Comments on: An Eternal Home for the Hockey Heart

By: Francis

Francis — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:22:00 +0000

I have always loved older style rinks, and I was very lucky to spend as much time as I did at Hershey arena, the atmosphere inside is unreal even during goalie camp were there were no fans cheering us on I would always climb to the tip top seats and just imagine tons of fans cheering on the bears, and during games was even better. Although the giant center is here to stay I really hope that Hershey arena remains there for a long while, it is truly a piece of history

By: robert romero

robert romero — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:14:22 +0000

Amazing how they just built the new hershey arena connected to the old original ice arena…it’s small compared to todays 20,000 seaters…the hershey arena is an amazing sight. What a beautiful barreled roof arena…too bad they can’t find any interior photos or exterior ones as nice as these as they should for the Uline Ice Arena/Washington Coliseum in District of Columbia…to see the lay out of that place…too bad none exist online. Three cheers for Hershey Park though.

By: Visiting an Underappreciated Hockey Gem « Stadium and Arena Visits

Visiting an Underappreciated Hockey Gem « Stadium and Arena Visits — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:57:26 +0000

[...] Game-time was 3:00 and I can’t tell you how happy I am that they kept Herhseypark Arena functioning. It is now home to Lebanon Valley College, a Division III school that has struggled mightily over the last five years to a record of 12-143-3 record, which includes a 0-23 start to this year (Side note….my alma mater Oswego State Lakers are 22-1-0 and looking for a second National Championship!!!). It didn’t matter who we were seeing, I was just glad to get into this place. The outside’s most distinguishable feature is the large, black arching concrete roof. When you step inside, I just can’t believe that the arena was hosting 7000 AHL fans as recent as 10 years ago and cramming them into this little boxed space to go thru the turnstiles. It is just a cramped arena that there aren’t even concourses, instead short hallways that lead you to bathrooms and food. But that’s what makes it special…your here for hockey. And that is most evident in the seating bowl: No center scoreboard, no suites. Just wooden seats as close to the ice as possible. The pitch in the upper-deck is so steep and the sightlines are terrific. They still have hand-operated standings underneath the scoreclocks. It feels the arena never changed from 1936 – 2002 with the exception of the Hershey’s Calder Cup Banners. Hersheypark Arena is so intimate and the whole place just has such a cool feel. Many times, I just drifted off imagining how loud it got inside and what a cool experience it would be to watch a game. While searching around online for random reviews/info on the arena, I found HersheyPark Arena best described by a writer from On Frozen Blog [...]

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:24:37 +0000

I never liked hockey when I was younger. I didn’t understand the sport and thought I was pretty stupid. That was until I saw my very first live hockey game. My friend’s parents have took a group of us up for his birthday in November 10 years ago to HPA. I didn’t know it then, but what a blessing it was. That evening I absolutely fell in love with the sport and I went to 20 games. I continued the tradition every year after. I never bought season tickets while they were in the old barn because I enjoyed too much getting the standing room tickets. I would always stand at section 19.
I have many fond memories of the old barn and sometimes I still wish I could go and watch a bears game there once in a while.
Today my wife, 2 daughters, brother, father-in-law, the friend who’s patents took me to my first game and I are bears season ticket holders.

By: On Frozen Blog › Friday Night Services in a Hockey Cathedral

On Frozen Blog › Friday Night Services in a Hockey Cathedral — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 07:07:01 +0000

By: chuck

chuck — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 12:19:47 +0000

I remember my first trip back east to meet my Fiancee’s Parents. They asked me if I was a hockey fan, being from CA I guess we seem rare to appreciate hockey as much as easterners. I do though since my Mom was from New York I remember watching the games on TV when they were on Sundays in black & white.
The first game I was lucky to see it was Hershey playing against the Sharks farm team. It just so happens my neighbor in CA played with the coach for Kentucky up in Canada when they were in the minors. So that was special to see as well. I think the main thing was just the atmosphere of the game in an arena that holds so much history. The Sharks have a newer arena here and it’s their HOME. Just like that will always be the Bears HOME.
Out here in CA everything is about the money and how many butts can we get in the seats so we can make as much as possible. I guess our ways have made it east. Here in CA the Giants who I am not a fan of, actually scaled down their seating making the ball park more like the old days. Their old park is also home to the 49ers, I have been lucky enough to see all sorts of History in Candlestick Park from Willie Mays 3000th hit to “The Catch”. While those are great memories soon thats all they will be. That park is going to demolished in the next few years as all of the old ones will be here. Its funny to say the old ones because next to the places back east the parks here are all babies. I just hope that someday owners see past their wallets and keep history alive here.
Our history in this country is young compared to the rest of the world, yet we always seem to keep ripping out the older things to rebuild. I guess thats why we dont have to many ruins here its a good thing the original Olympic Games were held elsewhere or they would all be condos by now. Just to let you know how we hold true to our history here in CA this will make you sick. When Concord was a tiny town back when my folks moved here. There was an auto dealership in the middle of the city. The man that owned it wanted it there so that he could serve the entire city and be close to the main gas stations for his out of town customers. He passed away several years ago. As soon as he passed away the relatives had all his property sold in no time and now we have an entire 3 city blocks of high rise condos to look at. Progress? MONEY thats whats its all about. Just think how many tourists could stay at the park if there were 2000 time share units available for them to stay in. They would never have to leave the site where they use to play hockey. Dont turn into CA.

By: On Frozen Blog | Extra Duty on a Summer Friday Night

On Frozen Blog | Extra Duty on a Summer Friday Night — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 07:51:54 +0000

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 11:26:01 +0000

I’m 36 years old now and I vividly remember seeing Flyers-Caps exhibitions in the Arena when I was a youngster. They were wonderful, brawl-filled affairs and they are my first memories of this grand arena. I saw over 100 games in this historic arena by the time I was 19 and there are so many great memories. But the one I cherish most came in 1988. My fellow season ticket mate and I were both 17 years old. His 15 year old brother just died unexpectedly of meningitis. The doctors just thought it was the flu. I talked to him the night before he died- talking about the virtues and negatives of our favorite team’s goalie, Ron Hextall of the Flyers. The next day he was dead. About a week went by and I had planned on going to the Bears game alone, sensing that my friend Jay would be to depressed over his loss to attend. But he called me and said, “What time are you picking me up?” I said, “Do you really want to go to a hockey game with all that has happened?” and he said, “I need to go to the Arena in the worst way.” And so we went. I can’t tell you who we played or if we won. But I remember sitting with my good friend in that glorious Arena, cheering the Bears on, and realizing that something as insignifcant as a minor league hockey game came be more significant than you’ll ever know.

By: Clay

Clay — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 06:54:00 +0000

HersheyPark Arena is a wonderful place. I saw my first game there during the 1994 lockout. I was bummed at not getting to sit on the glass at the Cap Center (a birthday present) but we made the trip up from Virginia Beach to Hershey instead. The arena was amazing. When the ECHL Hampton Roads Admirals became the AHL Norfolk Admirals I looked forward to going to Hershey again. I only made it back to the old place two more times before the Bears moved to the Giant Center. I regret not making more Ads/Bears games at the HersheyPark Arena. The Giant Center is nice but it lacks the soul of the old arena.

By: DearLordStanley

DearLordStanley — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 02:01:52 +0000

An amazing tribute to an amazing place. Great work.