UConn Approves Plans For New Ice Hockey Arena

[kibblesnbits]

This misses the point. f UConn had the money to build a arena with state of the art video, seating and amenities they would build it with greater capacity first and upgrade it over time. This is a purely $$ driven decision. It will be superior to Freitas, but not on par with even other small rinks like Colgate’s Class of ‘65 Arena.

They finally got into a top tier hockey league but can’t really compete because the rest of the programs are in a high cost, low revenue league - leaving the Athletic Department unable to make the necessary investments. Barring a Pegula-like sugar daddy they are stuck.

 

[powerplay]

What a huge disappointment. EPIC FAILURE! This project is just a renovation of a youth league facility.

 

[Milo65]

Basically what UConn is saying is that they do not want to compete for Hockey East or National Championships in Hockey. They want to remain "small time". This smells of politicians sticking there noses where they don't belong.

This is absolutely tied to the legislature protecting Hartford business. This is why we have an undersized Gampel.

 

[coachcap]

This is just another instance of UConn pretending to be big time in athletics. Protect the games in Hartford at all costs. Shaft the students. At 2500 capacity, seating will be sold to those who can afford to ante up the big bucks. Marquee games will NEVER be played on campus to protect the inflow of cash.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

This is embarrassing.

 

[kibblesnbits]

I know we blame politicians for everything, but I have not heard a single one talk about the need to protect hockey in Hartford. Nor have I heard anything from the AD about the need to do so. If you polled the entire legislature asking where the UConn hockey team plays I'll bet most have no clue. Why is it so hard for people to understand that UConn is massively subsidizing athletics already and there's just no money left for anything but a bare bones on-campus arena? They've been struggling to get upgrades going for the soccer/baseball/softball facilities that were already in the pipeline and cost far less combined than a state of the art arena. Bentley and Colgate spent approx. $40M each for state of the art 2,200 seat arenas (in both cases hockey being arguably the premiere sport on campus and those are their showplace facilities). To build a competitive 4,500+ seat arena you are looking at $60M or more. To build a bare bones standalone one would still probably be $40M+. UConn doesn't have that money on top of the tens of millions it is already taking from student fees every year.

They joined HE while hoping and praying that they'd be delivered from the conference demotion they'd been dealt for other sports. It hasn't happened. Meanwhile, hockey is a revenue sport, but it's not a profitable sport. A report a few years back showed that even BC's vaunted men's and women's programs were losing about $2M per year (and due to Title IX you can't have one without the other).

 

[Guapo]

Why even bother putting UConn on the uniform?

Dress em up in blue and green, blare brass bonanza and all the old Hartford people can pretend it’s 1990.

 

[J187Money]

Well then how about we build EITHER a soccer or hockey arena that is to intelligent specs rather than building two facilities that are both insufficient lol

insufficient - yet probably half full most of the time...

 

[DarthGrumpy]

This makes the Mansfield locals happy and the folks in Hartford happy as UConn can be used once again to save Hartford's and the XL's bacon. It makes no sense for UConn nor the hockey team.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Is there even any point to this if it doesn’t hit Hockey East’s 4K on campus capacity requirement?

 

[huskymedic]

Is there even any point to this if it doesn’t hit Hockey East’s 4K on campus capacity requirement?

Not an issue - capacity requirement waived by Hockey East. From thread above:

>>With the construction of an entirely new arena in the works, UConn’s start date was pushed back and the conference was informed. UConn also submitted a request to the conference to allow for 2,500 seats instead of 4,000, which was approved in September.<<

>>“We wanted to more or less get a commitment from the Board of Trustees today to this smaller scope,” Jordan said. “We wanted to be on the record. Hockey East was accommodating to us. This vote is us saying back to Hockey East, thank you. We will proceed.”<<

 

[huskymedic]

There is another discussion regarding the new rink on the football board: The New Hockey Arena?

 

[Dooley]

Yet another Patriots/Hartford mishap from the Land Of Steady Habits. We have had yearSSSS to figure this out to not only satisfy Hockey East requirements, but also make a HUGE step in trying to leapfrog BU/BC/Providence...aaaand we decide to do the bare minimum at the 23rd hour. Unreal.

 

[Adios]

Merrimack games on campus!

 

[FDNY99]

Cox, McMahon trashing the arena plans...and rightly so! I really don’t see Cav or Joe P here long term anymore. It’s just a matter of time before they are poached by other schools.

 

[Dooley]

Cox, McMahon trashing the arena plans...and rightly so! I really don’t see Cav or Joe P here long term anymore. It’s just a matter of time before they are poached by other schools.

I think you're right. This plan just cements our middle-of-the-pack standings aspiration for hockey and Coach Cav is a much better coach than that. He'll eventually be poached.

 

[FDNY99]

I think you're right. This plan just cements our middle-of-the-pack standings aspiration for hockey and Coach Cav is a much better coach than that. He'll eventually be poached.

In all honesty they should have kept this program in the AHA if this was the plan...then they could have just stayed in Freitas..had zero cost factor for having games at the XL Center and didn’t have to build anything new on campus.

 

[UConnJim]

I think the idea is to get approval to build a relatively small arena and see what happens with the XL Center. If the XL Center is torn down, the on-campus arena will be bigger. I think we will know the decision on the XL Center within a year. (After the election.)

 

[FDNY99]

For all you Whaler fans there you go

 

[Dooley]

In all honesty they should have kept this program in the AHA if this was the plan...then they could have just stayed in Freitas..had zero cost factor for having games at the XL Center and didn’t have to build anything new on campus.

Hate to agree but I do. Really disappointing to see this route taken for hockey. We had all of the other things in place to being a perennial top 20 type of program here too.

 

[Dooley]

For all you Whaler fans there you go

As if there wasn't already enough bad hockey news today.

 

[huskymedic]

I think the idea is to get approval to build a relatively small arena and see what happens with the XL Center. If the XL Center is torn down, the on-campus arena will be bigger. I think we will know the decision on the XL Center within a year. (After the election.)

That’s the only reason I can rationale a 4 year timeframe for construction in my head...

Hell, they built Quinnipiac’s two sided hockey/basketball arena in under 3 years!

 

[powerplay]

Now that I've had a chance to digest this a bit. I had envisioned something similar to RITs new arena, 4k seats, $40M. How much for a 2,500 seat arena? I understand money is an issue, but if you gonna spend money for a 2,500 seat arena, why not just spend a little bit more for 4,000. I could be wrong, but I can't imagine 2,500 vs 4,000 would be all that much. I welcome thoughts from someone more knowledgeable about construction.

 

[huskymedic]

Courant: UConn's New Hockey Arena Has People Asking Questions, Here Are Some Answers

 

[whaler11]

Building this makes so little sense it’s almost perfect.