My Humble Abode

Mercyhurst Ice Center
Location: Erie, Pennsylvania
Opened: 1991
Seating Capacity: 1500

It is only fitting that the first ice arena I'll examine in my blog is the Mercyhurst Ice Center a.k.a. "The MIC." This arena is home to the team I currently play for, the Mercyhurst Lakers.

I first visited the MIC in 2011, during a road trip with my hockey team at the time, Victory Honda. It was one of the first college arenas I had visited outside of Michigan. The rink has a very simplistic and conventional look about it. But somehow, it works. The arena has silver, bleak bleachers along one side of the ice surface that sits behind the penalty boxes, and faces the players' benches. There are also rows of seats that lie along the end of the ice arena behind the home team's zone. Underneath the seats, are two newly renovated locker rooms for both the men's and women's hockey teams. I'll be the first to tell you; these new renovations were desperately needed, and arrived with a warm welcoming from all of the players. At the opposing end of the arena, there is an entrance to a fitness center that both hockey teams share. Above the gym, there are offices for the coaching staffs. That is one place where you don't want to be summoned to.

Enough about the appearance of the arena though. That's what the pictures located at the bottom of the page are for. I want to share with you the experiences that only a small fraction of hockey players get the chance to have. That is playing in front of a packed college barn on Friday and Saturday night.

Although Erie, PA isn't known for being a hockey feeding ground, we have our fair share of large crowds at the MIC. It is an exciting sight to see the MIC full of students, parents, and local fans as we come out of the dressing room for the lineup announcements. After we eagerly wait to hear who will be taking the opening faceoff (our coaches don't inform us who is starting, so we find out when the fans do), the band plays the Canadian and American national anthems. Personally, I prefer vocal performances of the anthems, however, there is something special about the school's band rocking out in the stands.

The MIC doesn't have an extravagant light show or pyrotechnics, but when we score, the fans are not afraid to get loud. Meanwhile, our goal song blasts through the arena's sound system. It is an awesome experiencing burying a puck in the net and skating back to the bench to give fist bumps, or elbows in my case, to my teammates. After a win, the fans get extremely loud as the band plays for one final time.

After customary handshakes between the players of the competing teams, we lineup to along the ice and thank the fans. We sincerely thank all of the fans who came to watch us play the game we love with three traditional stick taps, and one final salute to the crowd before we skate towards the dressing room. I know there are a number of other things that fans could be doing with their weekends and its an honor that they choose to watch us play. It truly means a lot and we, as players, really appreciate it.

I am not going to sugar coat anything about the Mercyhurst Ice Center. It is rather bland and is not a spectacular venue, however, it is where I have called home for the past two years. And is where I will be calling home for the next two. At the end of the day, an ice rink is an ice rink.

I appreciate you following along with this blog. I want to thank you for your support and I hope I have given you a brief insight, because my blogs are designed to be roughly 500 words, of what its like to play for the Mercyhurst Lakers at the MIC.

Three stick taps and a salute to you.

- Joshua Lammon