today i got to spend many hours at the home of the IHL denver
grizzlies and NBA denver nuggets at the Mcnichols arena, known quasi
affectionately as big mac.
 
big mac is a large 15,695 seat arena.  If there is a bad seat in the
house, it would be in the top row on the end where if you stand up,
your view of the far end might be obscured by a spotlight stand
hanging from the rafters.  I think it is a bit nicer than the bradley
center.  The upper deck seats are not pitched quite so steeply as the
bradley center.  Aisleways, room for the concession areas, and the like
are a whole lot nicer (in my opinion) than the st. paul civic center.
They were every bit as spacious as the bradley center.  Now understand
that the building was about 1/3 full, so that may be biased.  I liked
very much that there was one level and you went up to the upper deck
or down to the lower deck.
 
They had 2 zambonies to clear the ice.  The bad news, if there can be
bad news involves 2 misfeatures.
 
1. because of the layout, you have to walk up a long flight of stairs
   (or meander up a ramp) from the main parking area to get to the
   entrance.  There is a back side that might not have that problem.
 
2. The arena is part of the denver metropolitan sports complex ajacent
   to mile high stadium (home of the denver donkeys (er broncos) and
   because of that there is NO place to park within a half mile of the
   arena except for the concession parking which (at $5 a car) seems
   excessive.
 
Jack mcdonald, university of denver athletic director is to be
congratulated for his efforts to promote college hockey in the denver
area.  Bringing the cup to the big mac is a stroke of genius on his
behalf.  There is now a venue with enough space to hold a premier
event.  He has lined up several outstanding corporate sponsors, and
the arena could, with appropriate support from DU and the other
Colorado teams, be an appropriate location for either a regional or a
championship series.
 
As the cup involves the 3 colorado teams (CC DU and Air Force) in the
future, look for this to become an outstanding event.  Now if one could
only get CU boulder to upgrade their club team, the denver cup could
become an event every bit as exciting as the beanpot for this time zone.
the only possible down side of that would be that having ralphie (the
colorado buffalo) charge around the ice would probably be problematical.
 
charlie shub
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(719) 593 3492               (fax) 593-3369