As new arenas open in NHL cities across the continent, much has been said about the amenities of these buildings. Cushioned seating, first-class luxury boxes and more concessions all bring in extra revenue and help pay for the multi-million dollar salaries of NHL stars.
Personally, I'll stick with junior hockey. It's not that the NHL isn't first-class hockey. NHL players are the best at their sport, and the skills of players like Peter Forsberg or Paul Kariya can be mind-boggling. However, no matter how many NHL games I go to, there always seems to be something missing. For example, a few weeks ago, I attended two Colorado Avalanche games. While the games were entertaining, I couldn't wait to get back to the Midwest and watch junior hockey. The first couple of USHL games I attended after returning reminded me of what I missed in Denver. At NHL games, a large portion of the crowd isn't the die-hard hockey fan. As most seats are corporate-owned, the crowd changes significantly from game to game. When people only attend one or two games a year, they tend not to live and die with their team as junior hockey fans do.
Perhaps my love of junior hockey comes from my background. I grew up watching the Western Hockey League, one of three major junior hockey leagues in Canada. Our local team was the Saskatoon Blades, a team that always seemed to come up just short. The Blades have never won a WHL championship or the Memorial Cup, the tournament involving the champion of all three major junior leagues, but they provided many memorable moments while I was growing up.
Until 1988, the Blades played in an old building known officially as the Saskatoon Arena. It was rarely referred to as anything other than the Old Barn, however. The Old Barn sat 3,300 fans, and had room for about 500 standing room. It was nothing special to look at. The asbestos that would routinely fall from the ceiling probably shortened everyone's life span by a few years, as did the cigarette smoke which would drift into the seating area during intermission. What the Old Barn did have, however, was atmosphere. The seating area, which was only about ten rows, was steep, putting the fans on top of the game.
I can remember more than one night when our section, section N (Roger Millions, the Blades' play-by-play announcer at the time, once joked the N stood for noisy), would have an influence on the outcome of the game by rattling opposing players. A favorite target of section N was the Medicine Hat Tigers and their goaltender, Mark Fitzpatrick. Before Fitzpatrick headed to the NHL, he had built himself a reputation as a fiery and talented junior goaltender. I remember one particular night when the fans in our section rattled Fitzpatrick so badly that he ended up being pulled after breaking his stick on the net in frustration following a goal.
Not everything about the Old Barn was perfect. The players left the ice through an aisle near our section. Once a year or so, a player would take offense to something that someone had shouted, and he would head into the crowd. On other nights, fans in our section would have to dodge bits of flying sticks as players would break their sticks on the walls of the aisle. And it wasn't the cleanest building around. I remember bringing in snow from outside to clean the floors every few games. If a drink was spilt in October, chances are it would not be cleaned until after the season. Despite all its faults, the Old Barn was a great place to watch hockey. When the Blades moved to the 12,000-seat Saskatchewan Place in 1988, nothing was the same. Suddenly the fans were removed from the game, as the seating was set back much farther than it was in the Old Barn. And although attendance increased, averaging about 6,000 fans per game the first few seasons, it was still a half-full building.
As a result, road trips to other old-time arenas took on an added meaning. Many of the USHL buildings remind me of the older arenas in Canada. The Sioux City Auditorium is a classic hockey venue, complete with steep seating and the traditional organ. The Metro Ice Sports Arena in Des Moines, with its wooden roof and bench seating, has a traditional feel. The Ice Box in Lincoln, despite being new to the sport, also allows the fan to feel close to the game. Perhaps that is what makes junior hockey more entertaining than the NHL to me.
