<p>pond hockey rocks ('tho the weather has reduced the access).</p>
<p>Players may appreciate the ice but c'mon, the trend is toward comfort for both players and fans. Standing in the cold in central NH is, now, ridiculous.</p>
<p>"Slop" is a litttle harsh -- rink technology has come a long way.</p>
<p>I'll tell you an interesting story about the Taft rink. Goaliegirl and I were between games at a well-known tournament in CT and decided to watch a friend's team at Taft. I walked into the upper level and immediately found an old friend who was having some problems with the officiating going on, using some colorful words to describe the ref's visual acuity to me. Unfortunately, he did so during a stoppage of play, where the ref blows his whistle, points at my friend and asks him if he would like to leave the facility.</p>
<p>Too darn quiet in that place. It just doesn't seem like a good loud raucus place to play where a crowd can create a noise level that helps the excitement.</p>
<p>The old barns (while uncomfortable to the casual hockey fan) have such a charm being loud and intimate - where you feel like you are a part of the experience on the ice. </p>
<p>OK, goaliegirl is an ice critic. She appreciates the speed of the hard ice and has to have her skates cut differently when she comes south (shallower cut).</p>