Arena #6 - Joe Louis Arena

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 11, 2007 – Detroit, MI

I woke up the day of this game in Buffalo, NY, where we had attended the Flames-Sabres game the night before. I had my alarm set for five in the morning, as there was an eight hour drive ahead of us and we needed to be in Detroit for a 6:00PM puck drop. I was awakened by my phone beeping however, alerting me to a new text message. Checking the message, I learned that Kobasew and Ferrence had been traded to the Bruins for Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart. Surprised at the announcement, I headed to the hotel lobby to confirm the trade on their internet station. Sure enough, the two had been traded, and both Primeau and Stuart would both be paying in the game in Detroit that night. We had left the arena in Buffalo after 11:00 the night before, and within six hours, two players had been traded! Such is the hockey business I suppose.

We hit the road shortly after, making our way to Detroit along I-90, passing through Cleveland, OH. We arrived in the Motor City a couple of hours before puck drop, checked into our downtown hotel, and made our way to the arena. “The Joe,” as it is commonly referred to, is situated on the banks of the Detroit River, which separates the city from Windsor, Ontario to the South. Detroit, it should be noted, is the only place in the continental United States that you can enter Canada by heading South. Much like Buffalo, Detroit’s proximity to Canada means that many of the Red Wings’ season ticket holders hail from Windsor and Southern Ontario, which is only a bridge or tunnel crossing away. In fact, the City of Windsor even operates a bus line that crosses the border and circles downtown Detroit; making it very easy for Canadians to get to the arena.

Joe Louis Arena is unique in many ways. Opened in 1979, The Joe is the fifth oldest arena in the NHL, and as a result, lacks many of the amenities taken for granted in most facilities across the league. First off, there are stairs everywhere. There are stairs to get into the arena, stairs to get into the seating bowl, and stairs to get into your seat; not a very handicap-friendly venue. Concessions in the Joe Louis Arena are, for the most part, pretty standard. Most of them are generic arena food outlets, and the rest are Little Caesar’s outlets, which makes sense as the Red Wings are owned by Little Caesar’s founder Mike Ilitch. Another curiosity about The Joe, and something I’m not a fan of, is the restrooms. Instead of the standard urinal, Joe Louis Arena uses the old fashion trough. There is nothing worse than peeing into a trough and it was probably my least favourite thing about this arena!

There is only one level to enter the seating bowl, and your seats are either up or down from there. In our case, we were up, sitting in section 202B. The seating bowl of the Joe is also unique from most arenas. There really is only one level of seating, instead of the tiered seating at most arenas, with only a small walkway that circles the arena between the “upper” and “lower” sections.

The game didn’t turn out very well for the Flames, as the Red Wings jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one period, and eventually had a 6-1 lead early in the 3rd. A late charge got the Flames to within 2 goals, but Johan Franzen scored with 90 seconds left, putting the game away once and for all. The two newest Flames did not contribute offensively and seemed, understandably, a little out of place with their new team. One reprieve from the Flames less than inspirational performance happened during the 2nd intermission. The Red Wings select people to ride the Zamboni during the intermissions, and during the 2nd, one of the Zambonis had a guy in his late 20’s, wearing a blue jacket and ball cap. As the machine crossed center ice, he stood up and removed his jacket, revealing a Calgary Flames t-shirt. The Flames fan started to raise his arms to encourage the crowd, who promptly booed him for the rest of his ride.

Following the game we exited out the South side of the building onto Atwater Street, which runs between the Arena and the river. At street level, the Flames’ team bus was parked only a few yards away, and there was a small group of Flames fans cheering as they boarded the bus. When Jarome Iginla came out, he strayed from the line, and approached the gate we were all standing next to and had the security guard open the gate up. Iggy then signed autographs and posed for pictures for everyone there. I was able to get my jersey signed, but unfortunately my camera’s batteries had died. It was impressive to see a star player take the time to sign autographs after a fairly lopsided loss.

We then left the Joe Louis Arena on foot, and headed to the downtown district of Greektown, which is filled with restaurants, bars and casinos. It was a great place to go and forget about our unsuccessful road trip that saw the Flames go 0-1-1 in Buffalo and Detroit.


Six arenas down, twenty-four to go…


-TheRev


Joe Louis Arena Fast Facts

Seats: Section 202B; $49.75USD; Ticketmaster
Score: Flames 4, Red Wings 7
Arena Rating: 6.8/10
Unique Concession: Little Caesar’s Pizza
Souvenir Stick: Steve Yzerman, black, wooden
Public Transit: Detroit People Mover Station across the street
Unique Arena Trait: One-tiered seating bowl
Swag: None

Photos

Arena #5 - HSBC Arena

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 10, 2007 – Buffalo, NY

We flew to Toronto for this February trip, where we would be taking in two Flames games; one in Buffalo against the Sabres, and another in Detroit against the Red Wings. We made the two hour drive from Toronto to Buffalo on the day of the game and arrived at the arena about two hours before puck drop. The HSBC arena is located in downtown Buffalo, at the Eastern tip of Lake Erie, less than a kilometre from the Canada/US border. As we were driving to the game, I didn’t notice what public transit connections were available, but since the arena is centrally located, I’m guessing there are buses readily available.

I had an “American Encounter” before the game, as we were waiting to enter the arena. Standing on the sidewalk, I struck up a conversation with a Sabres fan as with both stood huddled on the sidewalk, trying to protect ourselves from the cold winter wind blowing off the lake. The sidewalks were covered in ice and waist-high piles of snow, which lined the sidewalks and parking lots in every direction, as the temperature hovered around 15C below zero. After telling the man I was from Calgary, he said, “it must be good to get out of the cold and snow of Canada.” Standing there is disbelief, I asked him if he was serious.
“What do you mean?” he asked, genuinely puzzled.
“Well, Canada’s right there,” I said, pointing to the international boundary that was a mere five minute walk from where we stood.
“So, there isn’t way more snow there?” he continued, still confused.
“Well, no, it’s just on the other side of the river, so there’s the same amount of snow,” I told him, not bothering to mention that Calgary was over 2000 miles away, and had never had as much snow on the ground at one time as the streets of Buffalo had on that Saturday. While I don’t expect him to be familiar with Calgary weather, I found it quite amusing that he assumed the weather across the river in Canada, which he can probably see from his house, was much colder and snowier than Buffalo.

There was a brief security check at the doors, where they went through bags and purses, but no metal detectors. After passing that, we entered the giant atrium that greets all visitors to the HSBC Arena. A full two storeys, and stretching nearly the entire length of the arena, the atrium includes a massive team store at one end and ticket windows at the other. Between the two is a large media area with a sports ticker and several TV’s showing various games and sports highlights. On the 2nd level of the atrium is the Headlines Sports Bar, which overlooks the lower level and has great views of the downtown skyline.

Like other new arenas, and unlike the Saddledome, the concourses of the HSBC are wide and clean, making it easy for lots of traffic to get around the arena. We headed to the upper concourse for a beer and a snack, and came across a unique concession item, the bologna sandwich. Essentially, it was a grilled cheese sandwich with bologna and onions, and it tasted delicious. We washed those down with a beer at a neat little bar nestled in the corner of the concourse called, The Poor Man’s Aud Club. The bar featured artifacts taken from Buffalo’s former arena, the Memorial Auditorium. While sitting there enjoying our beers, we saw Flames play-by-play man Peter Maher buying some french fries. I bet he couldn’t walk around the Saddledome like that without being bothered by a legion of fans.

The seating bowl of the arena is fairly standard, with lower and upper bowls of roughly the same size. In between the two is a level of luxury suites and a level of club seats. Our seats were located in the very last row of the arena, in the upper tier. We were sitting next to a group of 20 hockey fans from Fort Erie, Ontario, who often make the half hour trip into Buffalo for games. One of them mentioned that 30% of the Sabres’ season ticket holders are Canadian.

The game was a tightly fought battle, as the two teams traded goals, resulting in a 2-2 tie after regulation and overtime. The game went to a shootout, where Phaneuf, Lombardi and Huselius failed to score, while Buffalo’s Ales Kotalik was able to get one past Mikka Kiprusoff.

Five arenas down, twenty-five to go…


-TheRev


HSBC Arena Fast Facts

Seats: Section 308; $40.00USD; Sabres website (tickets.com)
Score: Flames 2, Sabres 3 in a shootout
Arena Rating: 7/10
Unique Concession: Fried bologna sandwich
Souvenir Stick: Sabres stick w/team autographs, wooden
Public Transit: Unknown
Unique Arena Trait: Giant Entrance Pavillion
Swag: None

Photos




Next up is a trip to the Motor City to see the Flames take on the Red Wings…

Arena #4 - Jobing.Com Arena

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 16, 2006 – Jobing.com Arena – Glendale, AZ

A trip to Phoenix just before Christmas marked the fourth NHL arena we’ve visited, as we took in a Flames – Coyotes tilt at the Jobing.com arena. One of the more unusual names for an arena, Jobing.com is an employment website and has naming rights for the Glendale Arena until 2016. The arena is located in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, on the Western edge of the city, bordering the desert, and opened in 2003. It is situated across the street from the University of Phoenix Stadium, which is home to the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.

Much like in Anaheim, this arena is really only accessible by car, as transit links are minimal and it is too far from the rest of the city. When we arrived at the arena, we were confronted with something so bizarre; I didn’t believe it at first. Parking at the arena is free! I didn’t think this was something I’d ever see. We parked our rental car, (a red Mustang), and headed toward the arena. The area around Jobing.com was still being developed, and as a result there weren’t any services nearby. There are plans for an entertainment district called the Westgate City Center, which will feature restaurants, bars, theatres and shops, but for this game there were only construction sites and cacti.

We didn’t have tickets purchased beforehand, knowing that they wouldn’t be hard to come by. We decided to purchase tickets from a scalper outside the arena, who was offering 1st row tickets on the 2nd balcony for $30. The tickets had a face value of $28, but I figured the same tickets at the box-office would cost more after adding in Ticketmaster’s wonderful ‘convenience charge.’ After getting our tickets, we entered this oasis in the desert, where the first 10,000 fans received a ball cap celebrating a “Decade in the Desert.” In Phoenix, ‘the first 10,000 fans’ means everybody gets something, as there is never that many fans in attendance.

The concourses of the Jobing.com arena are similar to those of most modern arenas; wide and well lit. At each corner of the concourse, there was a mini-Hooters outlet, with décor like their restaurants, and abbreviated menus. The staff however, were not wearing the typical Hooters’ uniform. Much like the arenas in California, many of the concessions featured Mexican dishes, including burritos, tacos and quesadillas. The seating bowl in Jobing.com features ‘coyote red’ seats, over 3 levels of seating. Unlike most arenas I’ve been to, the lower bowl is the largest, with 25 rows of seats. The 2nd level features two levels of luxury suites, most of which were empty for this game, and then the upper level, where we were sitting.

Unlike the Arrowhead Pond, the Jobing.com arena does have escalators and elevators, making for an easy ascent to our seats. We were sitting in section 229, (which is in the upper level), even with the blue line in the Flames’ attack end. Our seats happened to be next to four retired teachers and their wives, from Calgary. In fact, one of them taught Social Studies at my high school, but had retired the year before I went there. They told us that they wintered in Phoenix and went to every Flames game, plus a couple of other “interesting games.” I’m assuming they weren’t talking about a Coyotes-Panthers match-up.

The game was a dominating performance by the Flames, and in particular, Jarome Iginla who had two goals and two assists on the night and a 1st Star selection. The Coyotes were unable to mount much of defence and allowed four other goals by Tanguay, Ritchie, Amonte and Langkow. After Iggy scored his 2nd goal of the night at the 7:12 mark of the 3rd period, I was really keen to see him get the hat trick. Thanks to the Coyotes’ generosity, I’d be able to throw my new Coyotes hat onto the ice! Alas, it was Amonte scoring an empty netter to put the game away.

The arena itself is nice, but it just isn’t very exciting for watching a hockey game. First off, it lacks a hockey game atmosphere, which is probably because there isn’t anybody there. Midway through the 3rd period, attendance was announced at 15,551. Judging by the number of empty seats, I’d be shocked if there were much more than 5,000 people in attendance.. They must have been referring to seats sold, as that building was over half empty. Secondly, the location is terrible, being on the outskirts of town. Perhaps when the development around the arena opens up, things will be a little more exciting, but for now it is a very dull location.

Four arenas down, twenty-six to go…..


-TheRev


Jobing.Com Arena Fast Facts

Seats: Section 229; $30.00USD ($28 face value); Scalper outside the Arena
Score: Flames 6, Coyotes 3
Arena Rating: 5.8/10
Unique Concession: Hooters
Souvenir Stick: Yellow Coyotes, plastic
Public Transit: None
Unique Arena Trait: Free parking
Swag: ‘Decade in the Desert’ ballcaps

Photos

Arena #3 - Arrowhead Pond

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…

April 17, 2006 – Anaheim, CA

We headed to the home of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, as usual, a couple of hours before the game. Located a few miles from Disneyland, and two blocks from the home of the LA Angels, is convenient to access by car and nothing else. Transit in Los Angeles leaves something to be desired, and transit in Anaheim is next to non-existent.

The Pond, as it is known, appears to be very modern. Glass and polished stone cover the outside, while the interior concourses are made of faux-marble walls and floors. Before entering the Arrowhead pond, you must pass through airport-style security. Like at an airport, you emptied your pockets into a tray, and then continued on to a security officer with a metal-detecting wand. Out of habit from airport security, I began to remove my belt. “Save it for the ladies…” said the older man who was screening me, as he waved me on. Now that we were secure, we could finally enter the building.

We did a tour of the concourse after entering, seeing a sea of run of the mill concessions, the same ones you would see at any arena. As it was the final game of the season, it was “Fan Appreciation” night, but from what we could tell, this entailed nothing more than saying that it was in fact, “Fan Appreciation” night. There weren’t any free handouts and there didn’t appear to be any special concession prices.

The seating bowl in the Pond is fairly standard. There was a row of luxury suites at the top of the lower bowl, another row of suites four rows into the second level, followed by a fairly large upper level, with about 30 rows of seats. Looking up to the rafters, I noticed that the Might Ducks only had three banners hanging, and two of them were celebrating the team’s existence. There was one banner honouring the team’s inaugural season and another commemorating the team’s tenth season. I guess if you can’t win, you can always celebrate not folding or relocating. The third banner did mention the franchise’s only real success; a trip to the Stanley Cup finals in 2003, where they lost to the New Jersey Devils in seven games.

Our seats were located in section 407, which is in the third level of seating. For some reason, the sections at the Pond are the 200’s, 300’s and 400’s. There weren’t any 100 sections, but I’m guessing those are for floor seats for concerts or basketball. One thing of note was that despite opening in 1993, there aren’t any elevators or escalators for accessing the upper concourse. Not unlike the Dome, but unexpected of a newer arena.

The game was fairly uninspiring until midway through the 2nd period. At that point, due to an Avalanche loss, it was announced over the PA that the Flames and Ducks would be facing each other in the first round in four days. Following the announcement, the checks started getting a little harder, and players on both teams started to skate a little faster. Playoff intensity had already begun in Anaheim. Despite the fierce battle in the 2nd half of the third, the Flames were again defeated, falling 4-3 to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

The Arrowhead Pond was quite disappointing, and inferior in almost every way to its cross town rival, the Staples Center. It made me appreciate the Saddledome that much more.

Three arenas down, twenty-seven to go…..


-TheRev

Arrowhead Pond Fast Facts

Seats: Section 407; $19.50USD; Ticketmaster
Score: Flames 3, Ducks 4
Arena Rating: 5.2/10
Unique Concession: None
Souvenir Stick: JS Giguere goalie stick, plastic
Public Transit: None
Unique Arena Trait: No escalators or elevators
Swag: None

Photos

Arena #2.2 - Staples Center

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…

April 15, 2006 –Los Angeles, CA

My second away game saw me returning to the Staples Center for the Flames 2nd last game of the ’05-’06 season. This time I was accompanied by my girlfriend, and our trip also included stops at the Honda Center for the Flames’ final game of the season, a Dodgers-Giants game at Dodger Stadium and a couple of days at the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland.

When we arrived at the Staples Center before the game, my girlfriend was a little apprehensive about seeing a game in enemy territory. I had assured her it wouldn’t be bad and that people wouldn’t be yelling at us or anything, but nonetheless she was still worried. Much to her relief, the first hockey fans we saw as we approached the West side of the arena, was a group of over 30 Flames fans! These guys were playing a game of street hockey in the California sun. They had sticks and balls, and were using a couple of pylons for goal posts. Although it wouldn’t be that out of the ordinary in Canada, it wasn’t something we had expected to see in Los Angeles. After talking with a couple of them, we learned they were a group of Saddledome employees who head to a Flames away game each year. This year’s group had over 30 people, and they were attending the same sporting events we were; both hockey games and a baseball game.

Although there wasn’t anything on the line for either team; the Flames were already guaranteed 3rd place in the Western Conference and the Kings had already missed the playoffs, the game was destined to be a special one, as long-time King, Luc Robitaille was playing in his final game at the Staples Center, and the 2nd last game of his career. With over 600 goals and 1300 points, the Montreal born left-winger was calling it a career after 19 seasons. As we entered the arena, we were each given a t-shirt commemorating Robitaille’s last game with the words ‘King of Kings’ on the front and a silhouette of the future hall-of-famer raising his hands in celebration of a goal.

Walking the concourse before the game, we found another unique food at a concession booth called Camacho’s, burritos. I had never seen Mexican food at a hockey game before, but when in Rome…! We ordered a couple of burritos and headed to our seats. Entering the seating bowl, we were greeted with a sea of yellow and white placards that were on every seat in honour of Mr. Robitaille. The cardboard signs read “Thank You Luuuc” on one side and had the number 20 on the other. The same signs were also on the boards between several ads.

With the North West Division already clinched, it was obvious the Flames were sort of mailing it in for this game. There wasn’t a lot of hitting, and there didn’t seem to be much hustle from the away team. Fortunately, the Kings lacked a few key components to hockey success. Most notably, speed, strength, goal tending, defence, offence and overall talent. As a result, the game ended up tied 1-1 after regulation and overtime, and continued on to a shootout. Pavol Demitra was able to score on Kiprusoff while Jason LaBarbera was able to stop all three Flames shooters, handing the Flames a 2-1 loss.

A brief retirement ceremony followed the game, with the Kings faithful letting out a string of “Luuuuuucs,” and Robitaille doing a celebratory lap of the rink.

Next up is the Flames-Ducks game at the Arrowhead Pond against the Mighty Ducks.


-TheRev

Staples Center Fast Facts

Seats: Section 314; $28.00USD; Ticketmaster
Score: Flames 1, Kings 2 in a shootout
Arena Rating: 8/10
Unique Concession: burritos
Souvenir Stick: none
Public Transit: Train stop across the street
Unique Arena Trait: 3 levels of luxury suites
Swag: Luc Robitaille t-shirt, Luuuuc!/#20 Placard

Photos