"It's their rink," he said.
He also hopes that a nicer facility will affect the team's recruiting in a positive way. Forrest Karr, the athletic director, thinks that it will. He says that it's good to show prospective players where they'll spend a majority of their time practicing.
Perhaps the most obvious steps Robinson has taken are the multiple larger-than-life Nanook photos on the walls and the UAF team logo in the entryway.
"It definitely seems more like our rink now," Hyatt said of the visual tributes.
He said the Nanooks now respect the rink more, and all rink users, children to adults, will respect the facility more as well, he said.
The renovation of the rink, built in 1979, took place this past summer, and included the addition of four locker rooms, two referee rooms, new boards, glass, and flooring, and a water filtration system.
One of the main reasons for the upgrade, Robinson said, is that "the hockey rink was one area the public had expressed concern about."
Last year the Patty Center sported only three locker rooms, one of which was the Nanooks' hockey team room, and another, which was a converted closet and laundry room.
This often led to teams being relegated to the far corners of the arena or the Student Recreation Center changing rooms to change. The addition of locker rooms was long awaited by hockey players across Alaska.
Hyatt, who grew up in Anchorage and made numerous trips to the Patty rink over the years knows the frustration of a lack of locker rooms, and thinks that they are the biggest benefit from the renovations, although the Nanooks have the same team room as before.
"A picture's worth 1,000 words," said Robinson, pulling out before and after photos of the ice surface as he explained the new filtration system.
Ice in the pre-renovation Patty appeared cloudy, partially because it was too thick, and partially because of the calcium in the water. The new filtration system gets rid of the calcium so the ice is clearer. The old flooring consisted of mismatched blue-and-yellow rubber puzzle-piece-like tiles, and left huge gaps behind the players' benches and other areas.
For years, the Athletic Department was in charge of the Patty Ice Arena. In 2005, responsibility switched over to Facilities Services.
Robinson said it made sense that Facilities Services be in charge of keeping up the facility. Facilities Services, the department that keeps up with maintenance, cleaning, and other duties in campus buildings, has more experience and resources to upgrade the facility than the Athletic Department, which is still in charge of scheduling the ice.
Robinson also said that the Athletic Department still has the right to sell advertisements on the boards of the rink.
"I think it's a good thing for the community," Karr said of the switch, "I think there's a better product there."
When the switch occurred, the rink became an auxiliary service, which means that it has to generate enough revenue to keep itself running and to pay-off the cost of the renovation. The university sold bonds, which the rink has to pay back, like a loan.
According to an e-mail from Robinson, before Facilities Services took over, "Patty Ice was an unmeasurable big time cash drain. How much? I don't think anyone could honestly begin to tell you."
He said that months looking through records gave them only an educated guess to start with when starting the business plan for the rink.
Karr wasn't the athletic director at the time, and said that he didn't have any numbers for the rink's income beforehand, but thinks that the rink is much better off now that it's being run like a business.
The rink generates money by selling ice time. To be competitive with other rinks in the area, between 3:15 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., sells for $210 an hour, while between 6 a.m. and then sells for $110 an hour due to lower demand. Ice time between 9:15 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. sells for $155.
While Robinson is reaching out to any group interested in buying ice time, he's found a warm welcome from the newly formed girls' high school program for the Fairbanks area. The Arctic Bears begin their first season this year.
