Pics from Amsoil Arena

[solbes]

We had a pretty great time up in Duluth. Hotel room was good with nice view from top floor. Grandmas before the game was good as always. I really liked the new arena. Hockey game was not great for a UMD fan, at least not until the last 3 minutes or so. Can't believe the refs kept stuffing us in the penalty box. They tossed our best blueliner Faulk (legit) and then decided they should toss our best player next, Mike Connolly. Then Shep called two more penalties after that, each one less legit. Oh well, we played like [PoorWordUsage] in the first 30 minutes or so. Made it interesting in the end where I thought we might tie in the last 60 seconds.

On to some pics of Duluth and the areana. I highly recommend college fans make the trip up to see your team play in Duluth next year. I didn't think it's quite as nice as the Ralph. It's not as open as Mariucci. But it's a really nice size for Duluth and seemed to be very well done.

Student section below

We need more of these...

[cbrooks]

Nice pics. Gonna have to make a road game to Duluth next year. Thanks for posting. Glad you had fun.

[scsavre]

That does look nice. thanks for sharing.

[Bear55]

Looks great, can't wait to check it out. I see they caged in the student section, not a bad idea.

[titelines]

Will be there in March to catch the Saturday UNO game. Can't wait!

[jwmiller33]

arena looks great! wish it was around instead of the decc when i was in high school.. it would have been nice to play here instead of the old decc

whats up with the pattern of the maroon and gold seats? it looks like there is no pattern to them at all, and im not gonna lie, its kind of weird. not sure if i like it or not yet

[solbes]

I dunno, I guess the pattern works for me. More gold seats the closer to ice you get. Mostly maroon seats near the top. I guess the gold "M" idea was already taken

It has a much more vertical feel to it than Mariucci which keeps the crowd closer to the ice. Reminds me of an mini Excel with NHL sized ice, although there are obvious differences as well. Size wise I think they struck the right balance. Could have seated another 500-1000 for series against Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. But then it would have been too large for series against MTU, CC, AA, etc. It was kinda quiet in there for the game I went to, but then again the Dogs didn't give us much to cheer about until the last 20 minutes.

Plenty of chances to try out our best Boo calls though against Shep. Contact to the head major when his vision was 180 degrees from the penalty in defensive zone? He just saw the end result of the kid being woozy.

[spearchucker]

Do they sell Amsoil in the concession stand? It would be nice to buy a few pillow packs of oil for the auger while at the game.

[BartmanMN]

Looks pretty good. I am not sure about the pattern in the seats unless it makes some type of design that I am not seeing.

[scsavre]

I dont get the seat pattern thing either. Maybe one of those smart marketing types found that this pattern makes the arena look fuller during non sellouts.

In the warm ups pic, I had to double take cause it really does look like a full house at first.

[Bear55]

You might be onto something there [pleasebecomeasponsor].

[solbes]

[pleasebecomeasponsor]??? elaborate please.

As to whether you can buy Amsoil oil there, I didn't see it there.

I imagine that seat pattern may come in handy in future Bulldog off years. Hopefully not many of those, but they do happen. I shudder to think what this team will be like without the F.C.C. guys, Faulk, and Oleksuk next year or the year after.

[cbrooks]

I imagine that seat pattern may come in handy in future Bulldog off years. Hopefully not many of those, but they do happen. I shudder to think what this team will be like without the F.C.C. guys, Faulk, and Oleksuk next year or the year after.

UMD will do what they have been doing which is reloading. They will have recruits to replace those guys. This arena should help with that.

[archerystud]

The old DECC was my favorite place to watch a college hockey game because it had that "close to the ice" feel. Looks like they tried to keep that in the new arena. Can't wait to get up their and watch some games, always loved the Duluth road trips.

[Shorelunch]

I've heard mostly good things about your new rink. The only negative being that they should have made wider concourses. I like the seating color scheme. Something different and looks cool.

[Bear55]

[pleasebecomeasponsor]??? elaborate please.

As to whether you can buy Amsoil oil there, I didn't see it there.

I imagine that seat pattern may come in handy in future Bulldog off years. Hopefully not many of those, but they do happen. I shudder to think what this team will be like without the F.C.C. guys, Faulk, and Oleksuk next year or the year after.

Not sure what happened there, instead of typing out scscarve&*%$&^% I just copied and pasted his name. Then I guess that showed up.

[cbrooks]

I've notice his signature comes up as that.

[solbes]

Shore, I agree with the concourses needing more width. Extending them further away from the ice would have been nice, but then the building footprint would have grown. They do have pretty decent concessions, but they take up some significant room.

[scsavre]

I guess I need a sponsor.

I dont know anything about the seats at UMD. I just know that arena designers and what not have been looking into tricks like that for a few years.

I guess the way they are staggered out, with very little rime or reason can make it look like the seats are occupied or open. The way it goes from the solid yellow near the glass and spills out into the middle sections is exactly how it was shown to me by a planning committee.

Look at the upper deck in the practice picture, Is it full or empty. Its hard to tell because of the couple of yellow seats here and there. Makes you think every seat is yellow, and there are only a few open ones. I think the illusion works best when watching on TV or photos. Not sure if it does anything when you are at the rink.

Again, I have no idea about this rink, just know its a trick elsewhere.

[cbrooks]

Scott I'm always looking for donation

[scsavre]

We better start a fund then. Donations would actually go to a good cause.

I am looking to upgrade my;

04 Chevy Tahoe

01 Crestliner Fishhawk

? Browning BPS

and I can always use more rods.

[cbrooks]

wouldn't be cheaper to be a crack addict.

yep. I want alot of toys too.

[scsavre]

Ok, Ill go with that then.

[solbes]

Here's another pic so you can see the seats and concourse better. There is also an outer external concourse to make exits easier.

Definitely a randmom seat pattern. I can kind of see the upper bowl effect Scott is talking about. Especially since there is no lighting in the upper bowl.

Oh, I guess I will accept donations also. My truck is a 2002. Should be good for the boat.

[drewbop]

you guys are right on about the seat design. i worked for the athletic dept last year and talked with a few personal who said the random design of the seats were for the nights when it "wasn't at capacity" to make it look fuller.

i'm a season ticket holder this year and i also agree the concourse could be bigger, but i'm hoping the reason its so packed is due to it being a new arena, everyone gets up and walks around in between periods.

other than that, i love how they took that on the ice feeling from the decc and did the same in the new arena. i wanna get into one of those suites...

[scsavre]

I cant believe it, I was right. I bet you doubted me Brooks.

I bet the concoarse will get better next year. Its like the Twins stadium, it was crazy on the course in the begining.

[cbrooks]

]. I bet you doubted me Brooks.

Yep . I don't think we ever agreed why start with the arena.

[BartmanMN]

Is the ice sheet Olympic sized or NHL?

[cbrooks]

Judging from the pictures I would say its NHL size rink.

[Bear55]

I really liked how the games looked on tv, the camera was close to the ice in this rink and you can really see the speed of the game. Sometimes at Mariucci the players look like ants out there.