The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, January 25, 2017 — 7A

Yost Ice Arena: A Michigan hockey tradition

Eight thousand, four hundred 

and eleven people filed their 
way into Yost Ice Arena back on 
January 29th, 1988. It was the 
highest attendance for a single 
hockey game in the building’s 
history.

At 
the 
time, 
maximum 

capacity for Yost was listed as 
8,100. But Michigan State was 
rolling in from East Lansing, 
and no one wanted to miss it. 
So, an extra 311 people crammed 
their way into one of college 
ice hockey’s most traditional 
buildings for a genuine in-state 
rivalry showdown.

Due to multiple renovations 

over the years, Yost’s capacity 
has decreased to 5,800. The 
average number of attendees for 
the 2015-16 season was 5,457 — 
a far cry from 8,411, but enough 
to topple over a 90% attendance 
rate.

Sophomore 
defenseman 

Nicholas Boka can attest to that 
kind of atmosphere after last 
weekend’s matchup against the 
Spartans.

“I 
keep 
using 
the 
word 

special, but it’s really special,” 
Boka said. “Seeing a huge 
crowd the other night playing 
Michigan State when we’re a 
.500 team. … It’s definitely an 
honor to play here.”

Established in 1923 as a 

multi-purpose athletic facility, 
the Fielding H. Yost Field 
House was originally home to 
an eight-lane running track, 
a 
portable 
basketball 
court 

and a winter practice facility 
for the baseball and football 
teams — all while leaving room 
for 7,500 spectators. It also 
provided locker room space 
and conditioning facilities to 
the football teams of Michigan 
football coach Bo Schembechler.

This was the facility Michigan 

hockey coach Red Berenson 
remembers during his first few 

visits to Yost.

“I was in school, and I came 

to a track meet. It was an indoor 
track meet and Tom Robinson 
was a runner,” said Berenson. 
“He was a friend of mine; he was 
from the Bahamas. He broke the 
world record for the 60-yard 
dash indoors here, at the time. …
And then I came to a basketball 
game here. I actually came for 
a baseball tryout my freshman 
year, might’ve been the first 
time I was in the building. They 
gave us an old ball to play catch 
with and that was about the 
extent of the tryout.”

About 10 years later, the 

Fielding H. Yost Field House 
began converting into an ice 
arena. It maintained most of the 
original architectural aspects, 
including 
the 
recognizable 

grand 
windows 
and 
drafty 

ceiling.

Consistently referred to as 

a “barn,” the hockey facility 
boasts an incredible record 
since its transition to a rink in 
1973. Not including the current 
season, 819 games have been 
played at Yost Ice Arena, and 
holds a win-loss-tie record of 
570-209-40. Attendance peaked 
during 2003-04 season, when 
148,124 people made their way 
into Yost to watch Michigan 
play hockey.

Yet, more incredibly, over four 

million people have attended 
Yost during its 43 seasons as a 
hockey arena.

“I had no idea what it would 

turn out to be because it wasn’t 
built for hockey,” Berenson said. 
“When I first saw it — I think I 
played an exhibition game here 
with the Red Wings when I was 

with Detroit — and we played 
in here, it was like, ‘Gee, this is 
alright.’ And then it went from 
there. I came back as a coach 
and this looks like a hockey 
building right away.

“It’s become one of the iconic 

hockey buildings now. It’s not 
going to be here forever, but it’s 
been here for nearly forever.”

For many, the past 43 seasons 

of Michigan hockey at Yost have 
been tradition. For Boka, it’s 
where he and his family sat, 
year after year, watching the 
Wolverines pass pucks around 
on the ice. It’s even where he 
asked to have his birthday party 
as a kid.

Now, Boka is one of those 

guys out on the ice.

“It was always a dream of 

mine to play hockey here,” 
Boka said. “I mean, I grew up 

going to Michigan games. For 
that birthday, I got a Michigan 
penalty box that my grandpa 
built me. It’s pretty cool to look 
back on as a kid, just growing up 
and watching all those guys you 
see on the wall out there.

“(The first time I played 

hockey at Yost) was pretty 
surreal. I looked up in the stands 
where we had our old season 
tickets, and to think that I was 
once a little kid sitting there 
watching guys and thinking one 
day I would play here. I’ve got so 
many memories here as a kid. It 
was very special.”

The same goes for freshman 

forward 
Will 
Lockwood. 
A 

second 
generation 
Michigan 

hockey 
player, 
and 
third 

generation Wolverine, Lockwood 
had always been a Michigan fan.

Like Boka, Lockwood is now 

on the ice after a childhood of 
spectating. And even though 
he spent so much of his time at 
Yost watching hockey games, 
nothing compared to his own 
first game.

“It was incredible, it was 

better than I ever expected it to 
be,” Lockwood said. “I always 
knew what the environment was 
like, but actually being on the ice 
and playing in the game was on a 
whole different level. … You have 
some of the best fans in college 
hockey and one of the best rinks 
in college hockey. So putting the 
two together makes for one of 
the best environments.”

Throughout 
the 
past 

43 
seasons, 
Yost 
has 
bred 

an 
environment 
that 
is 

complementary 
to 
college 

hockey. And many have found 
their way into the National 
Hockey 
League, 
like 
Dylan 

Larkin and Luke Glendening for 
the Detroit Red Wings, or Zach 
Werenski for the Columbus Blue 
Jackets. And even more have 
found positions in the American 
Hockey League and East Coast 
Hockey League.

And they all have something 

in common — a barn in Ann 
Arbor. 

“There’s history to these old 

buildings. Minnesota had an old 
building before they built the 
new Mariucci, and it was a great 
old building, just like Yost,” 
Berenson said. “Wisconsin had 
an old building they used to play 
in, the Dane County Colosseum. 
These were buildings that were 
known all over the college 
hockey community. It could be 
traditional buildings, and that’s 
what Yost is, it’s a traditional 
building. It’s not one of the 
new, nicest and glitziest rinks 
like North Dakota is, or some of 
those other new rinks that are 
really nice.

“But this has an atmosphere, 

this has a feeling in it that’s 
special, and you can’t replace it 
with a new building.”

Wolverines return home to battle Northwestern

Michigan coach Kim Barnes 

Arico is one game away from 
reaching 100 wins at Crisler 
Center, and the 
only 
obstacle 

between 
her 

and 
second 

place 
on 
the 

all-time 
list 

for 
coaches 

in 
program 

history 
is 

Northwestern. 

The 

Michigan 
women’s 
basketball 
team 
(5-2 

Big 
Ten, 

16-5 overall) will be hosting 
the Wildcats (4-2, 15-4) on 
Wednesday. 
The 
Wolverines 

are 
ranked 
third 
in 
the 

conference, but Northwestern 
isn’t far behind. Both teams 
have received votes in the latest 
AP and Coaches polls in the 
past weeks.

“Northwestern is a great, 

great team led by a young lady 
named Nia Coffey,” Barnes 
Arico 
said 
in 

an 
interview 

with WTKA on 
Tuesday. 

Barnes Arico 

followed 
up 

that 
statement 

with 
a 
long 

list of Coffey’s 
achievements, 
including 
her 

prediction 
as 

a 
first-round 

WNBA 
draft 

pick, 
an 
All-

American candidate and a first-
team unanimous all-conference 
pick. Barnes Arico was also 
sure to point out that she can 
typically average a double-
double. 

“They are an experienced 

group of seniors,” Barnes Arico 
said. “They start four kids that 
have been playing together 

for four years, so they really 
have a ton of experience. They 
really play exceptionally well 
together, they know each other 
inside and out. They’re going to 
be a tough matchup.” 

The Wildcats lead the all-

time series, 38-31, and the 
all-time series in Ann Arbor, 
16-14. Their most recent win 
was Feb. 14, 2015 in a 63-62 
battle. 
The 
game 
featured 

double-digit 
scoring 
efforts 

from then-freshman Katelynn 
Flaherty and then-sophomore 
Siera Thompson with 10 and 15 
points, respectively. 

It was Northwestern’s Coffey 

who made the final layup of 
the day to push the Wildcats to 
their first lead of the day, and 
clinched the game for her team. 

“We’ve 
had 
some 
great 

games with them the last few 
years,” Barnes Arico said. “I 
would expect tomorrow to be a 
great contest.”

Yet, the advantage for this 

game might go to Michigan, 
considering the team is 10-0 
at Crisler Center this season — 
and 3-0 against Big Ten foes. 

The Wolverines have made a 

habit of taking advantage of the 

third 
quarter 

while at home, 
outscoring 
opponents, 248-
128, in the first 
ten 
minutes 

after the half.

The 

Wolverines 
will be midway 
through 
conference play 
by the end of this 
week, 
making 

it just the third 

time in school history where 
Michigan has won 16 of its first 
21 games. The last two times 
have been in the 2011-2012 and 
the 2012-2013 seasons — Barnes 
Arico’s first year at the helm of 
the program was the latter. 

Notably, in both of those 

seasons, the Wolverines went 
on to an appearance in the 

NCAA Tournament. 

The contest could hold more 

groundbreaking moments other 
than Barnes Arico’s personal 
record at Michigan. Junior 
guard Katelynn Flaherty has 
a total of 1,693 career points — 
securely in third 
place 
for 
all-

time points in 
school 
history. 

But, she is just 
21 points away 
from 
bumping 

Jennifer Smith, 
who 
played 

from 
2000-

2004, out from 
second. Flaherty 
is 
leading 
the 

Wolverines 
in 

scoring, averaging 20 points 
per game. 

Additionally, senior guard 

Siera Thompson is just three 
assists away from Jenny Ryan 

(2009-2013) for second place 
in 
all-time 
assists 
for 
the 

Wolverines. Thompson is also 
en route to breaking into the 
top-10 career scoring list. With 
just 38 points to go — and half 
of the conference season left 

— 
Thompson 

could easily join 
Flaherty on the 
all-time list by 
the end of the 
year.

“I think we 

feel very, very 
confident 
at 

home, we want to 
win for the fans 
and the people 
that come here,” 
Thompson 
said 

after Michigan’s last home 
game 
against 
Minnesota. 

“(Barnes Arico) always talks 
about protecting home court 
and the block ‘M’ so I think 

we take pride in that every 
day when we play in front of 
everyone at Crisler.” 

Added Barnes Arico: “The 

first thing on that board is to 
protect that block ‘M.’ That’s 
our responsibility.” 

Northwestern 

is 
coming 
off 

a 
two-game 

winning streak 
and ranks 13th 
in the country 
— and first in 
the Big Ten — 
in 
blocks 
per 

game (6.0). In 
the 
Wildcats’ 

previous 
matchup against 
Michigan State, 
Northwestern 
guard Amber Jamison tallied a 
game-high 22 points. Jamison 
was 8-of-12 from the field and 
5-of-6 from behind the arc. 

The 
true 
test 
for 
the 

Wolverines will be to prevent 
the Wildcats from reaching 
70, or more, points because 
Northwestern has a 10-1 record 
when reaching that threshold. 
Concurrently, 
the 
Wildcats 

are 14-1 when 
holding 
their 

opposition to 69 
or fewer points. 
Northwestern 
might 
be 
in 

trouble, though, 
as 
Michigan 

averages 
83.7 

points per game 
on 48.5-percent 
shooting 
at 

Crisler Center.

“I’m 
happy 

that we’re back 

at home,” Barnes Arico said. “It 
will give us an opportunity to 
play in front of our fans on our 
home court.” 

JEREMY MITNICK/Daily

Senior guard Siera Thompson is also poised to move up in the Michigan record books, as she is just three assists away from second place on the all-time list.

SYLVANNA GROSS

Daily Sports Editor

I think we 

feel very, very 
confident at 

home

It will give us 
an opportunity 
to play in front 

of our fans

‘M’ coach Kim Barnes Arico needs only one more win to reach landmark total 

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

The Michigan hockey team has played in Yost Ice Arena for the past 43 seasons, and durng that time, it has become one of the most iconic facilities in the country.

LANEY BYLER
Daily Sports Editor

The first thing 
on that board is 
to protect that 

block ‘M’

Northwestern 
at Michigan

Matchup: 
Northwestern 
4-2 Big Ten, 
15-4 overall; 
Michigan 
5-2, 16-5

When: 
Wednesday 
7 P.M.

Where: Crisler 
Center

