Toscano Family Ice Forum Impressions

[UC15]

Now go to work on the inside. IMO..........

Priority #1: Get rid of the Student Deck. Add bleacher seats instead.

Priority #2: Increase seating to at least 3,000 (getting rid of the student deck will help facilitate this).

Priority #3: Lower the walls behind the benches. Will add a couple of rows of seating, and enhance sight lines.

Priority #4: How about some draft (draught to you Anglophiles) beer. And wine for my wife!

Priority #5: Replace the "puck" holders with cup holders.

Priority #6: Night games, not 3:05pm and 4:05pm. It's Hockey East, not peewee hockey.

Some real food would be nice too. Night games need to be the standard can't have games at 4:05 pm when the rest of the conference is playing at 7:00 pm. Have an additional alcohol stand where they have all that marketing crap when you first walk in... don't need 3 tables of giving away posters and free towels. Give the people libations! And get those retractable belt line dividers so people know where to form lines to keep the flow of traffic going around the building.

 

[CL82]

I like your suggestions. Just make sure the financial gift you send to UConn for these upgrades is clearly marked “for the hockey arena upgrades”. Otherwise they might use your donation for other projects in the athletic department.

Lol, kind of harsh. There’s nothing he’s suggesting there that is outrageous. I think most of us agree that it would be better for the facility to increase capacity in the student deck seems like an ill considered add on given that it actually created obstructed view seats.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I like your suggestions. Just make sure the financial gift you send to UConn for these upgrades is clearly marked “for the hockey arena upgrades”. Otherwise they might use your donation for other projects in the athletic department.

It's like having to pay your contractor a second time for not getting it right the first time. Find out whomever approved the plans for the cup holders, who decided on the student deck instead of seating and who decided on the wall height behind the bench. Dock it from their pay for incompetence.

 

[CL82]

It's like having to pay your contractor a second time for not getting it right the first time. Find out whomever approved the plans for the cup holders, who decided on the student deck instead of seating and who decided on the wall height behind the bench. Dock it from their pay for incompetence.

The cupholders was just a miss. It happens.

I’m guessing that the “student deck” was a change order, probably in an attempt to avoid the cost of extra seats. It just looks thrown together in a completely half assed manner. My guess is that Dave Benedict will use the fact that we have had sellouts to expand the seating capacity and that will be one of the first things to go.

 

[UC15]

The cupholders was just a miss. It happens.

I’m guessing that the “student deck” was a change order, probably in an attempt to avoid the cost of extra seats. It just looks thrown together in a completely half assed manner. My guess is that Dave Benedict will use the fact that we have had sellouts to expand the seating capacity and that will be one of the first things to go.

The student deck was in all the renderings so I have my doubts that it will be gone. Plus money was donated by the Longobardi family for it so I'm guessing it's not going anywhere. They're just going to put up risers behind it hopefully or else it might be the biggest waste of space. My issue is that students don't even stand up half the time it's usually non-students. Most of the time students go galavanting into sections 104,105 & 109 looking for actual seats to end up getting tossed out once the season tix holders show up. The communication surrounding those sections and the non-seated student seats is really poor.

 

[CL82]

The student deck was in all the renderings so I have my doubts that it will be gone. Plus money was donated Longobardi family for it so I'm guessing it's not going anywhere. They're just going to put up risers behind it hopefully or else it might be the biggest waste of space. My issue is that students don't even stand up half the time it's usually non-students. Most of the time students go galavanting into sections 104,105 & 109 looking for actual seats to end up getting tossed out once the season tix holders show up. The communication surrounding those sections and the non-seated student seats is really poor.

It wasn’t a cinder block box stuck behind one goal. Here, take a look.

What ended up being there seems very transitory like it’s just begging to be taken down. I agree with you about the Longobardi family contribution, but I can’t see them as being upset if it became the Longobardi student section.

Architects website

 

[Viet Vet]

The cupholders was just a miss. It happens.

I’m guessing that the “student deck” was a change order, probably in an attempt to avoid the cost of extra seats. It just looks thrown together in a completely half assed manner. My guess is that Dave Benedict will use the fact that we have had sellouts to expand the seating capacity and that will be one of the first things to go.

How will Frank and Pat Longobardi react to the removal of their namesake Student Deck? I imagine a few bucks were donated for that naming right. Perhaps the additional seating could be named the Frank and Pat Longobardi Student Section, or "Husky Pound" or "Dog Pound".

They certainly deserve to be consulted and recognized for their generosity.

 

[CL82]

How will Frank and Pat Longobardi react to the removal of their namesake Student Deck? I imagine a few bucks were donated for that naming right. Perhaps the additional seating could be named the Frank and Pat Longobardi Student Section, or "Husky Pound" or "Dog Pound".

They certainly deserve to be consulted and recognized for their generosity.

Could not agree more. I suspect they would be entirely content with the Frank and Pat Longobardi student section, but we’d definitely need to reach out to them first.

 

[huskymedic]

Work continues…

 

[huskymedic]

… and continues:

 

[huskymedic]

 

[CTBballfan243]

That is one state of the art top notch hockey facilities. Can't get much better than that.

 

[temery]

I'm curious, how much was the naming rights for this?

 

[CL82]

I'm glad it's finally finished. It felt like that front façade was being manufactured on some pacific island somewhere with one guy hammering out one piece of steel at a time on an log and shipping it back to Storrs.

It looks terrific.

 

[huskymedic]

I'm curious, how much was the naming rights for this?

It was originally listed as a sponsorship opportunity @ $10M. Not sure what the actual amount ended up being:

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I'm glad it's finally finished. It felt like that front façade was being manufactured on some pacific island somewhere with one guy hammering out one piece of steel at a time on an log and shipping it back to Storrs.

It looks terrific.

Yeah, the ice hockey arena's version of Patoni tiles.

 

[CTBasketball]

You know what we need to jolt this program back in place?
A game at the XL Center. Yeah I said it.
Toscano is nice and all but it’s been a lot of bad vibes since we moved there. Certainly no home ice advantage.

Hot take but I think Tuscano sucks. 75% of the fan base was alienated when they moved.

 

[DblCrossbar]

Hot take but I think Tuscano sucks. 75% of the fan base was alienated when they moved.

And the sound system is once again too ridiculously loud. They seemed to correct that last year, but just because you can deafen the crowd, doesn't mean you should. If you want the crowd to make noise, don't drown them out - cripes. The UConn Band sounds good though - new tunes to boot, and are at the right sound level - still wish they were up on risers instead of right behind the goal where heckling students should be. The plastic seats aren't comfortable, but I guess that means just watch from the student deck for awhile to work off the numbness. Food options only slightly improves with Bears BBQ offerings, but fairly lame. The arena portion of the facility was over designed and does no one thing well. Honestly even thought the XL is 50 years old the experience when there are 4k+ fans there is significant better than at the sterile TFIF. Of course if the team does well and crowd starts to become part of the game then some of this can be excused, but for now it's very disappointing.

I hope the players are having a better experience there...

 

[Viet Vet]

View attachment 92116

And the sound system is once again too ridiculously loud. They seemed to correct that last year, but just because you can deafen the crowd, doesn't mean you should. If you want the crowd to make noise, don't drown them out - cripes. The UConn Band sounds good though - new tunes to boot, and are at the right sound level - still wish they were up on risers instead of right behind the goal where heckling students should be. The plastic seats aren't comfortable, but I guess that means just watch from the student deck for awhile to work off the numbness. Food options only slightly improves with Bears BBQ offerings, but fairly lame. The arena portion of the facility was over designed and does no one thing well. Honestly even thought the XL is 50 years old the experience when there are 4k+ fans there is significant better than at the sterile TFIF. Of course if the team does well and crowd starts to become part of the game then some of this can be excused, but for now it's very disappointing.

I hope the players are having a better experience there...

Completely agree. Toscano Ice Forum is not fan friendly, has no soul, no vibe. Seems to be a palace for big donors to entertain……..IF they deign to show up.

 

[CTBasketball]

View attachment 92116

And the sound system is once again too ridiculously loud. They seemed to correct that last year, but just because you can deafen the crowd, doesn't mean you should. If you want the crowd to make noise, don't drown them out - cripes. The UConn Band sounds good though - new tunes to boot, and are at the right sound level - still wish they were up on risers instead of right behind the goal where heckling students should be. The plastic seats aren't comfortable, but I guess that means just watch from the student deck for awhile to work off the numbness. Food options only slightly improves with Bears BBQ offerings, but fairly lame. The arena portion of the facility was over designed and does no one thing well. Honestly even thought the XL is 50 years old the experience when there are 4k+ fans there is significant better than at the sterile TFIF. Of course if the team does well and crowd starts to become part of the game then some of this can be excused, but for now it's very disappointing.

I hope the players are having a better experience there...

It lacks character. Feels like a temporary place to go watch hockey moreso than a “home.” Again I realize these are hot takes the building itself is nice, but it lacks so much.

 

[CTBballfan243]

It's almost like we need something to complain about here in the Boneyard to make us happy.

 

[ableton04]

Some random thoughts after Saturday's night game, a lot of which echoes what others are saying:

- They seemingly learned nothing about concessions - even the Bears stand is worse than what they have at XL or Rentschler Field, and I was really hoping that might be a decent option for folks.
- The sound system is notably louder than XL and triggered the loud noises warning on my Apple Watch a few times.
- I do not understand the ice level lounge - are there really people who are willing to pay for that but can't afford the club level seats? That lounge could be replaced by much needed seating behind the net AND I bet the back side of that seating could be a merch stand that you'd see right when you walk in, which could open up options for additional food carts on the upstairs level.

Overall I'm kind of looking forward to returning to XL on the 28th, which is a damning indictment of Toscano - better parking situation, better food, better drink, etc.

I will give credit where credit is due - it's almost startling how close you are to the action at Toscano, and I bet when we're back at XL we're all going to feel much further away.

 

[Viet Vet]

Some random thoughts after Saturday's night game, a lot of which echoes what others are saying:

- They seemingly learned nothing about concessions - even the Bears stand is worse than what they have at XL or Rentschler Field, and I was really hoping that might be a decent option for folks.
- The sound system is notably louder than XL and triggered the loud noises warning on my Apple Watch a few times.
- I do not understand the ice level lounge - are there really people who are willing to pay for that but can't afford the club level seats? That lounge could be replaced by much needed seating behind the net AND I bet the back side of that seating could be a merch stand that you'd see right when you walk in, which could open up options for additional food carts on the upstairs level.

Overall I'm kind of looking forward to returning to XL on the 28th, which is a damning indictment of Toscano - better parking situation, better food, better drink, etc.

I will give credit where credit is due - it's almost startling how close you are to the action at Toscano, and I bet when we're back at XL we're all going to feel much further away.

Farther away, but with better sight lines., not looking through two or three levels of plexiglass to the "corners".

 

[zls44]

Some random thoughts after Saturday's night game, a lot of which echoes what others are saying:

- They seemingly learned nothing about concessions - even the Bears stand is worse than what they have at XL or Rentschler Field, and I was really hoping that might be a decent option for folks.

It isn’t a learning issue- the building is not wired up to cook food on site. It doesn’t have grills or ovens. Everything is made off site and brought in already done, in warmers.

 

[CL82]

It's almost like we need something to complain about here in the Boneyard to make us happy.

I agree with the first part of your sentence.