Opinion: My 5 Favourite Places To Watch an NHL Game

As the NHL season is down to it’s final four combatants, we are seeing the advantage that a raucous home crowd can provide for the skaters on the ice. So, complied through extensive travelling through cities with NHL franchises, here are my Top 5 favourite places to watch an NHL game:

5. Rogers Arena – Vancouver, British Columbia

The Air Canada Centre east in Toronto is famous for being almost a ghost house thanks to the giant number of corporate types who fill the lower bowl, relegating real fans to the nosebleed seats, but there’s no such problem in Vancouver. There’s atmosphere a-plenty here. 

Canucks fans, who recently, have been used to a fair degree of success under Alain Vigneault and now John Tortorella, pour into Rogers Arena nightly to watch their team, with Roberto Luongo in goals and the Sedin twins dazzling opposition with their innate ability to know where the other is on the ice. Extremely loyal fans and a pumping goal song – ‘Electric Worry’ by Clutch – make this an excellent place to see a game when you’re up north of the border.

4. Staples Centre – Los Angeles, California

Sure, Southern California isn’t a hockey hotbed, and it’s never going to be mistaken for one, but there are eighteen thousand people who pack Staples each Kings game night who could make you think otherwise. Their knowledge of the game is impressive, nightly dispelling the notion that you’ve got to be Canadian or living somewhere in the northern half of the USA to be a knowledgeable hockey fan.

Between one of the most entertaining mascots in the NHL – Bailey, the lion, whose antics include beating on a drum and banging the glass around the penalty box when an opposition player’s in there – a rocking DJ playlist, clever promotions, and the impressive sightlines everywhere, you won’t find a more fun place to watch a game. Of course, it helps that the Kings are going through a run of success, including a Stanley Cup championship in 2012.

3.  TD Garden – Boston, Massachusetts

Not the old Boston Garden, but a newer incarnation without a bad seat in the entire joint. I know, because I towards the back for a game between the hometown Bruins and their blood rivals from north of the border, the Montreal Canadiens, and I saw everything perfectly.

An Original Six franchise, the Bruins have a long history of hockey excellence, and after a few years in the wilderness, they’re back atop the NHL heap. The exploits of Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron have brought Boston fans back to hockey. The Bruins rivalry with the Canadiens is legendary for it’s on-ice brutality. Boston fans are literally baying for Montreal blood, and are usually granted that wish by way of fights on the ice. 

The TD Garden announcer is very excitable, capping his announcement of every Bruins goal with a “woo”, which, of course, is echoed by every fan wearing yellow and black. Rene Rancourt sings a rousing version of the American national anthem – and sometimes the Canadian one, too – before every game. He’s one of the best in the world.

2. Madison Square Garden – New York City, New York

The World’s Most Famous Arena sits on Broadway in the heart of what I think is the greatest city on the face of the planet, and despite the Rangers general mediocrity – their last Stanley Cup championship came in 1994 – the witty, vocal, long-suffering and entertainingly opinionated Blueshirt fans fill the Garden every night, remembering the long-ago glory days of Giacomin, Richter, Messier and Leetch whilst cheering for current-day heroes, like The King, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan McDonagh and others, whilst holding out hope of another Cup in the very near future – maybe in 2014?

Madison Square Garden is home to some great traditions, like Dancing Larry and the fabled “Potvin Sucks” chant, both of which have taken on a life of their own under the famous circular roof, and despite an often-quiet crowd – at least in comparison to the fever-pitch atmosphere in Boston and Chicago – you can’t help but feel like you’re walking in the footsteps of so many brilliant and talented people, from Michael Jordan to Wayne Gretzky, Billy Joel to Bruce Springsteen

If you get lucky enough to see a Rangers vs. Islanders contest at the Garden, you’re seeing one of the best atmospheres New York sport has to offer, but, as much as it pains me as a diehard Rangers fan to say, the Garden isn’t the best place to watch a hockey game...

1. United Centre – Chicago, Illinois

If you’re looking for somewhere to see your first ever NHL game, you absolutely can’t go past the Windy City.

Like the Garden in New York, United Centre has been the home to some amazing sporting feats. Consider all those years of Chicago Bulls NBA dominance in the 1990s and, more recently, two Stanley Cup championships in four years from the Blackhawks. The Madhouse on Madison is the largest NHL venue in America, and surely one of the loudest.

The Blackhawks boast who I believe is the greatest exponent of singing the Star Spangled Banner anywhere in America. Listening to Jim Cornelison sing the stirring American national anthem will make you so damn proud to be an American, even if you’re not actually an American. His voice is something else. The crowd cheers and shouts during the singing, a departure from the norm – and a tradition dating back to an NHL All-Star Game held in Chicago during the First Persian Gulf War – whipped into a frenzy, and they pretty much don’t stop until the end of the game. They don’t call it the Madhouse on Madison for nothing!

Blackhawks fans love Kane, Sharp, Toews, Crawford and co, and dislike the Red Wings with a serious passion. Everyone cheers Blackhawks ambassadors/hockey legends Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita every night when they appear on the video screens, their organist is hugely talented, and hearing everyone sing along to Chelsea Dagger after a goal, and at the conclusion of a ‘Hawks victory, makes you a fan even if you’re there as a neutral observer. It’s like Bell Centre in Montreal without the added pretension.

Also, the Blackhawks’ pre-game introductions are annually amongst the most creative in the League. Their montage of players skating through Chicago, past the city’s famous landmarks from a few seasons back, accompanied by a laser light show and a projection of the American flag on the ice during the anthem was as good as I’ve seen anywhere.

A guarantee: if you see your first game in Chicago, particularly against one of Chicago’s great rivals – Detroit or Toronto – you’ll be hooked on the game for life.