Best ECAC rink

[billhoward]

When we last visited by day there was mostly mud plus the TD Bank facility; didn't know the dorms were in place. By night when it's freezing cold and we're headed to the game, I wasn't that curious to look around. Quinnipiac is a place where a monorail would be more in keeping with the campus environment.

I *hoped* some respondents would see there are better rinks than Lynah. Just not better environments, especially if you're the home team and its fans. At some point in life you stop and decide the Four Seasons view of the Pacific has some advantages over the pup tent view from a state park.

[KeithK]

I *hoped* some respondents would see there are better rinks than Lynah. Just not better environments, especially if you're the home team and its fans. At some point in life you stop and decide the Four Seasons view of the Pacific has some advantages over the pup tent view from a state park.

That's a purely subjective quesiton though. I would much rather watch a hockey game in an intimate old rink with low ceilings and atmosphere than in a brand new alace with big seats and wide concourses. And not everyone decides that they prefer the Four Seasons.  it depends what you like and what you value.

[Rosey]

I'll admit I voted for the Whale. It's distinctive but still beautiful (I love the wood planks that make up the roof sheathing), intimate unlike huge new arenaplexes, and I've enjoyed every game I've seen there... meaning I haven't been there since 2006 or so. :-)

[ugarte]

I've only been to three places: Lynah, Hobey Baker and the Whale. Lynah Faithful aside, I really like Hobey Baker the best.

[Al DeFlorio]

I'll admit I voted for the Whale. It's distinctive but still beautiful (I love the wood planks that make up the roof sheathing), intimate unlike huge new arenaplexes, and I've enjoyed every game I've seen there... meaning I haven't been there since 2006 or so. :-)

Agree.  Still looks like it could have been designed and built yesterday and not 50+ years ago.  It's actually a bird, not a whale, although to me it always looks like a turtle.

[CowbellGuy]

No mention of Thompson either. Probably the best sightlines I've seen anywhere. Full bowl all the way around, steep incline, good seating, open concourse around the top. Amenities are not stellar, but I'm still a fan.

[Trotsky]

No mention of Thompson either. Probably the best sightlines I've seen anywhere. Full bowl all the way around, steep incline, good seating, open concourse around the top. Amenities are not stellar, but I'm still a fan.

They were the first building in the ECAC to serve nachos.

[Rosey]

No mention of Thompson either. Probably the best sightlines I've seen anywhere. Full bowl all the way around, steep incline, good seating, open concourse around the top. Amenities are not stellar, but I'm still a fan.

One of the few ECAC arenas (Appleton and Q's being the others) I have not been to.

I've heard it's cold in there.

[billhoward]

No mention of Thompson either. Probably the best sightlines I've seen anywhere. Full bowl all the way around, steep incline, good seating, open concourse around the top. Amenities are not stellar, but I'm still a fan.

One of the few ECAC arenas (Appleton and Q's being the others) I have not been to.
I've heard it's cold in there.

Including cold visually: Thompson is lots of exposed concrete and metal, metal seats. No wood to soften the feel, nor championship banners. Good of Dartmouth to have made it that big, though, and with lots of room for standing room should the occasion arise. The old Dartmouth rink I think was 2000 or less. Imagine Hobey Baker size without the charm and chain link fencing for plexiglass.

Legend has it that a Cornell player in the early '70s was tired of being taunted by Dartmouth fans who clasped their fingers through the chain link and yelled unkind words; coming up ice he took a check near the boards and as he struggled to maintain his balance, his stick blade scraped along the fencing and did a number on a dozen pairs of knuckles.

[marty]

No mention of Thompson either. Probably the best sightlines I've seen anywhere. Full bowl all the way around, steep incline, good seating, open concourse around the top. Amenities are not stellar, but I'm still a fan.

I thought of Thompson as a modern Lynah.  Too much concrete but a great layout

[RichH]

Including cold visually: Thompson is lots of exposed concrete and metal, metal seats. No wood to soften the feel, nor championship banners.

When I hear "cold visually" and "lots of exposed concrete and metal" I think of one bunker place:



Look at those brutally hideous walls. By comparison, Thompson has a similar seating layout, but I like it better, probably because of the classic-era waffled ceiling, non-blinding lighting, and lack of luxury box crap.  But mostly because it doesn't look like a sub-basement fallout shelter.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gumprecht/6830124007/

Comparing the two side-by-side, I also like the light-green rather than the bright, blue seats.  The blue seats contrast too much with the ice.  When there are empty seats, the blue draws my eye to them more than the lighter shade of green.

I will say that the outside of Corporately named rink at whatever Bank Trust Fund Center has a more visually pleasing EXTERIOR than every other facility in the league, except Yale.  So at least you have that to look at while you're sitting in traffic trying to access the only road in or out.

[Ben]

I can top all of your concrete bunkers: Levien Gym (Columbia basketball) is the worst sporting arena that I've ever visited. Horrible place.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

I can top all of your concrete bunkers: Levien Gym (Columbia basketball) is the worst sporting arena that I've ever visited. Horrible place.

Guess you never went to a basketball game in Barton Hall.  Mind you. I only went to one, but that was enough.

[Trotsky]

I can top all of your concrete bunkers: Levien Gym (Columbia basketball) is the worst sporting arena that I've ever visited. Horrible place.

Guess you never went to a basketball game in Barton Hall.  Mind you. I only went to one, but that was enough.

OTOH it is awesome for track.

[Rosey]

I can top all of your concrete bunkers: Levien Gym (Columbia basketball) is the worst sporting arena that I've ever visited. Horrible place.

Guess you never went to a basketball game in Barton Hall.  Mind you. I only went to one, but that was enough.

I love the inside of Barton Hall: I am always awed by its size. I think the only room I've ever been in that's larger is in the Udvar-Hazy museum at Dulles.

I do believe Barton would be a terrible place to watch a basketball game, though. The lighting is awful, and the room is probably 4-5 times as large as a basketball arena really needs to be.