, you are not doing yourself any favors.

John T. Whelan '91 wrote:

Are people who only went to one site allowed (ethically) to vote for the one they went to, or do they have to vote "Didn't go"? In particular, are the "I would never go to Placid because it's such a ripoff crowd" voting for Albany or N/A?

I am one of those people. I don't have an ethical problem with my vote. (Not that either of us stay up nights thinking about the moral consequences of internet polling.) I think it is valid to vote for "going" over "not going" and that is why I think Albany is better than LP. All of the reasons that you think LP is cool make me think that I missed out on something by not going, but if it was there for another 5 years, I may have gone once. I will go to Albany every time, so it is much much better.

Well, the one thing that irked me a bit was that horrendous commercialized period break trivia crap. I did appreciate the cheering when we started playing over him on Saturday though. :-p I missed whatever witty (or snide) comment he made afterwards, though I was told that he crossed his arms and waited for us to finish. The arena people did tell us to go ahead and play over the announcers and whatever else we wanted to, just not over the game though. Oops.

I had some friends who went to SUNY Albany (or whatever they are calling SUNY schools these days) in the early 80s. They introduced me to a dive of a place with the world's best chili. Frank's was the name, I believe. If urban renewal didn't claim it, that is some good late night eating.

And yeah, Friehofer's and Entermann's are pretty much the same chocolate chip cookie these days. Still the original chewy eat-the-whole-box-and-feel-sick-later cookie.

Wasn't Tim Horton a hockey player? There has to be some value in that. Good coffee cake.

Ravenous Roy

Hey, at least they didn't have some jackass saying "Let's Get ready to rummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmblllllllllllle!"

The commercial crap will come and go with sponsorship so I don't really think it's valid to ding Albany as a venue for it. The "personality" doing the commercial stuff was the dime-a-dozen local radio clown who's in between gigs shelling for the local Buick dealership that you see in every third/fourth tier city. I'd bet Providence and Worcester will have something similarly inane.

can we have a none of the above choice? I've never had Krispy Kreme and never heard of Tim Horton

Take a cup of sugar and a stick of butter, melt them in a pan, drink it through a straw. Now you know what Krispy Kreme tastes like.

Yeah, but it lacks the charm of a mooing contest where a cow uses its udder as a slingshot to project t-shirts into the crowd. Wow, that sounds even weirder when I actually write it down.

Let's just hope Cornell resists introducing tasteless hype like Greg describes into the Lynah experience. Arthur, please live forever.

Al DeFlorio wrote:

Let's just hope Cornell resists introducing tasteless hype like Greg describes into the Lynah experience. Arthur, please live forever.

Or at least until Beeeej can find a nice jewish girl, marry her, *and* convince her to move to Ithaca.

On second thought, maybe it would just be easier for Arthur to live forever....

just heard on the local news that Pepsi is battling to serve Coke or something to that effect. Thought it was ironic based on last weeks discussions. will find out the details later.

apparently NCAA just resigned an 11 yr deal with Coke and now they'll be serving Coke at the NCAA regionals this week-end. this would be for all NCAA events, no? then again, maybe it is just for the "important" ones where the sponsor really cares, ie. b-ball.

Speaking of Frank's Chili in Albany, did anyone happen to catch Law and Order and what Gregory Hines claimed to be eating at the "Supreme Court" (presumably in Albany) trial - "Frankie's Chili". Clearly, I am so hip I don't need legs.

Not necessarily in Albany. The courts in New York State have a bizarre nomenclature. The highest court is the Court of Appeals. A Supreme Court is a trial-level court.

Well, except that the "Supreme Court" on Law and Order is Supreme Court, New York County. Your legs are showing.

Did there used to be a trophy/cup for the third place team? I can't quite remember. I do have this vague memory of the RPI team partying with some silver bowl like thing last year at Roomers. Didn't see or hear about any third place award this year...

You have a vague memory? The image of them all chanting "We're number three" is burned into my mind.

I have a vague memory of sending Melissa into the crowd with my Oates jersey.