---"Edward N. Moller" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> FWIW, the big mystery is what Boston University's plans are.  There has been
> talk for years that they will convert the old National Guard Armory on
> Commonwealth Avenue to a new arena.  They outgrew Walter Brown Arena a
long time
> ago, and need desperately to expand from 3,800 seats to 5,500.  Anything
larger
> than that would be too big.  The quality of the recruits the last three
seasons
> at BU seems to indicate to me that recruits are looking very closely at the
> facilities.
 
At the moment, B.U. is currently in the middle of constructing (I could see
the construction from Storrow Drive when I drove in for the B.U.-Princeton
game) a large (10+ stories) apartment dwelling building for on-campus
housing on the Armory site.
 
With that building being constructed, I do not envision a rink being added
to the Armory site (but this is more theory than knowledge).
 
> But more than any other rink in the league, Walter
> Brown Arena provides its team with a serious home-ice advantage.  The
capacity
> and the acoustics make the fans a factor in the game.  It does need to be
> replaced, and I am still waiting to hear what the plan is.  The one reason
why
> I'll miss the current spot is because I have one of the best seats in the
house.
 
I bet Walter Brown is here to stay for a bit.  It is a fun place to watch a
game and it does give the home team a home-ice advantage.  I'd bet a B.U.
philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" may rule the day on this
item.
 
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       |__   __| |  __  |  Jason Patton        http://www.gojp.com/jp/
 ____     | |    | |__| |      Following College Hockey Since 1991
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       |____|    |_|        MAAC Hockey League Inaugural Season 1998-
 
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