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