Without the Coliseum: Options

As soon as the news broke this week that the Indiana State Fairgrounds is shutting down the Pepsi Coliseum for two years to pour $3.8 million into renovations (primarily in the interior), it took half a second for my brain (and likely, the one of every other hockey fan in Indianapolis) to ask the question "so, what about the Ice?"

The Coliseum has been the primary ice rink in the city since 1939 -- although it has served alongside Market Square Arena from 1974-99 and Conseco/Bankers Life Fieldhouse ever since. All eight Indianapolis championship teams have called it home. While it has gone through some cosmetic improvements -- especially with regards to the concourses -- the seating bowl hasn't changed much since the paint dried while the Capitals played their first game in front of a packed house of curious onlookers.

It will certainly be a centerpiece of a new era of hockey in the city. One of Indianapolis' primary difficulties has been the lack of a strong secondary arena to Bankers Life Fieldhouse downtown. Former Indianapolis Ice owner Gary Pedigo spoke of building a new rink that would be shared with IUPUI and the Indianapolis Tennis Center and have a retractable roof, but nothing came of it -- Pedigo sold the Ice to Horn Chen, IUPUI still plays in its tiny on-campus gymnasium that it has used since it was an NAIA program, and the Indianapolis Tennis Center has been dismantled. Meanwhile, there's a gigantic hole in downtown where that perfect secondary arena -- MSA -- once stood.

The Coliseum, therefore, has served as that secondary arena, but it is one of the oldest active hockey rinks in the country, and will likely be a showpiece post-renovation.

But still, there's the big unanswered question: Where are the Ice going to play?


Here are some options -- and note, this is my educated opinion and not based on any conversations with any team officials, so it is for discussion purposes only. (more below the jump)

Games 27-28: Youngstown at Ice

The Ice are in a tight three-team race for the second-through-fourth positions in the USHL's Eastern Conference standings as the season hits the midway point.

Each of those positions is important. The second-place team gets a first-round playoff bye. The third and fourth-place teams host the entire first round. And one of the teams in the fight -- the Youngstown Phantoms -- will soon become a familiar foe to the Ice.

The Phantoms visit both Indy arenas -- the Pepsi Coliseum on Friday, the newly-renamed Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday -- for games this weekend, then return to Indy next weekend for another game.

The Ice have been strong of late, going 4-0-2 in their last six games and gaining 14 standings points in their last 10 games -- a .700 clip. But the Phantoms might be the hottest team in the league south of Green Bay, going 7-1-2 in their last 10 and having a winning streak snapped Wednesday night against Cedar Rapids -- but in a shootout.

While the Ice possess one of the USHL's top offenses -- and the top offense outside of Green Bay, which has put together an incredible team this year -- Youngstown has been strong defensively. The Ice are the USHL's second-highest scoring team, while Youngstown is fourth in the league both in goals scored and goals allowed.

The Ice's top two lines are lethal -- which shows in a power play that is hitting at more than a 30-percent clip -- with Daniil Tarasov, Sean Kuraly, Jacob Fallon and Robbie Baillargeon all in the top 12 in the league in scoring. Baillargeon is in the midst of a six-game scoring streak, which he continued with a goal Wednesday. Tarasov is the USHL's second-leading scorer with 34 points. He and Fallon are tied for second in the league in assists with 19. Kuraly is third (16) and Tarasov fourth (15) in the USHL in goals scored.

Meanwhile, Youngstown's J.T. Stenglein is ninth in the league with 13 goals. He didn't score, but had two assists in the teams' lone meeting so far, a 4-3 shootout win for the Phantoms on Nov. 5. Mike Ambrosia is sixth in assists (17) and 12th in points (25).

Two of the league's top goaltenders will match wits, with Youngstown's Matthew O'Connor posting a 2.40 GAA and the Ice's Jon Gillies right behind at 2.44. They're also the league's two busiest goaltenders -- Gillies leads O'Connor for minutes and wins, but they're 1-2 in both categories.

Tonight's game
Youngstown Phantoms (16-6-2)
at
Indiana Ice (15-7-4)
Friday: 7:05 p.m., Pepsi Coliseum, Indianapolis, Ind.
Saturday: 6:05 p.m., Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Ind.


Broadcast: ushl.fasthockey.com

Season series: Phantoms lead 1-0
Nov. 5: Phantoms 4, Ice 3, SO (at Youngstown): Robbie Baillargeon 2G, Ian Spencer G, Jon Gillies 23 sv (Ice); Alex Gacek/Dylan Margoneri/Ryan Belonger G, J.T. Stenglein 2A, Matthew O'Connor 36 sv (Phantoms)



Tale of the Tape
Ice (15-7-4, 2nd USHL East)
Head coach: Kyle Wallack
GF: 93 (2nd). GA: 74 (8th)
PP: 30.5% (1st). PK: 85.2 % (3rd) PIM: 482 (13th)
OT record: 3-2 SO record: 1-2
Home record: 7-5-1
Leading scorers: Daniil Tarasov (15-19-34), Jacob Fallon (9-19-28), Sean Kuraly (16-12-28), Robbie Baillargeon (11-14-25).
Leading +/-: Daniil Tarasov (+15), Alex Barron (+13), Ryan Obuchowski (+12)
Leading PIM: Woody Hudson (67), Daniil Tarasov (55), R.J. Boyd (47)
Leading goaltender: Jon Gillies (14-5-4, 2.44 GAA, .923sv%, 1 SHO), Dalton Izyk (1-2-0, 3.77 GAA, .878 sv%)
Last 5: 3-0-2. Last 10: 6-2-2
Last 5
12/28: at Muskegon (OTW 3-2)
12/18: at Muskegon (OTL 2-3)
12/17: at Chicago (W 6-2)
12/16: at Chicago (SOL 2-3)
12/10: vs. Dubuque (W 3-2)

Phantoms (16-6-2, 2nd USHL East)
Head coach: Anthony Noreen
GF: 83 (4th). GA: 66 (4th)
PP: 13.5% (14th). PK: 83.8% (6th). PIM: 413 (8th)
OT record: 2-0 SO record: 1-2
Road record: 7-4-1
Leading scorers: Mike Ambrosia (8-17-25), Austin Cangelosi (11-11-22), Ryan Belonger (10-9-19), J.T. Stenglein (13-5-18)
Leading +/-: Austin Cangelosi (+14), Jordan Young (+11), Michael Gunn (+11)
Leading PIM: Pat Conte (56), Ryan Belonger (44)
Leading goaltender: Matthew O'Connor (13-4-2, 2.40 GAA, .919sv%, 1SHO), Sean Romeo (3-2-0, 3.62 GAA, .875 sv%)
Last 5: 4-0-1. Last 10: 7-1-2

Ice next 5 games
12/30: vs. Youngstown

12/31: vs. Youngstown (Bankers Life Fieldhouse)
1/6: at Waterloo

1/7: vs. Youngstown
1/13: vs. USNDTP

Ice announce schedule changes

The Indiana Ice have announced a handful of schedule changes: some of which are clarifying previously-announced changes:

The Ice's home game against the Chicago Steel on Friday, Jan. 27 will be played at the newly-renamed Bankers Life Fieldhouse (formerly Conseco Fieldhouse) instead of the Pepsi Coliseum, due to a Super Bowl-related event taking place at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. It was previously announced that the Saturday, Jan. 28 home game against the Muskegon Lumberjacks will be played at Muskegon.

Also, the Friday, April 13 game against the USNDTP will be moved to 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 10, also due to rink availability. It will be played at the Pepsi Coliseum.