Lynah not ready for fall opener?

[Ben Rocky '04]

Not a happy thought....

http://www.cornellsun.com/media/paper866/news/2006/02/03/News/Home-Away.From.Home-1598222.shtml&mkey=2149967?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.cornellsun.com

[Trotsky]

No estimate of a completion date.

Could be fairly significant, given that the NC games at Lynah are usually early.

[Chris 02]

From the article [q]He added that construction will start the day after the season's last home game, which is in March.[/q]

Oh we thank yee, almighty woofing gods....

[Give My Regards]

This isn't really a surprise.  When was the last construction project you ever heard of that was finished, or even started, on time?

The Elmira option might be interesting.  I don't know if they're talking about First Arena (home of the UHL's Elmira Jackals and site of the 2006 Div. III Frozen Four) or Elmira College's home rink in Pine Valley.  Elmira's rink, although it's in the middle of nowhere (come to think of it, so's Ithaca), wouldn't be a bad venue; it seats about 3,200 and can get pretty loud.  Hopefully they've upgraded the lighting since the last time I was there 4-5 years ago, and parking probably remains an absolute nightmare.

I would bet "Syracuse" would turn out to be the state fairgrounds, yech...

[CowbellGuy]

The only way for the last home game to no be in March is if Cornell falls to the bottom 4 in the ECACHL standings. Is that even possible at this point?

[upperdeck]

i doubt the go to the fair grounds why not play where the Crunch does?

as for the starting point there is only 1 week difference in when they can start. either cornell hosts an ECAC weekend or they dont, after that its only practice time and thats not effected by start up construction..  the main issues are what the life science project does to the timeline of lynah, the proximity is not good for some of what they want to do..

[ithacat]

If "home" games are played in a facility that seats less than the season ticket base, I wonder how they'll determine season ticket packages & prices? Do they exclude those games from the package? Do they presume not everyone will make the trip? Is the entire season going to be sold on a game-only basis?

Anything less than Lynah is, of course, a disadvantage to the team. It might be interesting if they try to turn it into a road show. A weekend in Rochester, another in Syracuse, another in Binghamton...build the fanbase. I hope they go with larger venues and try to sell the heck out of it.

This also presents an opportunity to offer some roads games to good OOC opponents with return dates in future years.

[RichS]

Wow, is the Fairgrounds Coliseum still standing? I played there when I was a grad student in Binghamton and it was a first class dump then!

The possible renovation delay reminds me of my time at Clarkson when Clarkson Arena was renovated ( the first heat ever and expanded seating).  It wasn't completed in time for our first home games against U of Quebec, I believe so they were both played at Slu.  That went over real well as you can imagine.  :-D

At least Cornell has more options than Tech did.

[KeithK]

Wouldn't this have been a good opportunity to play a really tough non-conference schedule?  You can't play the games in Lynah anyway, so might as well try to get Michigan or whoever on the slate.  (Of course it's probably too late for that for that.  But a construction delay should hardly come as a shock to the folks in charge.)

The suggestion of playing at Lynah anyway, just with no fans is the most ridiculous idea.

[Rita]

I have played some rec games (women's hockey) at the fairgrounds in the 1990's. The locker rooms that we used at the fairgrounds would make the visitor locker room at Lynah seem like a 3-star facility.  ::twitch::

It is really gross just thinking about those locker rooms. Yuck.

[RichS]

Rita,

Has then lighting been upgraded since '76? ::rolleyes::

Back then, when we played against SU, it was like skating in a cave, it was so bad.  As a goalie, I had a lot of trouble following the puck on long shots as they went into and out of the shadows.

One slapper I never saw clearly whizzed past my head, bounced off the wire fence above the end boards, rebounded and hit me off the shoulder as I had turned to try to follow the puck and then fell down into the net.

I wasn't upset when the coach yanked me after that one.  :-}

[ugarte]

[quote KeithK]The suggestion of playing at Lynah anyway, just with no fans is the most ridiculous idea.[/quote]We could figure out if home success is due to the fans or the ghost of Murray Death. (Who may be alive. Beeeej?)

[Trotsky]

Murray Death (now pronounced to rhyme with "teeth") is still alive.

The lighting was considerably brightened about ten years ago.

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote Trotsky]Murray Death (now pronounced to rhyme with "teeth") is still alive.
[/quote]
Actually, it was always pronounced to rhyme with "teeth."  It's now spelled with an "e" at the end to encourage that pronunciation.

[Trotsky]

I'd always heard that he changed the pronunciation later in life to give his kids a break.  My bad for trusting Faithful Lore. ;-)