Around the NHL: Part III – Oilers Fire Chiarelli [Update: Still Suck]

[duhmetreE]

In terms of hockey vibe, if I have to rank the arenas I've been to, this is my list:

1. T-mobile center (Vegas)
2. Amalie Arena (Tampa)
3. Rogers Arena (Vancouver)
4. American Airlines center (Dallas)
5. Prudential Center (New Jersey)
6. Gila River Arena (Phoenix)
7. Madison Square Garden)
8. Keybank Arena (Buffalo)

And Dallas was for the draft. It was still a better experience than MSG. I love MSG as a venue. It's a beautiful building and there's so much history but the moment the puck drops, it turns into a cinema.

Haven't been to Vegas but I heard it's like a night club... It's like Tampa x2

I was at game 7 of PHI vs TB in the conference finals... It's the only time I ever experienced this in my life... It got so loud, when the horn went off, I went deaf. That's not hyperbole. You saw everyone jumping and celebrating but no sound. It was the weirdest thing.. NIHL... Noise induced hearing loss

 

[CommaSynapse]

Was at a playoff game at Prudential center against Tampa. Man it was crazy. But that's playoffs for you. Question for you, Looking at your handle and avatar, have you ever been to an Anaheim game out in CA? Curious to know since will be there at one next month.

Nah, I haven't, sorry to say. I was just a fan of the Mighty Ducks movies as a kid.

 

[NYRFANMANI]

EP40 with a pass through 3 Sharks players on the tape of Horvat, goal.

 

[Synergy27]

One thing we can all agree on is how shitty the Meadowlands/Brendan Byrne Arena was. I am supposed to be a Devils fan. Grew up on the Jersey shore, first game I ever went to was in the swamp, and it was fun but just whatever. Then my dad brought me to a game at MSG in the early 90s and it was a transformative experience, and here I am posting at this dump almost 30 years later.

 

[bl02]

Looks like an 0 for 3 night.

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

I’ve been to 15 NHL arenas and here’s my take based on the atmosphere, arena design, and location of the arena:

1) Montreal, arena is ok looking but the atmosphere is electric. Went to a Rangers/Habs Saturday night game. Great city too.

2) Boston. Again, not the nicest looking place but it’s Boston it’s a great sports town. Die hard fan base, Original 6.


3) San Jose. Loud building, passionate fans, cool intro. The arena itself is nothing spectacular but it does rock. It’s also a great area to visit.

4) Toronto. Arena isn’t bad, Original 6, again a great sports town, also a fun city to visit. Expensive tickets, but the atmosphere is pretty good.

5) Philadelphia. Really like the look and feel of the arena. Nothing needs to be said about their rabid fans. Plus you can’t go wrong with cheesesteaks.

6) Dallas. Arena is cool, it has a 711 and a Pizza Hut inside. Cheerleaders are hot too. Another city I’d recommend visiting. Fort Worth too. The atmosphere isn’t bad either, the fans are passionate for the most part.

7) Detroit. I visited the old Joe Louis Arena, total dump. It is called Hockeytown but it has the feel of going to an Atlanta Braves game, meaning all the success but the place can be empty. I’ve heard the new arena is ridiculous.

8) Buffalo. Arena is ok. City is a dump, but the atmosphere is loud, the fans are into the game, prices are reasonable, and there’s a lot of good food in the city.

8) Los Angeles. The fans are as fairweather and fake as their Botoxed faces I was constantly reminded about 2014 and my immediate reply would always ask them if they knew LA had a team prior to 2012. Arena is big, atmosphere is ok, the location is in downtown LA, it’s great to see Hollywood and Beverly Hills, etc, fun overall experience.

9) Washington. Arena is ok, location is ok, nothing really stood out to me. Just a meh. Exploring DC is probably the best excuse to see a game there

10) Anaheim. Arena is ok, fans aren’t really loud, location isn’t bad. There’s a cool restaurant/bar across the street with outdoor seating and fires.

11) NJ. Arena is nice, but unless they’re playing the Rangers the building is dead, and Newark, enough said. The old Meadowlands arena was a giant ****hole and pain to get out of after the game.

12) Pittsburgh. I visited the old arena so I can’t comment on the new one. The old igloo was really a dump. So bad. The atmosphere is ok, and Pittsburgh itself is a decent sports town with some good places to eat.

13) Ottawa. By far the biggest waste of time. The arena is like 30 mins outside of Ottawa, it’s a pain in the ass to drive and park and leave after because it’s poorly designed for traffic. The city itself is also very meh, nothing nice, nothing that makes you say wow. The atmosphere is also dead.

14) Islanders. Barclays sucks for hockey. Restricted views, terrible sights, nothing to really see or do around the arena.

15) I didn’t wanna rate MSG because I’m obviously biased so I left it off the list.

Certainly not going to argue the point about Barclays being a bad arena for hockey, but not sure where you get that there’s nothing to see or do nearby. There are tons of good restaurants and bars in the area, as well as BAM.

 

[aufheben]

Canucks have some poor kid in goal because they literally gave themselves no other options. He's not allowed to leave the game either (unless he's injured). Pretty embarrassing for the organization.

His first professional game is against the San Jose Sharks.

7-2 now.

 

[darko]

I’ve been to 15 NHL arenas and here’s my take based on the atmosphere, arena design, and location of the arena:

1) Montreal, arena is ok looking but the atmosphere is electric. Went to a Rangers/Habs Saturday night game. Great city too.

2) Boston. Again, not the nicest looking place but it’s Boston it’s a great sports town. Die hard fan base, Original 6.


3) San Jose. Loud building, passionate fans, cool intro. The arena itself is nothing spectacular but it does rock. It’s also a great area to visit.

4) Toronto. Arena isn’t bad, Original 6, again a great sports town, also a fun city to visit. Expensive tickets, but the atmosphere is pretty good.

5) Philadelphia. Really like the look and feel of the arena. Nothing needs to be said about their rabid fans. Plus you can’t go wrong with cheesesteaks.

6) Dallas. Arena is cool, it has a 711 and a Pizza Hut inside. Cheerleaders are hot too. Another city I’d recommend visiting. Fort Worth too. The atmosphere isn’t bad either, the fans are passionate for the most part.

7) Detroit. I visited the old Joe Louis Arena, total dump. It is called Hockeytown but it has the feel of going to an Atlanta Braves game, meaning all the success but the place can be empty. I’ve heard the new arena is ridiculous.

8) Buffalo. Arena is ok. City is a dump, but the atmosphere is loud, the fans are into the game, prices are reasonable, and there’s a lot of good food in the city.

8) Los Angeles. The fans are as fairweather and fake as their Botoxed faces I was constantly reminded about 2014 and my immediate reply would always ask them if they knew LA had a team prior to 2012. Arena is big, atmosphere is ok, the location is in downtown LA, it’s great to see Hollywood and Beverly Hills, etc, fun overall experience.

9) Washington. Arena is ok, location is ok, nothing really stood out to me. Just a meh. Exploring DC is probably the best excuse to see a game there

10) Anaheim. Arena is ok, fans aren’t really loud, location isn’t bad. There’s a cool restaurant/bar across the street with outdoor seating and fires.

11) NJ. Arena is nice, but unless they’re playing the Rangers the building is dead, and Newark, enough said. The old Meadowlands arena was a giant ****hole and pain to get out of after the game.

12) Pittsburgh. I visited the old arena so I can’t comment on the new one. The old igloo was really a dump. So bad. The atmosphere is ok, and Pittsburgh itself is a decent sports town with some good places to eat.

13) Ottawa. By far the biggest waste of time. The arena is like 30 mins outside of Ottawa, it’s a pain in the ass to drive and park and leave after because it’s poorly designed for traffic. The city itself is also very meh, nothing nice, nothing that makes you say wow. The atmosphere is also dead.

14) Islanders. Barclays sucks for hockey. Restricted views, terrible sights, nothing to really see or do around the arena.

15) I didn’t wanna rate MSG because I’m obviously biased so I left it off the list.

Not to turn this into a baseball debate but you lost me at Atlanta Braves and success. 10-odd consecutive division titles in late 90s and early 00s is nice and all but they only have 1 WS win to show for it.

 

[aufheben]

5) Philadelphia. Really like the look and feel of the arena. Nothing needs to be said about their rabid fans. Plus you can’t go wrong with cheesesteaks.

One word: crab fries.

 

[aufheben]

Elias Pettersson is jarring to watch, he never does anything predictable. It's awesome. Some of the stuff he pulls is just weird, I don't even know how to describe it.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

His vision was at the goalie too when he made the pass, very deceptive. Seeing that passing lane with your peripheral and threading it right on the tape, pretty special.

His deception and creativity is similar to Datsyuk, his ability to just hit your tape with a crazy pass with seemingly no lane for it, reminiscent of Thornton.

 

[aufheben]

His vision was at the goalie too when he made the pass, very deceptive. Seeing that passing lane with your peripheral and threading it right on the tape, pretty special.

His deception and creativity is similar to Datsyuk, his ability to just hit your tape with a crazy pass with seemingly no lane for it, reminiscent of Thornton.

He made a sliding block on his knee to intercept a zone exit and keep it in the zone. Sees the game like he's watching from the rafters, it's just f***ing eerie.

Also the fact that he looks like he was conceived in the Mariana trench doesn't make him any less spooky.

 

[aufheben]

Datsyuk was another player with a guitar pick for a head, maybe it allows them extra-peripheral vision or something.

 

[Rongomania]

Pettersson just dropped Brent Burns like he was an AHL player. Beautiful.

Anyone remember the other night when Chytil brought it to the bottom of the circle with a CAR dman following in front of him, and he stopped short, kinda like that. It wowed me, he got a nice shot off too. Obviously nothing came of it, but it was a weird, pretty move like that.

 

[egelband]

I don't travel to an arena for the history. I travel to have a great hockey experience. Calgary next month, and I hope it's going to be a great game.

I bet it’s great. Enjoy!

 

[egelband]

The whole experience of going to an NHL game has changed so much over the past 20-25 years.

If you went to a Ranger game at the Garden in the 80's or even early 90's, you would have a much different opinion. I've never been anywhere louder than Game #6 of the Patrick Division Finals in 1986. You could not hear the person next to you during the third period, due to crowd noise, not artificial scoreboard noise.

One of the blandest places to ever watch a game was at the Meadowlands, unless the Devils were playing the Rangers. The Capital Center in Landover, Maryland was a pretty awful place for a game as well. The Spectrum in Philly was a dangerous place for a visiting fan, although I was undefeated (1-0-1) watching the Rangers play there.

Philips Arena in Atlanta was NOT a bad place to see a game, although the ticket prices might be jading my memories.

In Raleigh, it started out pretty good, then they won, and then the atmosphere turned into a kindergarten classroom. I have noticed the antics have finally been toned down.

I went to a few playoff games in the early 90s. I thought I was in a 9.5 quake. It was unforgettable. The physical feeling. Like 100 bullet trains were blowing through Penn Stn.

 

[Boris Zubov]

Haven't been to Vegas but I heard it's like a night club... It's like Tampa x2

I'm a Vegas season ticket holder & the experience at games for most of the local "fans" are more about what goes on in between whistles than what happens during the game. Calling it a night club is spot on, people literally come to the games to dance during time outs just to see themselves on the jumbo-tron. Once play starts up again, those same people are back scrolling on their phones. Weekend games are simply a drunk fest. Between the locals & the visiting fans, I'm not sure who's more obnoxious. At least the visiting fans understand the game of hockey.

As others have stated, MSG today compared to MSG back in the 80s & early 90s is like night & day. The loudest I've heard the Garden was the anthem during Game 7 of the '92 playoffs vs the Devils. I couldn't hear my own voice trying to talk to my buddy standing next to me. I was at Game 7 of the Finals vs Vancouver & that anthem was loud, but not as loud as it was in '92.

Once the first MSG "renovation" took place in the summer of 1990, you could feel the vibe in the building start to become more & more white collar. Year after year, as more fans got pushed out in favor of the suits, the experience became bland & sterile. 90-91 was the first year they had the jumbo-tron over center ice & they began to tell the crowds when to cheer, etc. If you went to enough games, you knew exactly what "cheer" video was due up next, at certain points of each period. A far cry from my first game in the Blue seats in the early 80s when a chant early in the game from a dude in the section next to me was, "What kind of blood do we want?!?" The rest of the section replied, "ISLANDER BLOOD!!!"

 

[darko]

In terms of hockey vibe, if I have to rank the arenas I've been to, this is my list:

1. T-mobile center (Vegas)
2. Amalie Arena (Tampa)
3. Rogers Arena (Vancouver)
4. American Airlines center (Dallas)
5. Prudential Center (New Jersey)
6. Gila River Arena (Phoenix)
7. Madison Square Garden)
8. Keybank Arena (Buffalo)

And Dallas was for the draft. It was still a better experience than MSG. I love MSG as a venue. It's a beautiful building and there's so much history but the moment the puck drops, it turns into a cinema.

Lack of West Coast trips broski.

That's a pretty impressive list and when you combine it with your Krava/Nils/Virta watch it becomes a seriously impressive list.

I'm going to have a chat to your Aussie manager about these shenanigans. Too much time off pal.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

I hate Pettersson lol. Rather, I hate that he's a Canuck and not a Ranger. Thank god NJ and PHI beefed it at that draft because I would prob kill myself if either of them ended up with him.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Lack of West Coast trips broski.

That's a pretty impressive list and when you combine it with your Krava/Nils/Virta watch it becomes a seriously impressive list.

I'm going to have a chat to your Aussie manager about these shenanigans. Too much time off pal.

Next trips are Calgary (NHL), Bratislava (World Champs), Vancouver (draft) and maybe a game in Lulea if I can fit that into my schedule. That should be it for the season. But I will have 9 NHL arenas on my list in just 2 years. And Citi Field for the Winter Classic last year haha

 

[Paulie Walnutz]

Not to turn this into a baseball debate but you lost me at Atlanta Braves and success. 10-odd consecutive division titles in late 90s and early 00s is nice and all but they only have 1 WS win to show for it.

You misunderstood, I meant the team was wildly successful and the building was half empty at the same time. It had that vibe.

 

[Paulie Walnutz]

One word: crab fries.

Chickies & Pete’s!

 

[darko]

You misunderstood, I meant the team was wildly successful and the building was half empty at the same time. It had that vibe.

Gotcha.

 

[Kaapo Cabana]

One word: crab fries.

Thats two words

 

[Winston2018]

Garden died after renovation..have season tickets.. during playoff runs place went quiet quick