Pairwise

[RSTuthill]

The HE Championship game was more or less a home game for Maine, without an actual count, I'm estimating they outnumbered us 5-1.

That said, UConn went to Orono this year and took 4 or 5 out of 6 points. IIRC.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I’m not a hockey expert at all, but if we’re playing in Allentown, and Q and PSU are roughly equivalent, wouldn’t we prefer to play Q in front of a neutral crowd than PSU in front of a partisan one? Or is crowd support less of a factor in hockey than hoops and pigskin?

Crowd support is obviously a factor and should provide some boost for Penn St. Where ice hockey can be a bit unique is in familiarity with the rink, how the puck plays off the boards, how the ice holds up during game play and even in some cases the room in the corners below the red lines.

I'm not sure that PSU will have much more experience on that ice than the other three schools.

 

[RSTuthill]

Allentown's PPL Center is an AHL rink, so the ice, boards, glass, stanchions, doors, etc., should be quite good. Maybe facility for amplifying the bands too.

 

[DblCrossbar]

Crowd support is obviously a factor and should provide some boost for Penn St. Where ice hockey can be a bit unique is in familiarity with the rink, how the puck plays off the boards, how the ice holds up during game play and even in some cases the room in the corners below the red lines.

I'm not sure that PSU will have much more experience on that ice than the other three schools.

As for rink familiarity, that certainly didn’t help Beanpot Winner BU in the HE semis .

 

[RSTuthill]

As for rink familiarity, that certainly didn’t help Beanpot Winner BU in the HE semis .

I agree. Rinks don't make much difference at all unless they are an odd size like Wittemore last year in the Women's natty or Freitas which had half round glass mount brackets. I once saw a team dump the puck in off the half boards' glass at Freitas and it ricocheted right into the net behind the goalie who was at the top of his crease. AHA tournament game as I recall.

 

[UC15]

The HE Championship game was more or less a home game for Maine, without an actual count, I'm estimating they outnumbered us 5-1.

More like 20-1, place was Alfond South

 

[DblCrossbar]

I agree. Rinks don't make much difference at all unless they are an odd size like Wittemore last year in the Women's natty or Freitas which had half round glass mount brackets. I once saw a team dump the puck in off the half boards' glass at Freitas and it ricocheted right into the net behind the goalie who was at the top of his crease. AHA tournament game as I recall.

Whttenmore used to have an Olympic sized rink of 60 by 30 meters (197’ x 98 ft) but was changed to 200’ x 90’ (5’ wider than NHL) in 2022.

UMass at Mullen is 200’ x 95’ and is currently the widest in HE.

 

[RSTuthill]

Whttenmore used to have an Olympic sized rink of 60 by 30 meters (197’ x 98 ft) but was changed to 200’ x 90’ (5’ wider than NHL) in 2022.

UMass at Mullen is 200’ x 95’ and is currently the widest in HE.

I was at Wittemore last year for the Women's national semis as Clarkson was taking on Ohio State. The game was on a Thursday. Clarkson had beaten Minnesota, I think, to get there in a four overtime game. They were still exhausted when they got to Durham. The ice at Wittemore was not changed in size, they had just moved the boards in. Yeah, you could see that the ice was still wider than NHL. Not something you want to see when the team you are rooting for is still exhausted playing a team like Ohio State. Clarkson scored first and then it was all OSU. But OSU did not go ahead until late in the third.

 

[Waquoit]

Allentown's PPL Center is an AHL rink, so the ice, boards, glass, stanchions, doors, etc., should be quite good. Maybe facility for amplifying the bands too.

UConn has experience playing in an AHL rink.