In 2007, I attended my first Sacred Heart game as part of Rochester Institute of Technology’s radio broadcasting crew. The game was played at SHU’s home rink at the time, the Milford Ice Pavilion. The place, to be kind, wasn’t up to the standards of a Division I Hockey program.
In 2016, SHU upgraded and moved to the Webster Bank Arena (now known as the Total Mortgage Arena) in Bridgeport. I got the chance to broadcast from there as well. It’s a much nicer facility, but still off-campus and too big to generate much atmosphere.
But on Saturday, what had been talked about and planned for years finally came to fruition. The Martire Family Arena, a $75 million on-campus home for Sacred Heart’s men’s and women’s programs, opened its doors and hosted its first game, a 3-2 overtime loss by the men to Boston College. The women’s team played on Sunday and defeated Harvard, 2-1 in OT.
Saturday was a success in every way but the scoreboard said Pioneers coach CJ Marottolo.
“It was beyond expectations in terms of the entire atmosphere,” he said. “It was electric. A packed house (3,600), standing room only. The student section gave us a real home ice feel. There was a positive vibe from the time they opened the doors.”
It was worth the wait, something that had been talked about for almost as long as Sacred Heart has had a Division I program.
“I’m not sure how many years in the making,” said Marottolo. “The conversations were taking place well before I came to Sacred Heart (in 2009).”
“There was a vision. A lot of people worked very hard for a very long time. There are lots of fingerprints on this.”
And when the time (and funding) was right, SHU’s administration went all-in, from smart glass windows with “electrically switchable opacity” to a giant oven that makes a dozen pizzas at a time in 60 seconds.
“It’s an elevated fan experience,” said Marottolo. “I don’t think there’s one thing that they’ve left out. And the stuff on the first floor, for the players, it’s state of the art. I have to pinch myself every day when I walk in.”
The team also debuted chrome helmets for the occasion.
“They’re a little polarizing,” said Marottolo. “The players love them. We got great feedback from fans. We wanted to be a little different, a little aggressive. We’ll definitely wear them again on occasion.”
I asked Marottolo if all the buildup was a distraction for his team, which sits in second place in the AHA standings.
“No, and the credit goes to the players,” he said. “We’ve talked about this since the beginning of the year. We talked about being great where your feet are at the moment and not looking too far ahead. They didn’t overlook any practice or any situation until that night arrived.”
Over 200 former players were on hand to see the first game at the MFA, including former stars like Hobey Baker finalist Pierre-Luc O’Brien (’07) and Justin Danforth (’17), currently playing for Columbus in the NHL.
“It was overwhelming,” said Marottolo. “Players came back from every era. We had an alumni game earlier in the day. It was fitting that it was the first game here.
“It was a special night for every Pioneer.”
In two weeks, SHU will participate in the third annual Connecticut Ice Tournament, which features the four Division One teams from the Nutmeg State: Connecticut, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, and Yale.
Quinnipiac is hosting this year with future sites/hosts TBD.
“We plan to continue to rotate,” said Marottolo. “We have four great facilities with the new rink at UConn (which also opened last weekend).”
But the immediate focus for Marottolo’s team is this weekend’s series with Holy Cross, the first conference games at the new arena.
“Holy Cross is playing great right now,” said Marottolo. “They’re 5-1-1 in their last seven. We’re focused solely on league play right now and things are tightening up. Every spot is so crucial in terms of how the playoffs are structured this season.”
