New hockey arena

Submitted by Sambojangles on

There was talk on the Crisler Center thread about the possibility of the hockey team moving out of Yost in the next 10-20 years. I love Yost Ice Arena and wish the team would never have to leave, but I understand that it is old and small, so a new facility is probably necessary. 

Does anyone have any information on whether the Athletic Department has had any kind of internal discussions about building a new arena? DB has talked about building a stadium for the lacrosse team as well, so what are the early indications on the projects?

Where would it be built? The athletic campus is already pretty full. Maybe if the Coliseum is torn down and the university bought some more land around there, there could be enough space for a new hockey arena. Or they could build it down State Street where the soccer and tennis centers are, though I would hate having them not within walking distance for students.

What size building does the team need? Yost maxes out around 6,000, but even then is rarely full. Would 10 or 12 thousand be too big, and lose the intimacy of Yost? If DB's previous actions are an indication, it will probably be as big as possible for max $$.

Red Berenson Arena is a no-brainer, right?

Apologies for the speculative nature of this post. Reading the other comments really ignited my imagination with regards to the hockey team.

snarling wolverine

December 22nd, 2011 at 11:28 PM ^

If DB's previous actions are an indication, it will probably be as big as possible for max $$.

Not necessarily. We just reduced Crisler's capacity by 1,000. Having a smaller, but easily attainable, capacity can be preferable to having a larger number that's hard to fill.  Tickets become a hotter commodity that way.

Unless Yost is actually falling apart, I don't see a big need for a new arena.  The size is about right for the program's fanbase. 

Maize and Blue…

December 23rd, 2011 at 9:08 AM ^

but put in the Wolverine Den which greatly inflates some prices of upper bowl seating.  I don't know if you can say these tickets are easily attainable as the premium games run $100 a ticket instead of $25.

It's easy to see DB's direction. $500 for the interest list for football season tickets.  Luxury areas that only certain fans can afford.  It looks like he is following the Penn State model and we see information from PSU football attendance that this is the wrong path to follow. 

Given what happened with football ticket prices on the secondary market this year, I should be able to attend 5 of the 6 home games for about half face or less and scream my head off at the TV for the MSU game.

Wolverine Devotee

December 22nd, 2011 at 11:28 PM ^

I was talking about in the future down the line in about 15 years.

There are no known plans for a new arena now. Brandon just signed a thing to update the concourses at Yost. The new arena will be 15 years down the line IMO.

Also the lacrosse stadium is going to be at Elbel Field (where the MMB practices). They just installed FieldTurf and in a few years plan to put in stands to hold 3,000 per the lacrosse website.

If you are interested in my Google Sketch project I'm working on, a model of the future Red Berenson Centre, I'll post it here when I finish it.

In reply to by Wolverine Devotee

laxalum

December 23rd, 2011 at 12:54 PM ^

I don't think the lacrosse stadium is going to be at Elbel.  That was the plan a few years ago when the club team was going to build their own PDC next to Elbel, but all that has changed since DB took over and the club became the varsity.  I'm hearing the plan now is for lacrosse to build an indoor stadium (yes, an indoor stadium), probably down State Street near soccer?  For now they are playing in the football stadium and Oosterbaan, but neither of those are the best situation for them (Big House is too big and Oosterbaan sucks).  I suppose they could use the soccer stadium as well, but this indoor stadium idea is intriguing. 

I can't see Yost ever going away unless it literally falls apart, which actually started happening a couple years ago when parts of the outside wall fell off.  If there is any way to keep Yost, it must be preserved.  The money they are spending on it now kind of indicates that's the plan.

BrownJuggernaut

December 22nd, 2011 at 11:30 PM ^

I could see Yost being renovated to improve the structural aspects, but I don't see the hockey team moving out Yost. The intimate nature, the closeness of the fans is a unique experience that is native to Yost. I couldn't imagine the public outcry if such a thing were to happen.

I've been to one of the newer arenas in college hockey (BU) and while it's nice, it's not college hockey. I don't want to see that at Michigan.

Wolverine Devotee

December 22nd, 2011 at 11:35 PM ^

What will happen, IMO, is there will be a NEW arena in 15 years. It will be named after Red (preferably the Red Berenson Centre) and they will keep Yost up. I think they will either keep Yost up as a practice facility or make it a museum displaying all of Michigan's championship trophies and keep the rink up for open-skate or youth hockey.

Yost is where all my great memories are at, but the same could be said for Weinburg Coliseum for some of the older folks who went to games there. Michigan moved out of there because it was small and had to keep up with the times.

Ralph Englestand Arena at North Dakota is a perfect example of all of this.

Wolverine Devotee

December 23rd, 2011 at 12:26 AM ^

DB must read this blog and fear for his life when he makes a change with all the torch and pitchfork talk.

And I just put Centre because Red is Canadian but that doesn't really matter I guess. Whenever I'm talking about hockey I use the word centre instead of center. Just to pay a little tribute to the nation where the game was invented.

Vivz

December 22nd, 2011 at 11:36 PM ^

Personally i have a problem with naming ANYTHING after somoenone that is alive. (See Paterno) Nothing to take away from Berenson and his accomplishments (or say that there are any skeltons or the like), I just like the tradition that is Yost. 

I would have no problem having something like Berenson Rink at Yost Field House somewhere down the line, but I don't think that Yost's name should be taken off the building.

 

Wolverine Devotee

December 22nd, 2011 at 11:45 PM ^

They won't rename Yost. The only renaming that will happen is when they do build a new arena. By then Red will be retired for a long time because the new arena isn't gonna come soon.

Read the book Blue Ice by John U Bacon. The documentary was only an hour, the book will tell you everything. Red brought the program back from ROCK BOTTOM and built it into what it is today. Not to mention he was a star player on the team in the 60s.

Vivz

December 23rd, 2011 at 12:07 AM ^

I wasn't trying to say anything about Red. He is as deserving as anyone around right now to have his name honored. 

My statement was more along the lines of putting a living person's name on anything easily can lead to conflicts of interests, along with other potential major headaches.  

Silly Goose

December 23rd, 2011 at 12:08 AM ^

I doubt we see a new arena open anytime soon. However, I could easily see us open a practice facility that could be rented out when not in use. While Ann Arbor already has 5 sheets in town (with another 2-3 in the area) it is still in high demand and would allow Michigan to bump up women's hockey to varsity.

BlueinLansing

December 23rd, 2011 at 12:47 AM ^

purchases Pioneer high school from the Ann Arbor school district, perhaps they could build there.

 

Pioneer is getting long in the tooth and I'm sure the district will be looking to build a new Pioneer somewhere else, someday.

LSAClassOf2000

December 23rd, 2011 at 7:33 AM ^

They own nearly the whole block between W. Stadium, S. Main, Scio Church and S. Seventh actually. Plenty of room for a new arena and/or school if they're willing to give up the preserve on the south end. There's not a whole lot of large, open parcels near campus otherwise.

Fortunately, it's a decision 15 years in the future and I am not the one making it. Yost Uber Alles.

 

psychomatt

December 23rd, 2011 at 1:34 AM ^

Michigan has historically named its major athletic buildings after ADs (Yost, Crisler, Canham, Schembechler) not coaches. So unless you want to watch hockey games in Dave Brandon Arena, let's hope Yost is the home of Michigan hockey for a long, long time.

mfan_in_ohio

December 23rd, 2011 at 9:37 AM ^

Three of the four ADs you mentioned were also Michigan's three most successful football coaches.  Also, Cliff Keen Arena and Fisher Stadium were named for coaches who had spent a combined 83 years as Michigan coaches.  Canham Natatorium is actually the one of these that's not like the others.  Red Berenson Arena (or, hopefully, Red Berenson Rink at Yost Fieldhouse or something like that) fits right in with the Michigan athletic landscape.

Edit: forgot Oosterbaan Field House, as well as Ocker Field.  Both are also named for coaches, although both honorees served in the athletic department in other roles as well.

JustGoBlue

December 23rd, 2011 at 12:11 PM ^

though Red was never an AD, he was offered the position several times before Bill Martin got the job, if I remember correctly.  He always turned it down saying something along the lines of, "I know a lot about hockey, but nothing about being an athletic director, why would I do that?".  So that's about as close as you can get to being an AD without actually being one.  And he could probably still retire into a gratuitious athletic department position for a year or two and that would probably be enough.

I have a hard time, though, imagining any new building named after anybody that doesn't spend millions of dollars on it through donations to the University.  So, unless Red (or his family in his memory) contributes a whole lot to the construction of a new ice arena, it probably ends up being the Meijer Ice Emporium or at best [random rich U-M donor] Ice Arena.  I guess they could still have the Red Berenson Sheet of Ice at Meijer Ice Emporium, but I've always thought naming just the playing surface after someone is kind of tacky...

In conclusion:  Yost Uber Alles.  Red Uber Alles. David Brandon, I have a better idea as to where you can put that goal horn.

 

Michigan Arrogance

December 23rd, 2011 at 8:40 AM ^

I heard they might be building a new football stadium in 20-25 years. I know that M stadium is the perfect venue and that they spent a shit ton of $$$ on it recently, but I nonetheless expect a totally new football stadium to be built somwhere in Saline in 2033.