Cedar Rapids Ice Arena, home of the USHL's Cedar Rapids Roughriders, is a modern arena opened in 2000. It seats 4,000 people and has two sheets of ice, as well as a small store that sells Roughtriders merchandise and a decent sized open area that could be used for many different kinds of events.
Though this arena only holds about 600 more than Des Moines, the age of the building isn't the only stark difference between it and Buccaneer's Arena. This arena is adorned with modern seating, projector screens behind both goals, great lighting, and a great feel around the upper walkway.
The walls were festooned with Cedar Rapids alumni like UND forward Michael Parks and LA Kings hero Alec Martinez.
The facility looked very well cared for. Aside for a few random dents in the steel siding (most probably from VERY stray pucks), this arena looked new despite its 14 year old age.
If I were to build a USHL facility on a limited budget, I'd start in Cedar Rapids, IA (knowing full well what palaces Ralston Arena is and what the new rink in Sioux Falls seems to suggest).
Facility Grade: A-. Would be an A+ with an updated scoreboard.
Ice:
Not unlike the facilities, the ice was great. The boards seemed not to be as lively as Des Moines. I think this helped Omaha because the boards seemed to react very similarly to Ralston Arena.
Grade: A
Entertainment
They had a VERY interesting way of doing things pre-game. Even at UND, there wasn't that much to do between the end of warm ups and the opening lineup ceremony. Not at Cedar Rapids. From the minute the last player left the ice until roundabout 3 minutes prior to them stepping onto the ice, there was a nonstop series of montage videos featuring different songs. Some featured highlights from last season. Some featured behind the scenes stuff. Others the history of the franchise. All in all, I was VERY impressed.
Pregame Grade: A
Intermission Entertainment: They had a chuck a puck competition, and a slingshot bowling thing. The chuck a puck was pretty straight forward except the prizes were a bit lame. We did not participate.
The slingshot bowling is always a crowd favorite. And it was done right. Good on them.
Intermission Grade: B+
PA: We met this guy but really, all he had to do (like I said before) was to know the player's names and numbers and pronounce them correctly. He did.
Grade: A
PS: He's a nice guy.
Fanbase:
A LOT more people came to the game in Cedar Rapids than in Des Moines, but I do not recall them announcing it during the game. I'm fairly sure that it was between 2,000 and 3,000 people from the looks of it. Still, there were some empty seats. A lot in our section.
Though we had rumors that Des Moines fans were less than fun, we had no such preconcieved notions about Cedar Rapids. For the most part, we were left alone, just like in Des Moines.
Two exceptions: One fan came and talked to us as a fan of a former Lancer player (Gage Hough, now of UMass Lowell). She was nice. As for the other, these three nagging older ladies did not take too kindly to my razzing the goaltender (The old UND standard (Goalie's Name x3, you suck) and made a rather crude reference of a more homophobic nature. Hey, I'm not sensitive, but if you are going to mock me, at least be original or creative. She wasn't. Sad for her.
Cowbell/Vuvuzela Factor: This arena really pushed cowbells and they were everywhere. Naturally, this concerned me. I shouldn't have been concerned. They knew when to ring the cowbells and when not to and responded to prompts accordingly. There was no gratuitous noise. No one rang them in anyone's ears intentionally or otherwise. It was very well orchestrated. That speaks a lot to a strong, loyal, and well-informed fan base.
Fanbase Grade: A-
Overall Impression:
Omaha's fanbase doesn't travel...especially with the year Omaha's having. However, this was an easy 4 hour drive from Omaha and one that every loyal Omaha fan should make. I would not hesitate in the slightest to return to Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. BTW, even the Roughrider website is cool.
Overall Grade: A-
