Forget hoops, Minnesota's best venue is on the ice

By Chris Lempesis

From border-to-border -- east, west, north and south -- Minnesota is known as the "State of Hockey." And that state has a capital, but it doesn't reside in St. Paul, but rather in Minneapolis, on the campus of the University of Minnesota: Mariucci Arena. The arena opened in 1993 and is itself the second incarnation of Mariucci Arena, replacing the first Mariucci, which resided just across the street in a building now known as the Sports Pavilion, which now hosts such sports as wresting and volleyball.

	Only in Minnesota can you find cheerleaders (in miniskirts) working the crowd at a hockey game. Bob Gevinski/WireImage
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Still, the new building hasn't taken away from a time-honored tradition of fall, winter and early spring: thousands of die-hard fans flocking to root for the team they love most: the Minnesota Gophers. Minnesota is perhaps the most illustrious program in all of college hockey, with five national championships, four Hobey Baker winners and countless players who were and are in the National Hockey League.

On this night, January 27, Mariucci figured to be hopping as the Gophers were set to take on North Dakota, their biggest rival not named Wisconsin, for game two of a two game series. The Gophers needed a win or a tie to avoid being swept. An atmosphere like this should easily give a place like Mariucci a passing grade on the Arena Evaluation Grading Scale, right? Well, let's find out.

VENUE

As previously stated, the new Mariucci has only been open for 14 years now -- this year is the 14th season -- so it's relative lack of age makes it a very nice venue. The seating sections appear to almost shoot straight up from the ice level and this vertically oriented design makes all in attendance feel like they are not that far away from the action. It also provides for solid sightlines without obstructions. Mariucci has plenty of concession stands so one never has to wait long for intermission snacks. There are also plenty of reminders of the illustrious history of the program throughout the building, from the main lobby up to the rafters. The outside of the building is also appealing as its dark red brick fits in with the other athletic facilities in the area, like Williams Arena, which is right across the street. One slight drawback to the newness of the arena is a lack of feeling that you're watching hockey the way it was meant to be watched -- in the barn-style Palestras of days gone by.
Score: 8.0

VOLUME/DISRUPTABILITY

In a word, disappointing. A conference rivalry game between two top 15 teams in the second half of the season should provide a playoff-like electricity -- and more importantly, a playoff-like volume -- right? Well, that noise wasn't really in the building on this night. Sure, the crowd was loud when it needed to be, like when the Gophers were introduced or when they scored or when North Dakota took a penalty, but outside of that, there was a palpable lack of noise from the crowd on this night. At certain points, it almost felt like you were watching a game between Minnesota and, say, lowly Michigan Tech in early November more so than a game of the importance that it had. Granted, the Gophers were getting taken to the wood shed by North Dakota for a large part of the contest, but that's no excuse, particularly for a fan base that prides itself on how strongly it follows this team.
Score: 5.0

STUDENT BODY

Again, disappointing. On the one hand, the students who did show up for the game showed up ready to root on the Gophers and were obviously passionate about it (see Chant Quality section). On the other hand, the hand that makes the overall score lower, there weren't even enough students to fill either one of Mariucci's designated student sections as both sections had visibly empty seats. Visibly empty seats, in the one section that is almost always supposed to be filled at big-time college sporting events, is puzzling and part of a bigger problem at Mariucci. The arena can hold upwards of 10,000 people and is almost always said to be "sold out", but for most games, pockets of visibly empty seats can be seen throughout the arena. The reasons for this are not known, but whatever they are, the lack of a total student body presence makes for a poor grade in this area of the evaluation.
Score: 5.0

ATTIRE

Make it three disappointing areas in a row. It's true that fans displayed a solid amount of maroon-and-gold at the game with a solid diversity of attire, but there seemed to be just as many people dressed as though they were going to the grocery store -- i.e. casually -- or dinner at a somewhat nice restaurant -- i.e. a little too nice for a hockey game -- to fully make for an imposing presence in the stands. In a game like this, one would expect the fans to unite as a maroon-and-gold mob so that the visitors make no mistake as to where they are. This can be seen at the home games of Minnesota's two biggest rivals, North Dakota and Wisconsin and it sometimes happens at Gophers' games, but it certainly wasn't seen on this night
Score: 5.0

CHANT QUALITY

Finally, an area where the crowd did not disappoint. While there were visibly empty seats in both the student sections and throughout the arena, that didn't stop the fans on hand from creating a bevy of chants. There were the usual Mariucci chants against the visiting goalie (that he's a civ), visiting players who are sent to the penalty box ("You buddy, you're out of here. You suck, you worthless piece of"...well, you can figure out the last part) and the visiting college itself ("junior college"). But on this night the Gophers' faithful had a new one, a chant aimed at the people of North Dakota: "we're not inbred." And even when the Gophers were getting stomped late in the game -- they ultimately lost 7-3, completing the sweep for North Dakota -- that didn't stop the fans from getting into the group spirit as at least one of the two student sections could be heard exclaiming as one "let's get drunk!'
Score: 8.5

Sure, the arena is nice and the crowd knows how to chant. But a poor student body presence, lack of volume and lack of a maroon-and-gold mob cancels those two aspects out and ultimately makes for a grade much lower than it should be.
Final score: 31.5