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Living in GR and a Tech grad, I was super excited that GLI would be at VanAndel this year. My only complaint is the prices for food/beverage were OUTRAGEOUS….especially with this being a college event and knowing many of the attendees would be poor college students. The fact that we couldn’t re-enter meant eating at the arena between games and 2 meals and 2 drinks cost $75.
GLI is the oldest and best holiday collegiate hockey tournament. It provides a unique opportunity to showcase teams from different conferences that might not otherwise play one another. Moving the tourney to Grand Rapids appeared to be a great fit. The attendance seemed good for the first year in a new location, the crowd was enthusiastic and the games were (generally) exciting. Here’s to the continued growth and success of GLI.
Easy to manage to get in, lovely people especially the workers that helped find our section and seats. Good stuff
Loved the event. It is nice to have an event that draws young and old, from all over the state, to celebrate the sport and the college athletes. However, the ticket surcharges are outrageous and so are the food prices at the arena. They should have allowed people to go out to local restaurants between games for food, and they should have had more food venues open to prevent the long lines, if they aren't going to let people out between games.
Great to have 4 solid hockey teams playing in Grand Rapids, Van Andel Arena was a great venue for the tournament!
The ticket experience was very good. Lower rating because the prices for concessions at Van Andel were absurd.
The games and seats were good. The issue id that there was 75 minutes in between the firat and second games. This would have been fine if they allowed you to leave but thwy said if you lefr you couldnr come back in. The firat day the lines to get food between the games were insane and you could easily be standing around waiting the entire 75 minutes between games to get food. The second day they did a much better job of prepping for the rush and got people in and out much faster.
Perfect venue for the GLI. Staff was friendly and helpful. Concessions were well run. Food was good. Beer was cold and fresh. Easy walk from local hotels. Arena was clean and well maintained. Perfect size for a college hockey tournament.
Grand Rapids is a fantastic hockey city and the GLI is the premier hockey tournament in the country. Combining the two was a great atmosphere with great hockey. I hope to see the GLI back in GR in the future.
Definitely the best hockey tournament I have ever been too! Great to have so many different fans from all the schools! Only complaint would be maybe to separate the schools from each other instead of letting different schools sit in the same section.
Easy download to my Wallet on my phone. Much appreciated.
Love college hockey. Van Andel Arena did a great job with the GLI. Parking was a little harder than a rather events I’ve attended because rather than being an evening or weekend event, the first game started at 3:30 (gates opened@2:30) while most parking spaces were still being filled by people who worked downtown. Nothing they had anything to do with. Good job to Van Andel and I look forward to the next college hockey event there.
It was a treat to have the annul Great Lakes Invitational Hockey Tournament in Grand Rapids this year. We saw some great hockey. We had a bit of sticker shock at the prices of food. When you're at a venue for 6+ hours, youre gonna want something to eat. You are not allowed to leave the venue & return, so you are a captive audience. I don't know how families with kids did it. $8.50 for a hot dog! And a tip was requested! Otherwise, a great experience.
Easy purchase that downloaded to my wallet on the phone just fine. Thx.
The GLI is just a great event that showcases college hockey. The event is usually well-done, Teams bring their bands. Fans show up to represent their team, etc. It’s just a great atmosphere and great hockey. Van Andel Arena, the venue for this year’s event, was the worst part about it. It is cramped in the concourse area. There are not enough food vendors. There was a line for every single bathroom at every intermission and between games. Van Andel just doesn’t seem to be prepared to accommodate the large crowd for 2 games in a single day. And that was weird because the arena was not even full during the games. There are several seats—especially in corners—where you can’t even see the opposite end’s goal. So you have to watch the screen to see what’s going on, which is a big bummer because you paid good money for the seats. The intermission entertainment was lame. Quite honestly, the Zambonis were more engaging. It’s almost like this place has never hosted a hockey game before. And all this is not to mention that this venue is 2 1/2 hours away from loyal fans who have been attending the GLI for 40+ years in Detroit. There’s a reason this thing has been going on for 40+ years in Detroit, and it’s because of the fans. I think this is a very poor decision to host this event anywhere but downtown Detroit. And I hope the people running the GLI will come to their senses and bring the GLI home where we’ve attended for over 30 of those years.
Nothing like a good 'ole hockey tournament. This year didn't disappoint. The new venue (Van Andel Arena) was perfectly sized for the crowds and the games were very fun and entertaining. Only drawback was the concession prices which have completely gotten out of hand. Worse yet, in the hour and a half between tournament games you can't leave the arena without forfeiting your tickets for the second game. Otherwise, I will definitely be planning on attending next year, but will make sure to take the proper measures to avoid the concessions. I mean, c'mon, $16 for a draft pint of Michelob Ultra!? Bottled water was $5.50. The food was edible, but also too expensive. In conclusion, go for the hockey but plan to eat before the games and try to pre-hydrate.
Venue was the perfect size for GLI. Building felt full, crowd was noisy, didn't look like there were any bad seats. The bands were a lot of fun. Looking forward to more GLI at the Van Andel in years to come!
Van Andel is a great venue and I really enjoyed all four games. I have been to several GLIs at the Joe and an NCAA playoff many years ago at the Van Andel. My only complaint is that there was no re-entry which forced me to stay in the venue and eat mediocre food and drink over-priced beer. There is no reason that ticketing could not be set up to allow re-entry so I could have enjoyed dinner at one of the local restaurants between games.
It was great fun and an awesome time attending the GLI in Grand Rapids! It was well done and had fun extras. Bring it back to GR next year! I will be there.
$18 for water, coffee, and popcorn! With over an hour between games, allowing reentry would benefit fans and area restaurants. Pickeled eggs were a nice addition to the menu.