Stuart Rink

41°23′35″N 73°57′25″W / 41.393°N 73.957°W / 41.393; -73.957OwnerUnited States Military AcademyOperatorUnited States Military AcademyOpened1915 (108–109 years ago)Closed1930 (93–94 years ago)TenantsArmy ice hockey 1915–1930

The Stuart Rink was a temporary, outdoor ice rink that was built upon the parade ground on the campus of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. The rink served as the home for the Army ice hockey program for 15 years and was replaced by a permanent structure, the Smith Rink.

History

Army began playing ice hockey in 1903–04 and initially used the Lusk Reservoir as their home venue. As the sport became more popular at West Point, the student body began to campaign for a greater investment in the program. Chief among the team's needs was stable and consistent ice. In 1914, the athletic department decided to allow a temporary rink to be constructed on the parade ground, behind the gymnasium.^[1] The rink was named in honor of Colonel Stuart, the man responsible for devising the scheme of using compacted ice as a bank and progressively filling up the resulting basin with water so the ice surface could be made.

While the purpose-built rink did help the team, it was still subject to local weather conditions. Still learning how to maintain the rink, Army was forced back onto the reservoir after a warm spell in January of 1916.^[2] After that small regression, Army rebuilt their rink the following year and was able to use it thereafter. In 1919, cold weather came late in the year and Lusk used instead while in 1928 the temperatures remained too warm for a full-sized rink to be made and the facility at Bear Mountain was used instead. In most seasons, warm air, sunshine and rain forced Army to cancel a few games but the team did receive better ice than that had on Lusk.

In 1930, after Army posted its first winning season in 9 years, The Academy decided that the program deserved to have a permanent home and began construction of the Smith Rink which was completed before the start of the following season.

References

^ "1915 The Howitzer". United States Military Academy. Archived from the original on 2022-01-05. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
^ "1916 The Howitzer". United States Military Academy. Archived from the original on 2022-01-06. Retrieved January 5, 2022.

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v t e Army Black Knights men's ice hockey
Formerly the Army Cadets
Playing venues	Lusk Reservoir (1903–1916, 1918–1919) Stuart Rink (1915–1918, 1919–1930) Smith Rink (1930–1985) Tate Rink (1985–Present)
Head coaches	Edward Leonard King (1903–1904) Robert Foy (1904–1907) George Russell (1907–1910) LeRoy Bartlett (1910–1912) Philip Gordon (1912–1914) Frank Purdon (1914–1917) Joseph Viner (1917–1918) Philip Day (1918–1920) Talbot Hunter (1920–1923) Ray Marchand (1923–1943) John Hines (1943–1944) Robert Lutz (1944–1945) Len Patten (1945–1950) Jack Riley (1950–1986) Rob Riley (1986–2004) Brian Riley (2004–present)
Seasons	1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Conference affiliations	Pentagonal League (1946–1948) ECAC Hockey (1961–1973, 1980–1991) ECAC 2 (1973–1980) College Hockey America (1999–2000) MAAC (2000–2003) Atlantic Hockey (2003–Present)
Rivalries	Air Force Falcons RMC Paladins
All-time leaders	Dave Rost (330 Points) George Clark (153 Goals) Tom Garver (75 Wins)
United States Military Academy West Point, NY