Sacred Soil

Webster Bank Arena

Location: Bridgeport, Connecticut
Opened: 2001
Seating Capacity: 8525

The next arena I will be examining in this blog is the Webster Bank Arena, which is the new home to the Sacred Heart Pioneers.

The Sacred Heart ice hockey team moved to the Webster Bank Arena for the 2016-17 campaign, and from what I've heard through the grapevine, is a very good thing. I never had the opportunity to play in the Pioneers' old barn, but I have heard that it was not a pleasant place to place. Webster Bank Arena also serves as home to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League. We actually we able to watch the Sound Tigers practice before our morning skate that weekend which was pretty cool.

The arena, being home to a professional team, obviously seats many fans. Let's just say that I hope the Sound Tigers receive better support than the Pioneers because there were not many fans at the game. Despite the lack of energy in the stands, however, the venue was still an awesome place to play in.

The arena has an advanced lighting system and when the Pioneers score, the lights go dim and this is a light display. Although you don't wish to see it being the road team, its a pretty neat celebration to watch. There is also an enormous jumbo-tron display hanging over center ice which really adds a lot of character to the building. It is much bigger than most jumbo-tron screens, and its always cool to be able to watch the game on the screen while catching your breath after a long shift.

The ice surface, if I recall correctly, was very sticky and slow. This oftentimes happens with big arenas because its much harder to keep the ice and building cool. The boards were very lively, as are most professional arenas. I would say that is one of the primary differences between professional arenas and others; the glass and boards are made with higher quality and it allows the players to make better plays off of them. The ice rink always appears to be much larger in arenas with stadium seating as opposed to bleachers. I believe it is simply an illusion because the building is typically much bigger as well.

We won our game against the Sacred Heart Pioneers 5-3 at Bridgeport Arena. I was able to put a puck in the back of the net that game as well. It was definitely a big relief to get the monkey off of my back as I had not scored in quite a few games prior to that goal. I am 1-0 in the Webster Bank Arena and I hope to preserve my perfect record during my last two years of college hockey.

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- Joshua Lammon