From: Andrew Weise <[log in to unmask]>
 
> Somebody who actually WENT to Clarkson during the Walker Arena era might
> be able to help me on this one.
>
 
> I was in Potsdam for the final two years where Clarkson called Walker Arena
> home. Believe me, if it got loud, it got LOUD!! I had heard that
> visiting teams dreaded Walker as well as somewhere like Lynah Rink. The
> opposing goalie was in front of the band/student section (as is with Cheel
> these days). But, in Walker Arena, the stands were right on top of the ice,
> probably because it was a smaller ice surface. I could only imagine how
> the opposite goalie felt being so close to 1,000 band members/students who
> were taunting him the entire game.
>
 
I went to Clarkson from '84 to '87 and yes the good old Walker
Arena was really loud, though I haven't been to any other college
hockey arena.  The ice surface was somewhat small, with the stands almost
on top of ice.  If I remember right, student admission those days was
free with ID (or maybe a buck or two), and so the arena was packed for
most of the games.  In fact, my first taste of *ice* hockey
(I grew up in India) was a Clarkson-Bowling Green 2 game series in
oct/nov '84 and if I remember right, Clarkson won both of them.
 
> The other main reason visiting teams would rather have NOT played in Walker:
> "That damn bell!"
>
 
The first time I heard that bell, I was totally unprepared for it
and it took me a while to get my hearing senses back!  Are they
still using it at the Cheel?
 
-Mani Vembar, Clarkson (MS, 1987)
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