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I hate to tell you this but, The Fleet center really isn't all that State-of-the-Art. The architecture firm that was hired puposely sought out fans of the Bruins and Celtics in order to find out what they wanted in a sports facility. The result was this: Boston sports fans don't want glamour and glitz, they come to watch the games, not the cheerleaders. The building features cheap plastic seats with the same miniscule arm-rests. The more expensive seats feature a thin cushion glued onto the contoured body of the chair, the result, says early reviews, is a less comfortable chair than the non-cushion seats. The chairs will be painted gold and green, providing a Bruin/Celtic motif. The walls are made of new form of cement which has the look and feel of cardboard. The arena itself is much like the Garden in appearance, this is the result of the seats and the fact that ther are only about 3,000 more seats than in the Garden. The building is however much larger. In order to combat this feeling of grandeur, the Boston clubs decided to make the banners that hung from the Garden's roofs bigger in size. The major advantages appear to be threefold. The first is of course the expanded seating without obstructed views. This was accomplished by supporting the upper decks with beams that are as long as a 26 story building is high. these beams run the length of the arena under the decks, thus effectively replacing the old upright columns that resulted in many stiff necks. The second advantage is in vending. There is now five times the storage space alloted for a cooler in which to store beer. The third advantage is the scoreboard. The Bruins are now cutting edge with this new JumboTron. It is huge and features digital picture capabilities, which means sharp clear images of game action and player profiles. Despite being a New Englander I have never seen a game in the old Garden. I have, however, been on a guided tour. This tour culminates in a walk across the rink's cement floor, through the Yzerman tunnel (named in honor of Steve Yzerman who, after being involved in some rough stuff on the ice, got popped by a Bruin fan on the way to the locker room. Thus the Yzerman tunnel was named, because the Bruins never let you forget) and into the visiting locker room. I was wary of the Fleet Center (talk about inappropriate names, eh?) fearing that it would be one of those cheesy new high-tech buildings. I have decided, however, that after seeing the pictures of the building as well as reading about the early press tours, I will attend games there, and I will probably like it. HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.