ZoomZoom18 Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 http://www.traxhockey.com/Pictures.html My lovely hometown of Indianapolis has a new team in the MWHL, playing at Pan American Plaza (where I played JV hockey in 97-98) and well after seeing the jerseys, all I can say is... WHAT THE?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akteon Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 Wow. Kinda reminds me of the failed Cincinnati RailRaiders - although they had a definitely more modern feel to their railroad related designs. I miss the days of the the Indianapolis Ice with their beer-brand-like logo. If I recall the PanAm center isn't that big - atleast from a seating perspective (did have the nice upper and lower rink). Unless they've updated it in the last 6-7 years, last time I was there for a tournament it seemed to only hold about 500 people in the main upper rink. Then again the Pepsi Arena at the fairgrounds where I saw the Ice play a few times and where we (UK) played Butler and Purdue a couple of times was kind of a dump (reminded me of Dayton's Hara Arena) but atleast it had a fair number of seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoomZoom18 Posted July 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 Wow. Kinda reminds me of the failed Cincinnati RailRaiders - although they had a definitely more modern feel to their railroad related designs. I miss the days of the the Indianapolis Ice with their beer-brand-like logo.If I recall the PanAm center isn't that big - atleast from a seating perspective (did have the nice upper and lower rink). Unless they've updated it in the last 6-7 years, last time I was there for a tournament it seemed to only hold about 500 people in the main upper rink. Then again the Pepsi Arena at the fairgrounds where I saw the Ice play a few times and where we (UK) played Butler and Purdue a couple of times was kind of a dump (reminded me of Dayton's Hara Arena) but atleast it had a fair number of seats. I miss those days as well, that's still one of my all-time favorite jerseys and logo. I do miss Market Square Arena. The Ice weren't doing too hot attendance-wise in the latter days of the venue, but it was a fun place to watch a game. The website mentioned about how Pan Am had a capacity for 1000 people, so they may have updated it. I've not been there since 2004 and haven't lived in Indy since 2003, so I've not kept up with the facility as much since I left college. Now I'm kinda curious to see how it'd support the team. Columbus, Indiana is getting a team as well and if its at the rink that I'm thinking, it should be a nice little facility. Ahh yes, the Pepsi Coliseum, that old barn was a different place. I remember watching a CHL game there once and the lights went out during the game (thankfully it was a Sunday afternoon game). Watching the Ice there one year, it had been raining outside and sure enough I started to feel some drops on my head. Looking up, you could see small holes in the roof. Those locker rooms SUCKED. You mentioned you played for UK, what years did you play there? I was on IUPUI's shortlived club team in 1999 and due to financial issues (for some reason they thought they could go to the MCHL) we didn't last the season. We were supposed to play UK at one point in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akteon Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 I never played for UK - I tried out when I got to school down there in '92 but soon realized they were more than just a couple of redneck kids with skates, and I was no where good enough to play for them. So I offered to help them out - going from a student manager (glorified water boy) to become the team's Media Director from 1994 until 2007 when I "retired" after moving to Cincinnati (based on a phone call last night some people have yet to accept my retirement and keep trying to suck me back in). I know we played IUPUI a couple times over the years - but I do remember atleast one year when the IUPUI team folded before they were able to come down and play us in Lexington. Butler and Louisville often had similar problems keeping programs together year to year - with teams like IU and Purdue being on the other end with good support from the school keeping them around. Speaking of bad rinks, the sole rink in Lexington is a complete dump - but the only thing UK had/has going for it was that the games were at midnight and the rink was always packed with fans. The midnight games were originally due to the rink not wanting to give up the money from late night weekend open skates, but eventually just became tradition. Since the bars used to close at 1am in Lexington, there'd always be a line of cabs leaving the bars to head to the rink. Plus the midnight starts never put the hockey games into competition with basketball or football games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoomZoom18 Posted July 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 That year the IUPUI team folded was the year I played for them. We were clearly out of our league with the support and the fact that IUPUI is a commuter school made our roster numbers question marks most nights. I got started playing hockey at 15, so I was still rather new at it when I went out for the team my freshman year of college. In fact, I was told at some of the first practices that I wouldn't be seeing much ice time and the coach (Lark Hahn, the head of officiating for the CHL at the time) was asking me if I really wanted to do it, as my skill level was going to make me a prime target for other teams to take shots at. He offered me the manager position. I went ahead with playing and played only two shifts our first weekend against Ohio State managing to nab an assist. Problem was, what started out as 15-16 guys soon whittled its way down to like 11-12 for the games. Some guys would show up for one night and then wouldn't come for the next. One guy ended up leaving school to go play junior hockey. Some nights, we even had guys who had played for the team the year before join up with us as ringers and play. Not to mention, Lark had just gotten the job with the CHL and wasn't even with us most nights. Our financial situation became bleak and that was pretty much it. After playing our last weekend against Miami of Ohio, we were supposed to play you guys (IIRC the next weekend), but cancelled it. That next Friday night, we had a meeting on who wanted to keep this thing going, only four guys (me included) showed up. That was it for IUPUI hockey while I was in school. I ended up playing a lot of time and in twelve games got 4 assists. Our team had no discipline and were usually getting beaten...badly. I'll never forget my last game for the team, I was lined up against a Miami defender and he was coaching me on the ice. As we were getting slaughtered like 15-2. One guy's brother was drafted by the Washington Capitals and played with the Predators before leaving the sport. Those were the days. Indy has a pretty good niche group of hockey people there, problem was, we couldn't get the support of the school and no one wanted to run the program and there weren't many who wanted to play. IUPUI wasn't the school to party. It didn't help someone was getting busted usually every road trip, for one thing or another which as you can imagine, really bothered the university. They tried to resurrect the team the summer that I left for the Air Force, and I got an offer to play again, but obviously had to turn it down. I'm still not sure how well the team did or what it did. Hopefully they started small and built up (and behaved). Going from an independent team to one of the top leagues in club hockey didn't help the first time around. I never played for UK - I tried out when I got to school down there in '92 but soon realized they were more than just a couple of redneck kids with skates, and I was no where good enough to play for them. So I offered to help them out - going from a student manager (glorified water boy) to become the team's Media Director from 1994 until 2007 when I "retired" after moving to Cincinnati (based on a phone call last night some people have yet to accept my retirement and keep trying to suck me back in).I know we played IUPUI a couple times over the years - but I do remember atleast one year when the IUPUI team folded before they were able to come down and play us in Lexington. Butler and Louisville often had similar problems keeping programs together year to year - with teams like IU and Purdue being on the other end with good support from the school keeping them around. Speaking of bad rinks, the sole rink in Lexington is a complete dump - but the only thing UK had/has going for it was that the games were at midnight and the rink was always packed with fans. The midnight games were originally due to the rink not wanting to give up the money from late night weekend open skates, but eventually just became tradition. Since the bars used to close at 1am in Lexington, there'd always be a line of cabs leaving the bars to head to the rink. Plus the midnight starts never put the hockey games into competition with basketball or football games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabreFaninNYC Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 http://www.traxhockey.com/Pictures.htmlMy lovely hometown of Indianapolis has a new team in the MWHL, playing at Pan American Plaza (where I played JV hockey in 97-98) and well after seeing the jerseys, all I can say is... WHAT THE?!?! Yea that Jersey does leave a little bit to be desired. I do however, like the polar bear/TB Lightening motif of the MWHL's Icemen: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akteon Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Yea that Jersey does leave a little bit to be desired. I do however, like the polar bear/TB Lightening motif of the MWHL's Icemen: the best part of that jersey is the incredible detail recreating the mystique and wonder of the famous Evansville skyline ... okay i think i've filled my sarcasm quota for today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoomZoom18 Posted July 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 the best part of that jersey is the incredible detail recreating the mystique and wonder of the famous Evansville skyline ...okay i think i've filled my sarcasm quota for today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akteon Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Looking at the Columbus (IN) Rage - I didn't even know there was a rink there. All I know about Columbus, Indiana is that it was the exit off I-65 I took (or near it) to go to Bloomington when UK played IU at "the Frank" (yet another horrible rink). I always thought their claim to fame was that enormous bridge that seemed to serve no purpose on I-65. Kinda surprised after how many signs they have along the highway proclaiming how great this bridge is (despite just being a dressed-up overpass) that their team wouldn't be called "the Bridgelayers" or "the Bridge Brigade" or such. Then again maybe I'm horribly confused. Despite living in Kentucky and Ohio my whole life and spending a good deal of time in Indiana for various sporting events, I admit I don't know much about the state other than the Northern Indy area (Carmel) since I have family there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoomZoom18 Posted July 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 Looking at the Columbus (IN) Rage - I didn't even know there was a rink there. All I know about Columbus, Indiana is that it was the exit off I-65 I took (or near it) to go to Bloomington when UK played IU at "the Frank" (yet another horrible rink). I always thought their claim to fame was that enormous bridge that seemed to serve no purpose on I-65. Kinda surprised after how many signs they have along the highway proclaiming how great this bridge is (despite just being a dressed-up overpass) that their team wouldn't be called "the Bridgelayers" or "the Bridge Brigade" or such.Then again maybe I'm horribly confused. Despite living in Kentucky and Ohio my whole life and spending a good deal of time in Indiana for various sporting events, I admit I don't know much about the state other than the Northern Indy area (Carmel) since I have family there. Columbus has a pretty nice little facility for hockey down there. I played for Brebeuf JV and we went to Columbus once for a back-to-back weekends. The facility is old, but overall it was a fun place to play. Its my understanding too, that they have a pretty big hockey following for the high school, or at least it seemed that way. About the most I could tell you about Columbus otherwise is I've stopped through there on my way to Brown County and Tony Stewart lives there now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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