It is tough to imagine hockey at Bowdoin without the legendary Dayton Arena. And yet, by the time students are back on campus following Winter Break, the Bowdoin hockey program will have moved to its new, swanky home next to Farley Field House.
While the excitement is building for the beautiful new arena, Bowdoin hockey's old Quonset hut home will be missed.
Men's hockey coach Terry Meagher compared Dayton to an old, beat-up family car with 300,000 miles on it. It's old and lovable, but broken in so many ways, and just impossible to fix without destroying it completely.
After 52 years, Dayton will be relieved of its services to the College. It may be the end of an era, but it's time to move on and to usher Dayton into the realm of legend.
While all Bowdoin hockey fans must say goodbye to their teams' old home, the hockey program's longest-standing fans are losing an old friend. The Dayton die-hards are Bowdoin hockey's superfans and have long roots with the program and the arena.
In the early 1970s, students ran the time clock and scoreboard at all hockey games. When legendary Bowdoin coach and Athletic Director for whom the new arena will be named, Sid Watson, wanted to add some adult supervision to the scorer's table, he turned to local resident Harry Warren. Twenty-five years later, Warren is still running the clock and scoreboard for men's games.
Twenty-five years is a long time do anything, but Warren became part of the Bowdoin hockey family. And after 25 years of "watching men slam each other around," Warren and his wife Judy have switched to the "more graceful women's team games."
Watching the women from their customary perch five rows up behind the women's bench.
Moving to a new hockey home will be tough, but even superfans like the Warrens recognize that it is time to move on.
"Despite all of the wonderful memories," Warren said, "Dayton Arena's time has come. We look forward to what will be, by all accounts, a beautiful new arena."
So where will we find the Warrens on Bowdoin hockey days? They're not sure if they'll stake a claim to seats five rows behind the Bowdoin bench, but rest assured that they will be somewhere inside the new arena.
The Bowdoin Women's Hockey Team will have the honor of playing the first Bowdoin game in the newly constructed Sidney J. Watson Arena when they square-off against Hamilton on Sunday, January 18.
With any luck, the women's team will fare better than when the men opened Dayton and got hammered by Middlebury 9-0, back on December 1, 1956.
Dayton has seen its fair share of wins and losses, blowouts and squeakers, epic overtime victories and crushing defeats. The arena has been home to a whopping 76 total seasons of hockey (52 men's seasons and 24 women's) and has seen six ECAC championship teams, two NESCAC championship teams, and six teams that have been invited to play in the NCAA Tournament. And of course, Dayton saw one of the greatest collegiate hockey games of recent history, when Bowdoin beat the arch-rival Mules in a 7-6 comeback of epic proportions in December of 2005.
Dayton's final games and the opening of the new arena will be a time for ceremony and remembrance for Bowdoin. The school has planned a weekend-long celebration for the Bowdoin hockey program and for the integral part it has played in the school's history.
"So many great players and teams have been a part of the arena," said men's co-captain Mike Collins '09. "It will be an honor to close the arena and pay tribute to all the players that wore the jersey and made the program the elite program that it is today."
Starting Monday, students can get tickets at the Smith Union Info Desk to Watson Arena's dedication. The ceremony will be an all-day event and will include the first women's team game, a dedication led by President Mills and the Board of Trustees, the first men's team game, and an introduction and celebration of the field hockey team who have won back-to-back Division III National Championships.
"The whole weekend is really a celebration for the College and for the hockey program," said Director of Athletics Jeff Ward. "Ultimately, it's all about the people and the last games in Dayton, and the dedication of Watson will bring a lot of people back to the College and that will be wonderful."
Even the Warrens agree that the hockey program is about much more than an arena.
While Dayton will always hold a special place in any hockey fan's heart, "it is not so much the physical facility," Warren said, "but [because of] the great friendships we've made with a long line of men's players and now women athletes."
"The warmest and best memories," Warren added, "have been meeting players who still remain our close friends. Whe never there is an alumni game, I'm there to shake hands with a group of wonderful friends."
Home may be where the heart is, but Bowdoin will just have to bring its heart along to Watson. After 52 years, Dayton deserves a rest.