The Jar

John A. Ryan Arena

Source: http://tinyurl.com/ksk5wu8

Location: Watertown, MA
Opened:1972
Seating Capacity: 1250

The next arena that I will be examining in my blog is the John A. Ryan Arena, which is home to the Bentley Falcons.

I'm going to be extremely blunt when describing the JAR, it's terrible. It is definitely one of the worst arena's that I have played in many years. I have not played at all the arenas in the NCAA, but I feel safe saying that the JAR is the worst arena in the league. It is a local rink that is located roughly 3 miles away from Bentley's campus.

The rink is small, especially compared to others in the NCAA, and it is in poor condition; the arena shows its old age. It has a very damp environment that makes the arena smell funky. The lighting is poor and it makes it difficult to see on the ice. The boards are lifeless and the puck does not react well when bounced off of it. They are relatively stiff too, which makes it painful when getting checked into the boards.

The ice was similar to the Mercyhurst Ice Center ice, which means it was below average. It quickly gets chewed up quickly and makes it difficult to settle the puck down. The arena feels very small and the neutral zones seem non-existent. Because the arena is so small, the pace of play seems super fast compared to other arenas. The ice surface also has a red line going along the entire boards around the arena. This is designed to help young hockey players avoid checking each other from behind and reduce injuries. This feature, however, should not be present on an NCAA ice arena. Not only is it visually unpleasant, but collegiate hockey players do not need to be reminded not to check one another from behind into the boards.

The Falcons do not receive a lot of support from their fans either. This is likely because the arena is located off campus, and because they do not want to sit in this arena for that long. This issue will soon be fixed, however, as Bentley is building a new ice arena on campus for their team. The school is building a multi-purpose venue that will have 2000 fixed seats and have the option to accommodate up to 3400 people for concerts or other purposes. The arena is supposed to open in early 2018, so hopefully I will have the chance to play in the newly designed arena.

I just want to clarify that my opinion in this blog is not reflective of what I think of Bentley University or Bentley's Division 1 Ice Hockey Team. I am simply providing you with the experience that I had during my time at the John A. Ryan Arena. The Bentley Falcons are a tremendously respected hockey program and I am not criticizing the program.

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- Joshua Lammon