UConn Approves Plans For New Ice Hockey Arena | Page 2 | The Boneyard

UConn Approves Plans For New Ice Hockey Arena

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).
 
uconnphil2016 said:
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
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insufficient - yet probably half full most of the time...
 
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.
 
Is there even any point to this if it doesn’t hit Hockey East’s 4K on campus capacity requirement?
 
Dream Jobbed 2.0 said:
Is there even any point to this if it doesn’t hit Hockey East’s 4K on campus capacity requirement?
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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.”<<
 
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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.
 
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.
 
FDNY99 said:
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.
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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.
 
Dooley said:
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.
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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.
 
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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 said:
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.
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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.
 
UConnJim said:
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.)
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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!
 
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.
 
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There has been no indication as to whether the new arena will be constructed in a way that will make future expansion possible, as detailed plans aren’t set to go before the board until the end of October.

I can't imagine that it is cost prohibitive to add a 1,000 seats and 500 standing room which would get us to the original 4,000 capacity standard.
 
Remember this lunacy the next time you read about Malloy and his democrat cronies asking for a $10,000,000 toll study.
 
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Cavanaugh just brought in the what - #2 recruiting class in the country - with all of these kids knowing they would be playing their games at the XL and just meh on-campus facilities.
I'm not ready to jump off the ledge with the mindset that everything is about to fall apart now. Cavanaugh uses the XL center as a recruiting tool, not as an enemy.
Get the on campus locker rooms, etc up to HE-caliber - setting aside seating capacity issues - and then move from there. At the very least though, it would be wise for them to allow the ability to add seats in the future so that when I hit power ball I can fund the continuing development of the arena.
 
The Viking said:
Cavanaugh just brought in the what - #2 recruiting class in the country - with all of these kids knowing they would be playing their games at the XL and just meh on-campus facilities.
I'm not ready to jump off the ledge with the mindset that everything is about to fall apart now. Cavanaugh uses the XL center as a recruiting tool, not as an enemy.
Get the on campus locker rooms, etc up to HE-caliber - setting aside seating capacity issues - and then move from there. At the very least though, it would be wise for them to allow the ability to add seats in the future so that when I hit power ball I can fund the continuing development of the arena.
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When he was hired he was told that they would have a on-campus facility that would be comparable to the rest of the league. He has said as much in radio interviews on College Hockey Weekly on the NHL channel on Sirius/XM. He has even gone as far as to say he has sided the original drawings that came out a few years ago as a recruiting tool. Now that they pulled this on him I just don’t expect him to be here for the long haul anymore. If a school in HE that is all in makes a run at him he will be gone. I also don’t expect Joe Periera to stick around much longer either.
 
FDNY99 said:
When he was hired he was told that they would have a on-campus facility that would be comparable to the rest of the league. He has said as much in radio interviews on College Hockey Weekly on the NHL channel on Sirius/XM. He has even gone as far as to say he has sided the original drawings that came out a few years ago as a recruiting tool. Now that they pulled this on him I just don’t expect him to be here for the long haul anymore. If a school in HE that is all in makes a run at him he will be gone. I also don’t expect Joe Periera to stick around much longer either.
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I find it hard to believe the athletic department blind sided the coach. This move seems short sighted but I really think he’s ok with it. Who’s knows, maybe the facility will be small for now, the ability to easily expand, and has really quality locker rooms. Honestly the only people arena size matters to are the fans
 
Husk1881 said:
I find it hard to believe the athletic department blind sided the coach. This move seems short sighted but I really think he’s ok with it. Who’s knows, maybe the facility will be small for now, the ability to easily expand, and has really quality locker rooms. Honestly the only people arena size matters to are the fans
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Go back and find the original drawings for the on-campus facility they originally wanted to build on the corner of South Eagleville Rd & 195...the project that the Town of Mansfield went bat- crazy over. It's DEFINITELY NOT what they are talking about now...it's shy of at LEAST 2000-2500 seats minimum.
Actually take the time to click on the links below...I did your search job for you..now you just have to read the info
New Hockey Barn Concept Art/Floor Plan on Display?
Location of new Hockey arena
http://www.mansfieldct.gov/filestorage/1904/5335/1912/20150126_minutes.pdf
 
So Cavanaugh approves of using XL. Guess that settles a lot of questions. The 2500 seater is for games against Sacred Heart, etc.
 
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