Las Vegas Roll Call

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

every game pretty much has to have those TV timeouts with the new contracts..

and the snow shovelers are required too.  the NHL requires them now.  surprised that the vegas game didnt.

They have them in the AHL, too.  Something to do during the TV timeouts besides "make some noise."

[upprdeck]

I like the way they did it at the Canadiens game with 9 guys like a flying wedge scrapping the whole ice surface at high speed. of course they also use 2 zambonies and give rides on them at Pro games which is a nice touch.

[Trotsky]

Everything good about Vegas is > 10 miles from the strip.  It's a fantastic city if you get away from the tourist areas.  Like any other city.

So you're saying you like people-less desert

Well.  Um.

Yeah.

Have you met people?

[Trotsky]

Everything good about Vegas is > 10 miles from the strip.  It's a fantastic city if you get away from the tourist areas.  Like any other city.

So you're saying you like people-less desert

I like people-less desert. I spent Friday AM birding at the Desert National Wildlife Refuge and Saturday AM at Valley of Fire State Park. The birding wasn't fantastic, since it's winter, but the scenery was pretty damn amazing.

I have been to both of those are they are wonderful.

If you go again I recommend driving west of the city out beyond Red Rock Canyon to the edge of the caldera. It is beautiful.  High desert is lovely in the winter, and also in the early spring when the wildflowers bloom for about 20 seconds.

Generally speaking the West : the East :: fresh water : an open sewer.

[RichH]

Everything good about Vegas is > 10 miles from the strip.  It's a fantastic city if you get away from the tourist areas.  Like any other city.

So you're saying you like people-less desert

Well.  Um.

Yeah.

Have you met people?

Not to overlook the joke, but have you met Trotsky?

[Swampy]

I like the way they did it at the Canadiens game with 9 guys like a flying wedge scrapping the whole ice surface at high speed. of course they also use 2 zambonies and give rides on them at Pro games which is a nice touch.

I remember that but don't recall if the 9 guys were on skates or not. But to do that you need 9 people who can skate or at least walk on ice -- skills likely in short supply in Las Vegas.

[Trotsky]

Everything good about Vegas is > 10 miles from the strip.  It's a fantastic city if you get away from the tourist areas.  Like any other city.

So you're saying you like people-less desert

Well.  Um.

Yeah.

Have you met people?

Not to overlook the joke, but have you met Trotsky?

My point exactly.

[Weder]

I like the way they did it at the Canadiens game with 9 guys like a flying wedge scrapping the whole ice surface at high speed. of course they also use 2 zambonies and give rides on them at Pro games which is a nice touch.

I remember that but don't recall if the 9 guys were on skates or not. But to do that you need 9 people who can skate or at least walk on ice -- skills likely in short supply in Las Vegas.

The Capitals use 3 zambonis between periods, which seems excessive.


I was at a major junior game last month and they had, I think, 4 people for the scrape. The most annoying thing was that they used the zamboni to do 3/4 of the ice between OT and the shootout. I think the NHL has done away with any resurfacing between OT and the shootout. I don't really get the NCAA practice of scraping just the ice at the bench.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

I like the way they did it at the Canadiens game with 9 guys like a flying wedge scrapping the whole ice surface at high speed. of course they also use 2 zambonies and give rides on them at Pro games which is a nice touch.

I remember that but don't recall if the 9 guys were on skates or not. But to do that you need 9 people who can skate or at least walk on ice -- skills likely in short supply in Las Vegas.

The Capitals use 3 zambonis between periods, which seems excessive.


I was at a major junior game last month and they had, I think, 4 people for the scrape. The most annoying thing was that they used the zamboni to do 3/4 of the ice between OT and the shootout. I think the NHL has done away with any resurfacing between OT and the shootout. I don't really get the NCAA practice of scraping just the ice at the bench.

The Golden Knights had about 9 shovelers including several women in leotards.  The men were sleveless and they all wore capes.  They skated down the ice in a flying V then some of them skated back to the other end.  Of course, the PA announced them at an unreasonable volume.

At the Phantoms games, there are a handful of people.  They don't skate.

[Trotsky]

The Capitals use 3 zambonis between periods, which seems excessive.

The Memorial Cup I went to in Spokane did this but they were not familiar with doing it that way and they narrowly avoided collisions a couple times.  I've still never seen it done correctly.

[marty]

I like the way they did it at the Canadiens game with 9 guys like a flying wedge scrapping the whole ice surface at high speed. of course they also use 2 zambonies and give rides on them at Pro games which is a nice touch.

I remember that but don't recall if the 9 guys were on skates or not. But to do that you need 9 people who can skate or at least walk on ice -- skills likely in short supply in Las Vegas.

 I don't really get the NCAA practice of scraping just the ice at the bench.

I assumed it gets especially messy there when the teams jump on and off the ice. At most rinks I think the goal area also gets the shovel.

[Weder]

I like the way they did it at the Canadiens game with 9 guys like a flying wedge scrapping the whole ice surface at high speed. of course they also use 2 zambonies and give rides on them at Pro games which is a nice touch.

I remember that but don't recall if the 9 guys were on skates or not. But to do that you need 9 people who can skate or at least walk on ice -- skills likely in short supply in Las Vegas.

 I don't really get the NCAA practice of scraping just the ice at the bench.

I assumed it gets especially messy there when the teams jump on and off the ice. At most rinks I think the goal area also gets the shovel.

I guess I just don't think of the bench area as somewhere the puck might get slowed up by shavings.

[billhoward]

It was disconcerting to see fewer Cornell fans at the championship game than the first round. The only explanation was that people missed the memo on the start time. Which is horrible.

I agree with everything, pro and con, said above at Vegas. This is relevant because there will be a FF there in the coming years. It's all but a done deal. It's completely crass and ridiculous, and a waste of resources. But in 3-day doses, I just take it for what it is and have a hoot with it. I don't gamble or drink much, so I don't get carried away. Just stick to what I find fun, and enjoy the energy of the surroundings. I can't imagine living there - but it's becoming a place more people are moving to, so ... that is changing the dynamic too.

Las Vegas is Disney World for Adults. In April the average high is 80. Rent a car for the day and go out into the desert. Red Rock Canyon is spectacular at sunrise when the color palette is more muted. CES just ended drew 175,000, so a hockey tournament won't draw enough to drive the room rates or airfare way high.

LV also has a growing middle class and upper middle class unrelated to the hospitality industry. Property Brothers show on HGTV is spending much of this season in Las Vegas.

[billhoward]

Hooker count? - Cheerleaders in the rink excepted.

jesus christ, dude.

The cheerleaders looked like high school or college girls. Some were a bit, ah, zoftig.

It made me happy to see a couple of the cheerleaders with an elementary school girl next to her, sharing one of the pom-pons, and trying to help the girl through the steps. What made me happy was not having daughters.

[billhoward]

It was disconcerting to see fewer Cornell fans at the championship game than the first round. The only explanation was that people missed the memo on the start time. Which is horrible.
.

One possible explanation for this is the fact that there was a pre-game alumni function before the first game, but not before the second game. I'm speculating that many of the fans who attended that the first night weren't planning on coming back the next night regardless of whether we were in the championship game or not.

I ran into and chatted with a couple who drove over from California for the weekend, had been little involved in alumni events, and thought what-the-heck-why-not. So it's good Cornell - sports and alumni affairs - is trying different things and places. Cornell U is holding CALC, its annual rah-rah weekend for alumni leaders next month in Vegas, and I worry that may not be all that well attended. But after more than a decade, Cornell is still trying to figure out what they want the weekend to be. And there only so many times you can put up with the same breakout session, The Five Cycles of Reunion Planning.