Toscano Family Ice Forum Impressions

[ct06111]

I’ll start…
Place is like the rent. Sold out yet empty seats and people standing on concourse.

I just wish for the first game, everyone would sit in their seats.

Place is a morgue, just like XL. No one stood during announcements or puck drop. 1st game? Come on

Not really loud or intimidating atmosphere YET. IMO

 

[Bomber36]

I’ll start…
Place is like the rent. Sold out yet empty seats and people standing on concourse.

I just wish for the first game, everyone would sit in their seats.

Place is a morgue, just like XL. No one stood during announcements or puck drop. 1st game? Come on

Not really loud or intimidating atmosphere YET. IMO

That is coming across on TV…very quiet.

 

[ct06111]

Other observations:
The student deck thing is gotta go.
Complete waste of space.
Unless your at the edge, you can’t see and there’s 50 feet of empty space behind it.
It creates obstructed view seats
Students hate it. Gotta stand the whole time and can’t leave.
Just make the whole thing benches and jam more in here

Like the old retro scoreboard in corner.
Get rid of the ice lounge seats in front. The extra ticket $$$ isn’t worth it IMO.

 

[CTBballfan243]

They gotta expand on the other side of the club lounge. Let people stand above the brick area.

Plenty if empty seats tonight. No reason to expand. Looks like they got the seating capacity right for now.

 

[husky8273]

Other observations:
The student deck thing is gotta go.
Complete waste of space.
Unless your at the edge, you can’t see and there’s 50 feet of empty space behind it.
It creates obstructed view seats
Students hate it. Gotta stand the whole time and can’t leave.
Just make the whole thing benches and jam more in here

Like the old retro scoreboard in corner.
Get rid of the ice lounge seats in front. The extra ticket $$$ isn’t worth it IMO.

other observations from those that attended? concessions? parking?

 

[Brunoblue]

Observations;
1. Parking was great.easy in, easy out.
2. Concessions are too few, I only saw 3 spots, lines were interminable.
3. Food choices are on a par with XL, which is to say they suck. What does it take to offer better food?
4. Sight lines and seats are beautiful. Every seat had a drink holder but they are way too shallow. Drink cans can be tipped out of the holders way to easily.
5. Sound system is really good. Very loud, no distortion.
6. Video board is top shelf, big, clear image…I could plainly see that the refs blew the game misconduct call at the end. No way that was not a penalty.
7, If you cough up the puck to a team as good as Northeastern they will make you pay.

 

[ct06111]

other observations from those that attended? concessions? parking?

Security: metal detectors are outside
Fire pit is sweet.

Concessions:
Normal gampel corner food. Long lines, but as expected. 2 main spots and I think2 additional beer stands. Not sure on the beer as wasn’t drinking. No bears or dairy bar. That has to change.
3-4 marketing tables with gear for sale.
Gotta do 50-50 raffles again
Parking:
Oh, u gotta get a I pass if a Season ticket holders. I’m sure they’re gonna charge $$$ yea. Was really nice leaving 122 using the side doors right to I east.
Sucks if you gotta walk to south garage. Cold walk. Saw lots of people doing that. Wasn’t horrible leaving, but was scattered as lots left when it became 4-2. Many didn’t see the end.

Upper club lounge is nice. Would have been nice to check it out, but was pass required to get up there.
$$$ bucks/priority points I’m sure to sit up there. That’s where the Jim’s and York was. Should have been more boos LOL. Funny a young security guard goes when they were showing Calhoun. He goes to me “Wait, that’s the basketball coach” ?

Kid didn’t know who he was.

I was like what? You don’t know who that guy is? Dudes a legend

 

[Viet Vet]

Must exit right out of Lot I East. No direct access to Separatist Rd.

 

[jho]

Must exit right out of Lot I East. No direct access to Separatist Rd.

Must exit left out of I Lot West toward Separatist Rd. Overall, easy in, easy out.

 

[gampelcrazies]

Overall I’d give the new arena a “B” grade.

Positives:
-Sight lines are great
-Good amount of seat room/leg room
- Scoreboard is nice. Also like the old school board.


Things I wish were different:
-Concourse is tight

• Small Bathrooms
• Limited food/drink options
• Cupholders in the seats aren’t deep enough and are not out long enough

-Student deck is a joke


Overtime I’m sure they will add things but it feels like a newer Gampel. Still great to see hockey back on campus.

 

[ShockedTheWorld]

Security: metal detectors are outside
Fire pit is sweet.

Concessions:
Normal gampel corner food. Long lines, but as expected. 2 main spots and I think2 additional beer stands. Not sure on the beer as wasn’t drinking. No bears or dairy bar. That has to change.
3-4 marketing tables with gear for sale.
Gotta do 50-50 raffles again
Parking:
Oh, u gotta get a I pass if a Season ticket holders. I’m sure they’re gonna charge $$$ yea. Was really nice leaving 122 using the side doors right to I east.
Sucks if you gotta walk to south garage. Cold walk. Saw lots of people doing that. Wasn’t horrible leaving, but was scattered as lots left when it became 4-2. Many didn’t see the end.

Upper club lounge is nice. Would have been nice to check it out, but was pass required to get up there.
$$$ bucks/priority points I’m sure to sit up there. That’s where the Jim’s and York was. Should have been more boos LOL. Funny a young security guard goes when they were showing Calhoun. He goes to me “Wait, that’s the basketball coach” ?

Kid didn’t know who he was.

I was like what? You don’t know who that guy is? Dudes a legend

Definitely hope they add some more concession options in the future - Bear's stand, etc... like you mentioned. Didn't get any food but the main concession line was very long when we entered at 7pm. Waited in the beer stand line on the stand on the bathrooms side corner, seemed long but went very quickly. Definitely more efficient than XL.

Cupholders at seats should be deeper. We had to be very careful with elbows to not knock over drinks. Can't imagine that will ever change since they are molded to the seats.

I was in 115 in the last row of the section, and we sat down and had a partially obstructed view from the aisle seat from one of the media stands that they put on the concourse. Watched the first period from there, wasn't terrible, then the GM of ticket sales comes up to us and start apologizing profusely for the view. Said they will be making changes and addressing all view issues after the season. But he moved us to 112, 2 rows behind the visitors bench. Great seats. They will be reaching out this week to move our tickets down to those seats for the rest of the season. Thought that was pretty nice of the staff to be doing that during the game.

Parking was easy (I East), would have preferred to exit left down Separatist but can deal with looping down Alumni Road to N. Eagleville with these crowds. Way better than leaving a MBB at Gampel!

Great barn to watch hockey at. Felt like a real, college venue. Video board is awesome, sound system is great. You can see and hear the game a lot better obviously with the intimate venue. Let's just add some more instead of that student deck and we'll be all set!

 

[DblCrossbar]

Many astute observations so far.. some give or take stream of consciousness additions here..

• Food is worse than at XL when XL has full offerings and 4k+ fans. XL has Bears, Teds, WoosterStreet Pizza and Chick Fillet
• No Draft Beer or Baileys coffee station at Tuscano. Understandable but . XL wins there . No Dunkin either even though they're meh.
• Those round plastic things attached to the chairbacks are actually puck holders, because that's all they can safely contain.
• The sound system is way too loud. Gotta take it down 6-10 dB. I shouldn't have to yell at the person next to me to communicate. Maybe texting or this forum is the only way.
• Lance the Announcer needs to stop with the funeral like tone in his voice when indicating the other team has scored. It subtly juices up the opponent and depresses the home team and is cringy. Same with Hartford Athletic games, but the PA is so soft at Dillon that the Supporters sections drowns him out there.
• On the other hand the crowd sounds are not very loud - much softer than at XL.
• Lighting of the ice surface is spot on and terrific
• I'm definitely a fan of benches across the ice surface rather than NHL style adjacent
• A bit surprised Brass Bonanza after goals is a thing here - I figured that was just a Hartford nod, but it's the theme to this team in perpetuity - and we got to hear the organ part, twice!
• Sightlines are more than fine but with the super tall benches there's very tall glass behind them so even though you're in the 4th or even 5th row from the ice you're looking through glass the entire game.
• Are the new in between period games crap because they want the Zamboni/Olympias out on the ice surface sooner so it has a more drying time? If so I have no issue with that if it means better quality ice at puck drop.
• There was a patch/scar on the ice that two skaters seem to trip over - one UConn and another NU in the zone where the student section is
• UConn should ask soccer Capos or watch student section at other games to figure out how to incorporate them into the atmosphere. Maybe it has to do with winter break, but they need to be far more active giving the opposing team heck.
• The band is in a great spot. They sound very good even though I'm on the opposite side and aren't mic'd. In fact when they play it's a break for my ears from sounds blasted from the PA lol.
• Tuscano blueprint posters are FIRE. And free t-shirts are always great too,
• There are better hockey offerings at the team shop than at XL - though I would love one of those gradient jerseys that VietVet hates so much
• Student Deck seems like the only place that can offer seat expansion - probably on risers if not build in at some point

Hopefully the main attraction here will be the team and it's performance. The venue was built with recruiting in mind first. Fan experience components are there, but were secondary to the goal of giving players the best tool to improve their student athlete journey.

I'm hoping for an even split between games at Tuscano at XL in the upcoming season, but it will probably be weighted towards Tuscano.

 

[JeannoCT]

UConn hockey honored past student-athletes who were present. My guess is quite a few of them played in the outdoor rink! Also during the breaks between periods, they had video clips of more recent student-athletes sharing their thoughts and well wishes. Tage Thompson even made an appearance! It was a nice touch by UConn to honor those who built the program.

 

[JeannoCT]

Many astute observations so far.. some give or take stream of consciousness additions here..

• Food is worse than at XL when XL has full offerings and 4k+ fans. XL has Bears, Teds, WoosterStreet Pizza and Chick Fillet
• No Draft Beer at Tuscano. Understandable but . XL wins there
• Those round plastic things attached to the chairbacks are actually puck holders, because that's all they can safely contain.
• The sound system is way too loud. Gotta take it down 6-10 dB. I shouldn't have to yell at the person next to me to communicate. Maybe texting or this forum is the only way.
• Lance the Announcer needs to stop with the funeral like tone in his voice when indicating the other team has scored. It subtly juices up the opponent and depresses the home team and is cringy. Same with Hartford Athletic games, but the PA is so soft at Dillon that the Supporters sections drowns him out there.
• On the other hand the crowd sounds are not very loud - much softer than at XL.
• Lighting of the ice surface is spot on and terrific
• I'm definitely a fan of benches across the ice surface rather than NHL style adjacent
• A bit surprised Brass Bonanza after goals is a thing here - I figured that was just a Hartford nod, but it's the theme to this team in perpetuity - and we got to hear the organ part, twice!
• Sightlines are more than fine but with the super tall benches there's very tall glass behind them so even though you're in the 4th or even 5th row from the ice you're looking through glass the entire game.
• Are the new in between period games crap because they want the Zamboni/Olympias out on the ice surface sooner so it has a more drying time? If so I have no issue with that if it means better quality ice at puck drop.
• There was a patch/scar on the ice that two skaters seem to trip over - one UConn and another NU in the zone where the student section is
• UConn should ask soccer Capos or watch student section at other games to figure out how to incorporate them into the atmosphere. Maybe it has to do with winter break, but they need to be far more active giving the opposing team heck.
• The band is in a great spot. They sound very good even though I'm on the opposite side and aren't mic'd. In fact when they play it's a break for my ears from sounds blasted from the PA lol.
• Tuscano blueprint posters are FIRE. And free t-shirts are always great too,
• There are better hockey offerings at the team shop than at XL - though I would love one of those gradient jerseys that VietVet hates so much
• Student Deck seems like the only place that can offer seat expansion - probably on risers if not build in at some point

Hopefully the main attraction here will be the team and it's performance. The venue was built with recruiting in mind first. Fan experience components are there, but were secondary to the goal of giving players the best tool to improve their student athlete journey.

I'm hoping for an even split between games at Tuscano at XL in the upcoming season, but it will probably be weighted towards Tuscano.

Totally agree about Lance the announcer. Funny the first time but just annoying now. Agree on the volume of the PA. They also play brass bonanza too long. The band is waiting to do the U C O N N cheer, and by the time they get to it, play has resumed and it's a little too late.

 

[DblCrossbar]

UConn hockey honored past student-athletes who were present. My guess is quite a few of them played in the outdoor rink! Also during the breaks between periods, they had video clips of more recent student-athletes sharing their thoughts and well wishes. Tage Thompson even made an appearance! It was a nice touch by UConn to honor those who built the program.

Those video nods were great. My only wish is that they had time to caption their names so they can be read. A player I thought was Tomas Vomacka wasn't as he came in a few clips later. But it was a great idea and fun to see faces that illuminated this program.

 

[tbabe72]

Many astute observations so far.. some give or take stream of consciousness additions here..

• Food is worse than at XL when XL has full offerings and 4k+ fans. XL has Bears, Teds, WoosterStreet Pizza and Chick Fillet
• No Draft Beer or Baileys coffee station at Tuscano. Understandable but . XL wins there . No Dunkin either even though they're meh.
• Those round plastic things attached to the chairbacks are actually puck holders, because that's all they can safely contain.
• The sound system is way too loud. Gotta take it down 6-10 dB. I shouldn't have to yell at the person next to me to communicate. Maybe texting or this forum is the only way.
• Lance the Announcer needs to stop with the funeral like tone in his voice when indicating the other team has scored. It subtly juices up the opponent and depresses the home team and is cringy. Same with Hartford Athletic games, but the PA is so soft at Dillon that the Supporters sections drowns him out there.
• On the other hand the crowd sounds are not very loud - much softer than at XL.
• Lighting of the ice surface is spot on and terrific
• I'm definitely a fan of benches across the ice surface rather than NHL style adjacent
• A bit surprised Brass Bonanza after goals is a thing here - I figured that was just a Hartford nod, but it's the theme to this team in perpetuity - and we got to hear the organ part, twice!
• Sightlines are more than fine but with the super tall benches there's very tall glass behind them so even though you're in the 4th or even 5th row from the ice you're looking through glass the entire game.
• Are the new in between period games crap because they want the Zamboni/Olympias out on the ice surface sooner so it has a more drying time? If so I have no issue with that if it means better quality ice at puck drop.
• There was a patch/scar on the ice that two skaters seem to trip over - one UConn and another NU in the zone where the student section is
• UConn should ask soccer Capos or watch student section at other games to figure out how to incorporate them into the atmosphere. Maybe it has to do with winter break, but they need to be far more active giving the opposing team heck.
• The band is in a great spot. They sound very good even though I'm on the opposite side and aren't mic'd. In fact when they play it's a break for my ears from sounds blasted from the PA lol.
• Tuscano blueprint posters are FIRE. And free t-shirts are always great too,
• There are better hockey offerings at the team shop than at XL - though I would love one of those gradient jerseys that VietVet hates so much
• Student Deck seems like the only place that can offer seat expansion - probably on risers if not build in at some point

Hopefully the main attraction here will be the team and it's performance. The venue was built with recruiting in mind first. Fan experience components are there, but were secondary to the goal of giving players the best tool to improve their student athlete journey.

I'm hoping for an even split between games at Tuscano at XL in the upcoming season, but it will probably be weighted towards Tuscano.

the on ice announcer has got to stop with the world coming to an end voice when opposing team scores. very disrespectful to the other team. also very bush league. Just speak normally please.

 

[DblCrossbar]

Plenty if empty seats tonight. No reason to expand. Looks like they got the seating capacity right for now.

Official attendance: 2691 . Some may have viewed elsewhere in the space, standing or lounges, but yeah, many sold out events have pockets of seats unoccupied.

 

[dbmill]

Must exit right out of Lot I East. No direct access to Separatist Rd.

Must exit left out of I Lot West toward Separatist Rd. Overall, easy in, easy out.

Imagine it would be like this for baseball and soccer games (possibly other sports as well). It does seem to make some sense, as it makes it easier to get out of those parking lots. After a game I would be going back home to Norwich, and going in either direction would not be all that bad for me.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Official attendance: 2691 . Some may have viewed elsewhere in the space, standing or lounges, but yeah, many sold out events have pockets of seats unoccupied.

Sucks to hear, it's the downside of having more than one fan lounge area in view of the rink. It's a great amenity, but detracts from the overall atmosphere since many end up just being there the whole game.

I saw a few pics from the top rows, the sightlines look great.

 

[Viet Vet]

Many astute observations so far.. some give or take stream of consciousness additions here..

• Food is worse than at XL when XL has full offerings and 4k+ fans. XL has Bears, Teds, WoosterStreet Pizza and Chick Fillet
• No Draft Beer or Baileys coffee station at Tuscano. Understandable but . XL wins there . No Dunkin either even though they're meh.
• Those round plastic things attached to the chairbacks are actually puck holders, because that's all they can safely contain.
• The sound system is way too loud. Gotta take it down 6-10 dB. I shouldn't have to yell at the person next to me to communicate. Maybe texting or this forum is the only way.
• Lance the Announcer needs to stop with the funeral like tone in his voice when indicating the other team has scored. It subtly juices up the opponent and depresses the home team and is cringy. Same with Hartford Athletic games, but the PA is so soft at Dillon that the Supporters sections drowns him out there.
• On the other hand the crowd sounds are not very loud - much softer than at XL.
• Lighting of the ice surface is spot on and terrific
• I'm definitely a fan of benches across the ice surface rather than NHL style adjacent
• A bit surprised Brass Bonanza after goals is a thing here - I figured that was just a Hartford nod, but it's the theme to this team in perpetuity - and we got to hear the organ part, twice!
• Sightlines are more than fine but with the super tall benches there's very tall glass behind them so even though you're in the 4th or even 5th row from the ice you're looking through glass the entire game.
• Are the new in between period games crap because they want the Zamboni/Olympias out on the ice surface sooner so it has a more drying time? If so I have no issue with that if it means better quality ice at puck drop.
• There was a patch/scar on the ice that two skaters seem to trip over - one UConn and another NU in the zone where the student section is
• UConn should ask soccer Capos or watch student section at other games to figure out how to incorporate them into the atmosphere. Maybe it has to do with winter break, but they need to be far more active giving the opposing team heck.
• The band is in a great spot. They sound very good even though I'm on the opposite side and aren't mic'd. In fact when they play it's a break for my ears from sounds blasted from the PA lol.
• Tuscano blueprint posters are FIRE. And free t-shirts are always great too,
• There are better hockey offerings at the team shop than at XL - though I would love one of those gradient jerseys that VietVet hates so much
• Student Deck seems like the only place that can offer seat expansion - probably on risers if not build in at some point

Hopefully the main attraction here will be the team and it's performance. The venue was built with recruiting in mind first. Fan experience components are there, but were secondary to the goal of giving players the best tool to improve their student athlete journey.

I'm hoping for an even split between games at Tuscano at XL in the upcoming season, but it will probably be weighted towards Tuscano.

DblCrossbar and I have XL season tickets next to each other, so he knows how much I hate the "figure skating" uniforms. Nice call

 

[JeannoCT]

Those video nods were great. My only wish is that they had time to caption their names so they can be read. A player I thought was Tomas Vomacka wasn't as he came in a few clips later. But it was a great idea and fun to see faces that illuminated this program.

I recognized all of them except one! The volume could have been a little louder too.

 

[TMB4405]

Overall the place was nice. A lot of good observations here. I guess I was expecting a bit more from a brand new arena. The student section as noted is really bad. Concessions not good and not enough points of sale. I think they can improve that but in a brand new building you should not have to wait 10-15 minutes in line. I also thought building would be louder than it was. Not sure if it was type of crowd or it’s just not going to be a loud building?

 

[DblCrossbar]

Overall the place was nice. A lot of good observations here. I guess I was expecting a bit more from a brand new arena. The student section as noted is really bad. Concessions not good and not enough points of sale. I think they can improve that but in a brand new building you should not have to wait 10-15 minutes in line. I also thought building would be louder than it was. Not sure if it was type of crowd or it’s just not going to be a loud building?

Students will need to step it up. Classes start tomorrow so I'd imagine there were a lot of them on Campus Saturday, and they had time to make their way to Toscano with the late start of 7:30pm. They packed their section at the XL yesterday for the noon game when the Men lost to St. John's . It's going to be a culture adjustment, but here it is, a campus arena, so we'll find out if it's inherently quiet (except for the booming PA system) or it's that the crowd needs to be juiced up more. Not that it should be necessary, but some prompting from the video-board in the interim to rile them up for items that aren't goals or bad calls would be helpful at this early juncture.

 

[UC15]

Students will need to step it up. Classes start tomorrow so I'd imagine there were a lot of them on Campus Saturday, and they had time to make their way to Toscano with the late start of 7:30pm. They packed their section at the XL yesterday for the noon game when the Men lost to St. John's . It's going to be a culture adjustment, but here it is, a campus arena, so we'll find out if it's inherently quiet (except for the booming PA system) or it's that the crowd needs to be juiced up more. Not that it should be necessary, but some prompting from the video-board in the interim to rile them up for items that aren't goals or bad calls would be helpful at this early juncture.

The student deck needs to be redone, absolute waste of space. Not all students can stand up there and see the game. They also don't get into the game as much if they're standing up there like they do at XL or Gampel when they have seats. Conceptionally it made sense because they wanted the band right next to the ice but in reality have the band sit in the corner. Take out the deck add seats and pack the students in there.

 

[gampelcrazies]

The student deck needs to be redone, absolute waste of space. Not all students can stand up there and see the game. They also don't get into the game as much if they're standing up there like they do at XL or Gampel when they have seats. Conceptionally it made sense because they wanted the band right next to the ice but in reality have the band sit in the corner. Take out the deck add seats and pack the students in there.

Someone was telling me the plan is to keep the deck and put risers of some sort. Don’t know how that will work.