Hockey in a Basketball Arena

I went to my second college hockey game since graduating on Sunday.  The first one was at Fenway Park in January 2014.  So I've seen Notre Dame play hockey in a baseball stadium and this game was in a basketball arena that also happens to be the new home of the New York Islanders.  I'm thinking about taking a trip back to campus this winter to see them play at the Compton Family Ice Arena.  We'll see.

Notre Dame was playing UConn at Barclays Center at 2:30.  It was actually game 2 of a doubleheader.  The first game was Army and Bentley.  I was going with Kyle and we definitely didn't have any interest in the first game.  So we met at Barclays Center about 40 minutes before the Notre Dame game.  The crowd was small.  The Notre Dame box score didn't list attendance.  My guess is that it was 2,000, but that might be high.  Most of the concession stands were closed.  I had a cheeseburger that was very very lackluster.  It was okay, but there was nothing special about it at all.  The beer selection at Barclays Center is not great (get some Brooklyn stuff in there), but I had a Blue Point Toasted Lager.

I really wanted to go to this game not so much because I care about the hockey team (I'll be interested if we make it to the Frozen Four, but that's about it), but because I wanted to see hockey at Barclays Center.  Ticket prices weren't too bad.  Kyle and I decided to shell out for really nice seats.  We were around the blue line in row 7 for $61.  I figure if I go to any Islanders games this year (I don't plan on it) or any time in the next few years, I won't be getting seats like that for less than $100.  What we really should have done though was just buy cheap tickets and then moved to better seats.  There were plenty of seats open and nobody was checking tickets.  But whatever.  The setup for hockey is not particularly good.  The arena wasn't built for hockey so they have to take out seats on one end to fit in the hockey rink.  The ice is off center (which you can notice by comparing center ice to the scoreboard in the middle of the arena).  It's kind of weird, but it's not that big of a deal.  The really bad thing is if you're sitting on the end where they have to take out seats.  You can't see one of the goals if you're sitting on that side.  Most of the seats aren't too bad for hockey, but those seats are horrendous.

This was my first look at the ice.  You can't see the goal on the near side.

Our view for the game was very good.

As for the game, Notre Dame dominated UConn.  We beat them 2-1 the night before.  This night it would be 8-2.  I thought UConn was outplaying us early on, but scored the first goal about nine minutes in and never looked back.  It was 3-0 after the first period and then 5-1 after two.  Our seventh goal came on a delayed penalty ... on us.  UConn pulled the goalie for the extra skater and made a bad pass that went all the way down the ice and into the goal.  I don't know if I've ever seen that happen before.  One thing that I learned is that Notre Dame has a player that was drafted by the Rangers in 2011.  He's a senior at Notre Dame now.  He's listed on the Rangers' website on the "In the System" section.  I assume the Rangers haven't signed him to a contract, but still have his rights.  Fogarty scored one of the eight goals.  If he ever makes it to the Rangers, he'll take Ryan McDonagh's spot as my favorite player.

So yeah, it was good to see Kyle and I enjoyed hockey at Barclays Center.  I'm sure an Islander game is a different experience with many thousands of people more in attendance, but I got some idea of what it was like.  If you go to a game, make sure not to sit on the end where they take out seats.  If you do that, your view of the game should be fine.  Just be ready for a not very good beer selection.