By playing St. Lawrence in the Oncenter War Memorial Arena, a historic Syracuse landmark for over 60 years, the 2019 Syracuse women’s hockey team has something in common with Queen, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.

One hundred and sixty-nine fans saw Syracuse (2-11, 1-1 College Hockey America) lose to St. Lawrence (5-4-3, 2-1-1 ECAC) in overtime, 4-3, on Saturday in an arena known for hosting some of the biggest names in music and memorializing veterans from World Wars I and II. War Memorial Arena is also home to the Syracuse Crunch, the AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Orange typically plays at Tennity Ice Pavilion, and the change of scenery affected both the on-ice play and fan experience.  

“We’re lucky we got the War Memorial,” said SU head coach Paul Flanagan. “The Crunch are really good to us.”

Saturday’s game was originally scheduled to be an away game at St. Lawrence, but the Saints rink is currently being renovated. The game was then shifted back to Tennity Ice Pavilion, but a scheduling conflict with SU’s men’s club hockey team left nowhere for the game to be played.

Flanagan called Jim Sarosy, the Crunch’s chief operating officer. The Orange had played at War Memorial 12 times before, including six times during the 2015-16 season. Sarosy rented the ice to SU for an undisclosed amount but said everyone would be kicked out at 5 p.m. for the Crunch’s 7 p.m. puck drop. SU’s game ended at 4:02 p.m.

Syracuse last played at the War Memorial in 2016-17, so its freshmen experienced the ice for the first time. They played in an arena with the capacity of 5,800, compared to Tennity, which can hold about 350.

While players including freshman Madison Beishuizen said they were excited to play in the professional rink, Flanagan said he prefers the smaller arena because it feels fuller.

“The atmosphere, obviously if there’s 250 people here (Tennity), you can hear everybody,” Flanagan said. “Over there (War Memorial) it’s pretty quiet just because it’s pretty big.”

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Tennity Ice Pavilion opened in 2000. In its 19 years, only the locker room has been renovated. The team would like for there to be heating, individualized seats and more parking to enhance the fan experience, they said.

Though both rinks are NHL-sized 200 feet by 85, players said the ice felt more open at War Memorial. In Saturday’s back-and-forth game, the Orange found more space and used the boards more than usual. Both teams created several breakaway chances and used the boards to clear the puck and carrom passes back to themselves. 

“It felt like it was a lot bigger, I don’t know how much of a difference it is but I feel like we had a lot more room,” said SU redshirt senior Lindsay Eastwood. “I personally like that we have more room and it feels like you have more time.”

The fans at War Memorial also had more room. Like every home game, the family and friends of players made up most of the fans in attendance. Even though the game was at the War Memorial, there was no visible difference in attendance.

But unlike Tennity, the War Memorial had Syracuse colors on screens that wrapped around the rink. After every SU goal, strobe lights flashed. Fans said they liked the elevated, padded seating more as it gave them a better view of the action.

The biggest draw for fans in attendance was the jumbotron. Fans Natalia Krzaniak and Petra Van Eeghen said the screen showed replays and live action, which Tennity doesn’t have. Both Krzaniak and Van Eeghen said they preferred atmosphere at the War Memorial.

For Eastwood, Saturday’s loss was her final game of eight at the War Memorial.

“It’s a professional rink,” Eastwood said, “Which is neat, you know we got the big screen, it’s like we’re in the pros.”

Published on November 17, 2019 at 10:14 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu