1989 And Still Waiting: Rink Review: Princeton's Hobey Baker Rink

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Rink Review: Princeton's Hobey Baker Rink

It's been a while since I've had a Rink Review. It was a busy December, but I did get a chance to check out a game at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink, the home of the Princeton Tigers. This review is based off my only visit to the oldest rink in the league.

Here is what Wikipedia says about HBMR:

Hobey Baker Memorial Rink is a 2,092-seat hockey arena in Princeton, New Jersey. It is home to the Princeton University Tigers men's and women's ice hockey teams as well as the venue for club and intramural hockey teams, intramural broomball, figure skating and recreational skating. It is the only ice skating rink on the Princeton University campus. It is named in honor of former Princeton star, Hobart A.H. "Hobey" Baker, '14. Baker was a football and hockey star who died shortly after World War I. In December 1921, it was decided to build an on-campus arena for the hockey team, and to name it after Baker. Efforts to modernize the arena began in the mid-1970s with major improvements including the addition of locker rooms, a skate sharpening room and a stick storage room in 1981, a new scoreboard and lighting improvements in 1984 and a renovation of the roof in 2002. It is now the third oldest arena still in use in college hockey, behind Matthews Arena at Northeastern University and Sage Rink at Hamilton College.

You can learn more about the arena on the Princeton Athletics Website.

The arena being built

Here's my evaluation:

Atmosphere:
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much of an atmosphere at Princeton, mainly because I have been told by a few people that it was one of the worst in the league. But, I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd at HBMR. The game I attended was a sellout, and the crowd was very into it (it was an exciting game). Since the rink is small, all the people are packed in closely together, which created a pretty nice buzz in the arena.

The thing I liked the best about the atmosphere at the rink was the Princeton pep band, which is located in the only "upper" section of the rink, right above the opposing goaltender. They wore their orange, and played good and loud music. I especially liked the guy in the marching band leader outfit waving the baton. He was really into it. That's something that I haven't really seen from a college hockey band.

Tradition:

George Parros with the Stanley Cup at HBMR

As I had hoped, HBMR had a ton of tradition. It was my favorite part of the rink. I loved how much orange there was everywhere, including the orange and black banners and the seats. It made you know that you were in Princeton's house. I also really liked how the Tigers honored their past. The posters of famous Tiger alumni surrounding the seat entrances were a great touch. I really liked the poster of George Parros. The display dedicated to Hobey Baker was also awesome (see pictures).

Functionality and Amenities:
While the rink itself is also a great tradition, it is very obvious that HBMR is the second oldest rink in D-1 hockey. The arena is very small and old. While the seating area went all the way around the rink (something I like), the highest row you can sit in is the fifth or sixth row. So, while you're close to the action, the sight lines aren't that great. The closeness also made it very hard to walk around, which really didn't help when you wanted to go to the only concession stand on one side of the arena. I also wasn't a fan of the old-looking scoreboard, and the pressbox being on one side. I did think it was kind of cool that you had to go "outside" (entrance to seats is covered by glass) to get to your seat, but the hallways were narrow.

Other Thoughts:
I haven't heard or seen this anywhere, but it looks like the rink could have been an old church. The outside of the rink is made of stone, like a church, and their pep band sat in the only upper section of the arena, which looked like the second-level seating that is seen in some churches.

Here are some pictures I took: