Not sure the science behind this study, but Yost is ranked 4th best hockey arena in Michigan. I will say it is nice to see MacInnes get the respect is deserves.
Personal Top 5
MacInnes, Yost, Lawson, Joe Louis (during playoffs), and Van Andel
Feel free to discuss.
http://www.stadiumjourney.com/news/12-11-2012/212/top-12-hockey-arena-ex...
Edit: Also for further explination of how teams were ranked, you have to click on the links of each arena.
Lawson at #3? It's pretty
It's been awhile since I have
It's been awhile since I have seen a game there, but as a WMU grad, I take umbrage to that statement. It might not be the most impressive facility, but the games there are exciting, the crowd is loud, and the venue was continually ranked one of the toughest places to play by other CCHA teams. I like Lawson's ranking in this list.
My response to reading
My response to reading this
Yost is ranked 4th best hockey arena :)
in Michigan. :/
I guess 4th of 12 isn't bad.
Hell yeah Grand Rapids
Hell yeah Grand Rapids represent!
I wish he would have listed
I wish he would have listed them #1 because of the $1 beers and hotdogs on Friday nights.
“When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing” - Bo Schembechler
Work
Those are always fun nights to work at Van Andel.
/kind of sarcastic, kind of serious
I can only continue to reference the fact that I live in an onion factory.
That alone
Will bring in a crowd.
Hell yeah!
I'll be there tomorrow night!
"The difference between a man and a boy is, a boy wants to grow up to be a fireman, but a man wants to grow up to be a giant monster fireman."
- Jack Handey
Yo
Holla.
And they're very accommodating
I filmed this for my son's 5th grade video club just last night
Judging by the brief
Judging by the brief write-up, author didn't even attend a game. Hack blogging.
CoE Class of 2007
To be clear
If you click on each stadium is gives a more complete break down
Yeah but in his "detailed"
Yeah but in his "detailed" writeup he writes that the bleachers at Yost are wooden with High Rise Metal bleachers at the ends
If you're doing nothing, how do you know when you're finished?
Munn is unremarkable, but
Munn is unremarkable, but comfortable. Oh, and it's uncomfortable.
That's some good writing.
Haven't been there in a
Haven't been there in a while, but I always thought Compuware arena was a shithole.
I've decided to lay off the food for a while, and go on the booze.
I disagree. Played there
I disagree. Played there quite a few times, and it's actually pretty nice. It is perfectly sized as sort of a mini-NHL rink.
Lawson
I've always heard it's just a half-empty warehouse
Lawson's not Yost, but far from bad
I go to about 7 games a year at Lawson and 2 or 3 at Yost. I think people are thinking of the Lawson from a few years back. It doesn't have the history or the soul of Yost, and never will. It doesn't have the amenities like a cool (or even semi-cool) scoreboard, but the Lunatics are awesome, and with a low, metal roof it gets as loud as Yost. Most of the Lunatics' cheers are copied from Yost or everywhere else in college hockey, but chanting "sausage fest" for the opposing team having two guys in the penalty box is Yost-worthy.
Wait is that actually ranked
Wait is that actually ranked in order or is it just a list?
I can't believe anyone would put Lawson or Ewigleben over the Joe. Ewigbelen doesn't even have bleachers on half the rink
Rankings
In their rankings the Joe got killed for "access" which is pretty terrible. Also on "return on investment" and "extras" the Joe is much lower than the college arenas.
Hmm
Sounds like the guy is trying not to hurt anyone's feelings. Munn and JLA are long overdue for renovations.
Um... 4th?
Bwa-ha-ha, I guess?
This is the kind of thing that pisses me off about 'modernity.' If we replaced Yost with VanAndel, there are those who would consider it a win. And that would make me want to stab things.
EDIT: Oh sweet lord, they gave Munn 4 stars (out of 5) for "Atmosphere." If that's the case, then the DMV would be a 3.5 and purgatory would be a solid 3.
Munn?
The only time Munn sells out and has atmosphere is when we buy the place out for a Michigan road game against Sparty.
Who came up with this list?
"...what do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?"
"Fix the cigarette lighter."
Pullar Stadium in Sault Ste Marie
If you know hockey, and especially old time hockey you know about the Pullar and the tradition, and all the great players throughout the years. Isnt even close......
I live in Grand Rapids now, and really? Van Andel? Nice place to watch a concert but come on.
Well..
The concerts there are iffy too..
Good to see the Lawson
Good to see the Lawson Lunatics getting some love. As a member, I'm glad our banter doesn't go unnoticed. I would hate to be on the opposing team. Look forward to seeing the boys in blue come play.
HE16MAN
You're at the wrong blog,
You're at the wrong blog, bro.
Throw the records out the
Throw the records out the window, your team is getting swept this weekend.
Michigan will avenge the title game from last year.
When the ADept sells special jerseys and gear, you'll see my picture next to the targeted customer crowd. A sheep.....but a Blue one.....
Fuck the lunatics. Your punks
Fuck the lunatics. Your punks couldn't hang with the Children for one minute.
Not sure that's true, the
Not sure that's true, the only reason I am defending my self is I take pride in my effectiveness to get drunk and make a fool of my self. We are called Wastern for a reason.... But with that said ill actually be rooting for Michigan, I wouldn't visit this blog if I wasn't a die hard like everyone here. Not everyone can go to their dream school.
HE16MAN
Holy Wah
NMU's stadium is very nice and has excellent ice, and their old stadium, though uglier than a hedge fence, was still a fun place to play. I also have to say that Munn (yes, that munn) always had good ice but the fans sure didn't like us for some reason....
Quiverfull
this is one of those lists
this is one of those lists where if you aren't first, you're last!
I can't speak for most of
I can't speak for most of these arenas, but I thought the write up on the Berry at NMU was pretty much spot on. I grew up going to games at the old Lakeview Arena and then the Berry and always had a great time. Also, Marquette is great and everyone should visit.
Seriously, bring us your tourism dollars.
I've been to every arena.
I've been to every arena. Besides Van Andel. HOPEFULLY if Michigan makes the tournament, they automatically get put in the West Regional in GR.
JLA is a dump and I'm counting down the days until it's put out of it's misery. Seriously. In the CCHA Playoff Championship game I went to last year I sat down near ice level right behind the net on the Michigan side and the seats we were in were broken. They were like rocking chairs.
Yost is #1 with a bullet. Period. Especially since it has just been updated.
When the ADept sells special jerseys and gear, you'll see my picture next to the targeted customer crowd. A sheep.....but a Blue one.....
Not super on-topic
but related to college and Michigan hockey and funny. http://www.westerncollegehockeyblog.com/2012/12/5/3731938/mel-pearson-bl...
I wish he would have done that (or harsher) while here.
yawn, wake me when this
yawn, wake me when this douche bag updates his ranking in light of our recent renovations.
Let's be real, the only two
Let's be real, the only two aspects of an arena that really matter are atmosphere and fans, both of which Yost got a 5 for. The other factors they use are basically meaningless to the experience. Under these guidelines, the United Center would be higher rated than the Old Chicago Stadium, because it is nicer, has better amenities, and is in a better neighborhood. However, anyone who has been to both knows that the atmosphere in the old Chicago Stadium was rivaled only by Yost.
Bo Schembechler BA, Bear Bryant Law.
It's interesting to look at
It's interesting to look at this list for what it is: solely for fan experience. I've played on almost all of the ice surfaces on this list, and it's obvious that they didn't take ice quality into consideration (or it has changed A LOT over the years). Lawson is one of the worst surfaces I've ever played on. It was always so warm in that building. I realize that this list is only about professional or college venues, but hands down the best venue I ever played in (anywhere, not just in Michigan) was the old arena in Alpena (Mich-e-ke-wis). Awesome atmosphere and awesome (and that's an understatement) ice. Of the venues on the list (for playing experience - of the venues I've played in), I'm partial to MacInnes, but if it were still active, I'd give the nod to Lakeview.
Did you play college hockey?
If not, how'd you get to play on so many 'big' rinks like those?
I did, but for a small
I did, but for a small college out east. My experience with the venues came growing up. I don't think being on the surfaces I've been on is all that unique, and players now (who travel a good bit and camp a lot, anyway) are actually more likely to play on more of them than I did, I would suspect. I suspect the hardest one on the list to get on would actually be Van Andel, which I think is pretty much limited to college and professional use. Last time I was in Yost they had a youth camp going on, so it appears that venue has become more accessible over the years.
Only played there once, but I
Only played there once, but I loved the ice at the Joe. Also, there is something about the sound of the puck off the glass there that I haven't heard at other rinks where I've played. Yost is obviously a great place to skate also, I was playing there every friday for the last few years.
Van Andel
Good to see you put Grand Rapid's Van Andel Arena on your list, OP. When I think of being there, I think of dollar beer night on Friday nights and being completely shitfaced by the second period.
EDIT: Oops, I see the dollar beer nights got brought above earlier in this thread.
Also, if you're from Grand Rapids, I enjoy Jolly Roger from some high school and college games. Place gets loud when packed.
We're not teaching them about sports, we're teaching them about life!
Jolly roger was a dump in the
Jolly roger was a dump in the 90's. They had chain link fence instead of glass at one end, and the locker rooms had walls made of sheet steel. You could push out at the seams and see into the arena to gauge how much time the Zamboni had left. It was a fun dump, though. Very Slapshotish feeling to it.
Lawson
As someone who grew up with season tickets to Lawson for years but went to school in Ann Arbor, I can't imagine putting Lawson above Yost. That's ridiculous. But, that said, I think there's a special kind of hate that comes from the inferiority complex endemic to Bronco fans. When you get 4,000 people in there burning to beat Michigan or MSU, it's a pretty cool atmosphere that you don't usually feel at Michigan just due to the history, entitlement and so on.
I'm not being sarcastic or snide, I really mean this.
Good list, but:
Fraser Hockeyland forever!
While we're at It
How about Gordie Howe hockeyland? And you want to know the be-all, end-all of places to play (and to watch)? The Olympia. Now just a memory, but at the end of my juniors' year, and before going to play at Mich, we got to play there and I just loved getting on the ice there. Que the organ....
Quiverfull
How to not objectively rank things
Lawson beat Yost by a single point (which is ridiculous considering that Yost is far superior, but that's beside the point). From the detailed section on Lawson:
An extra point is awarded for the opportunity to catch a homecoming doubleheader, with the Broncos taking on Bowling Green in football earlier in the day.
So essentially, Lawson is rated above Yost because the author went to a football game between two crappy teams earlier in the day...
Also, Yost scored higher than Lawson in boh the fan category and the surrounding neighborhood. Lawson made up the difference by having free parking and cheaper tickets. So in terms of the actual experience, Yost ranked higher, as it should. Similarly, when combining the fans and atmosphere categories, Yost stands alone at number 1 in the state, with full ratings in each.
I honestly do not know how
I honestly do not know how someone could go to a game at both venues and rank it the way the author did. Even before the renovations it shouldn't have been close.
Being Objective...
Being objective, it is not all that surprising that they would be close given the rating system. Scores of 0-5 are given in each of the following categories:
Food & Beverage
Atmosphere
Neighborhood
Fans
Access (Ease of parking, navigating the arena, etc.)
Return on Investment (Overall cost vs. experience)
Discretionary bonus points
Yost maxed out the atmosphere, neighborhood, and fan ratings. Lawson did not. However, Yost had mediocre scores in the other categories, allowing Lawson to catch up and win with awarded discretionary points. Moreover, different authors rated each arena, which also likely had an effect.
Flint IMA Sports Arena
Best hockey arena ever.........especially arena II
"But a true champion, face to face with his darkest hour, will do whatever it takes to rise above. A man fights, and fights, and then fights some more. Because surrender is death, and death is for pussies." - Kenny Powers
Lawson at #3? It's pretty much a soulless warehouse attached to a campus fitness center.