Home Slick Home
New Home Ice of Worldly Proportions
By DAVE MOROSSSports Information Director
ver since the razing of the old Broadmoor World Arena in the spring of 1994, Colorado College has competed as a team without a home.
The United States Air Force Academy, CC's friendly neighbor to the north, has graciously shared its facilities for the last three seasons. The Tigers have played all their home games at the Cadet Ice Arena, winning nearly 90 percent of them (32-2-2) in 1994-95 and '95-96 while claiming their second and unprecedented third consecutive WCHA regular-season titles.
The situation, however, has taken its toll. Everyone connected with the program - from head coach Don Lucia and his staff to players, fans and school administrators alike - is ready for a change.
"It seems like we're on the road every week," Lucia said in early February. "That'll be the nicest part about moving into our new arena. We'll practice there. We'll have our offices there. We won't be packing before and after every game."
Yes, the new Colorado Springs World Arena soon will be a reality. The Tigers finally will have a real home.
With January 1998 set as the target date for opening, the arena is part of a $55.3-million complex that already houses two rinks completed almost two years ago. The existing facilities provide ice for figure skating as well as youth and high school hockey competition. The main arena will feature a second Olympic-size sheet (100 by 200 feet) with seating for 7,700 spectators (compared to less than 3,000 at Air Force) - a fact that easily snaps CC's underclassmen to attention.
"It'll be much more appealing to play in front of the big crowds that we should get there," said sophomore forward Toby Petersen, who came to Colorado College straight out of high school in Bloomington, Minn. "Sure, I considered the new arena in making my decision to come here. That's not to say I wouldn't have come to CC otherwise, but it definitely was a factor. It's exciting to be part of the first team in there and to know that I'll spend most of my collegiate career playing there."
Construction began last summer, shortly after ground-breaking ceremonies on June 1. A creation of HOK Sports Facilities Group of Kansas City, Mo., the same architectural firm that designed Coors Field in Denver and Camden Yards in Baltimore, the Colorado Springs World Arena will be a state-of-the-art, technically-equipped building with a wide variety of uses. "It's going to be a first-class facility," said Lucia, "one that our fans really will enjoy watching games at." Located in the southern end of the Colorado Springs business district adjacent to Interstate 25, it also will be a short drive from campus compared to the Academy's distance of 16 miles.
"I've heard a lot of people say that they don't like going all the way up to Air Force," Petersen said, "but that they will go to the new rink because it's closer."
"Hopefully, more of the student body will come out and support the team," added junior defenseman Scott Swanson of Cottage Grove, Minn.
Both Swanson and Petersen are quick to point out the advantages of a larger ice surface for a team like Colorado College. The Tigers have won many big games on the road the last four seasons, particularly on Olympic-size sheets at Alaska Anchorage, Minnesota, St. Cloud State and Wisconsin.
"I think our team is better suited to the larger ice," Swanson said. "We've had a lot of success in those rinks."
"The big ice fits my style a little better," added Petersen. "I like having more room."
"We've tried to recruit the type of players whose style is conducive to the larger ice - speed and skill over size," Lucia said. "We'll be playing 80 percent of our games on Olympic-size sheets in the future, so there will be even more of an emphasis on passing and stickhandling. That's the way the game should be played - you try to play with the puck, not without it."
The opening of the new arena also will allow Colorado College to play most of its home games on Friday and Saturday nights. Due to scheduling conflicts with Air Force's own hockey team as well as AFA basketball games in the same building, the Tigers have been forced to skate on Saturday and Sunday afternoons for much of the last three campaigns.
"It'll be nice to have at least one day over the weekend to relax and forget about hockey," said Swanson. "You can't really do that when you're playing on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, then have to go to class first thing Monday morning."
No more tight quarters, either. After sharing limited space with AFA personnel since the 1994-95 campaign, CC will occupy its own private, oversized locker room at the Colorado Springs World Arena. Swanson, for one, will bid good riddance to the distractions.
"We won't have 7-foot basketball players walking through our locker room anymore," he said. "And we'll actually be able to see each other. Our locker room at Air Force is divided up into three separate areas."
Obviously, Lucia is excited about the the Colorado Springs World Arena as a recruiting tool in years to come.
"Next year is when it will start to have a real impact (on recruiting)," he said. "We'll be able to bring somebody in and actually see it.
"This has always been one of the best places to live, as well as one of the top schools academically ... Now we're going to have an arena. With all those things, Colorado College should be one of the top choices that elite hockey players throughout North America can make for their future."