My thoughts:
Barclays is great! NHL will work there, although not as nice as the rock with amenities (this was even mentioned by several isles fan), it's still a good solution for the team.
Obstructed views: The views seemed fine all around. We sat in supposedly the "worst seats" on section 229, but in all honesty we had a fantastic view. Only catch was you couldn't see the action behind the net because of a balcony that overhangs, but it was minor, nobody seemed to care. We sat there for $14 plus fees, if I was an isles fan and they offered these "obstructed view" seats as season tickets, I would jump on them. Would be great to have the Diablos back there Bc it would feel literally like a soccer match directly behind the net. The front rows had a cool bonus that you could look over the barrier down directly onto the action under the balcony. It was pretty cool if you ask me.
Food at Barclays is great. The lines are short & every stand seems to be a totally different restaurant, unlike the rock where the same crap repeats like its a some kind of sad joke. They had these cool hard liquor kiosks everywhere to on the concourse. Very club like atmosphere. I didn't see any fire/ice style lounges, which kind of sucks, but overall I loved it. There was a very cool thing I saw that I hope the Rock imlements, a mobile app where you order your food from your seats & then pick it up, no lines! Very cool!
The fans were cool, kind of boring at times. The cheerleaders are terrible compared to the Devils dancers. I really appreciate our girls so much more now Bc they really put on a show compared to the high school mockery taking place at Barclays.
Those Long Island soccer moms are HOT. They look hotter in Islanders gear too. The isles fans seem to be a mostly older crowd, but there was MILFs galore strutting their stuff.
Tons of places to eat & drink outside the arena. It's pretty cool, a lot like the Rock but much less ghetto. We stopped by the 4th Ave Pub, met the owner (devils fan) & went across the street to get some Pizza at another bar.
Now onto the game:
We have a deep, solid, confident squad. The usual jitters & tense feeling of "oh god they have the puck" are gone. They seem to developing good chemistry. I haven't been this high on a squad since 2012 and probably 2003 before that. I love the depth we have, it's something that's been missing for a while now. I like what I saw from the new additions & Brunner looked good out there, he even had an assist.
Schneider is better than I thought he was. The guy is really damn good and will give Brodeur a run for the money. His "terrible" stick handling is over exaggerated, he plays fine. The team seems to have a lot of confidence in him, which is great, since it means they don't handle the puck like a grenade when they get & they don't have that collective "oh shoot, the other team has puck" and "please don't score, please don't score" feeling. Hopefully they will also play like this under Marty as well, but I have a feeling if he was in net this game would be 3-2.
We're going to have a great season and expect a good run in the post season.