HighSchoolHockeyForums.com

The annual five-game South Suburban Conference "Showdown" will take place Saturday at the Bloomington Ice Garden. It's usually at Prior Lake, but I guess they wanted to acknowledge Jefferson's and Kennedy's last year in the conference (at least I hope it's a sentimental gesture, because from a fan's perspective Dakotah is a much nicer place to watch games).

Eastview @ Apple Valley, 11am
Prior Lake @ Rosemount, 1pm
Lakeville South @ Kennedy, 3pm
Lakeville North @ Jefferson, 5pm
Burnsville @ Eagan, 7pm

Last year I suggested a five game mini pick'em contest, but there's only two games to think about this year, and I'm a bit hesitant to say anything more about LN (for fear of imminent thread lock).

Speak for yourself, BIG is one of my favorite places to watch a game. If it is a big game, can be one of the best atmospheres in the state.

too bad ev/av need to play each other on the road

eastview 4-0
prior lake 5-2
south 5-2
north 5-4
Burnsville 4-1
looks like road doggies get W's tomorrow

Agree that BIG beats Dakotah unless you are looking to go real early or stay late for a little casino fun. BIG wins the better atmosphere assuming they'll use rink 1 (not a fan of rink 3 at all). A couple of good games that will start to paint a picture for the SSC. Any predictions from Scorekeeper?

thespellchecker wrote:too bad ev/av need to play each other on the road

eastview 4-0
prior lake 5-2
south 5-2
north 5-4
Burnsville 4-1
looks like road doggies get W's tomorrow

Everybody is a road team, aside from the two Bloomington schools (value of having last line change duly noted).

The EV/AV games and Burnsville@Eagan always draws good crowds...tough for Eagles and Wildcats to lose those home games and home game gates. But I'm sure there's some SSC administrator out there that's pleased with their creation.

Eastview
PL
LS
Jefferson
Eagan in a tight game over Braves.

Nuts&Bolts wrote:Agree that BIG beats Dakotah unless you are looking to go real early or stay late for a little casino fun. BIG wins the better atmosphere assuming they'll use rink 1 (not a fan of rink 3 at all). A couple of good games that will start to paint a picture for the SSC. Any predictions from Scorekeeper?

scorekeeper has moved on to colder pastures.

As for BIG vs. Dakotah...yes, Rink 1 has better potential for great atmosphere, with stands on both sides of the ice. But that's only if you've got fans filling those stands.

What I've hated about BIG in the past are their gate policies. At least for the handful of high school games that I've attended on Rink 1, you can't re-enter unless you buy another ticket. And the gate is in front of Rink 1, rather than at the entrance to the building. So you're stuck in that "quaint" lobby area that pales in comparison to the concession areas/lobby at Dakotah. Can't imagine even the die-hard fans making a day of it within that confined space.

But maybe they'll open up things a bit, and at least let fans stretch their legs in between periods, and check out what's happening on the other sheets?

almostashappy wrote:

Nuts&Bolts wrote:Agree that BIG beats Dakotah unless you are looking to go real early or stay late for a little casino fun. BIG wins the better atmosphere assuming they'll use rink 1 (not a fan of rink 3 at all). A couple of good games that will start to paint a picture for the SSC. Any predictions from Scorekeeper?

scorekeeper has moved on to colder pastures.

As for BIG vs. Dakotah...yes, Rink 1 has better potential for great atmosphere, with stands on both sides of the ice. But that's only if you've got fans filling those stands.

What I've hated about BIG in the past are their gate policies. At least for the handful of high school games that I've attended on Rink 1, you can't re-enter unless you buy another ticket. And the gate is in front of Rink 1, rather than at the entrance to the building. So you're stuck in that "quaint" lobby area that pales in comparison to the concession areas/lobby at Dakotah. Can't imagine even the die-hard fans making a day of it within that confined space.

But maybe they'll open up things a bit, and at least let fans stretch their legs in between periods, and check out what's happening on the other sheets?

In my experience BIG 1 has always allowed re-entry. You have to grab a pass or ticket stub on the way out and present it when you return. The passes are on the table to the left of the ticket taker.

almostashappy wrote: What I've hated about BIG in the past are their gate policies. At least for the handful of high school games that I've attended on Rink 1, you can't re-enter unless you buy another ticket. And the gate is in front of Rink 1, rather than at the entrance to the building. So you're stuck in that "quaint" lobby area that pales in comparison to the concession areas/lobby at Dakotah. Can't imagine even the die-hard fans making a day of it within that confined space.

But maybe they'll open up things a bit, and at least let fans stretch their legs in between periods, and check out what's happening on the other sheets?

In order to re-enter for free, you ask the man that is collecting tickets in front of Rink 1 for a ticket when you are heading out.

hshockeyfan8 wrote: In order to re-enter for free, you ask the man that is collecting tickets in front of Rink 1 for a ticket when you are heading out.

Huh...ticket taker has told me differently in the past. Maybe I was wearing the wrong shade of blue?