2022-2023 Around The League

[The Merchant]

 

[Metallo]

In order:

-Finishing the facilities for the primary tenant (Arizona State)
-They do have better lockers, but NCAA rules prohibit their use.
-Arena has been barely on track due to Covid delays as it is. Arizona State takes priority as it is their arena. Construction logistics are complicated and messy, rushing a whole different set on it likely would have impacted the primary function to where everything was delayed. They had to meet a deadline and made it for the University.

I did not know it was a new arena. I thought it was existing. (Or was it existing and renovated for ASU?)

All in all what a mess and shitty deal for ARZ.

 

[redacted]

I did not know it was a new arena. I thought it was existing. (Or was it existing and renovated for ASU?)

All in all what a mess and shitty deal for ARZ.

It is completely new. First game in the arena was earlier this month.

 

[Metallo]

As a novelty, I think it is awesome and people should be taking advantage of it. We are unlikely to ever see a NHL team ever play in an arena this small and intimate ever again in the regular season.

Longer-term for the game, you need more seats and better arenas.

Also I think people do forget some of the utterly terrible places that NHL teams have played. Tampa once played on a fairgrounds for a year and then upgraded to a baseball stadium. San Jose played in the Cow Palace. Ottawa played at a rink connected to a football stadium. Hell... even Barclays was terrible for the Isles.

The novelty will wear off after a couple of months. Cool to experience if you are there but that's it. A 20 000 lunatics playoff crowd is also cool to experience.

 

[nammerus]

People will latch on to that... but for Torts, proof is there. In his last 17 years of coaching, he's made the playoffs 12 times. In those 12 times, he advanced a round 9 times. Not many coaches have that level of success. Philly's advanced numbers don't look good now (why he's being asked about it), but they are 5-2 with wins over Florida, Tampa, and New Jersey (team with the best advanced stats in the league right now). With a team many expected to be the worst in the league.

They were absolutely ventilated those games (~35% xGF%).

It’s a great start and all, but it’s on the back of Hart’s goaltending.

 

[Metallo]

They just get on the bus after the game and go back to the hotel

For real?

 

[Pokecheque]

Well, let's see how a game there goes. At present the players are playing a hell of a lot harder than most teams with glitzy, spacious digs.

 

[Metallo]

Buccigross keeps pushing how awesome it is for nhl teams to play in a tiny college arena. Embarrassing.

BizNasty is the same. That crowd better be rocking tonight.

 

[Pokecheque]

Torts is interesting--his systems are not what you'd expect to drive play (for instance, he really wants his guys to block shots) but the Rangers had good underlying stats under him IIRC.

What's even more interesting to me is that, somewhere between Tampa and New York, he went from the "safe is death" guy to a conservative defensive-minded coach.

BizNasty is the same. That crowd better be rocking tonight.

I fault Biz for a lot of things but I would fully expect him to hype his old team.

 

[Balthazar]

So Claude Julien is a scout for the Blues? I didn't even know that

 

[redacted]

The novelty will wear off after a couple of months. Cool to experience if you are there but that's it. A 20 000 lunatics playoff crowd is also cool to experience.

Yeah probably... but the novelty of Winnipeg's 15k hasn't really worn off. That's one of the best places to see a game due to the smaller size (far from the nicest arena).

They were absolutely ventilated those games (~35% xGF%).

It’s a great start and all, but it’s on the back of Hart’s goaltending.

Yeah I get the stats for them aren't great... neither is the roster. It is clearly a fact that Torts is a fantastic coach though. Dude finds a way to win pretty much everywhere (Vancouver is the lone exception).

 

[Chiarelli]

Hockey seems just fine in Vegas.

referring to Arizona obv but touche


Vegas is a different with it being one of the most transient/event filled destinations in NA.

 

[redacted]

referring to Arizona obv but touche


Vegas is a different with it being one of the most transient/event filled destinations in NA.

I was just being a smartass.

I really think hockey can work there… just not likely with this organization.

 

[Chiarelli]

I was just being a smartass.

I really think hockey can work there… just not likely with this organization.

I just don't think Arizona is a sport city for whatever reason. Even when the Coyotes/Suns/Cardinals/Dbacks have good teams the support is weak. That city is just built on debt and broken promises. It's a very odd place to visit.


Matthews was the rebuttal I was expecting to hear .

 

[Metallo]

Yeah probably... but the novelty of Winnipeg's 15k hasn't really worn off. That's one of the best places to see a game due to the smaller size (far from the nicest arena).



Yeah I get the stats for them aren't great... neither is the roster. It is clearly a fact that Torts is a fantastic coach though. Dude finds a way to win pretty much everywhere (Vancouver is the lone exception).

The fan enthousiasm in WPG has nothing to do with the arena, it's just great fans. Whatever thrill the arena in Tempe brings will fade without fan enthousiasm.

 

[Hennessy]

I just don't think Arizona is a sport city for whatever reason. Even when the Coyotes/Suns/Cardinals/Dbacks have good teams the support is weak. That city is just built on debt and broken promises. It's a very odd place to visit.


Matthews was the rebuttal I was expecting to hear .

 

[redacted]

View attachment 600195

The singular most accurate assessment of Phoenix ever.

 

[redacted]

I just don't think Arizona is a sport city for whatever reason. Even when the Coyotes/Suns/Cardinals/Dbacks have good teams the support is weak. That city is just built on debt and broken promises. It's a very odd place to visit.


Matthews was the rebuttal I was expecting to hear .

So what you’re saying is…. You’d rather be dead in California than alive in Arizona.

 

[Balthazar]

Jesus Christ

 

[expatriatedtexan]

As for the chair thing...this is the student section. It's meant to be SRO. Remember, this is a college arena.

 

[CharlesPuck]

So tired of these lame Arizona takes.

It’s a temporary arena that’s a cool/unique environment.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

So tired of these lame Arizona takes.

It’s a temporary arena that’s a cool/unique environment.

It's laughably awful for NHL standards. Unique sure for all the wrong reasons, cool hell nah

 

[dahrougem2]

The Coyotes should go full college and hire a band to play during games

 

[nammerus]

The Coyotes should go full college and hire a band to play during games

No joke, they have a section planned for a band already in their student zone.

 

[Cypher]

Well the lighting is definitely crap. This feels like a JR A game. The NHL should be ashamed. Tired of this "intimate atmosphere" the NHL is paying the media to say.