Now that interest in UMass hockey is approaching an all-time high, it’s time for an off-ice makeover to improve the fan experience at the Mullins Center.
First, return goal judges to their rightful places behind the end boards. Seeing the red light after a Minutemen goal would evoke a visceral and spontaneous celebration and improve home ice advantage.
Hockey East changed its policy at the end of the 2011-12 season, creating what associate commissioner Brian Smith calls “some idiosyncrasies across the league. We’ve had some back and forth on that.”
Detractors claim that technology has rendered goal judges as useless as a caboose, but Smith said,“They’re part of the sport, and it’s easier to follow along with the action.”
The Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers still use goal judges, and the American Hockey League requires them everywhere. “They’re part of the game,” said Greenfield’s Todd McDonald, the senior director of ticket sales for the Springfield Thunderbirds, “we’ve never considered not using goal judges.”
Indeed, without them former journeyman Andre Racicot would never have garnered the nickname “Red Light.”
According to a twice-told tale by Sports Illustrated’s E.M. Swift, in the 1940s an NHL goalie named Wilf Cude was having dinner with his wife when she asked him about hockey. “In at least one version of the story,” wrote Swift, “the red light of the stove flashed on as she was talking, and something in Cude snapped. He picked up the steak and fired it at her. He missed, and before the meat had slithered down the wall, Cude had decided to retire.”
Admittedly there’s a provincial bent to this suggestion. The previous goal judges who sat behind the glass in Amherst all hailed from Franklin County. The first two were the late Ted Croteau of Montague and Bob Howe of Greenfield. When Howe retired his son Todd took over, and later Mike Duclos and Todd Boynton lit the lamp. “Those were the days,” Duclos remembered fondly. “I’d show up early, go to the press room for a sandwich and then do the game.”
After a six-year absence, it’s time to bring back the best seats in the house.
In the dark cold of winter, nobody likes standing outside waiting in line to go through a metal detector.
“Everything out of your pockets!” yell the security folks an hour before faceoff, making fans feel like they’re at a TSA checkpoint.
A 60-year-old woman had her bottle of water confiscated. “It might be vodka,” said the security staffer. A retired Greenfield surgeon had to go through the metal detector twice, then got patted down with a handheld detector.
Here’s the deal, Harry from Hamp’s not a terrorist. Even the criminals are coming to watch a hockey game not mug people in the bathroom.
Sometimes security pulls its third class power trip with the wrong guy. When the father of a former UMass hockey captain was told to leave a spot despite not being in anyone’s line of vision, he didn’t budge. “We’ve been standing here for 12 years,” he replied.
The staffer threatened to get a supervisor but left and never returned.
The powers that be need to realize these are college hockey games, not the Stanley Cup finals.
Here’s a few more suggestions. When the opposing team scores a goal, show the replay. Fans might have missed the goal or simply want to see what happened. OK, so the enemy scored, they can handle it.
Also, hand out lineup sheets. Fans want to know who coach Greg Carvel is skating on each line and who’s paired on defense and starting in goal. The more information the fans are given, the more they’ll be into the game.
Lastly, sell quality wear like the T-shirts the players wear at the press conferences. This team can go deep into the NCAA tournament, help the fans identify.
UMass teams under Toot Cahoon were notorious for their second half fades and too-many-men-on-the-ice penalties. Some observers dreaded deja-lose after the 2-1 loss to UMass-Lowell on Friday. “I couldn’t believe how many texts I got, ‘What’s wrong with UMass?’” said an incredulous Brock Hines, the team’s radio analyst.
On Saturday the Minutemen bounced back with a 6-1 win against AIC before 3,024 at the MassMutual Center. This weekend they’ll play back-to-back home games against the hapless UVM Catamounts.
The Minutemen are 15-3 and ranked No. 2 behind St. Cloud State (14-2-2) in both national polls. They are well-coached, focused, talented and disciplined, and of their 74 penalties only one has been for too many men on the ice.
Before the UMass-Lowell game, Carvel had hinted he’d start third-string backup Brad Arvantis between the pipes the next day in Springfield. After the loss, Carvel opted for regular tendie Matt Murray who stopped 20 shots and racked up his 12th win.
The usual second-stringer Fille Lindberg was in Vancouver backing up Finland’s Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at the World Juniors. The Sabres’ second-round pick in the 2017 draft, Luukkonen made 25 saves to help the Finns beat the U.S., 3-2, in the gold medal game.
Lindberg’s on-ice contribution was an 18-save shutout against Kazakhstan in the preliminaries.
Faces in the crowd on Friday included Milan Kilik of the Czech Republic. Kilik was with Phil Corrinet, whose son Chris played for Toot Cahoon at Princeton and was a Washington Caps fourth-round pick in 1998. (He played 130 games in the AHL and eight games with the Capitals.)
Kilik skated for the GHS Green Wave while he was an exchange student in 2005-06. He stayed with teammate Will Conant and his mother Nancy Conant at their home on Maple Street.
Currently he’s VP of Sales & Customer Care for Sense Arena, a Greenfield-based virtual reality company. “David Pastrnak is a shareholder,” said Kilik, referencing the Bruins forward.
The company promotes hockey practice efficiency. Wearing the goggles, said Kilik, “a player can take 50 slapshots in 90 seconds.”