> >No offense to Mike Machnik, but the Volpe Complex to me is the worst rink
> >I've ever been in.......it's always cold and it looks like a high school
> >rink to me because it's attached to the basketball arena...
>
> No offense taken...although I have been in rinks "worse" than Volpe, mostly
> non-college rinks.
 
        Having played in many an uncovered New England Prep School rink
at St. Mark's, I'll attest that there are rinks far worse than Volpe, but
none that I've seen on the DI college level, especially from a press
perspective. It's hard to type with gloves on.
        Yeah there are lesser DIII rinks, but I hope Merrimack doesn't
consider UConn a bitter rival in recruiting wars.
 
 
> >...but even with
> >all that, it still has character...
 
>
> That's one of the things the cold brings!  I love seeing Ben Smith dressed
> like an Eskimo when Northeastern comes in.  And what other college hockey
> team has its national anthem performed by Huey Lewis & The News.
 
        Yeah, it's interesting seeing Joe Mallen in the parka too. I
think I've seen the jacket you mean from Smith after a game once, and I can
only picture him behind the bench in it.
        Overall the musical selection at Volpe gets a mixed bag review.
My question with Huey Lewis is what happens when you play McGill?
        It's also interesting that where as many schools supply the press
with a Coke or something, MC gives a hot chocolate...each period! That's
another expense the new place will trim, although free food is ALWAYS
appreciated. Although in all honesty the best non-football pre-game meal
I've received this year wasn't even hockey, but NCAA women's soccer at UConn.
Oh my, I didn't have to eat for a week!
        I think something must be done to the rink. The facility is nice,
don't get me wrong. It's good having everything together. The AD offices,
weight and training rooms, rink and court are all together which is very
convenient. But, the rink section needs work. I'd put that as the number
one thing crippling the program right now. How can you possibly recruit a
kid to play in there when they could play at Mullins or Conte or even the
brand-spanking new Whittemore Center? There's tradition at Maine and BU,
and Northeastern has a beautiful old barn. Merrimack needs a hook to get
recruits and neither the rink or history fit the bill. It's a lot quicker to
build a rink than history, although one will logically follow the other.
As UMass has shown, "if you build it, they will come." and it's quicker
to build a building than history.
 
Leigh
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