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tomASS wrote:It's Sad for me to hear that Columbia might not be around much longer.
hopefully it is just being refurbished and expanded.

I still remember my very first indoor practice there - I thought I was in the big leagues. I remember all the fun open skates as a youth.

had my first kiss there underneath the bleachers

ahh yes the memories of hockey at Columbia

I believe that Columbia was the home of the Eden Hall Warriors, is it not?

Sorry to tell you tomAss but Columbia has been flattened to the ground. It is sad to see these old rinks go.

I can't believe Columbia is gone...that's where we played some of our elite league games and the Great 8 tournament my senior year. Although it was the first year of the Elite League, so it was quite some time ago!

Charliedog wrote:Sorry to tell you tomAss but Columbia has been flattened to the ground. It is sad to see these old rinks go.

Deep Siggggghhhhhhhh

tomASS wrote:

Charliedog wrote:Sorry to tell you tomAss but Columbia has been flattened to the ground. It is sad to see these old rinks go.

Deep Siggggghhhhhhhh

I think the temperature in Minnesota went down 10 degrees when that rink went down. It was a classic rink, but damn cold.

Princeton and Delano both suck. Princeton is really cold and the bleachers are crap, and the glass is a good puck and a half length from the boards, so when the puck gets rimmed around it stays up there then gets a funky deflection off the glass. Delano is friggin cold.

I believe Columbia is no more. After the juniors team left, it was useless. Champlin bought some ice from there for cheap to use with their mite and squirt teams, but otherwise it sucked.

stlouis26 wrote:Princeton and Delano both suck. Princeton is really cold and the bleachers are crap, and the glass is a good puck and a half length from the boards, so when the puck gets rimmed around it stays up there then gets a funky deflection off the glass. Delano is friggin cold.

Princeton is pretty bad. Delano is worse though.

Bit my lip on this one many nights- done with that. More "wimping of America" brought on by parents. Hockey is about hard, cold fast ice, not plush sweet smelling lockerrooms and parent suites.

dralr wrote:Bit my lip on this one many nights- done with that. More "wimping of America" brought on by parents. Hockey is about hard, cold fast ice, not plush sweet smelling lockerrooms and parent suites.

says who?
those would be my tuition dollars well spent

dralr wrote:Bit my lip on this one many nights- done with that. More "wimping of America" brought on by parents. Hockey is about hard, cold fast ice, not plush sweet smelling lockerrooms and parent suites.

If you read the original post, he said that the ice isnt flat, its banked in the corners, and in the summers the roof leaks causing bumps down the length of the ice.

dralr wrote:Bit my lip on this one many nights- done with that. More "wimping of America" brought on by parents. Hockey is about hard, cold fast ice, not plush sweet smelling lockerrooms and parent suites.

Pretty extreme dude. And pretty funny. There's this really great new concept called technology, see you can have a decent rink and still have great ice. But you like a ton of other so called 'adults' on here toss insults like you are the kids. You should keep biting your lip or 'grow up'. I've never been in a sweet smelling locker room by the way, don't care, but not having to sit on my teammates would be nice. The world has changed old man, and it ain't wimpy it's progress.

RFFalcon22 wrote:I can't believe Columbia is gone...that's where we played some of our elite league games and the Great 8 tournament my senior year. Although it was the first year of the Elite League, so it was quite some time ago!

Although Columbia rink 2 was in rough shape, the ice was always pretty good, and Columbia Rink 1 was one of my favorite rinks in peewees. My dad practiced there back when Columbia Heights had enough guys for a hockey team and he said he loved it. I thought it was a great rink.

Columbia site set for city commercial redevelopment. Played their too, good rink in the day. Mighty Ducks filmed in there...

Anybody ever played in the "Structure" in Northfield? Probably the worst rink in Minnesota when it opened. Almost died of carbon monocide from the original Tenant that worked the ice between periods. Then, I got caught in the corner as my elbow (should have been two...) and glove lacing caught in the chain link fence that ringed the rink.
Many memories, not all good...

DD1980, Do you remember the 5" round hole in Northfield's boards that occasionally would eat a puck? Supposedly it was where the hose goes when they flood the rink at the beginning of the season. My brother was an Olie and sometimes sticks would snap off in the hole. I was there Saturday night and it is gone. They have a mold/mildew problem and the lockerrooms are tiny. A guy at the rink said that it is getting a $$$ facelift this summer. That will be great for the kids in Northfield.

I grew up practicing on outdoor rinks. Every covered arena is nice by comparison.

Mac15 wrote:DD1980, Do you remember the 5" round hole in Northfield's boards that occasionally would eat a puck? Supposedly it was where the hose goes when they flood the rink at the beginning of the season. My brother was an Olie and sometimes sticks would snap off in the hole.

You can't be serious!

"You can't be serious!" --- I'm serious. I only played against the Olies a few times and pucks took weird deflections off of the hole. Our team was afraid to get near it.

I did think of a worse rink...The Omni Center in Onalaska WI. The new sheet was fine but the other sheet had boards that looked like a drunken sailor installed them. Not only were they crooked but the tops weren't even level. I was told that the dressing rooms used to be old semi trailers but I never saw that. They have fixed it up since then and last time I was there it looked like a practice type of rink with no frills but definitely usable.

DmanDad1980 wrote: Anybody ever played in the "Structure" in Northfield? Probably the worst rink in Minnesota when it opened. Almost died of carbon monocide from the original Tenant that worked the ice between periods. Then, I got caught in the corner as my elbow (should have been two...) and glove lacing caught in the chain link fence that ringed the rink.
Many memories, not all good...

I played there. My "fondest" memory was getting my facemask hooked on that chainlink (while I was skating). Plus you had to step up about a foot when you used the door at the box.