NHL Arena #32

I've written before about how we visited all 30 NHL arenas between 2008 and 2010.  Since completing that travel checklist, a few teams have new arenas due to moves or upgrades.  We went to Winnipeg in 2014, so that was technically our 31^st NHL arena, and this past Sunday, we went to our 32^nd NHL arena.

My brother G drove to New Jersey to pick up YaYa (our grandfather) so he could spend Christmas at our house, and last Sunday, C and I drove him back home to NJ.  Since we were heading in that general direction, we decided to see if the Islanders had a home game that day.  The team had moved from Long Island to Brooklyn and are now playing at Barclays Center, which is the home of the Brooklyn Nets.  The arena the Islanders played in prior to Barclays Center was atrocious, so I had high hopes for this arena.

Well, lo and behold, they were hosting the Leafs that night!  We couldn't believe our luck!  We were very excited about the game and looked forward to it all week.

After we dropped YaYa off, we drove straight to the game, which was at 6:00.  Traffic was less than great, it was raining, and we had to park several blocks away from the arena.  We also saw people wearing all kinds of jerseys and hoodies of teams other than the Islanders or the Leafs.  SO weird.  The only other game we attended where many fans were seemingly supporting neither team that was actually playing was a Coyotes game.  We still talk about the fans at that game!

Perhaps we should have recognized all of these things as signs that we were not going to have an enjoyable experience, but we were not prepared for what was to follow.

After grabbing some snacks, we headed to our seats, which were occupied.  The two people moved down the row, but as they stood up, they dropped their bottle of liquor.

I believe that's known as foreshadowing.

It was a completely miserable experience.  The arena was a letdown.  Definitely one of the worst we've been to and it is ridiculously obvious that it was not designed to be a hockey arena.  The fact that the scoreboard and video screens were not centered was extremely distracting - just bizarre.

Worse than the arena, though, were the fans beside and behind us.  Loud, belligerent, drunk.  Yelling curse words every 30 seconds at the tops of their lungs even though there were small kids seated in the same section as we were.  It's a shame that a small minority of people have to ruin the game for everyone else, but that's what happened.  Security and/or attendants were almost nowhere to be found, and the longer the game went on, the more out-of-control these fans became.

We started off being annoyed by their behavior and ended up fearful that a brawl was going to occur.  So we left at the end of the second period.

Hockey tickets are not cheap, and we essentially missed one-third of the game because of those fans and how poorly the arena appears to be managed.

On our way out, we mentioned what had happened to an attendant at the door, and she directed us to her supervisor.  The supervisor apologized, but did not really seem concerned that those fans had snuck liquor into the game, were clearly intoxicated, and were shouting obscenities throughout the game.

Hands down our worst NHL arena experience.

I cannot even begin to explain how disappointed I was.  I understand that the staff cannot control every individual attending the game.  But we have been at plenty of arenas and stadiums where the staff and security personnel was everywhere, not only to keep an eye on things, but to be available for guest concerns.  An excellent example of this was the old Yankee Stadium – and this continues to be the standard by which I judge all sporting events.  The fans were in check because if they misbehaved, they were escorted out.  Foul language was not tolerated.  Fans appearing drunk were removed.  All of these measures allowed everyone else to have an outstanding fan experience.  Our time at the Islanders game could not have been more different.

Oh, well.  We won't go back there.

On the upside, there was a Shake Shack across the street.  AND the Leafs won!  And we drove past Rockefeller Center to peek at the Christmas tree before driving home, so the night was not a complete write-off.

Here's hoping our next game is better – wherever it is!

Happy Tails to you!