Two decades of the Goggin Ice Center

Like many Miami students, the Goggin Ice Center will be celebrating its 21st birthday this school year.

Over the years, Goggin has gone through name changes, renovations and makeovers, but none quite like in 2006. On July 15, 2006 the arena we know today officially opened and brought the Miami community together.

The original arena was built in 1976, named the Miami Ice Arena until 1984. The arena was renamed to the Goggin Ice Center in honor of Miami’s former Vice President Lloyd Goggin. Goggin was instrumental in developing the original arena.

The Miami Ice Arena featured one NHL-sized sheet of ice, 2,850 seats and another half sheet of ice. Assistant Director of Goggin Equipment Services Andy Geshan has worked at Goggin for 32 seasons. He recalls the original arena quite well.

The stands surrounding the NHL size sheet were only on one side. Underneath that was a long hallway with six locker rooms. Geshan said hockey teams and synchronized skating teams used the hallway for training, workouts and more; multiple times a day.

Geshan said he remembers setting up and taking down the workout bike machines and stick taping stations constantly. He would set up in the morning for practice then take everything down so skating teams could use the space. On game days, he would set everything up again for the second time that day.

Additionally, the original arena had a singular washer and dryer set. While these machines were industrial sized, only having access to one of each made it hard for Gesham to be efficient.

After 2006, the economy around ice-based sports changed for the better. The new arena offered around 3,500 seats, strength facilities, taping stations, three washers and three dryers and more storage. The days of Geshan setting up and taking down in the old hallway are long behind him.

“It’s hard to imagine it’s been 20 years,” Geshan said.

The new arena brought more efficiency and space. Currently, Goggin is home to the Division I men’s hockey team, two varsity synchronized skating teams, four club hockey teams, a club synchronized skating team, three high school teams, multiple sports leadership and management classes and intramural teams.

In the summer, Goggin hosts eight summer camps, bringing about 240 kids to campus a week. The kids come from all over the midwest to participate. Additionally, Goggin hosts USA hockey development camps.

Senior Director of Goggin Ice Center Jon Elliott has worked here since opening day in 2006. He is responsible for everything that goes on in the building. He said scheduling is like a big puzzle.

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As for the Miami community events, Elliott said his favorite event is when Miami Activities and Programming (MAP) hosts its community skate and movie. MAP puts a movie on the screens while students are free to skate around. Elliott said he wished more people would know about this event because it’s such a unique opportunity.

“The building has generated its own popularity,” Geshan said.

The Goggin Ice Center is some of the only ice in the area. This aspect in itself draws people to the building. Geshan says the success of the team and the success of the building go hand in hand.

“The early years set a precedent of what Miami hockey is like,” Elliott said.

The success of the team early on in the arena’s life kickstarted the reputation of the Miami RedHawks hockey team. Elliott said the first eight years were the best way to break in the new arena. Elliott’s favorite memory of Goggin was the two years the team made it to the Frozen Four, 2009 and 2010. The skating teams were doing really well around this time too, making the atmosphere of the whole building electric.

During this time, Geshan recalls students camping outside the arena on Thursday nights in order to get the best seats in the student section before Friday games. They would line up down the whole sidewalk, toward the modern day Cleveland Clinic Health Sciences and Wellness building.

Eventually, it got so cold the students were allowed to camp inside. They would fill the hallway in between the two sheets of ice. In the morning, the coach would bring coffee, hot chocolate and donuts for the students.

When it comes to the synchronized skating programs, Elliott said the athletes get to feel like they are a part of something bigger. Goggin and its facilities allow them to be treated like Division I athletes. They get access to first-class facilities that not many skating programs can offer, along with academic support and the support of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. This has contributed to the success of the skating program.

Hockey head coach Anthony Noreen said Goggin has a competitive advantage when it comes to recruiting. He said everyone that walks in the building walks out thinking it’s a special place.

“I think we have everything you need at this level to be competitive,” Noreen said. “There is a certain feel or aura that I think is unique to here.”

Coach Noreen first came to Goggin in 2016. The next time he visited was for his interview for head coach in 2024. He said his impressions of the building were the same each time.

“I think it encapsulates the campus, with the brick,” Noreen said. “It’s just the perfect size, perfect feel, perfect buildout for college hockey.”

Looking forward to the next 20 years of Goggin, Elliott plans to keep it up to date, clean and a continued powerhouse for a variety of great programs. There isn’t one sole aspect that makes Goggin the way it is. The staff, the teams, the fans and the community all contribute to its success.

fleisczm@miamioh.edu