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DECEMBER.2016 // MINNESOTAHOCKEYJOURNAL.COM 23 Madison, Wisconsin Kohl Center/LaBahn Arena The Minnesota-Wisconsin series in Madison—both men's and women's—should be experienced by any college hockey fan. Good-natured rather than all-out hatred, it remains spirited. Both teams want to win—badly. Plus the trek to Madison, a four-hour drive, is easily doable. Even in winter, walking around the isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona provides tons of sights (and a work- out going up and down hills) in a quintessential college town. No weekend trek down State Street is complete without a stop at Ian's Pizza for a giant slice. For something a little more sit- down, walk through the State Capitol building and go to either Graze or The Old Fashioned, a tavern in the truest sense that serves brunch, dinner and fantastic cheese curds. As for the arena itself, Kohl Center seats more than 15,000. When full, the building becomes one of the toughest places for visiting teams to play. However, avoid seats in the upper deck past the first row or two. Since the building was built for both basketball and hockey, those are obstructed. Next door to Kohl Center is LaBahn Arena, which opened in 2012 as the home of the Wisconsin women's hockey team. Be sure to have a ticket in advance. At only 2,300 seats, most games, not just Wisconsin- Minnesota, sell out quickly. Ann Arbor, Michigan Yost Arena Speaking of bucket lists, if there's one arena for col- lege hockey fans to drive a little farther for, take a trip to Ann Arbor. Nothing like Yost Arena—which opened in 1924 for basketball and began hosting hockey in 1973—exists in the Midwest. Yost is a barn in every sense of the word. Every inch of the 5,800-seat capacity Yost gets utilized. The visiting locker room is actually a space with a black curtain behind one of the nets. As you walk into the building you are just steps from the ice. The history of the nine-time national champion- ship program wraps around the underside of the new benches, which replaced the old ones in a recent renovation completed in 2012. While having new bench seats means fewer obstructed views, the trad- eoff remains that it's an old building. A packed house means just that. The fans have their own traditions like singing the Canadian national anthem nine minutes before the start of the game. Ann Arbor has several great places to eat—don't miss Zingerman's Delicatessen. I also recommend Frita Batidos, a Cuban place with outstanding burgers. It has picnic tables for commu- nity sitting, a good precursor to an evening at Yost. Nate Wells covers college hockey for SB Nation College Hockey. His work regularly appears in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press. Follow Nate on Twitter @gopherstate. 6 7 8 6 7 Chicago, Illinois United center This isn't about a new program popping up in the Windy City. Chicago's United Center hosts the 2017 Frozen Four April 6-8, meaning the championship weekend returns to the Midwest for the first time in six years. It's close enough where any mode of transportation from Minnesota—drive, fly, train down to historic Union Station, bus—is feasible. You can't run out of things to do and see in Chicago. There are museums like the Art Institute in the Loop and Museum of Science and Industry on the South Side. There is shopping and fine dining on the Magnificent Mile. A trip up the Red Line on the North Side features the free Lincoln Park Zoo and several walkable neighborhoods including Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville. The Cubs will be on the road during the Frozen Four, but the Twins will be playing the Chicago White Sox in the Windy City April 7-9. 8 Madison, Wisc. Ann Arbor, Mich. COLLEGE The Issue