Regarded by many as among the finest college hockey facilities in the country, Cheel Arena has proved to be an ideal venue in which to watch some of the best hockey that the NCAA has to offer. From the inaugural 9-3 opening night victory over Boston College on October 26, 1991, to their sweep of Harvard in the quarterfinal round of the ECACHL playoffs last March, the Golden Knights supplied their loyal fans with plenty to cheer about within the spectacular confines of the 3,000-seat arena at the Cheel Campus Center. "Cheel Arena is one of the showcase hockey arenas in the nation, and a great tribute to all the players, coaches and staff at Clarkson University and the ECAC," stated former ECAC Commissioner Clayton Chapman. For the previous 53 years, the Knights enjoyed a tremendous home-ice advantage at old Walker Arena. The success and enthusiasm generated at Cheel Arena, where the Knights have posted a 188-71-26 home record the past 16 seasons, indicates Clarkson hockey will continue to prosper and reach loftier heights at Cheel. The Campus Center provides the University with a 110,000-square-foot student center and multipurpose arena. A major gift commitment from Helen Snell Cheel resulted in the building being called the Cheel Campus Center. The arena features a regulation ice surface measuring 85' x 200' and approximately 3,000 individual backed seats, reached from sloping aisles. Every seat offers unobstructed sight lines to the ice surface. The arena will accommodate an additional 400-900 spectators in the standing-room areas along its perimeter. Five spacious carpeted dressing rooms for varsity, junior varsity, and visiting teams, plus a complete training room, a fully equipped weight room, players lounge, and coaches’ office, as well as storage and skate-sharpening areas, are included in the lower level of the complex. The upper level features a hospitality suite that overlooks the arena surface from center-ice. Highlighting the arena high above center-ice is a 14' x 13', four-sided Daktronics scoreboard featuring a 48" x 80", full-color message center. In addition to hosting some of the finest hockey in the Northeast, the multipurpose arena also serves the entire Clarkson community, which can congregate in one place for convocations, commencement, concerts, and other events for the first time in many years. This facility is located on the hill campus, adjacent to the CAMP Building, Snell Field and the indoor Recreation Center. Final design of the Campus Center was conducted by Daniel F. Tully Associates Inc. of Boston. Construction began June 15, 1990, and was completed in late August 1991. Through the first 16 seasons at Cheel, 817,741 fans have witnessed the Knights play. Clarkson has drawn over 3,000 fans to one game 123 times, and the opening contest against Boston College attracted 3,843, more than double the listed capacity of 1,800 at Walker Arena. On January 18, 2003 a record Cheel Arena crowd of 4,125 saw the Golden Knights battle arch-rival St. Lawrence. "They did everything right—the whole thing," exclaimed Len Ceglarski, former Clarkson and Boston College head coach, at Cheel’s opening. "They really needed a student union and a new rink, and this is going to be a great tool for them. It is just a beautiful building."

 

CHEEL ARENA STAFF

Pat Duffy, JJ Lorence, Scott Smalling, Mark Bigwarfe, Robin Howard, Luchie Whalen

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