What Do You Miss Most About the Old REA?

[The Sicatoka]

With all due respect to everyone posting, I miss the Old REA for this reason:  Nobody ever talked about the "old barn" and how great it was and how they miss it oh so much. 

I agree.

The pre-Gino and mid-1990s eras in old REA were pretty quiet but no one remembers that.

I'm happy my favorite college team plays in an arena that can "Wow!" the Great One and NHL front office people.

[kr]

I miss the concession stand under our section -- great "grizzled" workers, who remembered what we would order *my sig.other misses the hotdogs he says that the old place had better ones;

I miss sitting by the players' parents and Cal Marvin;

I miss the old banners -- I liked that they weren't necessarily "uniform";

I miss the "drop the puck guy" -- that's what he'd yell when there wasn't anything else to yell -- at the new arena he was in the section above us and I couldn't hear him anymore, and this past year he passed away. (related story: at the WJC we had seats next to 4 young men -- after some conversation figured out that they were "drop the puck guy's" grandkids -- fun to talk to them and tell them how much we enjoyed/missed their grandfather -- the one was glad to hear we enjoyed the yelling as his mom had told them they needed to be more toned down, less like grandpa, I guess);

Other than that, I don't miss the old REA; many, many years of good/great memories, but the new REA is amazing.

Sioux Hockey is the tradition; the old REA is nostalgia.

[schmidtdoggydog]

Other than that, I don't miss the old REA; many, many years of good/great memories, but the new REA is amazing. 

Sioux Hockey is the tradition; the old REA is nostalgia.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well said - thanks for concisely summing it up!

[#1siouxfan22]

I miss the old banners -- I liked that they weren't necessarily "uniform";

I miss the "drop the puck guy" -- that's what he'd yell when there wasn't anything else to yell -- at the new arena he was in the section above us and I couldn't hear him anymore, and this past year he passed away.

Kind of off base but has anyone heard the "move your feet stafford guy?"

[MafiaMan]

Sioux hockey will always be Sioux hockey, regardless of where the team plays or the design on their jersey (assuming it will always be the Sioux logo of some sort).

My favorite memory of the old arena was the effect of the crowd on the team and how it energized the team. I'll admit, I haven't been in the new building often enough to make a judgement on whether this has ceased, but I can recall a game in either 1989 or 1990 against Northern Michigan where the Wildcats had a 5-0 lead late in the game and about 1/2 of the crowd had made its way to the exits. The student section started the "Let's Go Sioux" chant and 5 goals in about 8 minutes later, fans were crawling BACK into the building. Each team had several chances and a breakaway in OT, but the final score ended up 5-5 in the most exciting comeback I have ever seen. The Wildcats skated off like they had lost the NCAA title and the Sioux gave a stick salute to the student section as a "thanks for sticking with us."

As for the arena itself, I am with an earlier poster who misses the title banners and the conference banners.

[snaggles]

The walk over (or sprint) after a BB game. Then to walk in and smell the hotdogs. Look across the ice and see all the drunk college kids(the farce), animals on the ice, a fake turkey on a sick dangling in front of the opponets goalie, the brawls in the penalty box, Norte Dame taking forever to get on the ice for faceoffs, all the booze bottles on the floor after the game, and of course trying to get a stick from the players after the game. What great memories.

[UNO Rules]

I wish I would have seen a game at the game at the old arena. I just wondered what they use the old arena for and is there any plans to tear it down?