What’s your best and worst road game attendance experience?

[katfude]

As far as overall experience - The Winter Classic - or whatever they called it at the Air Force Academy - game between the Kings and Avs was terrible. Took over 2 hours to get into the stadium and once there thought my two kids were going to be crushed to death in the mob on the upper level. Not a good scene - as you could feel the surge from behind pushing you, and the smaller children were having a hard time finding space to breath. This experience had nothing to do with either team, but just the overall lack of Security/attendants at the game. It was actually pretty scary, I picked up my youngest and put him on my shoulders and a young guy offered to do the same with my older boy (now about 7).

Yeah, that ancient stadium on a military facility with limited access points by design was the worst possible choice in Colorado in terms of fan experience. Colorado natives outside of those that live in the Springs didn't realize you should have been there 2 hours early if you wanted to be in your seats on time. We found that info out the morning of the game and it saved our butts.

Miserable experience, though. Someone even died leaving that game.

 

[rfournier103]

I’ve never been to a Bruins away game, but I like to think we treat visitors with respect for the most part.

If I’m at a Bruins-Canadiens game, I always make it a point to strike up a friendly conversation with a Canadiens fan just so they can go home and say they met a friendly Bruins fan.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

Best road game I’ve attended was the David Ayres game in Toronto. Once in a lifetime experience and we actually met some cool leafs fans.

Worst road game is an easy choice because it’s the only road game I’ve ever been at where the canes lost. Was about a year ago now in Vancouver. Pretty boring, low scoring game iirc. Nice arena and fans were cool, though.

 

[severian]

Never really had any bad experiences. More so just a couple moments

First time the Knights played in Jersey i wore my VGK jersey to the game. Got a good amount of chirps, threats of beer being tossed at me (though I didnt help the situation by chirping back resulting in that point) & a few people randomly telling my gf to break up with me (she was in her Devils jersey). Was quite funny, nothing bad.

& the draft in Monteal I was surprisingly fine wearing a Rangers jersey but my Brother wearing a Sens one not so much. That was a fun night hearing people yell at him. Ironically a Lot of “Sens suck” chirps despite Habs being the 1st pick with a horrible season

So you’re a Rangers fan who wore a Knights jersey to a Devils game. Kind of cringe ngl.

 

[Taluss]

So you’re a Rangers fan who wore a Knights jersey to a Devils game. Kind of cringe ngl.

Meh, i got a Jersey collection, i try to wear most of em whenever i can so they arent just sitting there

 

[Bizz]

My worst road game experience is when my wife and I drove down to Anaheim for a game back in 2007 and her car broke down on I-5 about halfway and never made it there.

Other than that, never been to a Sharks road game.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Went to see the Jets play the Islanders a few years back at the Barclays Centre. Got awesome seats for pennies compared to the tickets at MSG the day before. Sat in front of a group of young Wall Street douche bags. One was complaining that he hated the Jets because his front row tickets in ATL cost him under $20 a game. Wanted so bad to turn around and tell him that's exactly why they lost their team and to shut the f*** up about banging strippers and doing coke in front of my 7 year old.
MSG was awesome, except for getting food poising from Katz Delicatessen, thus ruining smoked meat for me forever. Was also my only chance to see Big Buff play, but he was injured.

I hate people who don't shut the f*** up at games while the play is going on

 

[severian]

Meh, i got a Jersey collection, i try to wear most of em whenever i can so they arent just sitting there

Fair enough.

 

[Serpico]

Never have a problem at MSG, but the islander fans were pretty hostile to us a few years ago in the playoffs. My fiancé who barely watches hockey wore a bruins shirt and guys were being creeps to her when I wasn't around.

 

[TheRumble]

Without a doubt it's Boston.

Was Bruins vs Habs during the Subban era.

Let's just say there's a lot of people in Boston who hate black people.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Pretty unnerving to have a Boston fan chirping me in the men's bathroom (TD Arena). I'm p**sing in the urinal and he's beside me saying: "Hey man. The Leafs f***ing suck!". It's not that I need all kinds of concentration to do my business, but I certainly don't want to get into a jawing match while I'm going pee.

Without a doubt it's Boston.

Was Bruins vs Habs during the Subban era.

Let's just say there's a lot of people in Boston who hate black people.

Ugh. Isn't there a photo out there of 4 MTL fans in Black face? I'm sure you experienced racism there, but there's racism in every city.

 

[mtlmonk]

As a Habs fan, went to the Nassau Coliseum (Islanders) about 15 years ago. Rink was filled with Habs fans (about 80-90% Habs)

Bought the tickets by calling the rink way in advance. Couple of days before the game, called again to make sure tickets were reserved. Staff on the phone, said no and re-booked me some.

At the arena's ticket booth, they said they had nothing under my name. Was pissed. Suggested we got center seats about 20 rows from the boards. What I had reserved were better, so I asked for something better. They ended offering us front row seats (2nd from the boards) so I asked how much it would be, they said it was on them for all the trouble.

2nd row but in fact, felt like 1st row since no one was in front of us. Corner of the ice where the shovel girls and tshirt girls were coming out from. Camera guy was next to us and we chatted a bit. He said to be prepared for each Habs goal as he would turn to us. Habs scored 3 and friends told us we were on TV each time

 

[Church Hill]

I've seen the Sharks on the road in:

Vancouver
Anaheim
Vegas
Colorado
Detroit
Calgary
Edmonton
Dallas
Minnesota
Carolina
Columbus
Washington

Of those, I never had any really bad experiences. One fan in Minnesota (who was the fattest human I've seen in awhile) yelled at some lady to "put your f***ing phone away" while walking in the busy concourse after the game. That's honestly it.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Best #1 - Attending Arizona games where you can get lower bowl seats for less than $100/person and the building is half Oilers fans.

Best #2 - Attending the Oilers-Hawks games where McDavid did the spin-o-rama on Keith for the Maroon tap-in. Even Hawks fans were high-fiving me saying he's on another level.

Worst - Trying to get to an Oilers game at Joe Louis arena when I was living in Toronto as part of a college internship. The border guard wouldn't believe my friend and I were taking a bus from Toronto to Detroit just to watch a hockey game. The bus was delayed for 2+ hours because one guy didn't disclose he had a record (spousal abuse) to US Customs. He never made the bus and we arrived to the game 5 minutes before puck drop not really in a mood to watch hockey.

 

[NYRfan85]

I haven't been to too many arenas yet, but I haven't really had a 'worst' experience. Going to see the Rangers play in Raleigh are always the best, because us Rangers fans take over the arena. People like to rag on the Canes (hOcKeY dOeSn'T bELoNg hErE), but PNC Arena is LOUD, and so much fun when the building is split with home and away fans.

The best experience I had as a neutral fan was seeing the Penguins play the Lightning in Tampa during their record-breaking regular season. I wore my Ryan Callahan Rangers jersey, and got a lot of compliments from Tampa fans about it. The atmosphere in the arena was awesome, and the arena is in an excellent location downtown. It also helped that we saw Crosby try to 'fight' and the Pens lost 5-4 that night. But the fans were great, great sightlines, etc.

I will say though, went to an Islanders-Canes game in Raleigh last season, and most of the Islanders fans were pretty insufferable (but I'm used to that as a biased NYR fan, ha).

 

[BlueOil]

best - pepsi center/ball arena has been a lot of fun as an away fan. there's always a good representation of away fans and starting chants for the away team in the arena is pretty easy. takes the avs fans a bit to collectively drown it back out so you can hear it on tv too sometimes. the venue itself is pretty nice and the home fans are generally pretty good too, even during the playoffs.

worst - treadstone arena in nashville. the arena was great but the fans were not. this was around the time nashville was trying to keep the chicago fans away by limiting single game tickets, so i guess any away fan drew their ire during that time.

 

[imMagnum]

Alberta Devils fan here. Every year the friends (all Flames or Oilers fans) and I go to the Devils @ Flames game. Couple years back we decided to follow the Flames on their New York trip, which meant I got to go see my first game at the Rock.

Flash forward to game day. Started with the basics at the Rock: BBQ at Dino's, taking a pic with the Marty statue, checking out the banners etc. Just in awe of finally being at a home game for a team I've cheered for since I was a small kid. We sit down for the first period and I notice my wife is constantly looking at her phone. Odd because she's a hockey nut. There's two minutes left in the period and she tells me we have to go. I tell her we can't go yet and she reassures, "Trust me, we have to go".

We get up from our seats and we are standing outside the club section. We are watching people exit their seats, including Ken Daneyko, who is walking towards us. We shake his hand and we start talking and reminiscing about the Cup days. Guy lets me wear his gigantic 2000 cup ring! I'm fan boying hard when Dano eventually says, "So you're still doing play-by-play? How would you like to watch the game with Steve and I?"

Dano takes me to the broadcast table where I meet Cangi (one of my two favorite PxP guys ever) and we are having a blast chatting through the first intermission. Then another dream of mine comes true. Steve and Dano gave me a headset! There I am, watching my first Devils home game in the broadcast area with a headset on, listening to the PxP and the director. Unreal.

2nd period ends and I shake their hands before Cangi gives me his email. "If you ever need critique or advice for broadcasting, shoot me an email". Thanked my wife relentlessly for setting this all up and we got to party hard with my friends for the third. Best away game ever.

 

[Rich Nixon]

Hmm...been to a bunch of games around the league, but more often just seeing two teams play as opposed to the Flyers vs. someone. Think I've only seen the Flyers in Pittsburgh, Montreal, New Jersey, Chicago, and Brooklyn.

New Jersey (Continental Airlines Arena): We're talking as a kid here in the Lindros vs. Stevens era. Flyers fans used to invade heavily and my dad would take me along even when I was like, 10, 11, 12 years old. That place was foul and the fans on both sides were absolutely brutal to each other. Bathroom fights, endless profanities exchanged, tense walks from car to arena. 9/10 violence is cool.

Montreal (Bell Centre): I mean, what else can you say, the Habs are an institution. Skipped school with my friend for a few days in high school, took the train from our hometown to Philly, Philly to New York, New York to Montreal, saw a game. Unbelievable atmosphere, a reverence for the game I haven't felt anywhere else. My friend was wearing a Forsberg jersey and the only home fan comments we got were people coming over to talk about what a phenomenal player Foppa had been. Maybe people took it easier on us because we were like 17, but they still sold us beer there. 10/10 amazing.

Pittsburgh (Mellon Arena; Consol Energy Center): One regular season at Mellon (Pens shootout win), one playoff game at Mellon (Pens OT win), one regular-season-just-before-the-playoffs at Consol/PPG (Flyers win; the famous Laviolette-on-the-boards game). Mellon was a mixed bag, good sitelines and really loud but just so, so antiquated by 2009. PPG sucks, place is a generic-ass morgue. At both, people told me I was "Brave for wearing a Flyers jersey in here" but I wore Flyers gear around that city for 7 years and no one ever gave me a reason to feel brave. I like yinzers for that. Mellon 7.5/10 PPGConsol 5/10 come at me bro.

Chicago (United Center): Sat all the way up there in like, the 3rd level of United Center. Decided that day I was afraid of heights. It's the Midwest and everyone just left me the f*** alone. 6/10 whatever.

Brooklyn (Barclay's Center): This place just f***ing sucked for hockey. Saw Flyers/Islanders here twice and it just...sucked. The awful sitelines, the sparse, dead-fish crowds (what was with the Where's Waldo people btw?), the insane prices...and it's just kinda a shitty arena. Seen an NBA game there too and was still unimpressed. No one bothered me because there were only like 6,000 people in the building, we all had our own rows practically. I guess the access to public transportation was a plus? Really glad for Islanders fans that they have a good new arena and got out of Barclay's. 2/10 can't wait to visit UBS.

It won’t be a 50/50 split. I’d be shocked if there are 1000 devils fans there.

Oh, then you guys will be in the majority then.

 

[TaLoN]

For those who attend road games, what’s some good and bad experiences you’ve had ?

As a Jackets fan, I didn’t really have any bad experience as there’s not much rivalry between Columbus and anyone else. Had some friendly chirps from Lightning fans after we swept them, but that’s about it.

As for the arenas, Tampa has got to be #1 - great organ, giant Jumbotron, great presentation. Loved Panthers Arena for low attendance, pretty much no wait lines for food and drinks

Mostly good experiences here. Sat next to great fans every time. Great conversation, great sportsmanship.
Good back and forth ribbing.

Best experience was watching the Wild vs the Blues in the playoffs in St.Louis for game 5 in 2015. The Wild won 4-1, had some Wild fans peppered up the aisle (I was 5th row on the visitor attacking end twice), the Wild would score, I'd be running up the aisle to high 5 them all. After the 3rd Wild goal, Blues fans started high 5'ing me up and back as well!

I guess it was a "if you can't beat'em, join'em" situation that night! They understood my enthusiasm and had fun with it!

The worst, back in the early 2000's I went to the Wild season opener on the road in Chicago. On my way in and out... lots of disparaging remarks from Blackhawk fans. Nothing but good fans around where we sat though, had a blast. Just ignored the assholes on the way in and out of the arena.

 

[oconnor9sean]

As a Stars fan, we see a fair amount of visiting fans over the course of the season.

The constant for annoying visiting fans always seem to be two types:

1) Fans from the original 6 teams that are currently pretty good. Was Detroit, then Chicago, now Boston/NYR/Toronto. Nothing personal against those teams or fans, but those are the more "in-your-face/obnoxious amounts of noise" that I see compared to most others (not all, just more than other teams).

2) Fans from the defending champions. Self-explanatory, but confidence is at an all-time high and there's always way more of them at the game the year after they won the cup compared to years past, so they're pretty juiced up and can be pretty annoying. Pittsburgh was a big example of this. St Louis to a lesser extent.

Honorary mention for any overly drunk fan, home or away. They're the true worst.

 

[Rob]

One of my guilty pleasures is watching fan fight videos. The NFL is definitely the worst.

 

[NYRfan85]

New Jersey (Continental Airlines Arena): We're talking as a kid here in the Lindros vs. Stevens era. Flyers fans used to invade heavily and my dad would take me along even when I was like, 10, 11, 12 years old. That place was foul and the fans on both sides were absolutely brutal to each other. Bathroom fights, endless profanities exchanged, tense walks from car to arena. 9/10 violence is cool.

It was like this for Rangers-Devils games too at the old Continental Airlines Arena. It truly felt like old-school hockey in that barn between these two teams, it was always so much fun!

 

[DMVhockeyman84]

As a Caps fan I been to 5 NHL arenas for Road Games:

Carolina, Pittsburgh, Philly, Minnesota, and Nashville.

Best experience: Nashville hands down. Bridgestone Arena is very modern, clean and by me being a music fan as well, I loved the fact of leaving a bar after listening to some good music and eating some great BBQ just to head out to watch a hockey game literally steps away.

Worst experience: as of now Philly was and the reason I say that is because the Caps/Flyers game I went to was just an awful game from the start if you were a Caps fan. Philly ended up beating us 3-1 that day, it was like the Caps didn’t wanna play out there that day. I didn’t have any problems out of the Philly fans at all like so many people on here complain about, maybe because I’m 6’5 and weigh 250lbs got something to do with it. Lol. But the arena was nice and I like Xfinity Live for pregame activities. However my only other complaint was my hotel stay. I stayed at a hotel not far from the airport but the area was right in the middle of the ‘hood. I didn’t know the area was like that till I got there but by then it was too late to cancel my reservation and find elsewhere so I tolerated it for 2 nights but it was the most uneasy feeling I ever felt before in my life. If I go back to Philly I won’t be staying at that particular hotel again.

 

[Rob Brown]

One of my guilty pleasures is watching fan fight videos. The NFL is definitely the worst.

Oh for sure, because the culture is binge drinking immediately outside the stadium. Reminds me of that woman (I think a Bengals fan) puking behind the seat in front of her, completely unbothered.

 

[Master P]

Pretty unnerving to have a Boston fan chirping me in the men's bathroom (TD Arena). I'm p**sing in the urinal and he's beside me saying: "Hey man. The Leafs f***ing suck!". It's not that I need all kinds of concentration to do my business, but I certainly don't want to get into a jawing match while I'm going pee.


Ugh. Isn't there a photo out there of 4 MTL fans in Black face? I'm sure you experienced racism there, but there's racism in every city.

Was this you? If not, I'm sure you're not the only one.