Hockey Memories at The Frost Arena Skating Rink Lawrence, MA
Does anybody remember the Frost Arena in Lawrence, MA? I used to play a lot of hockey in that place back in the early seventies. I played on the Salem Sabers and we played in a league against the Salem Stars, the Cornels and a bunch of other teams from Lawrence, Methuen and Haverhill. Boy, that league was wild. Old time hockey, for sure. I swear Ogie Oglethorpe got his start on the Stars.
As far as a rink goes, “The Frost” left a lot to be desired. The ice was not in great shape and the boards were worse. The lighting was terrible and there was no Plexiglas around the boards but in its place was chain link fencing. Not a lot of deflections off of that stuff. The locker rooms were even worse. I remember several occasions when there was an inch of water on the locker room floors and needless to say, they never smelt very good. But back then there were not a lot of places to play hockey. I have included a few photos of some old teammates so you could get a feel for the place, especially the fencing behind the goals.
For a short time I sharpened skates in the pro shop on Friday nights when public skating was going on. I had no idea how to sharpen skates. I would clamp the skate to the machine, make a couple of passes and sparks would fly. The guy who trained me said to hold up the blade to the light when I was done to make it look like I knew what I was doing. Then I would turn the skate upside down and scrape my thumbnail down the side of the blade and a little of my nail would shave off. Not sure how sharp the skates were but it looked good. And besides, the ice was usually so soft you didn’t need very sharp skates.
I understand that in its heyday, The Frost hosted all kinds of events from wrestling and boxing and a few concerts. The original Frost Arena is long gone but the memories of some of those wild hockey games will live forever.
Blog-in and let’s hear your Frost Arena memories.
The Frost!!!!!!! What a place! I played in the same league as Keith….mostly on the same teams, along with most of our friends. Those were some wild games! Back then there were only a few towns in the area that had High School hockey (Methuen, Andover, Haverhill, Lawrence?) so other than the ponds, there wasn’t a whole lot of places to play organized hockey. The league was the brainchild of Mr Michael Vitta and at one time had teams from Salem (4), Methuen, Lawrence, Andover, Haverhill, Hampstead.
A lot of great players played in that league….Vitta, Zuba, Rodgers, Winkleman, Perrault, Lacroix….way too many to think of this early. And we had the best timekeeper/penalty box keeper in the region!!!!!!!!!!
I played there when Lawrence High first started a hockey program. Louis Breen owned the place. He was a real nice guy. This was ‘65, ‘66,’67 for me. He sold it a few more years down the road…………………..Great memories!
Great blast from the past.I remember talking to your father several times and being impressed with his passion for the game and the players in the league. I hope your family is well and i know my father would love seeing this and all the fun we had back then.Thanks for posting these incredible pictures and memories.