Toscano Family Ice Forum Impressions

[freescooter]

Every time I yelled last night people looked at me like I was physically assaulting them. Not one U C O N N cheer the entire night. I yelled at the refs after the embellishment call and even got the stink eye for that.

Lol. I know what you mean. Listen I’m no spring chicken. But I felt like one last night in my section. Get some students in there. I went to a friggin’ Wesleyan game last year with a bigger nastier crowd.

Part of it is that I don’t think UConn students know how to be hockey fans. They just don’t.

 

[Viet Vet]

I think the crowd at Toscanini is much older. At least that is my take. And honestly the band has zero idea of how to be a hockey pep band. That has always been a problem but is worse now that we are this far in. They have a basketball feel. They don’t harass the other goalies. They don’t make fun of the refs. They are, in a word, too polite.

Toscano season ticketholder here.

Yes, the crowd at Toscano is much older than at other HE rinks. Why?

That’s easy to explain. The capacity is TOO SMALL to accommodate younger potential season ticket buyers who don’t have the financial resources of the older folks (me included) to make substantial “seat donations”. Just one more of several reasons why this rink sucks.

 

[Viet Vet]

SHU vs Toscano:

Capacity: SHU - 3,600. Toscano - 2,691
Cost: SHU - $ 70million. Toscano - $70million
Chairbacks: SHU - ALL seats Toscano - approx 80-85%
Padded Seats: SHU - All seats Toscano - NONE, (excepting major donor upper level)

Contracting: SHU - Private Sector Toscano - Public Sector

 

[Bomber36]

SHU vs Toscano:

Capacity: SHU - 3,600. Toscano - 2,691
Cost: SHU - $ 70million. Toscano - $70million
Chairbacks: SHU - ALL seats Toscano - approx 80-85%
Padded Seats: SHU - All seats Toscano - NONE, (excepting major donor upper level)

Contracting: SHU - Private Sector Toscano - Public Sector

It’s a shame that something we all thought would be a huge boost for the program, the opening of Toscano, seems to be dragging it down. We all know the XL center will draw a larger base of fans if it’s properly marketed. How about 8 home games there instead of 4 in future seasons? How about actually advertising the games that are there? Kids are the future fans of this program and the XL is the only place they will be exposed to the Huskies. At rate we are going, they’re all gonna be Wolfpack fans pretty soon. The athletic department is failing this program, marketing wise.

 

[kibblesnbits]

True, but what isn’t pictured there is the band. They should not be directly behind the goalie. Elevate them elsewhere and leave fans in that spot!

That's the point I made when they built the place. Put in risers on the student deck as a bandstand so they can play above the glass instead of into it. Add the seats behind the net to the student section. Then we can start planning how to get rid of that stupid ground level club section at the other end and replace that with seats too. Alternatively, if they want a student standing section maybe put it there, but, if you are going to imitate a soccer stadium, then do it like they do with tiered rows separated by standing bars.

 

[Viet Vet]

That's the point I made when they built the place. Put in risers on the student deck as a bandstand so they can play above the glass instead of into it. Add the seats behind the net to the student section. Then we can start planning how to get rid of that stupid ground level club section at the other end and replace that with seats too. Alternatively, if they want a student standing section maybe put it there, but, if you are going to imitate a soccer stadium, then do it like they do with tiered rows separated by standing bars.

You are preaching to the choir. Keep it up. Perhaps the athletic department will respond if we all scream bloody murder.

I've been to eight of our HE opponents' rinks (not UNH and Lowell). Only two (maybe) are as bad as ours: Merrimack (opened in 1972) and Northeastern (opened in 1910).

 

[DblCrossbar]

I agree. The fans need to take some of the blame for the atmosphere too. The crowd is older and quieter and the student section’s participation is virtually nil when compared to other schools. Look at QPac, UNH, BU, BC, or Maine’s student sections. Is there a hockey student section club? Maybe they need to create something like that.

To some degree you are correct, but there are too many broken spaces in the “bowl” where seating is and too much glass that hides play and other fans and the disjointed feeling makes it harder to fell like you’re one big group who cheers in unison. Also there are too many entire rows of seats that are unoccupied for what is purportedly a sold out game. What gives there? Terrible! We don’t even hear the oohs and ahhs when a shot is taken - no excitement and most of it is because the design works against fans.

The bowl of the XL/HCC with its great sight lines is almost perfect beyond any arena and that includes TD garden and MSG. It’s simple, steep, and raucous even when 60 percent filled. It’s doubtful, but it would be great if they scheduled 6-8 there every season. Say what you will but that place at least has soul vs the antiseptic look and feel of Tuscano.

 

[DblCrossbar]

The damn building looks like it was built by committee. Everybody got their stupid feature incorporated into the design. Go look at Sacred Heart's arena built for about the same money!

Blame JCJ architects for the arena portion of the TFIF. Maybe the players’ sections are fine and even appealing, but an experienced hockey arena designer would have held the line and been more of a consultant and pushed to say no on many of the “features” ( bugs) - especially with such a tiny footprint. Instead all of the big arena amenities were squeezed I. When a contiguous bowl should have been the answer. In addition to the Martire Family Arena at SHU (ok they also messed up with the band taking up prime seats behind the goal) see also Schneider Arena in Providence for a comparison of a venue about the same size and much more intimate and energetic because the simplest and most effective arena shape that brings fans in as a cohesive ”one” for hockey is established and unbroken.

 

[DblCrossbar]

That's the point I made when they built the place. Put in risers on the student deck as a bandstand so they can play above the glass instead of into it. Add the seats behind the net to the student section. Then we can start planning how to get rid of that stupid ground level club section at the other end and replace that with seats too. Alternatively, if they want a student standing section maybe put it there, but, if you are going to imitate a soccer stadium, then do it like they do with tiered rows separated by standing bars.

100% those alterations would help a lot for starters! As for the band, I can’t hear the drum kit or saxophones at all from where I’m at on the other side since the band isn’t mic’d and the sound from those instruments is blocked and reflected backwards…

 

[NE Football]

The place should have been at least 5,000 capacity. With the cost of the site work, architectural and structural cost, it never makes sense to have only 2,700 seats. It would not have cost that much more to add 2,300 seats, especially considering the 50-75 year lifespan of the building.

The same people who screwed up this project are in charge of our football team. Yikes! That’s scary bad news!

 

[freescooter]

I’m not one of those who say it should be 5000 seats. I think the size is maybe a bit small but not way too small. I’ve been to several game there and never seen it filled. And while I’m not someone who thinks you need a passport to cross the Connecticut River, it does take some effort to get there. So for years when we have bad teams, like this one seems headed for, you don’t have 3500 empty seats. Great years it will be sold out but that’s fine. BTW, I’d just put some temp bleachers in the standing room area and lose the row of tables which totally blocks any view. Then give out student tix for that area.

 

[ableton04]

It's not filled because UConn has a problem where people (presumably big $$$$ donors) are buying tickets and not actually schlepping out to Storrs. It's bad enough that they had to send that email reminding people HEY DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN TRANSFER OR SELL YOUR TICKETS.

Now they've got an arena that's technically sold out so they can't attract last minute fans or expand to meet demand for big matchups, except it's never actually full. Great job folks.

 

[mac2351]

 

[mac2351]

 

[mac2351]

 

[mac2351]

 

[mac2351]

 

[Bomber36]

Thanks @mac2351 Wow. What the heck happened?

 

[CL82]

Thanks @mac2351 Wow. What the heck happened?

Money, or the lack there of happened. The state of Connecticut mandates that state entities pay a premium price for construction. As a consequence of that, money doesn't go as far at the University as it would if a building were being done privately. Decisions had to be made as to whether cutback amenities or seats and they decided to cut back seats. My only hope is that expansion was always a part of the plan. Get rid of the ridiculous sideline obstructing student deck, replace it with seats and extend the upper deck. For what it's worth, I'd also be in favor of trying to skew the lower deck toward people who will actually show up.

 

[mac2351]

Someone at UConn needs to publicly address the fiasco that is the ticket situation, how they are going to resolve the issue of season ticket holders not showing up, and if there are any expansion plans in the near future.

 

[DblCrossbar]

Someone at UConn needs to publicly address the fiasco that is the ticket situation, how they are going to resolve the issue of season ticket holders not showing up, and if there are any expansion plans in the near future.

I wonder if much like how the transfer portal has completely changed how rosters are built - a paradigm shift - the ease at which tickets are placed on the secondary market through Stub Hub and Seat Geek etc. mess up the dynamic since blocks of seats bought for this purpose may not sell and stay empty.

In the case of Tuscano, it may be that season ticket holders just don’t show up, and that is baffling to me, so what can be done to address that? The lack

Side note: My wife and I attended the UConn vs UMass game at the Mullins center. Concession offerings overall are worse than the XL but far better than at Tuscano. They do have a creamery with quality ice cream. For the love of god why can’t the UConn Dairy Bar provide opportunities for purchase at games, Unless there is a production volume issue, this seems to be the absolute most obvious thing to do ever.

I haven’t been to BBall games at Gampel. Can anyone chime in and compare those concession offerings to those at Tuscano?

 

[mac2351]

I wonder if much like how the transfer portal has completely changed how rosters are built - a paradigm shift - the ease at which tickets are placed on the secondary market through Stub Hub and Seat Geek etc. mess up the dynamic since blocks of seats bought for this purpose may not sell and stay empty.

In the case of Tuscano, it may be that season ticket holders just don’t show up, and that is baffling to me, so what can be done to address that? The lack

Side note: My wife and I attended the UConn vs UMass game at the Mullins center. Concession offerings overall are worse than the XL but far better than at Tuscano. They do have a creamery with quality ice cream. For the love of god why can’t the UConn Dairy Bar provide opportunities for purchase at games, Unless there is a production volume issue, this seems to be the absolute most obvious thing to do ever.

I haven’t been to BBall games at Gampel. Can anyone chime in and compare those concession offerings to those at Tuscano?

Is it possible to hold season ticket holders accountable?

Your tickets have to be scanned at the gate x% of the games or you lose the right to your seats for the following season? Just spitballing

 

[husky8273]

Is it possible to hold season ticket holders accountable?

Your tickets have to be scanned at the gate x% of the games or you lose the right to your seats for the following season? Just spitballing

would it increase usage or open opportunities if they offered 1/2 season ticket packages?

 

[tayjlaw]

Went to Toscano for the first time tonight. Had been trying to get up there since last season. Very very quiet, no energy from the crowd or the team. LOTS of empty seats. Concessions left a lot to be desired. The best part of the game was the 75% discount for men’s basketball team apparel at the team shop.

Very underwhelmed. Luckily the tickets were free from a friend otherwise I would have been annoyed at dropping $100 on tickets alone for a family of four. Won’t be itching to go back anytime soon.

 

[zls44]

Hey, I can think of one way to open more seats up currently used by season ticket holders: keep playing like they did tonight.

 

[MKH2317]

I finally got to my first game at Toscano last night and figured I’d post here to perpetuate the disappointment. I basically share similar opinions to most of you that have posted about it above. I thought that it was a nice facility but that can be attributed to how new it is. It really is a nice building. I’m sure the athletes experience far more benefits than what meets the eyes of the average fan.

It’s just very underwhelming. I didn’t walk through the doors there and think “this is where a national championship team plays.” It just didn’t have that feel to it. It felt small, like it was doing Hockey East a disservice. Being from Sault Ste Marie, my wife’s first comment when we entered the game was “this place is smaller than where the Greyhounds play…much smaller.” Not saying that comparing NCAA to major junior is apples to apples, but there are several NCAA facilities that outshine major junior, several of which play in Hockey East.

Maybe it was because of UNH’s efforts, but the intimate “atmosphere” that was promised by UConn brass did not deliver. Yes it was intimate, but the fans were non existent, including the students. People just sat and watched. That will hopefully change with higher team production.

I can’t comment on concessions cause my wife and I ate dinner before we got there so neither of us got anything, but they seemed relatively generic, as you’d expect in your average arena.

Overall, it felt sparkly new and clean, but what’s that going to be like in 5 years from now? This building would be a very nice arena in the USHL, but not Hockey East. I will definitely go back to support the program, and the drive to storrs is easier than it is to Hartford for me. At least the team has an arena that’s out of Hartford and better than Freitas.

 

[DblCrossbar]

I finally got to my first game at Toscano last night and figured I’d post here to perpetuate the disappointment. I basically share similar opinions to most of you that have posted about it above. I thought that it was a nice facility but that can be attributed to how new it is. It really is a nice building. I’m sure the athletes experience far more benefits than what meets the eyes of the average fan.

It’s just very underwhelming. I didn’t walk through the doors there and think “this is where a national championship team plays.” It just didn’t have that feel to it. It felt small, like it was doing Hockey East a disservice. Being from Sault Ste Marie, my wife’s first comment when we entered the game was “this place is smaller than where the Greyhounds play…much smaller.” Not saying that comparing NCAA to major junior is apples to apples, but there are several NCAA facilities that outshine major junior, several of which play in Hockey East.

Maybe it was because of UNH’s efforts, but the intimate “atmosphere” that was promised by UConn brass did not deliver. Yes it was intimate, but the fans were non existent, including the students. People just sat and watched. That will hopefully change with higher team production.

I can’t comment on concessions cause my wife and I ate dinner before we got there so neither of us got anything, but they seemed relatively generic, as you’d expect in your average arena.

Overall, it felt sparkly new and clean, but what’s that going to be like in 5 years from now? This building would be a very nice arena in the USHL, but not Hockey East. I will definitely go back to support the program, and the drive to storrs is easier than it is to Hartford for me. At least the team has an arena that’s out of Hartford and better than Freitas.

Astute observations here. UConn really had a mandate and opportunity to make hockey an asset to the athletic program and experience for fans. The early days of the XL were terrific and raucous with well attended crowds. Even the game production with neat clips played on the jumbotron were better and then all was abandoned when COVID hit. The venue was designed by a local firm with no experience who decided to implement too many odd features by committee rather than go for simple and effective and it shows. Even the lines on the ice look fuzzed out and faded alreday…

The question here is what happens next?. It seems like UConn is content with having their heads buried in sand and say everything is wonderful, but it would be reassuring if the arrogance of the athletic department were to for once fall on its sword, recognize that their design experiment is not working, and say to fans that they are listening and will study options to implement and improve the experience over a time table of 3-5 years . I mean at least give those of us who have and would like to continue supporting the program some hope that things will be taken care of in the future,

 

[huskymedic]

The question here is what happens next?. It seems like UConn is content with having their heads buried in sand and say everything is wonderful,

Coach talks about some improvements that are needed @ the 19:15 mark:

 

[DblCrossbar]

Coach talks about some improvements that are needed @ the 19:15 mark:

Thanks for posting. It’s an interesting take, and I agree with what Cavs had to say about the venue for the most part. Quite obviously the number one priority was creating a top notch facility for the players. It seems they have succeeded there.

His take on the fan experience isn’t as minor as he‘d like to let on, but he’s very cautious with his comments. The sightlines would be ok if there wasn’t so much tall glass too look through at odd places. He doesn’t mention the value of a contiguous bowl being a requirement ins a small place like the TFIF. There are too many broken spots due to tall bench and Penalty rooms (too big to call a box) and the ice level lounge break up the continuity that helps generate a cohesive atmosphere. It would certainly help if all seats were legit filled. Maybe that was the case for the student only game vs Alaska last year, but with swaths of seats empty the vibe is significantly depressed and lackluster - despite what Cavs says about the volume of the place (unless he means the PA system that is too damn loud all the time) . The seat thing is an issue for ticketing to figure out and I have no solution there other than reducing season ticket packages or only offer them for half a season, and open up the box office for at least 500 seats per game.

 

[CTBballfan243]

What dimension are you living in?

The 4th. However, every game I watch, the broadcasters and guests rave about the facility. On television the rink looks beautiful. The kids on the team and the coaching staff seem to love it. They say it is a first rate facility. I would tend to believe the players and staff. I get the impression that it is just the “boneyarders” nature to complain about everything. I suspect that is the case.