Daryl Vineberg writes:
 
> I was in Colorado last week, and I had the opportunity to watch some
> CCHA and WCHA playoffs (for the first time (I'm at Colgate)), and I do
> not recall whether it was in the Minnesota or the LSSU game, but I
> noticed that the boards and the plexiglass were one!  I had never seen
> plexiglass boards before...is this common in the CCHA or WCHA?  If not,
> which arenas have this, and where was the game that I watched played?
 
The game was played in the St. Paul Civic Center, the only arena in
North America, as far as I know, that has plexiglass boards.  The Olympic
hockey arenas in Grenoble (1968) and Sapporo (1972) also had plexiglass
boards.  When the Civic Center arena was built in the early 1970's, the
plexiglass boards were viewed as a new and glamourous feature.  Also, the
arena was built as a multi-purpose facility, with a large floor area.  The
seats are a bit farther from the ice than they would be in an arena designed
primarily for hockey.  The glass boards allow a better view of the action
from the lower seats.
 
-- Erik