quoting Coach Schafer:
 
> To respond to a question from Minnesota, the Irish lost to Alaska-Fairbanks
> 4-3, and 2-0 at the new Carlson Center in Fairbanks. It is an impressive 12
> million structure with Olympic size ice much like the new center in St.Cloud
> Minnesota.
 
I'm curious about the impact of Olympic-size rinks on college hockey.  The new
arenas in St. Cloud and Fairbanks have Olympic rinks, as will the new arena
at Minnesota when it is built.  Do these larger rinks provide an unfair
advantage to their home teams, or is there already sufficient variation in
rink configurations that it doesn't make a difference?  If smaller rinks are
gradually replaced by Olympic-size ones, will the style of the game change
significantly, with more of an emphasis on fast skating and passing?  Do I ask
too many questions? :-)
 
  -- Erik
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