Harborcenter

Key Bank Rink at HARBORCENTER

Location: Buffalo, New York
Opened: 2014
Seating Capacity: 1800

The next arena I will be looking into in my blog is the Key Bank Rink located in Buffalo, NY. It is the home of Canisius College's Division 1 ice hockey team.

The HARBORCENTER is by far the newest arena in the Atlantic Hockey Conference. It is located across the street from the Key Bank Center, which is home to the Buffalo Sabres in the National Hockey League. The rink opened in October 31, 2014 and it definitely shows. It is my favorite arena in our conference. The arena has a modern wooden truss ceiling with wooden bleachers along both sides of the ice which I find very appealing.

One very unique feature about the arena is that it's located on the 6th floor of the building. Yes, you read that correctly. After unloading the bus, players must ride up a large service elevator to the 6th floor, which is operated by an arena employee, to get to the ice level. From there, a hallway leads to the locker rooms, which are themselves, very functional. They have a current feeling about them and there is plenty of room for all the players' gear and hockey bags.

The arena's lighting is one of the reasons why I enjoy playing there so much. It is vibrantly lit unlike some of the other facilities that I have played in in the past. The Key Bank Rink sound system is surreal. Canisius has always created a good soundtrack for the games that I've played there, and the soundtracks does the speaker system a lot of justice.

One thing about the arena that doesn't pertain to the fans, but the players deeply care about, are the boards and glass. The glass is very forgiving at the Key Bank Rink. What I mean by that is, when a player gets hit into the boards, they have a lot of leeway which reduces the impact from a check. Ask any player, it's much more favorable to get hit into this style of class compared to some others. The boards are also very lively. The puck reacts extremely well after impacting the boards. This makes it easier to make geometric passes to teammates and it creates potential scoring chances from pucks bouncing off of the end walls, behind the nets.

Canisius doesn't get the best turnout in regard to its crowd, but the arena is never empty either. The crowd seems to be...enough. The box score recorded 935 people in attendance at our recent game in the arena which is roughly around half of the maximum seating capacity.

It is not a venue when the crowd and atmosphere will take your breath away. But its modern and conventional appearance, along with vivid lighting and a deafening sound system, is what makes it my favorite place to play in Atlantic Hockey.

Thank you for your continued support of my blog. Please feel free to share with your friends and family!

- Joshua Lammon

Hockey Island

RMU Island Sports Center (84 Lumber Arena)
Location: Neville Island, Pennsylvania
Opened: 1998
Seating Capacity: 1200

The next arena I will be examining in my blog is the RMU Island Sports Center Ice Arena. My team played a game here last weekend, against our conference rivals, the Robert Morris University Colonials.

Island Sports Center is owned by Robert Morris University and serves as a public ice arena. After entering the lobby, there is a concession stand located on the left and a pro shop on the right. After walking past the front desk, which is ironically an island in the lobby, players enter the dressing room hallways. This week we had to walk past a circus of sorority girls who were selling baked goods for a fundraiser. The dressing rooms are very generic and are similar to those that can be found in any public ice arena.

Typically, at the end of each season college teams will host what is called "Senior Night", and recognize all of its graduating seniors. These games are usually scheduled on the last home, regular season game and make for an emotional night as the home team. Robert Morris happened to be hosting their senior night this past weekend. The 4 seniors from RMU lined up on the goal line as the remaining players were on their respective benches. Each senior was called one-by-one to take a picture with their family, and present a rose to his mother, while having his accolades announced to the arena's fans. It's a pretty neat celebration, and regardless of which team they represent, all the players pay their respect by tapping their sticks on the boards during the applause.

RMU Island Sports Center. Source: http://tinyurl.com/htf69ay

After the senior ceremony, a hockey game broke out in Neville Island. Robert Morris usually receives a large turnout from its fan base, and this weekend was no exception. The university sponsors a youth hockey program that influences young players to come watch their idols play hockey. The university's band was also in attendance. The band sits behind our goalie during the first and third periods and not only does it play music between whistles, but it also initiates many, sometimes ruthless, chants.

It was a tight game between the two teams and after being tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, required sudden death overtime. There was an exceedingly intense feeling in the air, as the Colonials wanted to be victorious on their senior night, and we were playing for two crucial points in the standings. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of the scoreboard at the end of the game. As if it was written in a script, one of their senior forwards had the game winning goal in O.T. to win the game. It must have been an extremely memorable moment in his hockey career.

The Island Sports Center resembles many of the rinks in Atlantic Hockey, including the Mercyhurst Ice Center, in that it is extremely ordinary and basic. There is not a lot that distinguishes itself from other public hockey arenas. However, being located on an island, in the middle of Pennsylvania, gives it a rather unique characteristic. Although, you won't be needing sunscreen in February on this island.

Thank you for your continued support of my blog. Please feel free to share with your friends and family!

Go Lakers!

- Joshua Lammon

What's up, Doc?

Bowling Green State University Ice Arena

BGSU Ice Arena

Location: Bowling Green, Ohio
Opened: 1967
Seating Capacity: 5000

The next ice arena I will be featuring in my blog is the BGSU Ice Arena. Our team recently had the chance to play in this out of conference arena, and it is fresh in my memory.

Similarly to Mercyhurst Ice Arena, I actually came on a campus visit to Bowling Green University during my senior year of high school. Their coaching staff was recruiting me at the time. They obviously gave me a tour of the campus, and more importantly, the ice arena.

The first thing that jumped out at me when visiting Bowling Green was the amount of orange on campus. If you're not fond of the color orange, then I'd highly advise not attending this school. The ice arena is no exception. The seating benches, which hold 5000 screaming fans, are painted orange. The walls are covered in murals of alumni that are filled with orange. The dasher board, which is painted yellow in most ice rinks, is even plastered with orange. It is almost overwhelming.

The rink has a collegiate feel to it. It is relatively old, 50 years to be precise, but it doesn't have the ambience of a professional arena. The school is very proud of its hockey program; there are championship banners hanging, plaques of successful alumni, and even pictures recognizing BGSU players who proceeded to play at the Olympic  Games.

Doc and I at BGSU

We played the Falcons on a special night for their school. They were celebrating their arena's 50th year anniversary. Many alumni were in attendance for the game. None more widely known than NBC Sports announcer, Doc Emrick. Doc never played a game of hockey for BGSU, but he would commentate every second period the Falcons would play during his studies. He also commentated the second period during our game. You can listen here. Emrick's voice has also been recorded in the EA Sports' NHL video game series. He was waiting for us at the arena the day before our game to learn about our individual backgrounds and history. I was walking towards my teammates in the bleachers as I saw Doc walking down the stairs. He stopped, made direct eye contact with me, and had this look in his eyes as if he knew me. The first thing he said was "Josh Lammon?" This obviously caught me off guard, but was a pretty surreal encounter with one of the most famous hockey announcers in history. He then informed me that he had been studying our roster for the last week, and was trying to match our names and numbers with our faces. It was fascinating to see how much dedication and passion he has for his job.

The crowd was electric, as one could imagine, for such a large event and alumni celebration. I don't know the exact number of tickets sold, but I would imagine it was well over 4000, closer to 5000. Before the starting lineups, they hand out newspapers to every fan in the building. Then as our team was announced, they would hold the newspapers up and sit in silence. I have seen this before, but it was really neat to experience live. The fans were delirious when the Falcons scored. Unfortunately, we lost the game 3-0, and had to hear this uproar on three separate occasions. The result of the game however, didn't take away from the exhilaration I felt during those 60 minutes of play at BGSU Ice Arena.

Thank you for your continued support of my blog. Please feel free to share with your friends and family!

Until next time,

- Joshua Lammon


Here are a few other shots I took of the arena. Enjoy!

Notable Alumni

WCHA - BG's League

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

Setting the Stage

Mercyhurst vs. Penn State (10/14/16) Photo Credit: Ed Mailliard

As a child, I dreamed of playing Division 1 college hockey. Unlike most youth hockey players, my goal was not to play professional hockey for my favorite NHL team. I wanted to wear my school's colors on Friday and Saturday nights, playing in front of my friends and classmates, with the band playing the “fight song” in the background.

This dream may seem unambitious, or one with lowered expectations, but I never saw it as such. Hockey was a game I fell in love with as a kid, and it was just that, a game. My childhood became engulfed in it. I would spend hours shooting pucks in the driveway trying to master the latest deke I saw in last night’s NHL highlights, or play pond hockey with my friends until the wee hours of the night because I could not get enough of it.

My admiration of the game is why I strived to play hockey at the collegiate level instead of professional. I enjoy watching college athletes perform as opposed to professional athletes simply because they play for their love of the game, not for the signing bonuses or the paychecks they receive. College athletes play their sports with enthusiasm and determination because they know, at least most of them, that their school will be the last team they play for competitively. Student-athletes would not commit to the grueling task of balancing academics, athletics, and other extracurricular activities if they did not love the game they played.

I am fortunate enough to be pursuing my lifelong dream of playing college hockey as a forward for the Mercyhurst Lakers. I am near the conclusion my sophomore year and have had the opportunity to play in a number of incredible venues that many young hockey players dream about. That is what I am going to share with you, the reader, in my blog; the unforgettable experiences I have gained while playing at many different ice arenas across the country.

"Pursuing a genuine dream deserves no compensation, simply self-fulfillment."

-Joshua Lammon