Girls hockey (Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo: high crime, neighborhood, construction)

[efb]

So... any girls hockey (ice) teams in the Akron area? We might be re-locating but my daughter plays travel hockey and we are wondering if there would be an opportunity for her to play in the area?

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by efb

So... any girls hockey (ice) teams in the Akron area? We might be re-locating but my daughter plays travel hockey and we are wondering if there would be an opportunity for her to play in the area?

I'd try touching base at one of the local rinks, i.e. Center Ice Skating Arena in Canton Akron

[wanderbygrace]

Like square said, contact Center Ice, or also the Kent State Ice Arena.

Ice Arena

I believe those are the only two ice rinks in the area until you get up into Cleveland or Youngstown.
Hockey is definitely not a huge sport in this area, unfortunately. Hope you find something!

[Penguins Fan]

The Akron-Canton area is a hockey wasteland. I grew up in Streetsboro and I love hockey, but unless you live near Kent (which I did, but my parents had no interest in hockey) you're out of luck.

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by Penguins Fan

The Akron-Canton area is a hockey wasteland. I grew up in Streetsboro and I love hockey, but unless you live near Kent (which I did, but my parents had no interest in hockey) you're out of luck.

Kent would be in the Akron-Canton area.

[Penguins Fan]

Originally Posted by SquareBetterThanAll

Kent would be in the Akron-Canton area.

Not "would be". "Is." Thank you for reminding me, but I am aware of what region Kent lies in. My original comment still stands. If you like hockey, Akron-Canton is a wasteland. One would find more hockey in Toledo or Cleveland or Columbus.

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by Penguins Fan

Not "would be". "Is."

It's a turn of phrase, not literally. Although it's funny to think Kent literally "would be," but we're just not letting them.

You said the Akron and Canton area was short on hockey, and one needed to go to Kent. For those that might be unfamiliar, I'm just pointing out that by the terms of the discussion "Kent" and "Akron-Canton area" would be one in the same. It's obvious if you're familiar with the area, not so much if you're not.

If you like hockey, Akron-Canton is a wasteland. One would find more hockey in Toledo or Cleveland or Columbus.

You could probably bump it out to Ohio. Never could figure out why that was; you would think just by geography it would be more popular here, particularly when Pittsburgh is only 2 hours away.

[Penguins Fan]

The old American Hockey League Cleveland Barons were quite popular, but the limits of their popularity remained in most of Cuyahoga County. They played in the wretched old Cleveland Arena in a high crime neighborhood.

When the National Hockey League began expanding in the early 1970s, they repeatedly passed over Cleveland. I suspect because of the old Arena. Nick Mileti got in to the old world Hockey Association and started the Crusaders. Their crowds were decent -8 to 9K most nights.

After Mileti built the Coliseum, the Crusaders drew the same 8 to 9 k and the Coliseum was more than half empty. The Crusaders lost buckets of money, moved to the Twin Cities and then folded in 1976.

The NHL California Golden Seals moved into the Coliseum at the urging ofr minority owner George Gund. The Barons drew worse than the Crusaders did, in part due to lousy marketing, and mostly because the winters of 1976-77 and 1977-78 set records for cold weather. I remember in February 1977, we missed school for most of the month.

In 1978 George Gund had had enough. The NHL approved a plan to merge the Barons with the Minnesota North Stars, who were near failure on their own part. The NHL left Northeast Ohio for good.

In 1981, the North Stars played for the Stanley Cup, but lost. Several Barons (Dennis Maruk, Gilles Meloche to name two) were major contributors to the North Stars.

In the late 1980s, George Gund wanted to moved the North Stars to the Bay Area, as a new arena was under construction in San Jose. The North Stars stayed, but Gund was awarded a new team for the Bay Area. In 1991, the North Stars (successors to the Barons) made the Stanley Cup Finals, but lost to Pittsburgh.

The San Jose franchise started in 1991. They drafted half of their players from the North Stars, per the expansion agreement.

In 1993, the North Stars moved to Dallas, dropped the North from their name, and have been mostly successful in Dallas.

Since then, Cleveland has had two minor league hockey teams, the Cleveland Lumberjacks and the Lake Erie Monsters.

In my humble opinion, there is not sufficient population or a large enough economy in Northeast Ohio (Cleveland and Akron-Canton) to support the NHL and the NBA. Too many jobs have left the area over the past decade, and the Akron-Canton area never had the level of hockey interest one sees around Cleveland.

A bit of trivia - there have been three Pittsburgh Penguins who were born in Cleveland - Moe Mantha, Ian Moran and Mike Rupp.