With 13 new players this season, Brown’s roster has gone through plenty of turnover since the Bears last took the ice in March 2020.
But there’s been plenty of changes behind the scenes of the program as well.
Meehan Auditorium, home to the Brown’s men’s and women’s hockey teams, underwent a $7.5 million dollar renovation this offseason. The project updated both the men’s and women’s locker rooms as well as the premium seating skybox. The entire project was funded by donors.
“The wonderful thing about it is that we have alums in our program and the university and when the call went out that these renovations were going to be moving forward, their response was amazing,” Brown coach Brendan Whittet said.
In addition to the donor-funded upgrade, the university spent $4.8 million dollars on HVAC upgrades and structural improvements. Whittet said planning for the project started several years ago, while construction began in April.
Outside of several small visual details, interior updates were completed before the start of the season, but HVAC and structural improvements are still underway after the equipment needed for the work arrived late due to a shipping delay.
Upgrades in the locker room include teaching tools such as an 85-inch touchscreen, team lounges, a bike room, and a training room with hot and cold hydrotherapy tanks.
“From my end, it’s been transformational, from showing recruits to our guys wanting to spend time down there, which they didn’t before,” Whittet said, “It’s the outward appearance of the excellence that we preach and the locker room center reflects that.”
While other league schools have completed arena renovations in recent years and Colgate opened a new rink in 2016, Whittet compared the Meehan renovations to nearby Schneider Arena, home of Hockey East member Providence. The arena underwent an eight-month renovation in 2013 and the Friars won the program’s first national title in 2015.
“We didn’t want to continue to remain where we were,” Whittet said. “That progression in chasing excellent is there and your facility has to project the same values. [Providence] is a program that invested heavily in their facility, among other things, and they won a national championship. Is that happenstance or is that the outward appearance of supporting the excellence that we talk about?”
The additions to the locker room are a much needed addition to Meehan, which opened in 1961. Brown opened its season with three straight games at its renovated arena, but now heads to the road for four consecutive games before hosting Providence in the Mayor’s Cup on Nov. 27.
“I’ve been here for a long time,” said Whittet, who is his 19th year with Brown as either a player or coach. “A large portion of my adult life has been spent in Meehan. It was something that was necessary. The energy that was generated though what those dollars are going to do for our current student-athletes was something that really unified our alumni base.”
