Coolest Rink So Far

After taking in the glory of the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame, I wandered through the lobby to the rink at the Eagle River Sports Arena, only to be greeted with the coolest-looking stadium on all prep hockeydom.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Dome of Northland Pines:

If they ever make a hockey version of Hoosiers (and they should), this is the place where they shoot it. They even already have the black and white team portrait hanging for the final scene of the movie:

No arty farty netting to protect the fans here, just blue wooden benches lined right up to the glass. I asked the woman showing me around if people ever get hit my pucks during the games. She shrugged. "Sometimes," she said.

And cold? This place is as frigid as they come, which means the ice is as awesome as your testicles are shrunken. The less hearty can get there early enough to grab a captains chair in the lobby. Next year I am definitely catching a game from this vantage point:

(Just kidding, Shauna. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.)

And, yes, Eagle River residents are into hockey, just not so much into spelling: