There was very little that could bring Bentley head coach Ryan Soderquist down on the night of Feb. 16. Sure, his Falcons had just allowed a four-goal third period in a 5-1 loss to Atlantic Hockey foe Army West Point. The loss meant a bye week in the conference tournament essentially was out of reach.
Yet Soderquist, Bentley hockey’s all-time leading scorer, couldn’t stop talking about how great the night was. That's because Soderquist (Stoneham, Mass.) got to experience the first game in the new Bentley Arena, an on-campus ice rink that rivals the best hockey facilities in the country. For Bentley, the building replaces the John A. Ryan Arena in Watertown, a municipal rink 15 minutes from campus.
The $45 million facility is the new home for Bentley hockey, the school’s only Division 1 sport. Soderquist saw a sneak peek of the Falcons’ future in the game against the Black Knights. The stands were packed with students, faculty and alumni, providing a special moment for the head coach and his squad.
"It was a great environment to play a college hockey game in," Soderquist said. "I was very excited to see the community come out and support us. It’s something we’ve been waiting for for a long time."
Senior defenseman Chris Buchanan agreed the atmosphere in Bentley Arena was unlike anything he felt in "the JAR," where the Falcons had played since 1977.
"It was a great feeling to feel the presence of the campus. We always knew we had it here," Buchanan said. "It represented our team and Bentley as a campus very well. It was a proud moment; super happy for everyone here."
The Falcons are one of the last Division 1 teams to get their own rink on campus. Now that they have a barn in the heart of the university, the Falcons are one step closer to proving they belong with New England’s premier teams.
Years in the making
The Bentley hockey program began as a club sport in the 1970s, eventually joining the Eastern College Athletic Conference in 1977, the same year the team moved to the JAR. The Falcons jumped to Division 2 in 1998, then Division 1 the following season.
Soderquist took over as head coach in 2002 after serving as an assistant head coach for two seasons. A year later, the Atlantic Hockey Conference was born, thanks to a commitment from Bentley and eight other schools.
According to Bentley athletic director Bob DeFelice (Winthrop, Mass.), discussions about a new arena on campus began around 2004, when Atlantic Hockey earned an automatic qualifier in the NCAA tournament. The league was only a year old, yet with a path to a national championship available, the colleges began working to rapidly improve their hockey programs.
"Everything changed," said DeFelice, who was named athletic director in 1991. "Now it was the arms race. Out came scholarships; everything went crazy."
Bentley University began planning and research for the arena a few years later, but the stock market crash of 2008 damaged the school’s endowment, and plans halted.
The following years, the Falcons continued to be competitive, and the conference expanded to 12 teams in 2011. Atlantic Hockey teams also did well with the automatic qualifier, the prime example being RIT reaching the Frozen Four in 2010.
With the league continuing to gain credibility, DeFelice said talks regarding an on-campus ice rink picked back up around 2013. Supported financially by both private funding and operating reserves, the arena was approved in May 2016. Construction began about four months later, and Soderquist and DeFelice saw years of pushing for a new barn pay off.
"Even when (Soderquist) was playing there, they were hoping they had a rink on campus," Atlantic Hockey commissioner Bob DeGregorio said. "Credit to both Coach DeFelice and Coach Soderquist for making it happen. It’s a real commitment by Bentley University to demonstrating the importance of their Division 1 men’s ice Hockey program."
DeFelice is quick to thank Bentley University president Gloria Cordes Larson and vice president Andrew Shepardson for the work they put in to make this arena a reality.
"It’s just another step in the direction this university is going," DeFelice said. "The way they plan things, they’re way, way ahead of other schools. This is just another example of this institution making a statement that we are going to be the best at what we do. You will not see another arena as nice as this one."
Hi-tech campus gem
A tour of the new building suggests DeFelice might be right. What once was a dream is now a reality, and Bentley Arena is one of the state-of-the-art hockey rinks in New England.
Measuring at 76,000 square feet, the arena has 1,917 seats, representing the year the university was founded. There also is an upper lobby for conversing before games and standing room for 500 spectators.
Most impressive of all, the arena is technologically advanced and built to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified. The locker rooms have an air freshening system that will reduce smell and dry off hockey equipment faster. The roof is solar paneled, and the Zamboni will push ice shavings down a grate that modifies the water for later use.
DeFelice says Larson was the one who pushed hard for an arena with environment-friendly facilities in an attempt to make Bentley Arena the first LEED-certified ice rink in the country.
"She was determined to be ahead of the curve, to be the first one to make a statement," DeFelice said. "She made the statement and it turned out pretty good."
Credit also goes to Bentley graduate John Mitchell, the director of audio and video at TD Garden. The university hired him as a consultant for the building process, and Mitchell helped put in a control room that will allow for the broadcasting of games and events.
"His involvement technology-wise put us ahead of any building you’ll see," DeFelice said. "(I’m) tremendously grateful for his involvement. He’s really proud of what he’s been able to do to help us."
Needless to say, Bentley was committed to giving a first-class presentation to visiting programs, and it delivered. Commissioner DeGregorio stresses that this is the goal for all 11 teams in the conference.
"We want to have the best footprint possible for them to visit our member institutions and give them the same opportunities as the facilities they have in their own league," DeGregorio said.
A leg up for recruiting
The opening of the new arena is huge milestone, of course, for the Bentley hockey program. Before the on-campus arena, the Falcons would head to the JAR for practice, even though the building had no training room or film room.
Now that all those areas are under one roof, Soderquist says his players will be able to get more ice time to practice individual skills. That will go a long way in improving the team in the future.
"Obviously, player development is something we really focused on with the building," Soderquist said. "We’re going to be able to be here for more strength and conditioning, more film time, more time on the ice, so their development as players will be better."
Buchanan noted that all the facilities in one building will give the teammates more time together and bring them closer.
"Already off the bat, the guys hang out in the locker room nonstop; we’re together nonstop," Buchanan said. "People won’t want to leave the rink; they’ll stay on the ice extra. It’s a good tool to have to bring people together."
Aside from development, Bentley will have an easier time with recruitment. Convincing local prospects to play at a municipal rink that isn’t suited for a college team often was a challenge for Soderquist and his staff. Now, the state-of-the-art facility should attract plenty of great players looking for the best college hockey experience possible.
Soderquist says college hockey players want to be a part of the community, something Bentley can now fully provide. No longer will students have to take a shuttle to the JAR to catch a Falcons game.
"Any kid that wants to play hockey wants to be part of the school," Soderquist said. "That’s the biggest advantage to having the arena on campus. It’s obviously nice to play in front of fans and all that. To be a part of the fabric of the community is important."
The arena seems to have had an immediate impact on recruitment, as four prospects committed to Bentley University in February alone.
"It’s already created quite a buzz," Soderquist said. "I know nothing but 16 years of showing the JAR and being off campus. In the last month I’ve learned it means more to recruits than I’ve ever thought. It’s exciting for the future."
Bentley’s new arena speaks volumes about the direction the Atlantic Hockey Conference is heading. Bentley is the third Atlantic Hockey club to get a new arena this decade. RIT opened the Gene Polisseni Center in 2012, and two years later Canisius moved into HarborCenter, a mixed-use development built in 2014.
In 2016, American International and Sacred Heart both signed long-term deals with American Hockey League arenas. DeGregorio says both of those schools are looking to potentially add a rink on campus in the near future.
Formed in 2003, the Atlantic Hockey Conference has worked tirelessly to cement itself as a reputable conference, mainly by increasing scholarships and upgrading facilities. DeGregorio notes that every program has improved since the conference put a renewed focus on league-wide growth.
"If you examined each of the coaches and the commitment they demonstrated, we are getting better and stronger as a league, and we’ll continue to do that," De-Gregorio said.
"A lot of teams have been playing some great hockey against out-of-conference opponents," added senior captain Kyle Schmidt. "The new facilities are tremendous upgrades for Atlantic Hockey, which is going to make teams from out of the conference excited to come in here and play in our buildings and environments."
All in all, Bentley’s new home signals the continued development of a league that doesn’t plan on going away anytime soon.
"It’s a statement for the league that we’re here to stay, we’re putting an investment into ice hockey and we want to be a major player in Division 1 ice hockey," Soderquist said.
‘Vibrant touch to the campus’
While the new arena is great for the league and college hockey in general, its impact is strongest at the community level. That much was evident in the first game on campus. A sellout crowd of more than 2,200 packed the arena, and fans were raring to go from the start.
The excitement reached a crescendo early in the second period, when sophomore defenseman Brett Orr fired at net from just in front of the blue line. The puck snuck through Army goaltender Cole Bruns, and the first goal in Bentley Arena history led to an explosion from the fans, the likes of which the Falcons had never quite experienced before.
Even Army head coach Brian Riley, whose Black Knights play on campus at Tate Rink, realized how special the night was for all involved.
"What a night. This is great for college hockey," Riley said. "To have a building like this, it’s great for their program, it’s great for our league. (I’m) really honored we were able to be here tonight to be a part of a special night."
There are many people who helped make that special night a reality, but it all comes back to Soderquist and DeFelice, two men who will forever be connected to Bentley University. Soderquist, for one, is eager to thank DeFelice, who the ice rink itself is named after.
"He had a strong vision that this building would enhance student life as well and be an exciting arena, not only for ice hockey events but also events on campus," Soderquist said. "It’s going to bring a vibrant touch to the campus."
The players are appreciative of both, but especially their coach, who managed to keep the Bentley hockey program alive in its early years as a Division 1 team. The winningest coach in program history, Soderquist also spent plenty of time outside of coaching working to get his players the hockey rink of their dreams.
"He pulled countless strings, he worked countless hours. It’s something that you probably don’t think goes into coaching," Schmidt said.
Soderquist said a lot of Bentley hockey alumni have reached out to him, and plenty were in attendance for the first game. Bentley held an alumni skating session the next day, with more than 300 former skaters in attendance.
"For the last few weeks, hearing and reaching out from all the 50 years of the program has really opened my eyes to this being a special moment and meaning so much for so many people," Soderquist said. "It’s been a great experience, and I’m definitely blessed to be the coach here of this program."
Soderquist remembers having to adjust to the JAR when he first arrived to Bentley as a freshman in 1996. Even as a head coach, it was tough for him to get over the municipal rink’s limitations.
"We had to embrace it and make it our home," he said.
Now, after 41 years as a program, the Bentley Falcons are finally where they truly belong.
