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There was talk at yesterdays WBL game that the new owners of the Vadnais Sports Center are going to buy out the WBL contract and they will have to find a new home for next season. Does anybody know if this is true?

inthetwine wrote:There was talk at yesterdays WBL game that the new owners of the Vadnais Sports Center are going to buy out the WBL contract and they will have to find a new home for next season. Does anybody know if this is true?

First things first, does anyone know when the new owner(s) will pony up the $13 Million to close the deal? Wasn't the original offer accepted back in mid October? Can they take as long as they want or is there an expiration date?

Additional rumors include that the new owner wants to build an additional sheet to the east of the current building that will be suitable to house a USHL team

Vadnais Arena? Wait until the day after the last Vikes home game, sneak that dump inside of the Metro Dome, and let the demolition contractor take care of it.

East Side Pioneer Guy wrote:Vadnais Arena? Wait until the day after the last Vikes home game, sneak that dump inside of the Metro Dome, and let the demolition contractor take care of it.

Whoaaaaaa, wait...dump? You do realize that Moundsview plays at Shoreview County rink and CDH plays at Highland? Those places are dumps! Good Lord especially Shoreview.

I'll give you Vadnais may be poorly designed with incredibly bad PA acoustics but dump? No, not even close.

Not to mention, the attached bar where all you have to do is give a quick nod to the bartender when walking into the bar between periods and have an ice cold beer handed to you while 13 people from the opposing team wait to place their order automatically vaults it into top 50% of High School arenas.

What exactly is so bad about it? I've never been.

I heard achiever academy will be taking over the rink

celly 93:
There is not enough seating and the sight lines are awful.

On the bright side, as has been pointed out, one can get liquored up while taking in some youth athletics. Which, apparently, is a bonus to some on the forum.

JoltDelivered wrote:

East Side Pioneer Guy wrote:Vadnais Arena? Wait until the day after the last Vikes home game, sneak that dump inside of the Metro Dome, and let the demolition contractor take care of it.

Whoaaaaaa, wait...dump? You do realize that Moundsview plays at Shoreview County rink and CDH plays at Highland? Those places are dumps! Good Lord especially Shoreview.

I'll give you Vadnais may be poorly designed with incredibly bad PA acoustics but dump? No, not even close.

Not to mention, the attached bar where all you have to do is give a quick nod to the bartender when walking into the bar between periods and have an ice cold beer handed to you while 13 people from the opposing team wait to place their order automatically vaults it into top 50% of High School arenas.

Mounds View? They had some nice squads...back during the Jimmy Carter era. So if that's what the good folks of WBL want to compare them selves to, have at it. But I'd encourage them to set the bar just a little higher.

And the newer rink at Highland is light years better than the dump at Vadnais, even if one must stay sober until the game is over.

East Side Pioneer Guy wrote:

JoltDelivered wrote:

East Side Pioneer Guy wrote:Vadnais Arena? Wait until the day after the last Vikes home game, sneak that dump inside of the Metro Dome, and let the demolition contractor take care of it.

Whoaaaaaa, wait...dump? You do realize that Moundsview plays at Shoreview County rink and CDH plays at Highland? Those places are dumps! Good Lord especially Shoreview.

I'll give you Vadnais may be poorly designed with incredibly bad PA acoustics but dump? No, not even close.

Not to mention, the attached bar where all you have to do is give a quick nod to the bartender when walking into the bar between periods and have an ice cold beer handed to you while 13 people from the opposing team wait to place their order automatically vaults it into top 50% of High School arenas.

Mounds View? They had some nice squads...back during the Jimmy Carter era. So if that's what the good folks of WBL want to compare them selves to, have at it. But I'd encourage them to set the bar just a little higher.

And the newer rink at Highland is light years better than the dump at Vadnais, even if one must stay sober until the game is over.

Wait...what?

You're ripping on teams now? Kinda hard to see ya up there on your horse...even with my handy dandy telescope.

Thought we were talking about arenas here, not teams. And hey, be nice to Moundsview. Every once in a while you get a MV / North Oaks player if CDH or Totino doesn't get to him first. And afterall, how do you expect MV to attract players to that program when they play at the Showview City garage?

And saying the Highland County Ice Box is LIGHT YEARS ahead of any rink is just pure entertainment. Name me one of CDH's opponents that can't wait to get to Highland each year for the outstanding atmospehre and the over-worked heat pipe in the ceiling. That sterile, concrete Ramsey County arena feel just drips hockey atmosphere doesn't it? Vadnais is certainly no gem from a design perspective but please...

And, last but not least, don't forget the lobster tank in the Vadnais bar. It's hard to beat a $2 lobster!

slacsap wrote:celly 93:
There is not enough seating and the sight lines are awful.

The worst sight lines I've ever seen in my life at the arena in Wasilla, AK. There is a walkway in front of the both levels of seating, and the seating in the upper section is pushed back so people in the first 3 rows are looking into the backs of the people in the last row of the lower section. Seriously, Alaska is home to the worst rinks in hockey. And this rink is where Alaska has their state tournament.

Yikes!

East Side Pioneer Guy wrote:Vadnais Arena? Wait until the day after the last Vikes home game, sneak that dump inside of the Metro Dome, and let the demolition contractor take care of it.

Are you thinking of the right arena? The ice is great, locker rooms smell fine, seating is good, awesome lobby. My main complaint is that the snack bar isn't open enough. I can think of at least 20 metro rinks that are way worse.

I think that we were spoiled by Aldrich Arena. It's old, but seating is plentiful, and it's easy to see the action in the corners.

Vandals has absolutely no personality -- it feels like all of the other newish rinks that have been built over the last ten years or so.

You can have the personality. Give me large, clean dressing rooms any day.

TheHockeyDJ wrote:

slacsap wrote:celly 93:
There is not enough seating and the sight lines are awful.

The worst sight lines I've ever seen in my life at the arena in Wasilla, AK. There is a walkway in front of the both levels of seating, and the seating in the upper section is pushed back so people in the first 3 rows are looking into the backs of the people in the last row of the lower section. Seriously, Alaska is home to the worst rinks in hockey. And this rink is where Alaska has their state tournament.

Wasilla? Where have I heard that before? Oh. right. Hockey moms, pitbulls, and lipstick.

It's probably the only high school hockey rink in the country to have been profiled in a Wall Street Journal article: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1 ... 7792905483

From the very beginning, the building was flawed. I wrote an entire blog about this a couple months ago. http://zachhalverson.com/post/602686449 ... r-has-been

It's a poorly designed arena. There are pillars in each corner of the arena on the home side that block your view of half the rink! (not sure about the visitor side). I also feel bad for the visiting fans sitting on the visitor side which has about 10 feet of space from the boards to the wall.. Oh, and is it just me or is it super bright in there? I've been to many other high school arenas and Vadnais seems brighter than most.