Best ECAC rink

[billhoward]

Quinnipiac has, arguably, the best small/medium rink and facility in college hockey, the $53 million TD Bank Sports Center it shares with a basketball gym (one concourse, separate arenas). Seating is comfortable not cramped. Lighting is excellent. It feels bigger (seats) than it is. Maybe this is one of the reasons Quinnipiac has done so well after playing in a crappy town rink until 2007, with netting on the sides. So which is the best ECAC rink and why? Cornell fans love the intimacy of Lynah, its history, and the ability of the fans to be on top of the action and lend vocal support; the recent addition of new lockers for men and women vastly improves the facility for players without affecting how Lynah feels to diehard fans.

Code Select Expand

[b]
ECAC rink (year built)                    Capacity [/b]
Brown, Meehan Auditorium (1962)           3,100  
Clarkson, Cheel Arena (1991)          3,000  
Colgate, Starr Rink (1959)          2,246   due to be replaced
Cornell Lynah Rink (1957)          4,267   best college hockey atmospheree
Dartmouth, Thompson Arena (1975)          4,500   second largest in ECAC
Harvard, Bright Center (1956/1979)        2,850   low odds view is blocked by fan in seat in front of you
Princeton, Hobey Baker Rink (1923)        2,092   oldest by far, fewest seats
Quinnipiac, TD Bank Sports Center (2007)  3,386   newest; great modern rink; amenities
Rensselaer, Houston Field House (1949)  4,780   seats most, fascinating venue
St. Lawrence, Appleton Arena (1951)  3,000   decent size for small school rink built 6 years after WW II
Union, Frank L. Messa Rink (1975)         2,225   intriguing design (ice sheet, bleachers set inside geodesic dome)
Yale, Ingalls Rink (1958)                 3,500   famous architect Eero Saarinen

The poll groups a field of others: Union's Messa Rink is a fascinating small school design (and better sight lines than Princeton's similarly sized (2100-2200 seats) Hobey Baker Rink). Clarkson and St Lawrence, eh. Ditto Brown and Meehan. Dartmouth's Thompson is big but impersonal. Bright Center is unmemorable and not that big (except compared to fan turnout). Colgate's Starr Rink (1959) is due to to be replaced and maybe the new facility will sput Colgate to somewhat higher levels of hockey achievement.

[billhoward]

The three rinks that matter are Cornell, Quinnipiac and Yale. Quinnipiac is the future of college hockey rinks with great seating for fans who aren't students and a roomy feeling for all. Plus a corporate not alumni name on the building. You need to ride a bus to get the to the hilltop facility which means students often decamp after 2nd period to get an early start on parties. (I believe Q's plan is to build dorms there, too, which means they'll need to ride a bus to class. One more college in a non-urban setting that still has to split up its campus.)

Cornell made the Lynah experience vastly better with the addition of Bartels Hall and the concourses connecting the two so you can move around between periods, the bump-up in seating to get over 4,000, and the locker facilities that are first class for both men's and women's teams. Other players rave about the experience of playing in Lynah after they've played and left, especially if they left with a W. The roof is too low and as video/TV becomes more important, Cornell has to figure out better camera placement.

I love the Yale Whale so long as it someone else's facility. It can never be expanded for more seating. It's too loud. "Lux et Veritas" as applied to Ingalls translated to, "No Luxuries, Ain't That the Truth, So Pee Before You Come to the Rink." Now there are better facilities one floor down.

I can't get excited about the Brown, Clarkson, Dartmouth, Harvard, or St Lawrence facilities. Though 4,500 seats for an indoor facility at Dartmouth is impressive. RPI's Houston Field House is the opposite of Lynah - almost too much cubic footage for the facility. Colgate is another non-exciting venue but the proposed new facility could go a long way toward helping attract better players. We *want* more schools playing competetive hockey in our league.

Baker Rink is a gem that's so historic Princeton never will raze it but it really ought to be 1.5X as big. Recruits see it and think they're playing for Groton or Hotchkiss. Union's Messa Rink feels just the right size for Union, though if they keep doing well, they're going to be clamoring for more seats.

[Trotsky]

Appleton.  Second most beautiful rink after Matthews.

[jtwcornell91]

Appleton.  Second most beautiful rink after Matthews.

Both Appleton and Cheel, polar opposites but strong in their own way, should be on the list before a dump like Houston.

[rep2]

Quinnipiac has upper classman dorms across from the rink that are damn near luxuary apartments! My daughter lived up there for two years

[Scersk '97]

Appleton.  Second most beautiful rink after Matthews.

Both Appleton and Cheel, polar opposites but strong in their own way, should be on the list before a dump like Houston.

Appleton is a classic, but I always feel a bit like I'm in church.  Don't like the fans too much.  Messa reminds me of it, but I like the fans even less.

When was the last time you were at Houston?  The renovations, particularly un-blacking the end windows, really opened up the place.  Even so, it's still a bit of a cavern, like Thompson.

Cheel, however, just sucks.  Too bright, sucks up sound, awful color palette.  The fans redeem it. Only Meehan and Starr are worse, in my opinion.

Q?  Great rink, awful ECHL atmosphere.  "Let's get ready to rumble!"

Like the Whale.  Love Hobey Baker, particularly the gallery, but it's small.  Like Bright, but, yes, it's a bit weirdly sloped.

Lynah?  Perhaps the poll should have been best other ECAC rink.  Although, I am of the opinion (running for cover) that the renovations were... not for the best.  The Pep Band, in particular, has been shoved into an awkward place.  And I miss my leaning rail, dammit!

[rep2]

Would you rather play in a refurb'ed barn or a state of the art facility? QU's rink and complex are impressive. I've sat in the seats and the luxury box section and the only better place I've been is BU's rink.

[Rosey]

Would you rather play in a refurb'ed barn or a state of the art facility? QU's rink and complex are impressive. I've sat in the seats and the luxury box section and the only better place I've been is BU's rink.

Yeah, I thought about mentioning that. Agganis is amazing. It might not be a loud rink, but it is a fantastic place to watch a hockey game. Every seat is good.

[jtwcornell91]

Lynah?  Perhaps the poll should have been best other ECAC rink.  Although, I am of the opinion (running for cover) that the renovations were... not for the best.  The Pep Band, in particular, has been shoved into an awkward place.  And I miss my leaning rail, dammit!

The best thing (for me) about the renovations is that we got to consolidate our seats in Section C.  But I definitely miss having the concourse behind the seats inside the building.

[billhoward]

Would you rather play in a refurb'ed barn or a state of the art facility? QU's rink and complex are impressive. I've sat in the seats and the luxury box section and the only better place I've been is BU's rink.

Yeah, I thought about mentioning that. Agganis is amazing. It might not be a loud rink, but it is a fantastic place to watch a hockey game. Every seat is good.

BU did a nice job with the third stab at a rink in the Ken Dryden-to-present era that works well for hockey, hoops (sort of), stage shows, convocations, etcetera, plus the luxury boxes that are part of sports now. Given how expensive land is in Boston, BU had to make one facility do multiple things. Plus it put a student rec center next door so as not to make it like only jocks were getting nice facilities.

[BMac]

Yes, Agganis is pretty amazing. Baker is beautiful. Meehan would be a perfectly fine rink if it filled up with loud rowdy students.

Obviously, Lynah will always be my favorite, though not at all due to the facilities. The banners do something for me.

As far as the renovations... I loved my leaning rail when I had seats on the 14th row of B, but it's nice to fit more people in the rink without destroying the feel.

Bright... meh. Too bright. Feels too roomy with the giant concourse around the seats. Even when Lynah had a concourse, it didn't feel like Bright does to me. Also, the HD jumbotron and arena rock don't help.

[Trotsky]

Would you rather play in a refurb'ed barn or a state of the art facility?

Play?  Cheel > Walker by a factor of ten.

Watch?  Walker > Cheel by a factor of ten thousand.

[Trotsky]

Also, the HD jumbotron and arena rock don't help.

This is the agony of our age -- the reduction of all public space to the lowest slack-jawed denominator.  I'm sure some Harvard MBA asshole did a study that showed if people are inundated with jock jams they buy .00001% more Doritos.  Fuck that guy and the whole grasping, jaded mindset he represents.

[billhoward]

Also, the HD jumbotron and arena rock don't help.

This is the agony of our age -- the reduction of all public space to the lowest slack-jawed denominator.  I'm sure some Harvard MBA asshole did a study that showed if people are inundated with jock jams they buy .00001% more Doritos.  Fuck that guy and the whole grasping, jaded mindset he represents.

Redundancy alert. Early in second sentence.

[jtn27]

The three rinks that matter are Cornell, Quinnipiac and Yale. Quinnipiac is the future of college hockey rinks with great seating for fans who aren't students and a roomy feeling for all. Plus a corporate not alumni name on the building. You need to ride a bus to get the to the hilltop facility which means students often decamp after 2nd period to get an early start on parties. (I believe Q's plan is to build dorms there, too, which means they'll need to ride a bus to class. One more college in a non-urban setting that still has to split up its campus.)

They already have dorms on the campus with the rink. Freshmen and sophomores live on the campus with the academic buildings and juniors and seniors live on the campus with the athletic buildings. There's a shuttle bus that runs between the two every 15 minutes or so. Very few students live off campus. Also, did you honestly expect a significant number of Cornell fans to vote for a rink other than Lynah?