Back in April, I sent out a pretty controversial tweet in response to a coaches convention proposal by the Dartmouth men’s hockey Twitter account. They suggested schools who provide food in the press box get a bump in the Pairwise rankings.
In response, I not only detailed what each NCHC press box served, but I ranked them. And Denver got mad. Really mad. Their fan base came at me hard on Twitter, mysteriously offended about what I thought of the weak pizza they tossed out there.
Who knew fans cared to much about what is fed to the of us media and statisticians on press row?
Well, now it’s time to enrage another fan base or two with my NCHC concession stand rankings. Like my press box eats rankings, home cooking once again wins the day.
NCHC concession stands ranked
8. Lawson Ice Arena — Western Michigan
If you blink on your way to your seat, you’ll miss the fact that there is a true concession stand at Lawson as the only one — yes, the only one — is located outside the main rink area, toward the entrance. It features mediocre hot dogs and burgers. It’s on par with what you’d find at a larger high school rink. I try to avoid having to hit up the Lawson concessions by making sure to have a large, late lunch in Kalamazoo.
7. Goggin Ice Center — Miami
A beautiful arena, with standard concession fare. Goggin’s two concession stands — which are located on the concourse, inside the rink — carry the staples. I honestly don’t hit up the concessions much here mainly because Miami has a pretty decent press box spread, but if I had to grab something prior to a game it’s a decent option.
6. Herb Brooks National Hockey Center — St. Cloud State
The NHC shows you can teach an old rink new tricks, and by new tricks, I mean put a Famous Dave’s BBQ stand in your rink. Is Famous Dave’s the best BBQ ever? Heck no, but it’s decent enough for a snack or quick meal at a rink prior to a game.
5. Broadmoor World Arena — Colorado College
World Arena should probably be higher in these rankings, but I haven’t eaten here often and even if I had, it’d be difficult to get through the tremendous variety here — burgers, sausages, pizza, pasta, chicken, tacos, BBQ. Oh, and I’ve seen Bristol Brewing Company’s Laughing Lab advertised here, which is an excellent beer.
4. Baxter Arena — Nebraska Omaha
Bruce Ciskie (who I often circle arenas with, deciding what’s for dinner) is going to kill me for ranking Baxter this low. It has all the things he loves — hot dogs, burger and chicken tenders — and the quality of those said things is supurb, but lacks the variety I like. For something unique, steer clear of the main concession stands and seek out the smaller, hidden ones like the totchos (see below). Those are freaking great.
3. Magness Arena — Denver
Magness concessions are at best sixth in the league … until you find yourself at the carved meats station. It’s an oasis among the hoard of overpriced mediocre hot dogs and burgers. There, in carnivore heaven, you’ll find chefs ready to make you a sandwich of carved beef, ham or turkey. They’ll even dice said meat into a salad if you’re trying to cut out carbs. The beef I had a few years ago was a little tough, but the ham I had last season was great. It’s nice to find arena food on the opposite end of greasy totchos (as good as they are).
2. Ralph Engelstad Arena — North Dakota
The Ralph is another rink that is big on variety, though it doesn’t quite hit on all corners of the globe like World Arena. I often feel like I’m back at the old Joe Louis Arena in Detroit here with its Little Caesars and Tim Horton’s stands. Then I see the Red Pepper and I’m reminded I’m in Grand Forks, N.D. Lots of greasy arena fare (I once watched Austin Rush from UMD sports info try and eat a KFC-sized bucket of nachos) but they also have a quality carved meats station, like Magness does.
1. Amsoil Arena — Minnesota Duluth
Homer pick? Maybe. But in my mind no rink in the NCHC can match the quality of the Bulldogs’ home. This is especially true after Amsoil took things to a new level in 2017-18 with its grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato bisque, the sliced New York strip steak sandwiches (see below), mac and cheese and pot roast sundae. They eliminated the giant (but expensive) deep fried walleye with (much less expensive) deep fried cod on Fridays. Also, Amsoil has the best fries and chicken tenders in all the NCHC. Mr. Ciskie can’t knock me for that statement.
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