EHL Roadtrip 2010 - Day 1 Troy, NY

Friday October 29th. The adventure begins.

When you travel west from Southern New Hampshire, you almost invariably have to pass through Troy, NY. This point was lost on me until I was actually in Troy. Then, it suddenly dawned on me that there was another EHL rink - the home of the 1952-53 Uncle Sam's Trojans, and it was here in Troy. The Trojans were just prior to the 1954-73 era that my website covers. I had neither thought about it, nor done any research on it.

I knew there was rink sign on Route 7, so I followed it. It took me down some narrow side streets to the Frear Park Arena. The parking lot was full, which was promising, until I realized that there was a golf tournament going on at the adjacent golf course. I mentally applauded the golfers braving the cold wet weather. Personally, I don't mind playing golf in the cold, and I don't mind playing in the pouring rain. But a round played in the cold and wet is inevitably miserable.

The main arena door was locked, so I went around the back to see if there was another open door. There wasn't. I went up to the end that said "Pro Shop" where I could see people inside. It turns out it was the golf Pro Shop. I somewhat delighted thinking that a young John Brophy might have left practice here and gone straight onto the golf course. (I'm not sure what time of year he played his 4 games for the Trojans.) The Pro Shop workers tried to be helpful, but knew little about the hockey rink. I did discern that the arena had seating - enough for the parents to watch, and that it was busy on the weekends.

As I tried to put together whether this might be the right place, I recalled that the Trojans played at RPI's (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) arena. Later, I remembered that the front of the RPI arena had glass that went way up on it. I was pretty sure this was not the Trojans' arena.

Back on Route 7 in Troy, there was a sign to RPI. However, I didn't want to get into goose-chase mode, when that time could be spent at Clinton, Utica and Syracuse. It turned out to be a good decision.

Next stop (aside from some stops on the NY Thruway) Utica Memorial Auditorium.