Best WCHA arena

[dubbie31]

Which arena in the WCHA is the best...ok...2nd best...North Dakota is the nicest for sure. But besides that Arena which do you think is the nicest.
Catagories to think about are...ambiance...food...seating...accomadations.

[HuskyRevolution]

Whoever voted for the DECC is severely isolated from reality.

No question the NHC is the loudest, and most intimidating.

The seating is torturous though.

[thefan25]

Decc?...hahaha, this thread was not asking what rink is the most antiquated or dreary. It was asking which is the second best rink in the WCHA. Maybe the Decc is the 2nd best high school rink in Minnesota but please, it is not near one of the best facilities in the WCHA. Even though I haven't been to them all, I would say Mariucci would be the winner. Great sightlines, loud band, good team, a full house, and history with all the murals and pictures.

[SuperFan109]

Now listen Husky boy I am going to let you in on a secret. The DECC is small, has full seating all the way around and has very steep seating. When it is full, which sadly isn't more than once a year, it is the LOUDEST arena in the WCHA. It is also a very imtimidating place for people to play. When you are on the ice and look up it looks as if the crowd is on top of you.

Now I am not saying it is that great right now, but if you could get rid of the old people and replace them with college students, and some of the older people in St. Cloud that at least sieve the goalie and stand up and clap, well then you would have the most feared arena in the WCHA. Ask players that came up here when we did sell out. This is a scary barn to play in man.

But Kudos to your fans, I am not going to knock them, they are great, but I am just putting down the facts.

You can't even hear the PA guy because the place echos to much IN SCSU.

[Suprman0099]

Originally posted by SuperFan109
When it is full, which sadly isn't more than once a year, it is the LOUDEST arena in the WCHA.


Obviously you've never been to the Ralph when it's packed (11,500+ fans) at a Gophers - Sioux game when "Welcome to the Jungle comes on"

[thefan25]

Don't get me wrong, even though the decc is old I think it can be a good place to watch a game. However, it isn't right now because they need more fans and younger fans, like SuperFan said. It might be the rink where your closest to the action but it is lacking the amenities that are common in the newer rinks.

[U2Bad1]

Originally posted by Suprman0099
Obviously you've never been to the Ralph when it's packed (11,500+ fans) at a Gophers - Sioux game when "Welcome to the Jungle comes on"

LOL

[STCHuskies]

They fixed the PA system this year at the NHC, you can now hear Chuck clearly. :D

[Happy]

Originally posted by Suprman0099
Obviously you've never been to the Ralph when it's packed (11,500+ fans) at a Gophers - Sioux game when "Welcome to the Jungle comes on" This must be at the beginning of the game, because at the end most of the und fans have left because MN never loses at the new rea.

[SuperFan109]

Originally posted by STCHuskies
They fixed the PA system this year at the NHC, you can now hear Chuck clearly. :D

Couldn't hear him in the upper stands when I was there this year. Oh yeah, was that the game that the one UMd section out cheered you guys?????

[sioux7]

Originally posted by Happy
This must be at the beginning of the game, because at the end most of the und fans have left because MN never loses at the new rea.

Since our average attendence is higher than yours,
that's not true.

[Zudnic]

I've been to REA, MWCC, DECC, Mariucci, Kohl, and NHC, and I'd agree on REA, but for 2nd best have to say hands down, Mariucci.

[Dogma95]

Originally posted by Suprman0099
Obviously you've never been to the Ralph when it's packed (11,500+ fans) at a Gophers - Sioux game when "Welcome to the Jungle comes on"

That is funny stuff.

[St. Clown]

Originally posted by Zudnic
I've been to REA, MWCC, DECC, Mariucci, Kohl, and NHC, and I'd agree on REA, but for 2nd best have to say hands down, Mariucci.
The problem with Mariucci is the never ending need for Geritol. It would be a nice arena, but there are too many old people there that don't cheer. I know some chalk that up to their abundant knowledge of hockey, thus what plays to cheer for, but even then they don't cheer.

On top of that, last year when SCSU was down there in December, U of MN was ranked #2 and SCSU was ranked #1, the game was 3-2 with the Huskies in the lead, and fans were still filing out with a minute left in the third to beat the traffic (usually the corporate ticketholders). It was pathetic!

Therefore it has the potential to be a great arena, but it's not because of the geriatics in the crowd and the corporate give-aways.

[skiumah2]

Originally posted by St. Clown
The problem with Mariucci is the never ending need for Geritol. It would be a nice arena, but there are too many old people there that don't cheer. I know some chalk that up to their abundant knowledge of hockey, thus what plays to cheer for, but even then they don't cheer.

On top of that, last year when SCSU was down there in December, U of MN was ranked #2 and SCSU was ranked #1, the game was 3-2 with the Huskies in the lead, and fans were still filing out with a minute left in the third to beat the traffic (usually the corporate ticketholders). It was pathetic!

Therefore it has the potential to be a great arena, but it's not because of the geriatics in the crowd and the corporate give-aways.

I'm a Gopher fan and I have to agree with you 100%. There are too many corporate owned seats that either go to the high up corporate stuffed shirts, or they go unused completely. Therefore, you have a lot of golfer claps by people in suits eating caviar and kissing each other on the cheek without even touching.

I really thought when the Wild came to town, the corporate dollar would cross the river to the Excel Center. That has been true, but these corporations must be buying tickets to both because you still have the non-college type crowd and the Wild are in their 3rd season.

That being said, it is a great experience for a Gopher fan to see a game there. IMO, those murals on the wall are quite a spectacle to see. I realize that non-Gopher fans wouldn't be impressed because it is definately a celebration of Gopher Hockey and its history. However, I get chills everytime I go there. Just looking at the area devoted solely to the NC teams, and the Hobey Baker winners gives me goosebumps.

I've only been to the DECC, the NHC, and the Old Dane County Coliseum in Madison, so I really wouldn't be qualified to rate which is the best. However, it wouldn't be any of those three. The DECC and the NHC are glorified high school arenas, and the Dane had sightlines so bad, the majority of seats had at least one spot on the ice you couldn't see.

Also, it does say something for Mariucci that many of the architechs that designed college and NHL arenas since it was built, have toured it to get good ideas. Mariucci is considered the benchmark for how to build the perfect arena. I would bet that the designers of the Ralph took a tour of Mariucci too.

[10minutemisconduct]

Originally posted by St. Clown
The problem with Mariucci is the never ending need for Geritol. It would be a nice arena, but there are too many old people there that don't cheer. I know some chalk that up to their abundant knowledge of hockey, thus what plays to cheer for, but even then they don't cheer.

On top of that, last year when SCSU was down there in December, U of MN was ranked #2 and SCSU was ranked #1, the game was 3-2 with the Huskies in the lead, and fans were still filing out with a minute left in the third to beat the traffic (usually the corporate ticketholders). It was pathetic!

Therefore it has the potential to be a great arena, but it's not because of the geriatics in the crowd and the corporate give-aways.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again about the old folks at Mariucci: Please don’t confuse the old folks with the corpies. I’ve been going to Gopher games for 30+ years. I’ve had the pleasure to witness older men and women trek out of their homes every Minnesota winter to watch the Gophers. I’ve seen many of these people age over the years and then ultimately stop showing up (I assume they either died or became too incapacitated to make it out). These people are not corpies, in fact I’d argue many of them are retirees of relatively limited means. Yes, they’re not very loud. What do you expect? -- They’re old. But their dedication and love of the sport make them a bigger fan than any loud-mouthed drunken puke getting fired up to Welcome to the Jungle while taking in his first season or two of college hockey. Sadly, the ever rising ticket prices at Mariucci have likely diminished the hardcore elders in favor of the corpies (rip on the corpies all you want). I’m in my late 30’s now and sure hope I’ll still be making the trek out to Mariucci when I’m a “geriatric”.

[Turk 77]

Originally posted by 10minutemisconduct
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again about the old folks at Mariucci: Please don’t confuse the old folks with the corpies. I’ve been going to Gopher games for 30+ years. I’ve had the pleasure to witness older men and women trek out of their homes every Minnesota winter to watch the Gophers. I’ve seen many of these people age over the years and then ultimately stop showing up (I assume they either died or became too incapacitated to make it out). These people are not corpies, in fact I’d argue many of them are retirees of relatively limited means. Yes, they’re not very loud. What do you expect? -- They’re old. But their dedication and love of the sport make them a bigger fan than any loud-mouthed drunken puke getting fired up to Welcome to the Jungle while taking in his first season or two of college hockey. Sadly, the ever rising ticket prices at Mariucci have likely diminished the hardcore elders in favor of the corpies (rip on the corpies all you want). I’m in my late 30’s now and sure hope I’ll still be making the trek out to Mariucci when I’m a “geriatric”. I agree 100% Marriucci has great fans and they arnt corpies;)

[St. Clown]

Originally posted by 10minutemisconduct
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again about the old folks at Mariucci: Please don’t confuse the old folks with the corpies. I’ve been going to Gopher games for 30+ years. I’ve had the pleasure to witness older men and women trek out of their homes every Minnesota winter to watch the Gophers. I’ve seen many of these people age over the years and then ultimately stop showing up (I assume they either died or became too incapacitated to make it out). These people are not corpies, in fact I’d argue many of them are retirees of relatively limited means. Yes, they’re not very loud. What do you expect? -- They’re old. But their dedication and love of the sport make them a bigger fan than any loud-mouthed drunken puke getting fired up to Welcome to the Jungle while taking in his first season or two of college hockey. Sadly, the ever rising ticket prices at Mariucci have likely diminished the hardcore elders in favor of the corpies (rip on the corpies all you want). I’m in my late 30’s now and sure hope I’ll still be making the trek out to Mariucci when I’m a “geriatric”.
The problem I had with the geriatrics, at least the ones that were near me, is that I started to cheer for something I saw, and every single one of them turned their heads back to check out the oddity - someone cheering. I swear it was like a horribly scene from a third-rate comedy. When I had originally taken my seat the old women on either side of me had the surly looks of indignation that I had purchased that sole seat in between them, I must have intruded upon their comfort. And no, they were not corporate ticket holders, I can tell the difference between the corporate ticket holder and the people that were around me.

Don't get me wrong, I have a great appreciation for people with the dedication and knowledge of hockey that many of the old-timers have, but they should at least act as if they're enjoying the game. Most of those people didn't even crack a smile when the Gophers scored. That is what truly amazed me.

[Handyman]

Originally posted by St. Clown
The problem with Mariucci is the never ending need for Geritol. It would be a nice arena, but there are too many old people there that don't cheer. I know some chalk that up to their abundant knowledge of hockey, thus what plays to cheer for, but even then they don't cheer.

On top of that, last year when SCSU was down there in December, U of MN was ranked #2 and SCSU was ranked #1, the game was 3-2 with the Huskies in the lead, and fans were still filing out with a minute left in the third to beat the traffic (usually the corporate ticketholders). It was pathetic!

Therefore it has the potential to be a great arena, but it's not because of the geriatics in the crowd and the corporate give-aways.

Oh and the NHC is that much better? Come on, people leave the Concrete Center in the second period to go party! And if the Husky's arent winning that place can be a tomb. Stop living off the reputation your fans had 4 years ago because honestly I walk around that arena when the Gophs are there with no fear except that some drunk sophomore might puke on me :rolleyes:

Mariucci is quiet, there isnt much we can do at this point. It is even worse now that the frontrunners all got tickets. That is fine, I enjoy sitting in the corpie section at center ice and watching the game.

As for the old folks, I would take the dedicated 70 year olds who trek out every week and have been watching Gopher hockey religiously for 50-60 years over the party crowd at the NHC any day. Not to mention our band at its worst is always better than crappy piped in music.

[beersong]

Originally posted by Handyman
Not to mention our band at its worst is always better than crappy piped in music.

Any band is better than piped in music. I wish the DECC wouldn't alternate between band and piped in music. Just let the **** band play!