(written Friday, July 30, 1993) I've visited hockey heaven. It has maroon and gold seats. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Mariucci Arena at the University of Minnesota took place today, and I atttended as the unofficial HOCKEY-L reporter. The ceremony was held in the east end atrium, and included comments by University of Minnesota President Nils Hasselmo, Men's Athletic Director MacKinley Boston, Head Coach Doug Woog, and Gopher All-Americans John Mayasich and Neal Broten. After the ceremony, Coach Woog led members of the media on a tour of the arena. The general public, we were informed, would not be able to see the inside of the arena at that time. I decided to join the tour, determined to at least get a peek before being asked to leave. There were enough people on the tour, though, that no one ever noticed that I wasn't supposed to be there. If asked, I would have explained that I was covering the event for the College Hockey Discussion List and that hundreds of college hockey fans all over the country would read what I wrote. But no one asked me. All you need to do is look like you know what you're doing. The rink is Olympic-size, 200 feet by 100 feet. There are 8,316 seats; total capacity including standing room and wheelchair spaces totals 9,130. The seats are in 22 rows surrounding the rink, with the 23rd row set aside for standing room. Another 175 seats are in a private-access club area above the west end. Fans enter the arena at street level, then take stairs or escalators up to the concourse level, which surrounds the seating area. Concessions and restrooms are located on the outer walls, so the concourse area provides an unobstructed view of the ice. Unlike the old arena, there are no bad seats in the new Mariucci Arena. I tried to find some, but there aren't any. The view from the last row in the corner is better than about 90% of the seats in the old arena. The theater-style seats are mostly maroon, with gold seats in the middle three sections of each side forming large block M's. A neat touch. The team benches are on the south side of the rink, on opposite sides of the red line. Hallways lead directly from the benches to the locker rooms. The new arena has eight locker rooms, compared to two in the old arena. There are also weight-training rooms and study areas for the athletes, as well as offices for the hockey staff. The spacious press box is on the south side of the arena is connected to the locker room area and the rest of the arena by elevator. This will come as a welcome relief to veterans of the old Mariucci Arena pressbox. This arena has everything that a hockey fan could ask for. It has comfortable seating with unsurpassed sightlines. All through the project we fans had been assured that there would be no bad seats. Now that I have seen it, I finally believe that it's true. The arena has an Olympic-size rink, which will encourage the fast-skating, free-flowing style of play that has characterized Minnesota hockey through the years. Players and coaching staff will have access to the finest facilities in college hockey. Minnesota Golden Gopher hockey finally has a state of the art facility that will be its home for many years to come. Though the old arena is no more, the tradition will be carried over to the new. At the end of last season, the championship banners were taken down in a moving ceremony that will never be forgotten by those who attended. On August 21, the new Mariucci Arena will host its first public event, the Alumni Legends game which will bring together 66 former Golden Gopher All-Americans, Olympians, and professional players. The players will wear 1950's era replica jerseys similar to those that will be worn by the varsity in all home games this season. The championship banners will be raised at that time. The first intercollegiate game will be the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame exhibition between the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Michigan Tech Huskies on Friday, October 15. The Huskies will also be wearing old-style jerseys, so the game will be quite a colorful affair. When I got home from work, I found a letter in our mailbox from the ticket office, informing Paula and me of our seat locations for the coming season. Seventh row, on the red line. I can't wait for the season to begin. -- Erik +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Erik Biever Ski-U-Mah! [log in to unmask]