I'd guess it was a little over 2k. It was fairly full in the middle, but pretty thin on the ends. It filled up a little more as MN and Clarkson fans started trickling in. Not too surprisingly, it was a heavy Wisconsin crowd, and will be a lot emptier for game 2.
Attendance was listed at 2,762 for Friday and 3,016 for Sunday. Those numbers seem about right. The was a large Wisconsin crowd, and I do wonder what the atmosphere would have been like if the Badgers had been able to score more than 1 goal all weekend. Minnesota had a decent turnout, about what I would have expected. The Clarkson crowd really impressed me though. I did not expect to see so many Knights fans make such a long trip. BC on the other hand, well, lets just say it was nice that a few of the parents showed up. Even their rent-a-band didn't seem like they wanted to be there. Based on the number of Blues jerseys I saw around, there must have been at least a little bit of outreach to the local community, although it seems like it was pretty minimal. On Saturday, I stopped at a sporting goods store and noticed they had a free local hockey newspaper, which had an article about the USA U-18 team making it to worlds, but not a mention or an ad for the Frozen Four. All in all though, considering the location far away from any significant college hockey program (sorry Lindenwood), I thought the turnout was impressive, especially in comparison to say Duluth in 2012, where you had a smaller turnout, despite being closer to both MN and WI and being in a city with solid college hockey history.
As far as the arena itself, yeesh. First of all, an odd building that was really in the middle of nowhere. Kind of hard to believe the building is less than 20 years old. The event staff seemed to be pretty clueless and uninterested, which based on reading some other things about the arena doesn't seem to be limited to this past weekend. Obviously there were the ice issues - interesting that they stopped using the second Zamboni on Sunday. It was pretty sad that for the scoreboard they couldn't show a single replay - at least on Sunday they could have just put the BTN feed up on the board.
Random observation, they used actual goal judges behind the nets, which I haven't seen in years now. Also, does anyone know what the size of the ice sheet was? I thought it seemed a little bigger than NHL, and someone else commented too.
All in all, it was a nice turnout, all things considered, and St. Louis was a fun place to spend the weekend. I wouldn't mind going back there again in the future, but I would certainly prefer it to be held at a different arena. I don't know what arena that might be however, and I suppose the ideal situation where you hold it in a venue that seats 4,000-5,000 people might be hard to find.
As far as the arena itself, yeesh. First of all, an odd building that was really in the middle of nowhere. Kind of hard to believe the building is less than 20 years old. The event staff seemed to be pretty clueless and uninterested, which based on reading some other things about the arena doesn't seem to be limited to this past weekend. Obviously there were the ice issues - interesting that they stopped using the second Zamboni on Sunday
I sent them a note on their web site, JEFF DUNHAM was there recently!! saying the you need ice to play ice hockey and got a response asking what that had to do with parenting. So, clueless@
Also, does anyone know what the size of the ice sheet was? I thought it seemed a little bigger than NHL, and someone else commented too.
I asked the same question yesterday because I thought the same thing but didn't get a response so I guess no one knows the answer. Seemed to me to be wider than an NHL but not as wide as an Olympic sheet.
I asked the same question yesterday because I thought the same thing but didn't get a response so I guess no one knows the answer. Seemed to me to be wider than an NHL but not as wide as an Olympic sheet.
I asked the same question yesterday because I thought the same thing but didn't get a response so I guess no one knows the answer. Seemed to me to be wider than an NHL but not as wide as an Olympic sheet.
If my Harding math is correct, an NHL sized rink is 200 feet by 85 feet or 17,000 square feet (200 X 85). I read somewhere that the Family Arena hockey rink is 17,900 square feet so a little larger than a normal NHL rink (they vary a little) but smaller than the Olympic sized rink of 20,000 square feet (200 X 100). Don't quote me on any of this though, I only got a B in math.
Last edited by bluffrinkrat; 03-21-2017, 09:25 AM.
Reason: Mr Knox class at Harding
"Everything that rises must converge." Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
If my Harding math is correct, an NHL sized rink is 200 feet by 85 feet or 17,000 square feet (200 X 85). I read somewhere that the Family Arena hockey rink is 17,900 square feet so a little larger than a normal NHL rink (they vary a little) but smaller than the Olympic sized rink of 20,000 square feet (200 X 100). Don't quote me on any of this though, I only got a B in math.
If you look at the description of the dimensions of the faceoff circle in the 2017 NCAA rule book, by the time you get to the outside of the circle in either team's 'attacking zone', you are 37 feet out perpendicular from a centerline running the length of the ice, ie through the centers of the two goals. To the outside of those faceoff circles are two red hash marks, which are two feet long. So, from outer end of red hash mark on one side to outer end of red hash mark on the other is (37 + 2) x 2 = 78 feet. To get to an 85 foot width, you then need another three and a half feet of ice beyond the end of the red hash mark to the board on each side.
Now go pull up photos or video from Sunday. I'm not at all sure it was even 85 feet.
(As for "200 feet by 85 feet or 17,000 square feet": if the rink were a full rectangle, that would be valid, but the corners are rounded, and this doesn't account for that in any way.)
If you look at the description of the dimensions of the faceoff circle in the 2017 NCAA rule book, by the time you get to the outside of the circle in either team's 'attacking zone', you are 37 feet out perpendicular from a centerline running the length of the ice, ie through the centers of the two goals. To the outside of those faceoff circles are two red hash marks, which are two feet long. So, from outer end of red hash mark on one side to outer end of red hash mark on the other is (37 + 2) x 2 = 78 feet. To get to an 85 foot width, you then need another three and a half feet of ice beyond the end of the red hash mark to the board on each side.
Now go pull up photos or video from Sunday. I'm not at all sure it was even 85 feet.
(As for "200 feet by 85 feet or 17,000 square feet": if the rink were a full rectangle, that would be valid, but the corners are rounded, and this doesn't account for that in any way.)
Wow, I'm impressed. I'm sure my high school math teacher Mr Knox would have given you an A. I majored in English and American History in college and the required math course was the last class I took before graduation. I got a B then, too. My wife wants to know if you're an engineer?
"Everything that rises must converge." Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Attendance was listed at 2,762 for Friday and 3,016 for Sunday. Those numbers seem about right. The was a large Wisconsin crowd, and I do wonder what the atmosphere would have been like if the Badgers had been able to score more than 1 goal all weekend. Minnesota had a decent turnout, about what I would have expected. The Clarkson crowd really impressed me though. I did not expect to see so many Knights fans make such a long trip. BC on the other hand, well, lets just say it was nice that a few of the parents showed up. Even their rent-a-band didn't seem like they wanted to be there. Based on the number of Blues jerseys I saw around, there must have been at least a little bit of outreach to the local community, although it seems like it was pretty minimal. On Saturday, I stopped at a sporting goods store and noticed they had a free local hockey newspaper, which had an article about the USA U-18 team making it to worlds, but not a mention or an ad for the Frozen Four. All in all though, considering the location far away from any significant college hockey program (sorry Lindenwood), I thought the turnout was impressive, especially in comparison to say Duluth in 2012, where you had a smaller turnout, despite being closer to both MN and WI and being in a city with solid college hockey history.
As far as the arena itself, yeesh. First of all, an odd building that was really in the middle of nowhere. Kind of hard to believe the building is less than 20 years old. The event staff seemed to be pretty clueless and uninterested, which based on reading some other things about the arena doesn't seem to be limited to this past weekend. Obviously there were the ice issues - interesting that they stopped using the second Zamboni on Sunday. It was pretty sad that for the scoreboard they couldn't show a single replay - at least on Sunday they could have just put the BTN feed up on the board.
Random observation, they used actual goal judges behind the nets, which I haven't seen in years now. Also, does anyone know what the size of the ice sheet was? I thought it seemed a little bigger than NHL, and someone else commented too.
All in all, it was a nice turnout, all things considered, and St. Louis was a fun place to spend the weekend. I wouldn't mind going back there again in the future, but I would certainly prefer it to be held at a different arena. I don't know what arena that might be however, and I suppose the ideal situation where you hold it in a venue that seats 4,000-5,000 people might be hard to find.
Thank you for the feedback, I hope you enjoyed your weekend.
Wow, I'm impressed. I'm sure my high school math teacher Mr Knox would have given you an A. I majored in English and American History in college and the required math course was the last class I took before graduation. I got a B then, too. My wife wants to know if you're an engineer?
Yes. Bachelors of Education with double-major in math and computer science; 20+ years as a computer programmer (specifically as a 'firmware programmer').
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