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Which rink in the WCHA would it be the most fun to play at? Atmospherem students, rink quality..ETC

As a Gopher fan I would say Mariucci looks like the place to be.
As far as anywhere else- The atmosphere at The Ralph in Nodak is unbelievable when they are coming at you in waves in the 3rd period.

grindiangrad-80 wrote:As a Gopher fan I would say Mariucci looks like the place to be.
As far as anywhere else- The atmosphere at The Ralph in Nodak is unbelievable when they are coming at you in waves in the 3rd period.

Mariucci is a beautiful building but it doesn't have any character. I wish they would have retrofitted the old barn. My favorites are UND, Denver and the old Dane (Wisconsin)

St. Cloud has a wild atmosphere. Crowd right on top of the players. Fun and active student section.

St. Cloud, no doubt

umm UND! duh! Have you ever been to a game there! sold out every game! its loud active absoultely beautiful arena!

UND? its full of old people that dont know a thing about hockey.

Warrior18 wrote:UND? its full of old people that dont know a thing about hockey.

But it's a very nice venue.

As far as atmosphere, I must say that I've been to a couple Gopher-Bulldog games at the DECC (I'm a gophers fan mind you) and I found it to be a really charged up place because it is so small and you are so close to the rink in the lower seating. Makes the game that much closer and very exciting.

theref wrote:As far as atmosphere, I must say that I've been to a couple Gopher-Bulldog games at the DECC (I'm a gophers fan mind you) and I found it to be a really charged up place because it is so small and you are so close to the rink in the lower seating. Makes the game that much closer and very exciting.

The DECC is a great place to watch a game for all the reasons you stated.

Did hear that they were seeking a new arena that would be down by the DECC area. That got voted down in legislation. It may pass next go around.

breakout wrote:

theref wrote:As far as atmosphere, I must say that I've been to a couple Gopher-Bulldog games at the DECC (I'm a gophers fan mind you) and I found it to be a really charged up place because it is so small and you are so close to the rink in the lower seating. Makes the game that much closer and very exciting.

The DECC is a great place to watch a game for all the reasons you stated.

Did hear that they were seeking a new arena that would be down by the DECC area. That got voted down in legislation. It may pass next go around.

I know that they just spent like $250,000 ripping out the pipes for the compressor in the DECC floor. It's about time they get some better ice in that place as it has always been horrible. The DECC isn't bad, but could hold a couple more thousand people to make it great. I know it is always filled for the Finals to go state for boys high school. They should build a newer smaller rink for the girls team. They don't quite fill the DECC.

grindiangrad-80 wrote:As a Gopher fan I would say Mariucci looks like the place to be.
As far as anywhere else- The atmosphere at The Ralph in Nodak is unbelievable when they are coming at you in waves in the 3rd period.

lol marriucci is full of old people becuase the college kids cant afford tickets it sounds like a sunday bingo game in there......
silence

Scsu wrote:

grindiangrad-80 wrote:As a Gopher fan I would say Mariucci looks like the place to be.
As far as anywhere else- The atmosphere at The Ralph in Nodak is unbelievable when they are coming at you in waves in the 3rd period.

lol marriucci is full of old people becuase the college kids cant afford tickets it sounds like a sunday bingo game in there......
silence

Good one. I can tell you're from St. Cloud.

Scsu wrote:

grindiangrad-80 wrote:As a Gopher fan I would say Mariucci looks like the place to be.
As far as anywhere else- The atmosphere at The Ralph in Nodak is unbelievable when they are coming at you in waves in the 3rd period.

lol marriucci is full of old people becuase the college kids cant afford tickets it sounds like a sunday bingo game in there......
silence

I've never been to Sunday bingo.

I been to the DECC on too many occasions didn't seem to be anything special there. I think it is hard to pinpoint one as the best, as they all have their strong points.

The Ralph & Kohl Center would be my leading nominations though.

The Ralph has unbelievable quality and also has an electric atmosphere, they can get pretty out of control. The kohl center also has one of the most electric atmospheres in all of college hockey, not to mention leading the nation in attendence for each of the last few years. The marriucci is a nice venue its a nice design and enjoyable to be there but nothing there sends it over the top for me. Havent been to St. Clouds arena so I cant comment there hope to sometime soon tho.

Going to Mankato tonight so I get to see what its like there.

I've only been to 4, so I'm basing it on actual experience and what I've seen on tv.

10. Alaska-Anchorage - It's Alaska, not much to expect.
9. Michigan Tech - A somewhat growing program, but the Arena looks like an average high school rink.
8. Colorado College - Every game I see on TV, I feel like I'm watching from space.
7. Mankato State - Smaller rinks can sometimes be better.
6. Minnesota - Everytime I watch a game there, the crowd just isn't really into it.
5. St. Cloud State - Nice rink, fans are great.
4. Denver - Packed house, imtimidating.
3. Minnesota-Duluth - You have to love the DECC, not a bad seat in the house.
2. Wisconsin - Those people are crazy, hostile environment.
1. North Dakota - Hands down, nicest venue. Almost always sold out. Good student section. I've been going to Sioux games since I was a youngen, so I'm sorta biased, but it is beautiful.

MNHockey75 wrote:I've only been to 4, so I'm basing it on actual experience and what I've seen on tv.

10. Alaska-Anchorage - It's Alaska, not much to expect.
9. Michigan Tech - A somewhat growing program, but the Arena looks like an average high school rink.
8. Colorado College - Every game I see on TV, I feel like I'm watching from space.
7. Mankato State - Smaller rinks can sometimes be better.
6. Minnesota - Everytime I watch a game there, the crowd just isn't really into it.
5. St. Cloud State - Nice rink, fans are great.
4. Denver - Packed house, imtimidating.
3. Minnesota-Duluth - You have to love the DECC, not a bad seat in the house.
2. Wisconsin - Those people are crazy, hostile environment.
1. North Dakota - Hands down, nicest venue. Almost always sold out. Good student section. I've been going to Sioux games since I was a youngen, so I'm sorta biased, but it is beautiful.

just out of curiosity which ones have you been too

North Dakota - Both Ralph's, i didn't think the last one was that bad either.
Minnesota-Duluth - I always like the DECC
St. Cloud State - A nice rink
Minnesota - Not my kind of rink, i hate olympic ice.

My father has been to wisconsin and says it's awesome.
And the reason I put Denver so high is because everytime I watch a game on TV in Denver, the crowd is crazy and the ice is fast.
I've actually played in the Mariucci and the Ralph. The Ralph seems so big when your out there. I didn't like the Mariucci mainly because of the ice size (I think it slows the game down) and there was no crowd noise.

Mariucci doesn't have a great atmosphere. I'd say Wisconsin, SCSU, and UND have the best rink atmospheres in the WCHA.

As a current student, I would agree that the marriucci doesn't have much of an atmosphere. Students compromise about 4 sections total if that. It really lacks excitement compared to the DECC (the only other place I've been to). In my opinion they overcharge tickets here and obviously don't want to sell more student tickets as a way to profit more.

MNHockey75 wrote:St. Cloud State - A nice rink
Minnesota - Not my kind of rink, i hate olympic ice.

You do realize the National Hockey Center is Olympic Size as well, right? Seems a little inconsistent to criticize one for its size but then not the other.

Kohl Center is very close to Olympic Size as well.

I'll rank the 6 that ive been to

6. Michigan Tech-Excellent venue for a high school team...
5. Mariucci-they cheer after goals...
4. Duluth Entertainment Convention Center-Not a fan of the venue atmosphere seems to come and go is it wishes
3. Midwest Wireless Civic Center (now the Alltell Civic Center)-small but can get pretty loud, quieted down after the first period though.
2. Ralph Englstad Arena-Electric atmosphere the crowd there can get roughty.
1. Kohl Center-probably impartial, but the thing that sent it over the top for me is the crowd involvement between goals, periods, and generally throughout the game.

Hope to have a report after the on the St. Cloud arena after the badgers go up there at the end of Feb.

Gopher Blog wrote:

MNHockey75 wrote:St. Cloud State - A nice rink
Minnesota - Not my kind of rink, i hate olympic ice.

You do realize the National Hockey Center is Olympic Size as well, right? Seems a little inconsistent to criticize one for its size but then not the other.

Kohl Center is very close to Olympic Size as well.

oops...I saw a game like 6 years ago in St. Cloud. It doesn't really look like it is on TV, but I haven't watched a SCSU game in a while. I've played in the Mariucci, that's why I say it's not my kind of rink. The crowd was silent (it is at gopher games too) and the size of the ice slows the game down, unless your on the PP. I've never been to the Kohl Center like I said before, but I heard it's a whole lot of fun.

What defines "atmosphere"? If you go to a "big game" at any of the arenas, the crowd will be electric. If you're talking nice facilities, then only a few qualify.

I would like to know who has the arena that every team looks forward to playing in and beating the home team because the crowds are so intense. (SCSU back in the days of Doug Woog at UM.. Those fans were ON FIRE.. standing room only.. and when they (SCSU) beat the U, WOW!!) I'm interested in the rinks that are like that for almost every game, not just a few games. (UND?)

Blue&Gold wrote:What defines "atmosphere"? If you go to a "big game" at any of the arenas, the crowd will be electric. If you're talking nice facilities, then only a few qualify.

I would like to know who has the arena that every team looks forward to playing in and beating the home team because the crowds are so intense. (SCSU back in the days of Doug Woog at UM.. Those fans were ON FIRE.. standing room only.. and when they (SCSU) beat the U, WOW!!) I'm interested in the rinks that are like that for almost every game, not just a few games. (UND?)

I don't think there is one place that qualifies for what you are saying in your second paragraph. Let's face it, it is more difficult to see high intensity crowds during a non-conference series or a series against a bottom feeder team. Not to mention, a team like CC is going to find winning in the home rink of their hated rival DU a lot more than other places. So it depends on the team as well.

Another factor is how a team is performing. For instance, the NHC gets some hype for crowd rowdiness but it hasn't been consistent over the years. During the last few years of Dahl's tenure, it was anything but loud and boisterous during many series (at least, it wasn't according to a few people I know that attend some games there).

I would say the Kohl Center may come closest but even they have their times when the crowd isn't as good as you'd expect.