A lot of interesting points made by everyone here. Anyway, I wrote a story for
the Maine Campus back on December 13th. It was entitled, Support for Maine Hock
ey declining.  Since this has been part of the discussion lately, I'll post thi
s to open up some more discussion.      Sophomore Derek Armstrong has gone to o
nly one Maine hockey game this year, but was turned off becasue there weren't a
ny designated student sections in Alfond Arena.  "I sat with a bunch of season
ticket holders, and every time a goal was scored we would all hollar and shout,
" Armstrong said.  "Then they turned and looked at us like we didn't belong her
e."  Armstrong isn't alone. In the last few years student support for the hocke
y team has seen a sharp decline.  Accroding to Manager of Athletic Ticket Servi
ces Tina Kiriakou, students are allotted 1,500 tickets per game, but no one is
picking them up.  "Student pick up has been really low," said Kiriakou.  "They
get 1,500 tickets, and they don't even pick those up."  Of the 1,500 tickets av
ailable , the students are picking up, on average, just over 700 per game.  The
 only game this season where students have picked up more than 1,000 tickets wa
s against Alabama-Huntsville back on November 2nd.  In the last three years stu
dents have picked up more than 1,000 tickets in just 9 games. There have been 4
2 home games in that span.  Former Interim head coach Greg Cronin believed the
lack of a student sections resulted in a lower turnout.  'I'm not sure how much
 student support there really is becasue we don't have a real definite student
section," Cronin said.  "The power of the money has literaly dictated where peo
ple sit."  Without any student sections, seats are distributed largely in part
to many clubs and organizations that receive donations. The larger the donation
, the greater the seats someone receives said Cronin.  "You have all these diff
erent clubs like the Black Bear Club, and I don't even know what the hell they
are anymore," Cronin said.  "The different levels of donations allows you prefe
rential seating.    "We don't have seats based upon student sections," Cronin
added.  "They are based on financial contributions."  Without any student secti
ons, students are mixed in with the general public, which Armstrong says create
s a different atmosphere compared to a section that just houses students.   "Th
ese guys are established, and they're time to be rowdy is over," said Armstrong
.  "So when you group us all together, I can see where there are problems."  Cr
onin reflected on the importance of some student body sections and how the cure
nt situation tends to lead to problems.  "As a student, why do you want to go t
o a game and sit in a section where people are looking at you and are like 'shu
t up," Cronin said.  "You have blue collar students raising hell in a white col
lared section."     ---Another reason student turnout has been low may be becau
se the current policy on student ticket distribution is different in years past
.  Students must pick up their tickets for a game nearly a month in advance. If
 they miss the distribution day they must wait until the night of the game to s
ee if there are tickets left.  "The ticket allotment is a problem too, because
you have to pick up your tickets a month or two before the game," said Cronin.
 "Students get in their own little world. They have classes Monday through Frid
ays and then go to a party Friday night."  "To tell them you need to pick up th
eir tickets a month in advance-they're not going to do that," Cronin added.
"We need to change the ticket policy and put them all in one section."  Accordi
ng to Coordinator of Marketing and Promotions Scott Lowenberg, a plan is in the
 works to make some changes for next year.  'We're trying to give the balcony s
ections to the students next year," said Lowenberg.  "We want the students in t
he balcony with the band so it can be loud and crazy."  Kiriakou reflected on n
ext year's plan to create a student section.  "Hopefully, next year we'll get a
ll the students in the balcony," Kiriakou said.  "We also want the band up ther
e as well."   Lowenberg believes that putting the students in the balcony will
create a louder intensity at the games, which has been lacking this year.
"We'll put them up in the balcony with those aluminum seats," said Lowenberg.
"They can stomp their feet with the band up there. We want it to be loud and ob
noxious, but right now, it's quiet."   However, designating the balcony to the
student sections could lead to problems because many season ticket holders in t
he balcony will have to be accommodated.  "They'll have to inform people sittin
g in the balcony that we're taking your seats and put them somewhere else," sai
d Cronin.  "They may not like it, but that's just to bad. We have to get the st
udents more involved."    -----Anyway, I know it's long, but it should rasie so
me discussion here. In no way was this story meant to attack the season ticket
holders.  The point of the article was to show how student turnout has been dow
n, and possible reasons why. After speaking to Cronin about this, he told me th
at it would be an extra advantage to the team itself, to have the students up i
n the balcony. It would be like an extra skater. He also told me that Alfie Mic
haud was really effected by the crowd behind the net at UNH. He said they were
loud and really got on him. The point for the balcony, is that there is no plex
i glass in front of them, so there is nothing to block out the students. If it
works at UNH, I would think it would work here. Besides, there is nothing wrong
 with an extra advantage when on home ice.