If D-1 hockey happens for Illinois, would love to see them stay in the Ice Arena and just renovate it, rather than build a new arena (too expensive) or play in the SFC (too big).
From what I remember, the atmosphere at the hockey games back in my day (2001-ish) was amazing. Would be great to keep that going at the D-1 level. The big rival back then was Iowa State....who even brought their cheerleaders! Does anyone know if they still have a club team, or if they moved to D-1?
I saw there are renovations going on now at the Ice Arena, but they look to be small in scale (replacing the refrigeration system).
Michigan has remodeled Yost once or twice. Not the ideal venue, they could afford to build a new arena, but the atmosphere is pretty good cool for college hockey.
I agree with you, renovate the ice arena if at all possible. Parking would be terrible, but students more likely to attend than if down near the baseball area, which is where I assume they would build a new arena.