Random thoughts while catching up after a busy March:
SITE CHANGE: It’s time for the Ohio High School Athletic Association to move the semifinals and finals of
the district high school hockey playoffs from Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter to the BGSU Ice Arena.
Tam-O-Shanter is an excellent facility that serves high school hockey well, and it can still host the
first two rounds of the district playoffs.
But the Ice Arena is a nicer venue and better suited to host the larger crowds in the district semifinals
and finals.
Hockey has out-grown Tam-O-Shanter, which has a capacity of approximately 1,800. But with a capacity of
5,000 the Ice Arena has plenty of room to accommodate every fan who wants to attend.
BGSU athletics department officials have contacted the OHSAA about the possibility of hosting district
hockey games.
The university has become a district and regional host for many OHSAA events over the last few years, and
hockey should be added to the list. BGSU does an outstanding job of running those events.
In addition to being bigger and nicer, there are three other reasons BGSU is a better place to host the
games.
The minor officials for the game would be neutral. Tam-O-Shanter requires the home team in each game to
provide the game workers and they usually end being parents of the competing teams.
We’re not suggesting those parents are dishonest, but the official scorer, clock operator and penalty
time-keepers should be neutral – not affiliated with either team. It creates a perception issue,
especially if there’s a problem. The OHSAA wouldn’t ask the home team to provide the minor officials for
district and regional games in other sports and it shouldn’t happen in hockey, either.
Although Tam-O-Shanter has uniformed law enforcement at each game, security around the dressing rooms for
the teams and on-ice officials is lax.
The locker rooms at Tam-O-Shanter are near the end boards in both rinks and fans are allowed to watch the
game behind the glass in those areas.
When the teams and on-ice officials go on and off the ice, they can literally rub shoulders with the fans
– that’s just a disaster waiting to happen.
The areas around the locker rooms need to be credentialed and off limits to fans.
Fans complain about security at major BGSU athletic events being similar to a maximum security prison,
but it’s better to have too much security than not enough.
The restaurant at Tam-O-Shanter sells alcohol during the district playoffs, although the alcohol isn’t
allowed inside either rink. No alcohol is sold at any OHSAA event hosted by BGSU.
If allowing alcohol at high school events was such a good idea, schools would allow it at all contests,
especially for tailgating at Friday night football games.
Selling alcohol at a high school event is a stupid idea and another disaster waiting to happen.
Even if the OHSAA keeps the district semifinals and finals at Tam-O-Shanter, it needs to tell
Tam-O-Shanter to have neutral minor officials, increase its security around the locker rooms, and stop
the sale of alcohol two hours before the start of all playoff games.
If Tam-O-Shanter refuses to make those changes, then the OHSAA should move the games elsewhere.
DISTRICT II: Moving the district semifinals and finals to BGSU could create a create a conflict if the
Falcons are home during those two weekends.
But the semifinals easily could be moved to the late morning or early afternoon on Saturday or Sunday,
and the final could be played late Saturday morning or early afternoon.
District games in other sports are routinely played at those times. Even the state hockey semifinals have
been played at 10 a.m. Saturday, and the final is often played on Sunday.
STATE: It’s unfortunate the OHSAA continues to play the state championships at Columbus’ Nationwide
Arena, home of the National Hockey League’s Blue Jackets.
The idea of playing the state semifinals and finals in an NHL arena seems cool, but it just creates a
poor atmosphere because of small crowds in an arena which has a capacity of 18,500.
This season’s semifinal doubleheader drew 3,507 fans, according to the OHSAA website. No attendance for
the championship game was listed. The 2013 state championship drew just under 2,400 fans.
At one point, the state championship rotated between the Ice Arena and the Brooklyn Recreation Center,
located on Cleveland’s west side. The Brooklyn site could accommodate about 2,500 fans.
The smaller capacities made for a great environment for players and fans.
The state championships should always be played at the Ice Arena or Toledo’s Huntington Center, which has
a capacity of about 7,400.