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It is hard to believe it is ten years since the United States Hockey League announced the league's newest franchise would be located in Lincoln, Nebraska. What is not hard to believe is ten years later, the Lincoln Stars continue to be a model junior hockey franchise in the heart of Cornhusker football country.
In February 1996, the USHL announced the Nebraska capital would have an expansion franchise for the 1996-97 season, and the announcement was not really that much of a surprise. After all, the Omaha Lancers, just 50 miles to the northeast, were in the midst of a 200-plus game sellout streak at 6,124-seat Aksarben Coliseum. Logic dictated a team in Lincoln would also be successful, but it was not without roadblocks.
First of all, the USHL had a rule that gave teams a 75-mile protected area, and all of Lincoln fell within 75 miles of Aksarben. Lancers owner Ted Baer waived the rule to open the door for Irv Dana, a friend of Baer's and a Lancer season-ticket holder, to start the Lincoln franchise.
After negotiations with the seemingly logical home of Pershing Auditorium, a 5,000-seat arena in downtown Lincoln, failed to produce any results, the team settled on State Fair Park Coliseum. There was only one problem -- the State Fair Park Coliseum was used for horse shows and had never seen ice other than in soft drinks. Still, the Stars cut a deal to renovate the facility and signed a 30-year lease to play in the converted horse barn, renamed the Ice Box.
By opening night, it was obvious the results could not be any better. Although the host Stars lost 4-0 to Omaha, the arena was packed, the crowd was crazy, and the atmosphere was unlike anything ever seen in junior hockey.
After losing the home opener, the Stars scored 10 goals in a dominating win over Waterloo the following weekend. With less than a minute to go, the Stars were a goal short of double digits, and the sold out crowd was screaming "we want ten!" When the tenth goal was scored, the crowd acted as if the team had won a championship.
For long time hockey fans, the only thing you could do was look around, smile, and just be glad you could experience this kind of enthusiasm. Incredibly, the best was yet to come. Although Lincoln started slow thanks to a schedule that saw them play most of their games on the road through the end of November, by the Christmas season, it was obvious this team was something special.
Three nights after Thanksgiving, the Stars pulled out their first magic act of the season. Losing 4-3 to the first-place Des Moines Buccaneers, the Ice Box crowd came to life with about two minutes remaining. Suddenly, all 4,231 fans stood and screamed, creating a deafening roar in the undersized facility with the wooden roof. With ten seconds to go in the third period, the Stars tied the game, sending the crowd into a further frenzy.
Overtime did not last long, as the Stars won the draw and put on 30 seconds of intense pressure before netting the winning goal. As a fan in the crowd that night, I recall saying "this is a championship team" as I walked out of the Ice Box. I also recall not being able to hear anything for about an hour -- not that I was complaining after an experience like that game.
Even on a night like that, an expansion team winning a championship seemed like an absurd idea at the time, as that feat was unprecedented in the USHL. As the season went on, however, people started to believe.
While the team piled up wins on the ice behind feisty Derek Reynolds and future NHLer Josh Langfeld, the crowd continued to evolve as well. The initial crowds were energetic and crazy, but as the fans learned more about the game, they became even more passionate. A tradition of shooting silly string in the air after goals got started, and while the USHL eventually banned the practice a few seasons later, fans would be covered in silly string after all goals the inaugural season.
The festive atmosphere went far beyond the colorful string, however. The Stars had installed a sound system that was second to none, and behind the likes of AC/DC, Van Halen, and Metallica, the building literally rocked. It was not an environment for those who dislike loud music, but nobody in the crowd seemed to complain. Several fans started dancing to particular songs and names like "Section C Guy" became part of the Ice Box vernacular.
Back on the ice, the Stars tore up the league through the season's final four months, finishing 40-13-1 and in third place overall. When the playoffs came around, Lincoln had little difficulty with Rochester in the opening round, then defeated arch-rival Omaha 4 games to 1 in the second round.
The Stars faced off in the Clark Cup against regular season champion Green Bay, and because of a scheduling conflict in Green Bay, the Stars opened with games one and two at home. After a win in the first game, the Stars took the second game to head north with a 2-0 lead. The most amazing part of the game, however, was the crowd. At the midway point of the second period, the crowd stood and went crazy, and they stayed that way until the end of the game. For more than 30 minutes of hockey action, not one person took a seat in the Ice Box.
The Stars won the next two games to capture the Clark Cup, and while they fell short at the National Tournament, a new tradition was born. Two years later, the Stars added nearly 800 seats at the Ice Box to bring the capacity to 5,010. Later renovations reduced the capacity to a little more than 4,600, but the Stars still routinely draw sellout crowds a decade later.
The atmosphere in the Ice Box has not changed much since the first season. The pregame introductions became even better the second season with the addition of a light show set to AC/DC's "Thunderstruck", and that tradition remains today. The crowd is still loud, the dancers still dance, and the music still blasts at a higher quality than almost any NHL arena. Fans no longer have to camp out for a week to purchase tickets, but do not count on being able to get tickets on game night either.
For those who were there a decade ago, however, nothing will ever top the 1996-97 season. Then again, when hockey and Lincoln get together, anything seems possible.
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