After a sutable respite following the Anaheim games, here's some advice
and information for future planning purposes:
 
I know this is preaching to the choir, but there are some matters
involving ticket availablity in Y2K that should be reiterated.
 
First and foremost, don't delay!  As I write, the Providence College
Ticket Office has already been inundated by the first wave of ticket
applications.  And since the NCAA has recently estimated that there are
7-8,000 of us hockey nuts who travel to the tourney every year,
regardless of who ends up in the final field (I haven't yet embraced
"Frozen Four", but I guess there haven't been many better suggestions),
the following becomes self-evident:
 
1. For the past three years (Milwaukee, Boston and Anaheim), the
tournament finals have been contested in 17-19,000 seat arenas.
 
2. The Providence Civic Center seats approx. 11,000 for ice hockey.
 
3. Taking into account the aforementioned 7-8k of recurring ticket
buyers as well as the 2,000 seats set aside for the four competing
teams, and at least 500 more spoken for by the NCAA and the ACHCA*,
simple arithmetic results in an almost guaranteed ticket demand of
between 9,500-10,500 tickets -- and that doesn't even begin to factor in
requests from Providence College season ticket holders (who may have
already been given priority), City & State politicians (who almost
certainly will receive v.i.p. treatment), and I've probably forgotten
some other privileged groups who will be seeking satisfaction.
 
4. Providence College insists that all ticket applications be mailed --
no telephone orders, no fax, no e-mail.  Also, all orders will be
processed on a first-come, first-served basis utilizing the postmark for
purposes of seat assignment.  There is no indication that a lottery will
be employed to allocate tickets.
 
So that's the way it shapes up.  As I said, procrastination could be
your worst enemy.
 
On the positive side, for those of you who were here in 1995 and haven't
been back in the interim, Providence (as you may have already learned
from NBC on Friday nights) has become a Renaissance City.  We now enjoy
rivers running through center city that emphasize the proximity of
Narragansett Bay and provide wonderful waterfront activities in mild
weather at the City's Waterplace Park.  A brand new ice skating surface
(three times the size of the Rockefeller Center rink) opened last fall
next to Providence City Hall and across from the Biltmore Hotel on
Kennedy Plaza (so bring your skates).  And a huge (perhaps the largest
in New England) upscale shopping mall (includin IMAX and a regular
cinema cluster) is set to open next to the Westin Hotel in mid-August.
A state-of-the-art convention center opened three years ago between the
Westin Hotel and the Civic Center.  Well, you get the idea -- you won't
recognize the new Providence -- but we have retained that walkable city
feeling and will be doing all we've done in past tournament years to
make visitors welcome and assure they can get to see all of what Rhode
Island has to offer.  And for you hockey purists, the Civic Center can
still boast a good view of the action from every seat -- no columns, no
balconies, steep grade and perimeter concourse.  The newest and best
hotel in town is the Westin, two blocks from the Civic Center.  There
will be at least four more hotels in various stages of construction by
the time you get here, but the only other downtown locations that will
be accepting room reservations were all here when the tourney was here
in 1978, '80, '82, '86 and '95 -- the Providence Biltmore (3 blocks from
the Civic Center), the Providence Marriott (need transportation to the
arena about 3 miles away), and the Providence Holiday Inn (next door to
the Civic Center).  Only the Biltmore was here in 1965 when Brown hosted
the tournament at Meehan Auditorium (3,100 capacity).  The Crowne Plaza
(Holiday Inn) is situated in Warwick so you will need transportation to
make the eight-mile trip to the Civic Center; ditto with the Days Hotel
on the Waterfront which is about a two-mile distance from the arena.
 
Oh, by the way, Erik Biever recently posted a description of his motor
trip to Arrowhead Pond in a convertible with the top down and then
observed "This is not likely to happen in Providence. :)"  I'm not so
sure Erik -- yesterday it was 70 in Providence and today's forecast is
for temperatures reaching 76.  In addition to tickets, reserve a
convertible, too.
 
I'll now remove my chamber of commerce hat and put my hockey cap back
on.
 
What a terrific set of games in Anaheim with absolutely spectacular
goaltending throughout.
 
Midway through the first semi, I suddenly realized that Brown has
scheduled both Boston College *and* Maine for road games in the first
month of the season next winter.  I guess we can climb up several spots
on the SOS list, and as some wise mentor observed after more than a few
passes of the Zamboni, the quickest way to get better is by playing the
best.  But now that Maine has captured the 1999 national title, it would
be inhumane if they  elect to hoist their championship banner to the
Alfond rafters when the two Bear squads do battle.
 
The championship final was a true classic with both teams having at
least 4-5 glittering scoring opportunities to win the championship
during the last ten minutes of regulation and the overtime.  If you were
a fan of the winner, runner-up or college hockey, you had to be proud of
the way both teams gave all they had to win the prize and that the
game-winning goal was a pristine confrontation between skater and
goaltender.  Congratulations to both Maine and UNH for a spectacular
finale.
 
One title game observation I haven't read: During the contest and upon
reflection after the game, I was amazed that Maine's Paul Kariya may
have only been involved in a half dozen offensive forrays
during the entire 70+ minutes -- UNH seemed to deny him the puck all
over the ice to the point of neutralizing his speed and finesse.  Jason
Krog was a bit more successful in breaking free for an occasional
playmaking opportunity, but even he was kept pretty much under wraps by
the Maine defenders.
 
Lastly, as has already been mentioned on the list, we were surprised at
the lack of hotels anywhere near The Pond (or Edison Field, formerly
Anaheim Stadium, for that matter).  It was virtually impossible to walk
to the arena from any of the hotels either because of distance or road
repair/construction.  I guess I do remember the California dependence on
the automobile, but I was kind of disappointed that the tournament fans
were so widely dispersed that there was no mingling possible except at
the games.  The streets down near Convention Way/Harbor Boulevard were
virtually deserted much of the time and the hotel lobbies at the NCAA
headquarters hotel (Marriott) and where some of the teams were lodged
(Hilton) were uncharacteristically subdued.  Maybe it was just a matter
of people going off to sightsee and not remaining in the area except for
tournament time, but the camaraderie and conviviality evident in places
like Milwaukee, St. Paul, Providence, and even big-city Boston, was not
evident.
 
As for Arrowhead Pond, it was all that was advertised, but comparable
arenas are found in the Bradley Center (my personal favorite), the Fleet
Center, and I am reasonably confident that the new St. Paul Civic Center
will be a fan-friendly building as well.  Do I think the NCAA will elect
to return to Anaheim?  Probably not.  Do I think the NCAA will vote to
accept another bid from an out-of-hockeyland site?  Probably so, down
the road apiece -- my guess is Orlando would have all that Anaheim has
to offer and much more for the hockey fan who would like to combine
tournament attendance with a mini-vacation.
 
See ya next year in Providence.
 
Bill Corrigan
 
LET'S GO BRUNO!
 
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