Hill-Murray / Aldrich Arena

stpaul · Post by **stpaul** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 12:00 pm

http://www.review-news.com/articles/201 ... rich-arena

This is certainly good news for HM followers. Aldrich is still a great place to play and watch high school hockey. The new locker rooms will be a nice "recruiting" tool for HM.

pioneers · Post by **pioneers** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 12:35 pm

Aldrich is also allowing Hill-Murray to add some trophy cases along the walkway on the home seating side. They will be switching benches as the addition is on the west end of the arena.

WestMetro · Post by **WestMetro** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 5:07 pm

Have the north metro Section playoff arenas been announced yet?

almostashappy · Post by **almostashappy** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 7:12 pm

WestMetro wrote:Have the north metro Section playoff arenas been announced yet?

Yes.

http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/activitypage.asp?actnum=410

WestMetro · Post by **WestMetro** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 7:41 pm

So pioneers got playoff home ice and new locker room?

almostashappy · Post by **almostashappy** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:09 pm

WestMetro wrote:So pioneers got playoff home ice and new locker room?

I'm sure they paid for both fair and square.

Post by **east hockey** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:13 pm

WestMetro wrote:So pioneers got playoff home ice and new locker room?

Unfair! I mean, look at Duluth East.

Uh, wait a minute.

Nevermind.

Lee

Nevertoomuchhockey · Post by **Nevertoomuchhockey** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:28 pm

So a parent considering HM for his daughter should read into this... How exactly?

Sparlimb · Post by **Sparlimb** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 11:39 pm

Nevertoomuchhockey wrote:So a parent considering HM for his daughter should read into this... How exactly?

As defending AA State Champions...

It's unclear at this time if the ladies team will be sharing the locker rooms or not. I don't see why they couldn't, but no one asked me.

almostashappy · Post by **almostashappy** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 6:01 am

Sparlimb wrote:
Nevertoomuchhockey wrote:So a parent considering HM for his daughter should read into this... How exactly?
As defending AA State Champions...

It's unclear at this time if the ladies team will be sharing the locker rooms or not. I don't see why they couldn't, but no one asked me.

There's a floor plan within the proposal approved by the Ramsey County Board: http://stpaul.granicus.com/MetaViewer.p ... _id=234574

The two locker rooms are marked "Varsity" and "J.V.". Each have 22 separate lockers and they share a common shower room/toilet. The girls teams practice at Harding. Not too hard to do the math.

East Side Pioneer Guy · Fri Oct 31, 2014 9:37 pm

almostashappy wrote:
WestMetro wrote:Have the north metro Section playoff arenas been announced yet?
Yes.

http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/activitypage.asp?actnum=410

I'm concerned about an HM-WBL semifinal in such a confined space. After all, we've been told Stillwater is in the midst of a Section 4AA Dynasty. So surely Hill and the Bears will be battling it out for the 2-3 positions for years to come.

Sparlimb · Post by **Sparlimb** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 10:08 pm

East Side Pioneer Guy wrote:
almostashappy wrote:
WestMetro wrote:Have the north metro Section playoff arenas been announced yet?
Yes.

http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/activitypage.asp?actnum=410
I'm concerned about an HM-WBL semifinal in such a confined space. After all, we've been told Stillwater is in the midst of a Section 4AA Dynasty. So surely Hill and the Bears will be battling it out for the 2-3 positions for years to come.

True dat. Stillwater is an amazing 3-0 in their last 3 4AA section games. They haven't lost once in sections since all the way back in 2013. Both goals they scored in the state tournament were beauties. At least, I assume so.

Traxler · Post by **Traxler** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 10:49 am

Sparlimb wrote:
East Side Pioneer Guy wrote:
almostashappy wrote: Yes.

http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/activitypage.asp?actnum=410
I'm concerned about an HM-WBL semifinal in such a confined space. After all, we've been told Stillwater is in the midst of a Section 4AA Dynasty. So surely Hill and the Bears will be battling it out for the 2-3 positions for years to come.
True dat. Stillwater is an amazing 3-0 in their last 3 4AA section games. They haven't lost once in sections since all the way back in 2013. Both goals they scored in the state tournament were beauties. At least, I assume so.

This is some of the best sarcasm I've read in a while. Nice job!

old goalie85 · Post by **old goalie85** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:47 pm

Are any of the kids from Stillwater's BAA team last year attending Hill ??

Bayside Tigers · Post by **Bayside Tigers** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 6:01 pm

almostashappy wrote:
WestMetro wrote:Have the north metro Section playoff arenas been announced yet?
Yes.

http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/activitypage.asp?actnum=410

I miss the Hippodrome already.

ZachHalverson · Post by **ZachHalverson** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 11:19 pm

It's great to be back Forum!

Just wondering how in the heck Section 4A and 4AA will fit a finals doubleheader on February 27th into Aldrich Arena without the arena exploding.

pioneers · Post by **pioneers** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 7:38 am

Best guess is that they will probably have a split session like they used to at one time at the Coliseum. Probably like 4:00 and 8:00.

BP · Post by BP » Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:43 am

pioneers wrote:Best guess is that they will probably have a split session like they used to at one time at the Coliseum. Probably like 4:00 and 8:00.

It's 6 and 8:30 for what I'm hearing. It's full for the 4A, not sure how they'll do AA in there the same night. I think they'll sell the tickets to the 4 schools, and probably won't have much left over for the general public.

They looked into Ridder, but they want to charge like 12-14K per game, and take the concession money. They walked away from that for obvious reasons.

pioneers · Post by **pioneers** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:52 am

BP wrote:
pioneers wrote:Best guess is that they will probably have a split session like they used to at one time at the Coliseum. Probably like 4:00 and 8:00.
It's 6 and 8:30 for what I'm hearing. It's full for the 4A, not sure how they'll do AA in there the same night. I think they'll sell the tickets to the 4 schools, and probably won't have much left over for the general public.

They looked into Ridder, but they want to charge like 12-14K per game, and take the concession money. They walked away from that for obvious reasons.

If that is the case, it is going to be pretty bad. Actually Ridder and Aldrich have pretty much the same capacity. (3400) Only difference is Ridder would have more parking.

almostashappy · Post by **almostashappy** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:57 am

BP wrote:They looked into Ridder, but they want to charge like 12-14K per game, and take the concession money. They walked away from that for obvious reasons.

Those reasons must not have been obvious enough for 3AA, which did schedule their finals at Ridder this year.

What does it cost for 2AA and 6AA to play their finals at Mariucci? And did the sections get a cut of the concession revenue at the Coliseum?

ZachHalverson · Post by **ZachHalverson** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 3:40 pm

I wrote a blog about this. http://zachhalverson.com/post/101787323 ... logistical I'll paste it here though because I like the Forum, kind of.

The loss of the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum as a hockey venue had sentimental and logistical consequences for high school hockey that are becoming apparent as we head into the first season in over three decades in without the Coliseum. I already detailed the sentimental consequences last year, now it’s time to discuss how in the heck a 5,250 sell-out crowd is going to fit into a 3,400 seat arena.

For years, the Section 4A final and the Section 4AA final have been held on the same Friday night. The Section 4A final would sell out the 3,400 seat capacity Aldrich Arena, and the Section 4AA final would sell out the 5,250 seat Warner Coliseum. That’s a total of about 8,650 hockey fans between the two arenas, and it worked well for both classes of section four.

This year, the plan is to have a double-header of the Section 4A and Section 4AA finals on the same night at Aldrich Arena. My trademarked White Bear math says that, after taking into account the fans from the Section 5AA final that was held the same night at the Warner Coliseum, roughly 3,000-4,000 fans will not be able to see their team in the section final and the fire marshall will have one heck of a job to do come February.

If it was one game or the other, it would have barely worked, but it would have worked. Each school in the Section 4AA final could have been given 1000 tickets or so and the rest would be sold at the door. Now, I have no idea what they are going to do. This is logistically impossible and there are going to be a lot of uncomfortable people inside the arena and a lot of angry and cold fans who couldn’t get in outside the arena.

Parking will be a disaster, and while you might see some fans leave after the 4A game, most of them will stay for the 4AA game. There will literally be thousands of fans who won’t be able to go, which is a big deal for those like me whose favorite childhood memories include going to section finals for hockey games. Not to mention the limited room for media, which is a topic not even going to start to discuss right now.

How is this all fixed? The Target Center. It was considered, according to Section 4 administrators, but the ice quality wasn’t good enough. After covering a game at the NCHC Frozen Face-off last year, I can’t disagree, but it’s something I am willing to put up with as long as everyone can get inside the building. The Target Center has plenty of seating, parking, and concession stands for every fan that wants to see their team try to make it to the greatest high school sports tournament in the nation.

I understand there are drawbacks, such as the ice quality, but none of them outweigh the positives of getting everybody inside the arena. The Target Center is also an NHL-sized ice surface, which is something many have complained about in the Olympic-sized Mariucci Arena in Section 2AA and Section 6AA.

There will be a fantastic atmosphere inside Aldrich Arena the night of the Section 4A and 4AA finals. However, there will also be a lot of sadness, anger, and frustration from fans who couldn’t get in outside of Aldrich Arena. I hope that Section 4AA considers the fans outside the arena when planning for the 2015-16 season.

Sparlimb · Post by **Sparlimb** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 10:25 pm

Once upon a time (when Sparlimb was young) there was a Saturday of section finals at the Met Center that went 4 games long. And I think they did that a few years in a row. Now I don't know if the sections were given deals back then or if there is stomach to do it again, but you could easily get a 4 game Saturday with a couple AA teams at the X, if it were made available.

The ultimate solution, which I'm waiting for, is for the Sports Center up here in Blaine to build another rink that actually seats 5000 people or so and then 4AA and 5AA can join back up.

Aldrich will be fine, as long as you show up for the 1st game 30 minutes early. If 4AA could ever get a game televised (they wait any longer it will be on the Hill-Murray television network that's about to be announced), then the rest of us could stay home. So I guess I'll watch Mahtomedi beat STA again if that's what it takes to see HM go to state...

bauerman · Post by **bauerman** » Wed Nov 05, 2014 7:59 am

Dear Sparlimb, I know you won't be watching STA vs Mahtomedi and doubt if you will be watching Hill-Murray

BP · Post by BP » Wed Nov 05, 2014 9:03 am

Sparlimb wrote:Once upon a time (when Sparlimb was young) there was a Saturday of section finals at the Met Center that went 4 games long. And I think they did that a few years in a row. Now I don't know if the sections were given deals back then or if there is stomach to do it again, but you could easily get a 4 game Saturday with a couple AA teams at the X, if it were made available.

The ultimate solution, which I'm waiting for, is for the Sports Center up here in Blaine to build another rink that actually seats 5000 people or so and then 4AA and 5AA can join back up.

Aldrich will be fine, as long as you show up for the 1st game 30 minutes early. If 4AA could ever get a game televised (they wait any longer it will be on the Hill-Murray television network that's about to be announced), then the rest of us could stay home. So I guess I'll watch Mahtomedi beat STA again if that's what it takes to see HM go to state...

It used to be 2 section final games on Friday night at Met Center and 2 on Saturday afternoon. Games use to be like this:

John Marshall/Mayo/Apple Valley vs. Burnsville (Section 1)
Jefferson vs Kennedy (Section 5)
Hill vs WBL (Section 3)
Edina vs. Richfeld/Minnetonka/EP (Section 6)

I enjoyed that more as a kid than I think the state tournament. I think it would be cool to do at Mariucci like this again, but Friday/Saturday night are Gopher games and it wouldn't work logistically every year.

Bayside Tigers · Post by **Bayside Tigers** » Wed Nov 05, 2014 1:05 pm

So, stubhub & the ticket scalping community/team will be making a killing.

Thoughts on resale activity of these games? It may not be an actual listing on stubhub, but will there be people trying to get their mitts on tickets, in an attempt to sell them for $20? $30? $50?

I might try to beat the crowd and post my WTB ad on craigslist now.