IN THE NEWS: Hockey Arena Nets

Courtesy of TwinCities.com

Nets to you, hockey fans

Even Mariucci to join mesh-hanging crowd

by Bruce Brothers

An unobstructed view of a hockey game one day might become nearly as hard to find as a wooden hockey stick.

The trend to erect mesh nets behind the goals is even reaching Mariucci Arena, one of the final holdouts among major hockey rinks in the United States. And in a further quest for safety, numerous community arenas are seriously considering installing protective netting all around their ice sheets.

University of Minnesota men's hockey coach Don Lucia, no fan of such changes, says it's a societal issue in America.

"We've got this society that tries to protect everyone from everything," he said.

In ice arenas, that means protection from flying hockey pucks that can careen into the seats at more than 90 mph. The Wild played two seasons without nets at the Xcel Energy Center before the National Hockey League ordered its teams to put up netting after the death of a 13-year-old Ohio girl hit in the head by a puck on March 17, 2002, at a Columbus Blue Jackets game.

The day is coming when "nothing but net" will be a phrase no longer limited to basketball, an alarming trend to Minnesotans who grew up hearing the mantra "Beware of flying pucks."

Dean Mulso, recreation facilities manager for the city of Burnsville who oversees the Burnsville Ice Center, knows all sides of the issue. Mulso joked that we eventually might reach a point where "we'll put the skaters in a cage and let 'em go."

Read the rest of the story here.