Today's Inquirer said that the AA and AAA championship games will be held at the Wachovia Center on Sunday at 10:30 and 1. I heard before that they would be at the Spectrum and was wondering which is correct. Also, there are no flyers or sixers game scheduled at home on sunday so why couldn't they possibly have it at the Wachovia Center? it would probably draw a bigger crowd and would be a big help for local hockey while creating a more exciting atmosphere.

To the best of my knowledge the games are at the Spectrum (the old building)

The official schedule distributed by the Flyers Cup committee as well as flyerscup.org lists the location as the Spectrum. Unless there was a mistake on both of those, I believe it is the old building as well.

The specturm is a better choice, when i went to the AAA final in 05 Malvern Vs. GA, they only filled 1 side of the sepctrum in the first and than some people were scattered around in radnom seats and nobody was in the upper level. Its' weird to play in a mostly emepty area and the Wachovia center would look WAY to empty so I think Specturm is a better choice. I thought Iceworks worked well last year but it seemed filled to the brim. Its nice to give the kids a chacne to change is nice locker rooms and play in front of a big area once though.

if it was at the wachovia center, it would probably look like a sixers game.

We have had the big arena/local arena debate over the past few years. I think last year worked very well at Ice Works. I know this has all been said before but I will throw out my thoughts on this again.

We will never fill the lower bowl of the big arena for our finals which presents a few issues.

The first and biggest issue in my mind is that the atmosphere in the big building is never the same because the arena dwarfs the crowd. Having the same crowd in the smaller building helps the atmosphere immensely.

Second, the big arena was designed to have games played with fanny's in the seats. I can say from first hand experience that any time the puck goes higher than the boards it becomes almost invisible. (Usually, it is a puck heading for my head that I managed to dodge at the last second!) The seats are dark red in the old building and are typically empty at both ends of the ice. If I am a coach, I build high dumps on net as part of my game plan and hope for a fluke goal. This hypothetical hasn't happened yet but I would hate to see a Final decided on a goal that a net minder lost in the seats.

There are only a few local arenas that are capable of handling a Finals triple header like last season. Obviously Ice Works who did a great job last season, Ice Line and the NE SkateZone would be anothers. I would think that a rink like Hatfield would be questionable because of the parking situation.

The Flyers, Phantoms and Titans offer opportunities for the kids to play in the big buildings throughout the year. Also, CN8 did a good job covering the game from Aston so the fact that they are televising the games shouldn't be an issue.

Given the Sixers season, especially that 50 point loss last night, we will probably out draw them at our final!

I don't think Skatezone NorthEast has a big bleecher section does it?

Also Hatfield was great for the AAA semi's last year but parking is bad there and they also lack a good amount of fan bleechers, Iceline, Iceworks and the Skadium seems to be the only rinks with large enough bleecher to accomnidate a final game.

I always liked the history behind the Spectrum but since the Flyers have not won anything in over three decades that is now a mute point. I actually fell a sleep at the Spectrum one year during the Malvern Lasalle game because it was so quiet and boring. (no fault of the teams)

Last years Championships both with the FC and the States were much more energized at the large local rinks. I was actually glad the Mellon arena in Pittsburgh was not available last year because the smaller rink was more exciting. ( It was simular to Ice Works/Ice Line).

Another thought for those of us who like to munch when we are watching sports. You didn't have to pay $4.50 for a soda,$5.00 for a Hot Dog,$3.50 for a pretzel or $7.00 for a pre-fab hoagie at the smaller rinks. I can't remember if we had to pay for parking, I think one year it was $8.00 to park at the Spectrum.

Just a footnote, Last year we had about 150 un-used seats in the arena and another 75 in the dining area during the states.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BIGJIM,

i think a lot of the reason for having empty seats is because there's not enough hype for the flyer's cup outside of the typical high school player. there's never anything in the paper about high school hockey and yet you can read about golf, field hockey, volley ball and other sports that aren't apart of the big 4 (hockey, baseball, basketball, and football).

BigJim, you made a great point which ties into my post. Typically, these games are very exciting and the fans are usually very into the game but the big arenas almost create an echo.

Hatfield is a great place to watch the games but I think it would be tough to put anything more than a double header in the building. The AAA semi between LaSalle and Malvern last year or the year before (brain still isn't going full-tilt so I cannot remember which) was awesome. The student sections from both teams even got up and switched ends with each other, and they did so without a single incident. Those games put them at or very close to capacity though, so I would have to agree with Jigga.

Haverford and Grundy, from my personal experience, are two of the best places to watch a HS hockey game and both have the seating capacity to host a final, however they also present the same problem, parking. Grundy might be the loudest building in the area. Anyone who has attended a LBCSHL finals matchup there can attest to the noise and energy levels that Judge, Ryan, Ghost, etc can generate. Haverford has the most Flyers Cup history as it used to host all the games when the tournament was smaller. It's another place that rocks when the building is full.

I have yet to be in Ice Line for a game that has sold out, but I have heard the stories about some of their rivalry games played there.

Having coached in a few of these championship games, I can tell you from my team’s point of view, we liked the local rinks better. We played at University of Penn, Face-Off Circle, Haverford and the Spectrum. You put 800 to 1200 fans in the local arena and you have lots of excitement. You put the same amount of fans in the Spectrum and you have a Flee fart in a Hurricane.

Parking was, and still is a mess at the University of Penn, but the place was still packed for all the Flyer’s Cup games. Parking is not that bad at Hatfield to preclude them from hosting the big event. I think the Flyer’s Cup Big Wigs should consider rotating the finals around the local arenas like Grundy, North East Skate Zone, Face-Off Circle, Hatfield, Ice Works, Ice Line and Haverford from here on. This way, every local arena hosts the event every seven years. In addition, the high school students that play in a league that plays in the host arena will probably come watch the games since the games are closer to home.

Why is everyone afraid to drive? Every rink in the area is within 45 minutes of each other (Excluding the CPIHL and LVSHL of course)

I do agree that the local rinks make for a more exciting game....but the student body should be able to travel 45 minutes to watch their team play in a championship....don't you think?

By the way, I am one of those 1200 that still go to the 76'ers games. Fortunately, I have been sick and did not go see history last night.

I was not talking about the student body. I am talking about the other teams in the league that plays in the host arena. Students that play in the SHSHL may be more incline to go watch the finals if they are held at Face-Off Circle or Hatfield no matter who plays in the game. There would be no reason for them to drive to Ice Line if there is no SHSHL team playing.