Thought I'd chime in on this one.  Having cut my teeth on college hockey at
Walter Brown Arena in the mid-80s, it's obviously a place that holds very
special memories for me.  At the same time, the rush of arena building and
remodeling in recent times has made WBA seem antiquated in many ways.  BU
owes it to itself to look beyond Jack Parker's tenure.  As long as The Pope
is at BU, the negatives of the arena are going to be minimized, but Jack's
eventual successor won't be so lucky.
But BU has to be real careful as to what kind of arena to build.  For that
matter, one possibility would be to expand WBA which would involve ripping
off the roof (and relocating the basketball courts up there) and putting in
another 1,500 seats or so.  That would put the rink at 5,200 or so capacity,
which I think is about right.  Go any bigger, and you're left with the
problem that BC and UMass have - 4,000 people at Conte or Mullins looks
empty.
Taken a step further, here in the Twin Cities, I think Minnesota's huge rink
has definitely hurt them the last couple of years.  When you've got an arena
that big, it's hard to generate the energy of Walter Brown or Alfond or
Snively (to date myself, a little) unless the place is full and a "big"
opponent like CC or UND is in town.  No doubt about it, BU generates more
energy from a 3,000 person crowd than Minnesota does with twice that in
Mariucci.  And I don't think it has all to do with the student/alumni/friend
mix of the crowd.
If I might be permitted to dream, I'd say BU would be best served by
building an arena in the 5,200-5,500 seat range.  Think Mariucci with the
upper third of seats removed, but keep the big concourses, the GREAT
sightlines, and the murals.  Oh, leave out the skating cheerleaders, don't
need that either.
Just my two cents,
Mike Abegg
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