My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…
December 9, 2008 – Montreal, PQ
After seeing the Flames beat the Rangers in New York City, we headed to La Belle Province to see them play one of the most storied franchises in all of sport, the Montreal Canadiens. Arriving in Montreal the day of the game, we checked into our hotel before heading to the Bell Centre in downtown Montreal. Replacing one of hockey’s greatest venues, the Montreal Forum, the Bell Centre opened in 1996 and is the largest arena in the National Hockey League.
We arrived at the game well before puck drop to see the sights the Bell Centre had to offer. Before the doors opened, we popped into La Cage aux Sports, a bar within the arena that is accessible from the outside and serves the same purpose as Dutton’s in the Saddledome. Unlike Dutton’s however, La Cage sells pitchers of beer for only $10! After a quick jug, we entered the Bell Centre. On the main concourse, the arena features a hall of fame type area, where bronze plaques and busts commemorate many of the great players who have worn the famed red, white and blue of the Canadiens. Notables like Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Guy LaFleur, Larry Robinson and Patrick Roy have their achievements celebrated here.
Our seats were located in the upper levels of the Bell Centre, but we entered the seating bowl from the main concourse before the game to get a glimpse at how seating for 21,000 plus fit into an arena. The lower bowl of the Bell Centre is enormous with over 25 rows of seats. The seats in the lower section are also very steep, similar to the nose bleeds in the Dome, meaning that the upper level seats are not as far from the action as in many newer arenas, but are quite high up. In the rafters, the Bell Centre offers a very different view from most arenas. The Canadiens have 17 retired numbers, each with a banner, plus 24 banners celebrating their Stanley Cup victories. Unlike most teams, the Habs don’t waste their time with division or conference championship banners. As this was the Canadiens’ 100th season, there were additional banners in the rafters, on the walls of the concourse and even on the outside of the area, celebrating their long history.
The concourses of the Bell Centre are the same as any other arena, featuring wide, well lit walkways and standard concession offerings. Much to our surprise, none of the concession stands sold poutine, something we would have to buy after the game to enjoy. I had assumed that would be the local dish, available at almost every outlet, much like perogies in Edmonton.
The game began with a lengthy pre-game ceremony on the jumbotron to celebrate the team’s 100th season. For nearly ten minutes, the screen flashed photos and videos of great moments in Canadiens’ history, offering commentary in both French and English. This ended up being something we noticed that is unique to the Bell Centre in the NHL; as all announcements were made in French and English, including goal calls, penalty calls, and in-game promotions. Imagine Steve Strachan repeating everything he says in a second language.
The game turned out not to be one of the Flames’ best efforts as they lost to the home team 4-1. Dustin Boyd scored the lone Flames goal, in the 2nd period, while the Habs received goals from D’Agostini, Kovalev and two from Robert Lang. Former Flame, Alex Tanguay also had a pair of assists against his old team.
We left the arena, in search of poutine, having gone one and one on the short road trip out east.
Thirteen arenas in the books; almost half way there!
-TheRev
Bell Center Fast Facts
Seats:Section 325; $95 (face value $41), eBay Score:Flames 1, Canadiens 4 Arena Rating:7.4 Unique Concession:No poutine! Souvenir Stick:Habs 100 Seasons, white, plastic Public Transit:One block away, accessible without going outside Unique Arena Trait:Canadiens’ Hall of Fame in concourse Swag:none
Michael Cammalleri. Ten goals, eleven assists in 25 games and two game winning markers. The Flames are getting exactly what they asked for in this diminutive forward who has an eye for the net and a rougher side than most people think. He has a rifle of a shot and actually uses it, unlike the number 13 who plays for Les Habitants and used to dawn the Flaming C. He, along with Matthew Lombardi and Jarome Iginla have formed a top line in Calgary that is quicker, faster, more agile and can blow by opposing defence better than previous instalments of the top unit have ever done before. Cammelleri is the x-factor on that line. Not only are defensemen worrying that Iginla is going to fire it by them, but now they have another forward to cover with Cammy on the other side. Case in point the one of three goals Mike scored against the Canucks two weeks ago where Iginla made one of the nicest passes, in recent memory, cross ice and Cammy potted it into the empty net. Everyone was thinking Iginla would shoot but he knew No. 13 was wide open and rarely misses. Last year Iginla did not have that other shot, showing how valuable Michael Cammelleri really is. Looking into the future Cammy is an unrestricted free agent as of July 1 of next year. He currently makes $3.6 million a year and for a guy that averages just under a point per game, you can bet that he might want a raise of some sort. I am guessing he will garner offers in the $4.5 to $5.5 million a year earnings and will likely be looking for a multi year deal. So where on the Flames does he fit in? Who do they get rid of to free up the needed salary room for No. 13? You look to the back end where you have Adrian Aucoin making $4 million, due for UFA this summer and you have Jim Vandermeer who makes $2.3 million a year and should not garner such a salary. With Adam Pardy gaining confidence game by game, I think you can afford to let go of Pylon boy. So you let Aucoin walk, you do you best to trade Vandermeer, or release him if necessary. Then you have an extra $6.3 million to give Cammy what he needs plus a little more to spend on the defense reinforcements. Losing this guy can not happen. Sutter should be working on some sort of an offer right now to lock him up long term before he starts seeing Toronto (rumours are he wants to play for his hometown) in the forefront. He makes Calgary's offence better and changes it from the one dimensionality it has been for so many years. So Sutter, give Iginla, this city's superstar on and off the ice, some re-assurance that he will not be the only one producing here for the next five years.
My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…
December 7, 2008 – New York, NY
The Big Apple. Not only one of my favourite places to visit, but also home to one of the NHL’s “Original Six” teams, the New York Rangers. We were in town to see the Flames play the Rangers at the self-proclaimed “World’s Most Famous Arena”, Madison Square Garden. To get to New York, we had flown to Toronto and then caught a short flight from there, arriving at LaGuardia Airport the afternoon of the game. If you’ve never been to New York City, nothing can match the electricity you feel walking around Manhattan. The streets are filled with people coming from work, going to work, shopping, or simply walking around. In New York, it is the people that are the real sights to see.
In an effort to save money, something that isn’t easy to do in Manhattan, we booked a room in Newark, New Jersey. Despite being in a different city, and a different state for that matter, it is easily accessible by the PATH train system which runs between Newark’s Penn Station and Manhattan 24 hours a day, and conveniently has a stop underneath Madison Square Garden.
We arrived at ‘MSG’ two hours before puck drop, giving us enough time to grab some food from New York’s many street vendors before heading inside. Entering off 7th Avenue, you pass through a giant atrium that features team stores for the Knicks and Rangers, an entrance to another theatre and the escalators of Madison Square Garden. Unlike most arenas, where the ice level is below ground or at least at street level, the ice at MSG is four storeys up. The theatre entrance we had seen was for a smaller venue that is below the main seating bowl. At the time of the Flames-Rangers game, there was a Cirque du Soleil performance taking place as well.
After taking four escalators to reach the lower concourse, we did our customary walk of the arena. Due to it being built in 1968, and being four floors above the street, the concourses are quite narrow, featuring cinder block walls with concessions and shops tucked into corners underneath the seating. For the most part the concessions were fairly standard, selling the usual assortment of hot dogs, pretzels, nachos etc. The seating bowl itself is also reminiscent of the past, with the luxury suites circling the roof; almost as if they were put in as an afterthought and much like Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The bowl is divided into three levels, but again like the Joe, there isn’t a balcony like in modern arenas. The different tiers are separated by large concourses that circle the arena within the seating bowl.
Our seats were located on the second level, in the first row above the concourse, behind the Flames attack zone. Being in the first row, our seats offered a great view of the ice. However, as the game started we realized there was a problem with the concourse being directly in front of our seats. Throughout the game our view was constantly being blocked by an endless parade of vendors hawking beer, pretzels, popcorn, souvenirs and the like. As we neared puck drop, we grabbed a couple of beers from the bar nearest our seats. Offering a selection of draft beers, this vendor also featured the most unique beer service I’ve yet seen. The plastic beer cups had handles like you’d find on a mug, and in each handle was a pretzel stick! Few combos are better than beer and pretzels, so kudos to the folks at MSG for putting the two together so conveniently.
The game started off slowly, as both teams failed to score in the first period. Finally, late in the second, Iginla was able to score on a pass from Mike Cammalleri. Early in the third period, David Moss added a goal to give the Flames a 2-0 lead, and Rene Bourque would followed that up with a short-handed tally in the final two minutes, as the Flames defeated the Rangers 3-0. The victory marked the first road game shutout we’d ever witnessed, so I’m unable to comment on what the Rangers goal celebration was like. During the game, the crowd was for the most part quite docile, most likely because they didn’t have much to cheer for. We did hear an MSG staple though, as the crowd broke into a “Potvin Sucks!” cheer midway through the second period; a Ranger-fan tradition since 1979.
During the second intermission, while sending a text to a buddy, I was approached by a man who said, in a heavy accent, “I see you are fan of my countryman!”, as he pointed at my red Flames jersey. It turns out that he and a buddy were in town from their native Finland, and were at the game to cheer on Kipper. Both Finns were from Turku, Kiprusoff’s home town, and had played pee-wee hockey with him. “Only until we were about six or seven years old, then he was much too good,” we were told. We ended up going for a beer with the two after the game, discussing the Flames, the NHL and the Winter Olympics until the wee hours of the morning. Thanks for the beers Ville and Jarkko! Along with the Flames victory, it was another great night in the city that never sleeps.
Twelve arenas in the books, eighteen more to see…
-TheRev
Madison Square Garden Fast Facts
Seats:Section 349; $75, Ticketmaster Score:Flames 3, Rangers 0 Arena Rating:7.4 Unique Concession:Pretzels in beer Souvenir Stick:Rangers, wooden, no color Public Transit:Everywhere. World’s busiest train station (Penn Station) underneath arena; PATH train below that; NYC subway below that. Unique Arena Trait:Ice level four storeys above street level, theatre underneath ice Swag:none
Photos
Next stop is in Montreal to see the Flames play the Habs tomorrow…
Tonight marked the first night the Dallas Stars looked like the Dallas Stars everyone is used to seeing; minus giving up 37 shots on net. And to solve that problem they had Marty Turco at his finest. He stole the game away for the Stars and did not give the home town Flames much all night.The Flames stuck to their game plan all night, getting pressure on the forecheck and cycling the puck, and cycling the puck, and cycling the puck...The problem was, real scoring chances were few and far between and when they did get an opportunity, they would miss the net wide or Turco would come up with a great save. Turco didn't look like a goalie with a .868 SP and a 3.68 GAA, he looked like the Turco who had 5 straight 30 win seasons. He snapped up rebounds and made numerous key saves to keep the Stars in the lead. Not to mention he hancles the puck better than any goalie not named Martin Brodeur, and even then he might handle better than Brody. The Flames did their darndest to keep it away from him most of the night but whenever given the slightest second he would fire a clearing pass out harder and more accurate than most Defensemen ever thought possible. Looking at the Flames tonight, they did not necessarily play a bad game of hockey, they just could not thwart the Turco fortress. This might be due in part to the lack of PP time the team had all night. One man advantage to speak of all night spaced out over the 1st and 2nd stanzas produced the momentum the Flames needed and the following shift David Moss tied the game up at one. The crowd was into it, the Flames were flying, shift after shift Calgary was pressuring in the Stars end but could not find the net. Then a defensive lapse and Fabian Brunnstrom( supposedly the best player not in the NHL last year, or so you may have heard) went through the Flames resident Pylons of the night, in this case Dion Phaneuf and Mark Giordano, and took the lead at 7:38 of the 2nd. This killed the Flames momentum, and the crowd was totally taken out of the game. On a night when the most talked about player was not even on the ice, Sean Avery, his target earlier in the day Dion Phaneuf had his head in the clouds most of the night. A horrible minus 3 on the night and a key reason for the first goal, did not clear the puck when given the chance, and the 2nd goal, see above twin pylon comment. A game the young talented D man would most like to soon forget, but one that will help him learn down the road. If he thought dating a Hollywood actress would be all glitz and glamour, I guess he did not fully look into what kind of baggage it could possibly bring, and one can only guess how it affected him mentally? Phaneuf, who is still only 23 years old remember, looked like a 23 year old kid tonight. And I guess some nights, until he really matures Flames fans have to expect that. He is going to make mistakes(insert throwing it up the middle in your own zone) he is going to be selfish(trying to go through 2 Dallas Stars in the neutral zone when two of his teammates are open for the pass) and he is simply not always going to be the All-Star that he is made out to be. He has got a long way to go, and hopefully he keeps maturing and getting better, especially in the defensive zone. Right now in my mind Robyn Regehr is 5 times more valuable to the success of the Calgary Flames than Dion Phaneuf is. Phaneuf has the potential to be a great defenseman but he has a longer road ahead than some might think.
My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…
March 18, 2008 – Columbus, OH
A game against the Blue Jackets in Columbus was the final stop in a trip that had already seen games in Washington DC, Atlanta, and Chicago. We left Chicago on Monday afternoon, giving us plenty of time to make the five hour drive to Columbus. The game itself took place on Tuesday night, and I killed time that afternoon at the Jack Nicklaus Museum on the Ohio State University campus. If you’re ever in Columbus, and a fan of Nicklaus or golf, I’d highly recommend a stop there.
Nationwide Arena is in downtown Columbus and part of a new entertainment district called, quite fittingly, the Arena District. The Arena is the focal point, and the plan is to one day have it surrounded by restaurants, bars, and shops, but right now it is still in the development stages, with only a couple of facilities nearby. One of these, a pub called O’Shaughnessy’s, was no more than 50 paces from the main entrance to the arena, so we headed there for a pre-game beer. Much like Dutton’s in it’s proximity to the arena, O’Shaughnessy’s is a great place to head for a drink before the game. Unlike Dutton’s however, it was empty, even though puck drop was only a little over an hour away. When it cam time for the doors to open we headed over to see the arena.
Entering through the main doors of Nationwide, there is a large three storey atrium with floor to ceiling windows facing outside, and the concourse is open to the rink and seating bowl on the other side. We began our walk around the building to see what it had to offer, and went to find our seats. We had purchased tickets in section 219, which was the arena’s “All You Can Eat Seats.” For $30 each, we received tickets in the 200 level and a wrist band for unlimited concessions, which you could redeem at the concession booth right next to our section. Unfortunately this did not include beer, but it did included pop, hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, nachos, candy, and ice cream.
After getting our wrist bands, and a couple of dogs, we headed back to the main concourse to continue walking around. There are a couple of unique features in Nationwide Arena on the main level. First off, there is a full practice facility on the east side of the building, which includes a full sized rink and seating for 1500 people. It is not only used for Blue Jacket practices, but can also be rented out for tournaments or rec leagues. From the concourse you can see the facility through large picture windows. On the other side of the concourse, facing the rink, there is a large Civil War-era cannon, which is fired every time the Blue Jackets score. This answers the question of what exactly is a Blue Jacket. I thought it might be some kind of insect, but it is in fact a Union solider from the Civil War, hence the cannon.
As we were finishing our lap of the concourse we were approached by a man and woman in Flames jerseys, who asked us where we were sitting. They had driven to Columbus from Hamilton and had purchased their tickets on eBay. It turned out that he had bought four tickets in the third row behind the Flames’ bench, and as there was only two of them, had planned to give them to the first Flames fans they saw; which happened to be us! The new seats would be farther away from our all-you-can-eat section, but I’d never sat behind the bench like that, so I was willing to make the sacrifice.
As puck drop neared, we made another run upstairs to our concession stand and picked up some hot dogs, nachos, and candy for our new friends from Hamilton. When we arrived at the seats in our new section, 104, we immediately saw the upside and downside of the seats being so low and behind the bench. The proximity to the bench meant you could see more of what’s going on behind the scenes, so to speak. We could see the coaches tapping the next players to head out, and observe all the interaction between the players during play. The downside was, we couldn’t really see much of the game, as there were people standing on benches, five feet in front of us. As a result, we ended up watching much of the game on the jumbotron. Fortunately, we didn’t miss much, as this turned out to be probably the worst performance I’d ever seen by the Flames in the post-lockout era. The Blue Jackets dominated every aspect of the game, and ended up winning 3-0. It was a terrible end to what turned out to be a terrible road trip for the Flames.
After the game, as a result of needing to get back to Calgary, we left Columbus, and began the drive back to Toronto. We ended up spending the night in Ashtabula, Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie. If you only get one vacation a year, make sure it isn’t to Ashtabula, the kind of broken down town next to the Interstate, that if it weren’t for a couple of gas stations, a few motor inns, and a couple of restaurants, would cease to exist. The next morning, we were up at the crack of dawn, to finish the drive to Toronto. When we arrived at the car rental drop off, the trip odometer read 4,998km; only two off from my pre-trip prediction of 5000! Despite the Flames’ poor performance, it was still a great trip, where we were able to not only see four hockey games, but a lot of the country that we had never seen before.
The Washington-Atlanta-Chicago-Columbus Trip by the numbers:
4,998km driven 8 Nights 14 States 7 State Capitals 4 NHL arenas 10 Flames’ goals 14 Goals Against 1 Win 3 Losses 7 Stops at White Castle/Krystal
Eleven arenas down, nineteen to go…
-TheRev
Nationwide Arena Fast Facts
Seats:Section 218; $35, all-you-can-eat seats; Ticketmaster Score:Flames 0, Blue Jackets 3 Arena Rating:7.6 Unique Concession:All-You-Can-Eat Seats Souvenir Stick:Blue Jackets, blue, wooden Public Transit:unknown Unique Arena Trait:Practice rink in the concourse, goal cannon Swag:none
My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…
March 16, 2008 – Chicago, IL
This leg of our journey began in Atlanta, GA, the morning after watching the Flames blow a 3-0 lead. Having drunk a few too many fruity drinks at the Trader Vic’s in Atlanta, we headed out on the road a little later than we had originally planned. It didn’t matter however, as we had two full days to reach Chicago, and I had only anticipated the drive taking about 12 hours total. We spent one night outside of Louisville, KY on the way there, home to Churchill Downs and the world’s greatest horse race, the Kentucky Derby. When we checked into our hotel that night, we learned we had missed a deadly tornado ripping through downtown Atlanta by only two hours. On TV, we saw images of the CNN Center and Olympic Plaza in ruins, a mere three blocks from our hotel, and where only 12 hours earlier we had been walking around after the hockey game
The game in Chicago was on a Sunday afternoon, and we made our way into the city on Saturday, which gave us a little time to take in the sights of the Windy City. The annual St. Patrick’s Day parade had been held on Saturday morning, and we we’re lucky enough to see the river dyed green for the event. (You might remember this from the movie “The Fugitive.”) We were also lucky enough to see the results of drinking green beer from 7:00AM to 7:00PM, as there were several puddles of green puke on the sidewalk!
The United Center is another new arena, featuring many of the same amenities as any other. One thing that is different however, is the location. The United Center is near downtown, but not right downtown, and not within walking distance of downtown. (especially not in Chicago’s winters) We arrived via the subway, which drops people off three blocks away in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway. The walk to the arena passes empty parking lots and government row housing, and provides an unwelcoming and desolate approach to the facility. The arena itself is surrounded by a sea of parking lots and fences, and is not very inviting. There aren’t any restaurants or shops anywhere near the arena, and only one bar, the Billy Goat Tavern, located about two blocks away. Now, I have never liked afternoon games, as it just doesn’t feel right heading to an arena before you’ve had lunch. There’s a reason it is called Hockey Night in Canada and not Hockey Mid-Afternoon in Canada. However, upon further thought, it might have been a good thing the game was in the afternoon, as the area didn’t look like one a couple of Canadians should be walking around in at night.
We passed through the gates, and were each handed a free green Blackhawks hat, in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. Fortunately, we had come equipped with our own green Flames hats, which I had bought the previous year for a game against the wild on March 17th. The Blackhawks are beginning to experience a sort of renaissance. The team is improving because of some new young talent, but it is the passing of long time owner Bill Wirtz that is having the greatest impact. There was suddenly life injected into the franchise by his son Rocky, who took over. This included broadcasting games on TV (something that hadn’t been done in over 40 years) inviting former players like Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita to the arena as “hockey ambassadors,” (they wouldn’t set foot in the United Center because of their dislike for their former boss), and many other fan-friendly efforts. According to some Blackhawks fans we talked to after the game, old man Wirtz’s passing was like flipping a switch on the franchise, and it began to turn around almost immediately.
The concourses of the Untied Center are fairly standard, being wide, well lit and clean. The concessions are also pretty standard, except that most of them serve Chicago-style hot dogs instead of your normal frank. The dogs also come in a convenient hot dog coffin, which encloses around the dog and snaps shut, avoiding any possible spilling; perfect for taking to your seat. One unique concession was the Budweiser Brew Pub, which included an actual working brewery inside the arena, and a large seating area to enjoy a beer before the game, much like Dutton’s in the Dome.
We headed to the seats well before puck drop, to check out the seating bowl and ice. The United Center is the 2nd largest arena in the NHL, with a capacity of 20,500. As a result, the seating bowl is huge, and very cavernous. It is made even worse by the fact that the Blackhawks rarely sell out; in fact their average attendance this season is only 13,000. However, as with everything else, this has been on the rise since the passing of Bill Wirtz, and the team has even had a couple of sell-outs in the middle of a losing season. Our seats were located in section 109, in the corner of the Flames’ attack end. We were low enough that we could still hear the players, but high enough there we could see over the glass. Given my druthers, this is probably where I would want my season tickets to be.
As we approached puck drop, we prepared ourselves for something we had heard about going to Blackhawks games, the National Anthems. Unlike most arenas in Canada, where people sing along with the anthem, or most arenas in the States, where people turn toward the flag and salute, the fans in Chicago go, for lack of a better word, bezerk. As the anthem started, the cheering began, and not just a little bit of clapping or whistling, but rampant, hollering, cheering, screaming, arm waving and fist pumping. I’d never seen anything like it. The crowd was louder during the anthem than when the Blackhawks scored. The game ended up being a nice change of pace for us on this road trip, as the Flames dominated the game from start to finish and out played the Hawks in pretty much every way. On the backs of Iginla, Aucoin, Phaneuf and Huselius, the Flames were able to leave the Windy City with a 4-2 victory, and a chance of evening up their record on this road trip in two nights in Columbus.
After the game, which due to the afternoon start ended at 3:30PM, we headed to the Billy Goat Tavern for a beer. Despite being surrounded by Blackhawks fans, we walked in with our heads held high, and weren’t worried at all about hearing any verbal from the opposition. While drinking green beer (it was still St. Paddy’s Day weekend after all), we met a group of 40 Blackhawks fans from Wisconsin, who rent a bus and drive down for every afternoon game, something they had been doing for over 15 years. We even managed to make our way into the group photo they take for each trip; 40 Hawks jerseys and two Flames jerseys. The fraternity of hockey fans was alive and well in Chicago.
Ten arenas down, one third of the league, and only twenty to go…
-TheRev
United Center Fast Facts
Seats:Section 109; $75; Blackhawks Score:Flames 4, Blackhawks 2 Arena Rating:6.4 Unique Concession:Chicago-style dog in hot dog sarcophagus Souvenir Stick:Blackhawks, red, wooden Public Transit: ‘El’ Station three blocks from arena Unique Arena Trait:Brewery in arena Swag:Blackhawks St. Paddy’s Day hats
Photos
Now it’s on to Columbus, Ohio to see if the Flames can even up this trip…
My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…
March 13, 2008 – Atlanta, GA
The day of this game started in Washington, DC; or at least 15 miles South of Washington DC, in the suburb of Springfield, VA. Washington and Atlanta aren’t exactly close, kind of like Winnipeg and Calgary. Since we didn’t have the same luxuries as the Flames, travelling by chartered jet, we left our hotel at five in the morning, and we’re on the open road heading South just as the morning rush into the capital had begun.
The day saw us passing through, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and finally into Georgia. When we reached the South Carolina-Georgia border at around four in the afternoon, we were still two hours out of Atlanta, but weren’t expecting any delays, so I was able to make a quick stop in the city of Augusta to see the greatest golf course on the planet, the August National Golf Club, home of the Masters. The club is on Washington Road, which is Augusta’s version of McLeod Trail, but with more Waffle Houses. Filled with low-end retailers, all that separates the two is a large green hedge. As it is one of the most private clubs in the world, our visit meant we would be staying on the low-end side of the hedge. We parked across the street for a few snapshots and then continued on our way to Atlanta.
We checked into our hotel in downtown Atlanta, and headed off to the arena a few blocks away. The weather was a balmy 75F, so our attire included jerseys, flip flops and shorts. Philips Arena is in the heart of downtown’s entertainment district, which includes the arena, the Georgia Dome, home to the Atlanta Falcons, and the Centennial Olympic Plaza, which like Calgary’s Olympic Plaza, hosted the medal ceremonies each night during the 1996 Summer Olympics. Adjacent to the plaza is the CNN Center, which not only houses the cable station’s world headquarters, but also the Georgia World Congress Center (a very large convention center), two office towers, two hotels and a shopping mall; and is all connected to Philips Arena.
We entered Philips Arena on the East side of the building, where the doors are covered by a giant awning that not only covers the doorway, but also the nearby subway entrance. The supports for the awning consist of twelve giant steel beams, which when viewed from afar spell out ‘Atlanta;’ a neat touch to the façade of the building. Passing through the doors, you enter a large two-story atrium, with stairs that descend onto the main concourse. Above the stairs, hung the scoreboard from Atlanta’s previous arena, the Omni, which sat at the same location before being torn down in 1997 and was home to the Atlanta Flames. At the bottom of the stairs, we passed a recruiting booth for the US army, (I wondered who went to a hockey game as a fan and left as an enlisted man, but whatever), and then started our customary walk around the arena.
Philips Arena has one of the most unique characteristics I’d ever seen at an arena. Instead of having a row or two of luxury suites between the lower and upper bowls, circling the building, Philips Arena has them all on one side of the seating bowl, creating a wall, five levels high, of private boxes, super suites and club seating. The concourses are the same as the seats, and do not circle the entire building, but rather they end at each blue line on the west side of the arena. I guess you could walk the concourse all around the arena, but you would need the Philips equivalent of a ‘golden ticket,’ and our seats, purchased as part of the Thrashers’ “2 for 1 Thursday” promotion, did not grant us access.
The benefit to us commoners of the wall of luxury and decadence is that all the concessions on the main concourse are grouped together on a Bourbon Street-like avenue of food and drink, called the “Hawk Walk,” after the city’s NBA team. The Hawk Walk was not only the most unique concourse feature we’d seen, but probably the best as well. The concourse itself is extra wide, which helps eliminate the congestion found in other arenas, (this is also a result of the lack of fans, but they were really wide concourses), and allows for most of the concessions to have small seating areas. This way you didn’t need to stand off to the side, trying to eat a messy hamburger while standing up and holding a beer. There was a wide variety of concession choices, including sit-down restaurant style places, pubs and of course typical fast food outlets. We grabbed hot dogs from the Wretzel Pretzel stand (a hot dog wrapped in a pretzel) and a couple of beers from the Jack Daniel’s Tavern, which looked like a pub in an old European town, not one found in a 21st century arena. From there it was off to our seats in the 2nd level.
The seating bowl and the concourse in Philips Arena are separated by glass doors, which when closed, completely seal off the two; so much so that you cannot hear the game while you’re in the concourse. Why they have this I don’t know, as on the rare occasion when I need to leave my seat during a game, I still like to be able to hear the sounds of the game. We were seated in the 2nd level, which is where all the seats from the 2 for 1 promotion were located. From a quick survey of the arena, it was obvious this game had the fewest number of Flames fans we’d ever seen at an away game. Coincidently, it also had the fewest fans we’d ever seen at an NHL game, even less than had been at games in Phoenix. Hockey did not seem to have a stranglehold on the people of Atlanta yet, and it’s doubtful the Thrashers’ poor play is helping. The arena was so empty, that five minutes into the first period, there wasn’t anybody sitting in the section below us in the lower bowl. Twenty-five rows of seats, about ten seats across and there wasn’t a single person sitting there. At the first TV timeout, we headed down to the lower bowl, and took up residence in some new, better seats.
The worst part of this arena, turned out to be the performance by the Flames. After getting out to an early three-nothing lead, the Flames began to crumble, allowing Atlanta to score five unanswered goals, and eventually win the game 6-4. Quite a pathetic effort by Calgary, but fortunately nobody was there to see it.
Following the game, we headed to Trader Vic’s in the Atlanta Hilton; to wash our sorrow’s away with a couple of pina coladas (the perfect après hockey drink?). We met some Alabamans there, who were in town for a basketball game, and ended up staying out far too late with them. The next morning we would begin the third leg of the trip, to see the Flames try and snap their losing streak against the Blackhawks in Chicago.
Nine arenas down, twenty-one to go…
-TheRev
Philips Arena Fast Facts
Seats:Section 216; $29 face value, “2-for-1 Thursday” promotion; Ticketmaster Score:Flames 4, Thrashers 6 Arena Rating:9.4 Unique Concession:‘Hawk Walk’ Concession Street Souvenir Stick:Thrashers, blue, plastic Public Transit:Subway station beside the arena Unique Arena Trait:Luxury Suites all on one side of the seating bowl Swag:none
Photos
Now it’s on to the Windy City for a Flames-Blackhawks tilt tomorrow afternoon…
My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…
March 12, 2008 – Washington, DC Having visited many of the teams in the Western Conference, as they are closer to Calgary and easier to get to, we decided it was time to head East and see some of the teams that even the Flames themselves don’t see very often. The problem with planning a road trip to see the Flames play in the East is that you need to travel a long distance to do so, and then they usually only play one or two games before returning to Calgary or the West. It often isn’t practical to fly four or five hours to see one or two games. This year’s schedule however, afforded us an opportunity to hit the road for four games. The plan was to fly to Toronto and rent a car. From there, we would drive to Washington DC, Atlanta, back North to Chicago, over to Columbus and finally back to Toronto. All said, I had estimated the entire trip would cover 5000km, 14 states, nine days, four arenas and a hell of a lot of fast food joints.
We arrived in Toronto late in the evening, and had planned to drive to Washington, DC through the night. We’d arrive in the capital early in the morning, catch a nap, and then head into the city to do some sightseeing before the game. Of course, things don’t always work out as planned. We hit a snowstorm outside of Erie, Pennsylvania at about 2:00 in the morning. Our speed fell to under 30MPH as our visibility was reduced to almost nothing. Realizing it was fruitless to continue, we checked into a motel in Meadville, PA, stopping over a few hours, hoping the snow would clear. We continued our trek in the morning under sunny skies, passing through Maryland and West Virginia, and arrived in “DC” in the early afternoon, only a few hours behind schedule. After checking into our hotel, we jumped onto the subway and headed for city center.
We emerged from the subway right in the middle of the Mall, near the Washington Monument. By this time we only had about an hour before we needed to be at the arena, so it ended up being a rushed mini-tour of the many sights to be seen. The Washington Monument is something we’ve all seen in countless movies and TV shows, so it was neat to see from that perspective. It also holds the distinction of being the tallest building in the capital. From there we ran, okay jogged, okay walked quickly past the World War II memorial to the Reflecting Pool, which stretches to the Lincoln Memorial (you might remember it from Forrest Gump). After a few quick snapshots, we headed to the White House, about three blocks away. On our way there as we waited to cross the street, wearing our Flames jerseys, at the height of rush hour, I heard someone yell, “Stampeders Suck!” This was one of the last things I expected to hear standing on a street corner in Washington DC. Looking around, we spotted a man and woman across the street in Roughrider t-shirts. We exchanged waves as the light changed and went on our separate ways. As we approached Pennsylvania Avenue, police sirens began to sound and policemen filled the streets of the intersection. Suddenly, through the police, a motorcade consisting of four black Suburbans, 12 motorcycles and two limousines roared by, coming from the direction of the White House. The convoy was gone in under 20 seconds, the police disappeared back into the crowds of rush hour and everything returned to normal. Through later investigation, I found it was not the President as he was out of town at the time, but it was obviously someone of some importance.
We arrived in front of the White House for some obligatory pictures, and marvelled at its location. In the movies or on television, it appears to have massive sprawling gardens around the house, almost making it seem like it is in some acreage community on the outskirts of town. In reality, it is in the center of downtown. While the gardens or lawns are larger than the average home, they are not the sprawling, Xanadu-type yards I had been expecting. The security of the White House was also something to see. More obvious things were the snipers walking the roof of the house, and the overhead helicopter surveillance. Less noticeable was the absence of garbage cans, manhole covers, or storm drains within two blocks of the house. My own idea of home security, which consists of leaving the upstairs light on and double checking that the door is locked, suddenly felt inadequate. Having seen the President’s home, it was then time to head to the Verizon Center. The arena is only about five blocks away, and a simple walk from the White House. With such a convenient location, I wonder why the President doesn’t take in more games.
The Verizon Center is located in the heart of Chinatown in Washington’s downtown. The arena goes from sidewalk to sidewalk on all four sides, and is surrounded by shops and restaurants. To incorporate the arena into Chinatown, the outside signage has ‘Verizon Center’ in Mandarin as well as English. Unlike most of the other arenas we had been to, the Verizon Center was not surrounded by parking lots, nor was it off in a dark corner of an underused industrial park; it was smack in the middle of the city, surrounded by office buildings, hotels, galleries, shops, restaurants and, uniquely Washington, foreign embassies. It is a great location for an arena, and something I’d like to see for Calgary if the Dome was ever replaced.
We entered the arena across the street from the National Portrait Gallery, and began our customary tour of the concourse. The Verizon Center is very similar to most new arenas, with wide, well-lit, clean and organized concourses and tunnels. The concessions, for the most part, were serving standard things like nachos, hot dogs and the like. One unique shop however, was the fitness centre located within the arena, and accessible from the street. Vida Fitness is a full service gym, with weight room, cardio, yoga studios, Japanese soak tubs and more. It seems like an odd thing to have in an arena, I guess a pre-game workout might help burn off the above mentioned hot dogs and nachos.
The seating bowl at the Verizon Center is also fairly standard with two levels of luxury suites, and club seating in between those. The rafters in the Verizon Center are particularly bare, as neither the Capitals nor the Wizards (ne Bullets) have had much success over the years. We made our way to our seats, which were located in the 2nd row behind Olaf Kolzig’s net, in time for the National Anthems. I found the tickets on eBay, where we paid $50 per ticket, despite a $76 face value. It’s always hard to believe you can get tickets in the lower bowl for under $100, and that you can buy tickets on eBay for less than face value. Such is hockey in the United States.
This was our first game seeing Ovechkin, so we were keen to see if he lived up to the hype of being the most exciting player in the NHL. The Caps opened the scoring only 56 seconds into the game, as Viktor Kozlov scored on a tip in, and Jarome tied it up in the final minute of the period. In the 2nd period, Kristian Huselius put the Flames ahead 2-1 with a nice wrist shot. It was at this point that Ovechkin did surface, as he tied it up with two minutes left in the 2nd period and then scored the go ahead goal with 1:56 left in the third. To be honest, this wasn’t the game I was looking for from Ovechkin; I was thinking more that he would score a couple of exciting goals as the Flames went on to win 9-2. The win was the 300th of goalie Olaf Kolzig’s career, becoming the 23rd goalie to do so and there was a short ceremony following the game. It may be the quietest any goalie has ever recorded 300 wins.
I heard an interesting comment from a Caps fan who was sitting behind us. After a nice defensive play from Dion Phaneuf, he said, “It must be nice to see a Norris candidate, Vezina candidate and MVP candidate playing every night,” referring to Phaneuf, Kiprusoff and Iginla. I had never thought of it that way, but I guess as Flames fans, we are pretty lucky right now.
After this visit to the Verizon Center, we’ve seen eight arenas, with twenty-two to go…
-TheRev
Verizon Center Fast Facts
Seats:Section 116; $50 (face value $76); eBay Score:Flames 2, Capitals 3 Arena Rating: 8.6 Unique Concession:none Souvenir Stick:Alexander Ovechkin stick, white, plastic Public Transit:Subway underneath the arena Unique Arena Trait:Outside signage in Mandarin and English Swag:none
Photos
The next stop is to see the Flames play in their original home; Atlanta, GA.
My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…
March 1, 2008 – Glendale, AZ
The second leg of this Southern trip took the gang to Phoenix, Arizona. After watching the Flames lose 3-1 to the Ducks the night before, we were keen to hit the highway and head into the desert. Getting to Phoenix from LA is fairly straight forward. Interstate-10 takes you from one to the other, without stopping, and the entire journey takes about six hours. We hit the road a little late; perhaps we were still recovering from all the light beer the night before.
We arrived at our hotel in Glendale a couple of hours before the game. The last time we had been to the Jobing.com arena, there weren’t any businesses within two miles of the facility; it was stranded in the desert. This time around, the arena was surrounded by a development called the Westgate City Center, featuring bars, restaurants, shops and a couple of hotels. As a result, we were able to stay at a newly opened hotel, only a few blocks from the game. The addition of the Westgate City Center completely changed this arena in my eyes. The first time we visited here, the stadium was out in the dark of the desert, like a place where the mob would bury bodies. There was nowhere to go before or after the game except to and from your car before a lengthy drive to pretty much anywhere. The Westgate center provides the arena with a little community full of places to socialize, and actually makes it feels like a part of the community.
We arrived at the arena wearing standard Canadian hockey attire; flip flops, shorts and jerseys. As we entered the building we were given Coyotes gym bags, really nice gym bags in fact; tokens of the Coyotes’ appreciation for us showing up. As we entered the arena, the woman scanning our tickets commented that we were going to be chilly in our shorts and flip flops. “It gets down to 50F in there with the ice,” she said, not realizing we’ve worn shorts in “colder” temperatures.
We did a lap of the concourse, re-familiarizing ourselves with the local concessions. Basically they include a collection of Mexican outlets, standard hot dog outlets and a couple of mini-Hooters. I still find it funny that there are Hooters in the arena. I don’t know why, but it’s funny. We grabbed a couple of beers, and made our way to the seats in section 113 of the lower bowl. Our seats were located just inside the blue line, in the 12th row of the lower bowl, all for a mere $50.
Like our last game here, the Flames put on a dominating performance, beating the Coyotes 3-1. Jarome Iginla was named the game’s first star, recording two goals and an assist. After scoring his 2nd goal 11 minutes into the third, the large contingent of Flames fans in attendance were keen to see him get the hat trick, but it was not to be. We left the arena full of life and full of beer, joining other Flames fans in chants of “Go Flames Go.” To celebrate the victory, we headed to the Westgate City Center, moving from patio to patio and enjoying the warm desert night.
My mission is to see the Flames play in all 30 NHL arenas, a mission that began in October of 2005 while at a local pub watching the Flames take on the Oilers. With the previous season’s work stoppage, and the season before’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Flames tickets had become a very hard item to come by. I was then struck with the idea of combining two of my favourite activities; watching hockey and travelling. You can follow my quest to visit all 30 arenas right here…
February 29, 2008 – Anaheim, CA
Not having travelled to see the Flames play since last year’s first-round exit against the Red Wings, it was once again time to hit the road and cheer on the Flaming C. This trip involved a return to the newly named Honda Center to see the Flames play the Ducks, followed by a quick hop over to Phoenix for a game against the Coyotes. We were being accompanied by a couple of buddies on this trip; three friends who wanted to see what travelling to see the Flames play was all about. Of course it didn’t hurt that this trip was to California and Arizona in the middle of winter.
The trip hit its’ first bump before we even left Calgary. The night before we were to leave, it came to our attention that we wouldn’t be able to fly from Calgary non-stop to Los Angeles as planned. Looking at the flight schedules, it became apparent that there was only one way we were going to be able to take in both games, and that was to fly through Toronto. There was a red-eye flight to Toronto leaving that night, which would allow us to connect to an LA bound flight in the morning and still have us in Southern California in time for the game, all be it a little sleepy. All involved were in favour, and it was off to the airport. There is nothing quite like getting off a plane after four hours, to know that you are then twice as far away from your final destination. Such is the price we pay for last minute travel!
We arrived at the Honda Center on a beautiful Friday night, a group of five, anxious to see some hockey. I bought the tickets on StubHub, where I was able to get them for less than their face value. Unfortunately, they were also in the very last row of the upper deck. As we sat in our seats, it was decided that we would never again settle for crappy seats at an arena like Anaheim, where seats are not difficult to come by and are very affordable. Why sit in the worst seats in the house for $15 when we can sit in the lower bowl for only $50, or at least considerably less than we’d pay in the Dome? Away games are the perfect opportunity to sit in great seats.
Walking the concourse before the game, I was reminded of why I’m not too fond of this arena. The concourses are nice, with marble floors and walls, but the venue just lacks any kind of enticing atmosphere. I find it difficult to describe, but there is something about the Honda Center that I find “un-fun.” What was fun however was that Miller Lite had a booth set up near the main entrance. As part of their promotion, there was a taste test where you drank a cup of Miller Lite and a cup of Bud Lite before picking a winner. Although I’m not a fan of light beers, I am a fan of free beers. Especially at a hockey game. Now I’ve seen free parking and free beer at hockey games, who would of thunk it!? I couldn’t really tell the difference between the two, but was lucky enough to pick Miller Lite, so I received an autographed poster of the Miller Lite girls; a true hockey keepsake.
My second trip to the Honda Center, or rather my first to the Honda Center, but second trip to this arena, finished much like the first one; in disappointment. The Flames came out flat, and were unable to get any kind of momentum going against the defending Stanley Cup champions, falling 3-1. Dion Phaneuf was the only Flame able to score on the Ducks, while Niedermayer (Scott), Selanne and Schneider all scored for the Ducks.
After the game, milling about the arena, we met a Ducks fan, Phil, who was keen to talk hockey. He was a bit of a different breed, being born and raised in Southern California, and being a knowledgeable and die-hard hockey fan! Phil was able to talk not only about the current state of the NHL and its teams, but teams from the past, the AHL, the WHL and international hockey.
-TheRev
Honda Center Fast Facts
Seats:Section 403; $18; StubHub Score:Flames 1, Ducks 3 Unique Concession:Free Miller Lite Samples Souvenir Stick:previously acquired Public Transit:none Unique Arena Trait:none Swag:none
