Inaugural post-Atlantic City blog

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Here are the compulsory “few quick thoughts” on this year’s championship weekend, now that Atlantic City is in the rear-view.

Three (thousand)’s a crowd?

Looking for attendance figures from the weekend? Me too. Cynical speculations aside, the 9,800 seats were perhaps one-third full each night, with announced figures of 3,357 and 4,126 on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively… why those numbers didn’t make it into a box score is beyond me. (As for the 9,800-seat figure, that is according to ECAC Hockey assistant commissioner Ed Krajewski.) Press Row – behind the penalty boxes and Dartmouth and Cornell ticketing blocks – offered perhaps a biased perspective on the audience, as the Big Green and Big Red certainly brought more combined fans than Yale and Colgate.

One primary thing that critics of the location should understand, is that – as I understand it – the league gets paid by the host venue, not the other way around. With this in mind, mediocre attendance may suddenly become a bit more palatable.

Say what you want about the site (and many will for many years, inevitably), but the design of Boardwalk Hall created a better game atmosphere than Albany’s Times-Union Center, in my opinion: The Hall’s single bowl and its arcing ceiling created much better acoustics than the deep, multi-tiered expanse of the TUC.

Quirk works

As just mentioned, the architecture of Boardwalk Hall helped capture sound, rather than dissipate it as Albany’s venue did. The ice conditions were good – a little soft at times perhaps, but that has to be expected with temperatures tickling 70 degrees on Friday – and sightlines were excellent.

Like a larger version of RPI’s Houston Field House, the Hall has a large vacant stage (backdropped by a full-wall mural of a 19th-century ship in full sail) at the north end of the building, forming a horseshoe seating area. The open end of the arena – perhaps 20 or 30 yards deep from stage to rink end-boards – served as a staging area for broadcast media and warm-up pen for players of each days’ late games, and apart from the odd aesthetic, it didn’t seem detrimental to the game presentation. The media accommodations were acceptable (apart from a lone, one-person bathroom) and the staff was friendly and helpful.

I stayed with a friend in Philadelphia, about 60 miles away, so I can’t speak to the experience beyond the walls of Boardwalk Hall, but there was unquestionable more to do than there ever was in Albany. The down side to that is, of course, that it was probably difficult to find fellow fans if you didn’t know where to look… and that’s a big part of the experience.

Overall grade for Atlantic City’s first of at least three shots at the ECAC Hockey Championship? B-. Could be better, sure… but it could be far, far worse.

From here on out

I have to admit, I’m disappointed that Yale’s pep band let one of my all-time favorite pep band tunes die, “Beatdown Stomp”. It was an outstanding victory ballad, and is melodically perfect for the motif, given its ska foundation. Anyhow…

I was slightly worried about Yale’s first-round draw in the NCAA’s: RIT would’ve given the Bulldogs a run, and could’ve played the underdog card to perfection… but since Air Force won the Atlantic Hockey auto-bid instead, Yale knows exactly what it’s in for, having played the Falcons in Colorado Springs in the fall. Furthermore, the Falcons ended Yale’s lofty aspirations at an unbeaten season, coming back from a three-goal, third-period deficit to upend the red-hot Elis. Also noteworthy: That was the last game all year that Ryan Rondeau – he of the 202:19 shutout streak – did not netmind for the Blue. Suffice to say, the nation’s No. 1 seed will not be taking their opening-round opponent lightly.

Say what you will about RPI’s place in the tournament, but as I’ve been saying all week long, if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. The NCAA selection committee has elected to use the PairWise rankings to determine the field for years now, and it would have had far more to account for had it deviated from that system than it does now. The Engineers played a challenging non-conference schedule, won just enough of those games to earn the final at-large berth in the tourney, and that’s all you can ask of a qualifier. Don’t like it? Tough cookies.

Union will be a very curious case next weekend, having had such a strong season but not playing a game in two weeks. RPI is in an even worse situation – the Engineers’ will have been a three-week hiatus – but the difference is that the Dutchmen will be the favorite (at least by seed) in their matchup with Minnesota-Duluth in Bridgeport.

And speaking of Bridgeport (yes, I’ll be there… how could I not?), how about the Yale-Union combo? Not to sound cocky, but this might finally be the year that ECAC Hockey gets a team back to the Frozen Four after an eight-year drought. (Cornell was the last member of an elite quartet back in 2003.)

Plan your schedule now: Here is the tournament’s television schedule.

Comments are closed.

Inaugural post-Atlantic City blog

by

Here are the compulsory “few quick thoughts” on this year’s championship weekend, now that Atlantic City is in the rear-view.

Three (thousand)’s a crowd?

Looking for attendance figures from the weekend? Me too. Cynical speculations aside, the 9,800 seats were perhaps one-third full each night, with announced figures of 3,357 and 4,126 on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively… why those numbers didn’t make it into a box score is beyond me. (As for the 9,800-seat figure, that is according to ECAC Hockey assistant commissioner Ed Krajewski.) Press Row – behind the penalty boxes and Dartmouth and Cornell ticketing blocks – offered perhaps a biased perspective on the audience, as the Big Green and Big Red certainly brought more combined fans than Yale and Colgate.

One primary thing that critics of the location should understand, is that – as I understand it – the league gets paid by the host venue, not the other way around. With this in mind, mediocre attendance may suddenly become a bit more palatable.

Say what you want about the site (and many will for many years, inevitably), but the design of Boardwalk Hall created a better game atmosphere than Albany’s Times-Union Center, in my opinion: The Hall’s single bowl and its arcing ceiling created much better acoustics than the deep, multi-tiered expanse of the TUC.

Quirk works

As just mentioned, the architecture of Boardwalk Hall helped capture sound, rather than dissipate it as Albany’s venue did. The ice conditions were good – a little soft at times perhaps, but that has to be expected with temperatures tickling 70 degrees on Friday – and sightlines were excellent.

Like a larger version of RPI’s Houston Field House, the Hall has a large vacant stage (backdropped by a full-wall mural of a 19th-century ship in full sail) at the north end of the building, forming a horseshoe seating area. The open end of the arena – perhaps 20 or 30 yards deep from stage to rink end-boards – served as a staging area for broadcast media and warm-up pen for players of each days’ late games, and apart from the odd aesthetic, it didn’t seem detrimental to the game presentation. The media accommodations were acceptable (apart from a lone, one-person bathroom) and the staff was friendly and helpful.

I stayed with a friend in Philadelphia, about 60 miles away, so I can’t speak to the experience beyond the walls of Boardwalk Hall, but there was unquestionable more to do than there ever was in Albany. The down side to that is, of course, that it was probably difficult to find fellow fans if you didn’t know where to look… and that’s a big part of the experience.

Overall grade for Atlantic City’s first of at least three shots at the ECAC Hockey Championship? B-. Could be better, sure… but it could be far, far worse.

From here on out

I have to admit, I’m disappointed that Yale’s pep band let one of my all-time favorite pep band tunes die, “Beatdown Stomp”. It was an outstanding victory ballad, and is melodically perfect for the motif, given its ska foundation. Anyhow…

I was slightly worried about Yale’s first-round draw in the NCAA’s: RIT would’ve given the Bulldogs a run, and could’ve played the underdog card to perfection… but since Air Force won the Atlantic Hockey auto-bid instead, Yale knows exactly what it’s in for, having played the Falcons in Colorado Springs in the fall. Furthermore, the Falcons ended Yale’s lofty aspirations at an unbeaten season, coming back from a three-goal, third-period deficit to upend the red-hot Elis. Also noteworthy: That was the last game all year that Ryan Rondeau – he of the 202:19 shutout streak – did not netmind for the Blue. Suffice to say, the nation’s No. 1 seed will not be taking their opening-round opponent lightly.

Say what you will about RPI’s place in the tournament, but as I’ve been saying all week long, if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. The NCAA selection committee has elected to use the PairWise rankings to determine the field for years now, and it would have had far more to account for had it deviated from that system than it does now. The Engineers played a challenging non-conference schedule, won just enough of those games to earn the final at-large berth in the tourney, and that’s all you can ask of a qualifier. Don’t like it? Tough cookies.

Union will be a very curious case next weekend, having had such a strong season but not playing a game in two weeks. RPI is in an even worse situation – the Engineers’ will have been a three-week hiatus – but the difference is that the Dutchmen will be the favorite (at least by seed) in their matchup with Minnesota-Duluth in Bridgeport.

And speaking of Bridgeport (yes, I’ll be there… how could I not?), how about the Yale-Union combo? Not to sound cocky, but this might finally be the year that ECAC Hockey gets a team back to the Frozen Four after an eight-year drought. (Cornell was the last member of an elite quartet back in 2003.)

Plan your schedule now: Here is the tournament’s television schedule.

Comments are closed.