By: Mark Pierson
The Colgate Raiders have been hosting the Cape Cod Classic at the Hyannis Youth & Community Center for the past couple of years against the Army Black Knights. This year, due to a scheduling conflict with West Point, they invited the Bobcats for a non-conference tilt, so I packed an overnight bag and set out on the three hour trip to the Cape.
While close enough to do in a day, it was decided to book a room and enjoy the off-season ambiance of Cape Cod sandwiched around a hockey game. So the Days Inn on Rt 132 is where I stayed. As I pulled into the parking lot early Saturday afternoon I spotted a familiar looking big red Dattco bus. Yes, the team traveled up on Friday afternoon and spent the night in my hotel. As I walked into the lobby to check in, there was a poster in the window advertising the game (I swear I took a picture of it but, alas, I can’t find it on my phone).
As I later drove around town on my way to an early dinner I noticed several more of these posters in storefronts. Apparently hockey is pretty popular on the Cape. Who knew? I won’t go into specifics on my restaurant choice since the Cape has too many to choose from. All I’ll say is that seafood was in order, and it was delicious! Time for some hockey… I left the hotel and headed towards the HYCC, which is only 1-1/2 miles from the Days Inn. It’s very easy to find and seems to have ample parking for its 2 NHL-sized rinks plus other amenities. As I pulled into the lot there were dozens of young kids coming out front doors toting hockey gear, evidence that youth hockey is alive and well on the Cape.
Inside, off the rather spacious TD Bank lobby is a pro shop, a community police office, a spacious gymnasium, and a full service snack bar with a rather complete offering. Since I had just eaten a rather healthy portion of shrimp, the pretzels and popcorn weren’t getting much of my attention. During the first intermission a youngster in front of me was putting away a cheeseburger and fries that smelled terrific. The main rinks bench seating holds 1600. The second rink has an advertised capacity of 275. As popular as the facility is it seems odd that it wasn’t built with more seating, but then again it is a community rink with all the associated budgetary constraints.
The rink itself was bright with a low hanging ceiling and a large scoreboard on the left end and a smaller one in the far right corner. There is no formal press box so the intrepid QU announcers were seated at a folding table up on the small center ice concourse. Everyone warned me that the rink was chilly inside, but I found no worse than anywhere else. In fact, I didn’t think it was as cold as the Bank.
The team benches are on the opposite side of the ice with the scorer’s table and penalty boxes between them. Tunnels to the locker rooms are located at each blue line under the bleachers. The only negative I saw (besides the small number of seats) was that safety netting is hung completely around the spectator area above the glass. Personally I don’t like watching through the netting but I can understand it’s done that way to keep the fans safe.
Read more about Mark's trip on FTNTTB.
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