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| SLU's Appleton Arena |
I feel that the most important aspects to a college hockey arena are atmosphere, tradition, and functionality and amenities. So, I will be writing about each of those aspects, along with other random thoughts.
The first arena up is Appleton Arena, the home of the St. Lawrence Saints.
Here is what Wikipedia says about Appleton:
Appleton Arena is a 3,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Canton, New York. It is home to the St. Lawrence University Skating Saints ice hockey team. It was named for Judge Charles W. Appleton, class of 1897, the main benefactor of the arena as well as the riding center, which is named for his wife Elsa.
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| Vintage picture of Appleton |
Appleton Arena opened in January 1951. The Canton Community assisted with the construction of an adjacent outdoor rink previous to 1951. Appleton Arena was remodeled in the late 1970s and early 1980s to its current configuration. In 1999, the facade of the arena was renovated to allow for improved locker rooms (particularly for the growing women's program) and a larger lobby. Additionally, the playing surface was expanded to 85 feet by 200 feet, and a weight training facility was added. These renovations were specifically designed to improve the arena while only minimally changing the traditional wooden bleachers and general ambiance of the interior.
Atmosphere: I really enjoyed the atmosphere at Appleton. It was a packed house and the student section was filled to the brim. The students had their organized chants and were pretty good hecklers. They were really good at trying to mess with the opposing goaltender. While there was no pep band, there was a guy in the student section banging a drum, which seemed to help with the chants.
Tradition: With the rink being a classic one, there was plenty tradition at Appleton. I liked the long Red & White banners hanging from the rafters, and the display cases paying homage to former Saints throughout the rink. Another thing that added to this were the "Sweater Girls" (I'm not 100% sure what they're called), who acted as ushers for each section. Each wore a white sweater with a red 'L,' and I was told that they were hand-picked by the players.
Functionality and Amenities: The main entrance to the arena was spacious, but the rink concourse was extremely narrow. But, they did have pretty half-decent stairwells. There also wasn't a center, hanging scoreboard, which I found to be a tad annoying for some reason (probably because I wasn't use to it). I liked the shop where the walls were made out of hockey rink boards... just thought it was a nice touch. The food stands seemed to have pretty normal selection of food... the cookies were pretty good!
Other Thoughts: When I walked in to Appleton, the first thing that came to my mind was "this place looks like Medieval Times." I think the arena reminded me of this because of the dark wood throughout the entire place. Even the seats were wooden. The small section behind the oppositions net for the 1st and 3rd periods reminded me of the special suite for a king and queen at a jousting match for some reason too. I also thought it was pretty hilarious that above each section there was a classic-looking "Please No Smoking" sign because if someone were to light a match in there the place would obviously go up in flames in a second.
Here are some pictures I took:
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| The banners celebrating SLU men's hockey championships. |
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| The center ice logo at Appleton is the school shield |
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| You can see the separated "King & Queen suite" over the Zamboni door |
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| The dark wood seats |
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| Maybe this shield on the video booth made me think of Medieval Times |
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| From the corner of the rink next to the "perch" where the SLU scratches sit |
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| Coach Marsh's office was right in the middle of one of the narrow concourses |
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