I did not appreciate your witless and uninformed discussion—the article makes no sense to me. First off, I can tell you right now that very few hockey and basketball fans watch each others sports. The fan bases are so different, it wouldn't matter to attendance if the Devils and Nets opened on the same night. And once the Pru gets going, "Izod Center" and this NJSEA you speak of will be no match, regardless of who runs it. That said, being a hockey fan, I also know enough that Rangers and Islander fans could give two piles about Devils games unless their team is playing them. So that definitely wouldn't have mattered either.
I was there to watch the Devils rip apart the Lightning on Halloween, and I thought the whole experience was excellent. So the crowd was 13,218 out of 17,625?(which you kindly mentioned 3-4 times) I think that is somewhat respectable for a hockey audience especially being on Halloween (in Newark) and during the middle of the week. I sure didn't expect a sellout. The seats were fine for my friend and I; we are both about 5'10" and 150 lbs and sat in the balcony behind the goal. You also forgot to mention average weight along with the other meaningless dimensions of the human body. I guess you were just interviewing the "average-sized" folks.
You also wonder why a lot of the seats were empty during the game. It's because the fans, I included, were exploring and indulging in everything the arena has to offer such as the Fire and Ice bars/lounges, the team shop, and the food vendors within a short walk. Everywhere around the arena, whether you were getting food or using the restrooms, you could always see the game on a TV or through the open terraces.
You also cannot blame Lou Lamoriello for everything. His first priority is to build a winning hockey team so people would want to come, root for them, and watch them play. Yes, he isn't big on grabbing fans off the streets, but he is a manager, not a salesman. That job was supposed to go mainly to Prudential Financial when they signed sponsorship to the arena. If anything, it's mostly their fault. Who do you think set the high ticket prices in an area of low interest? They are just being impatient in getting their investment back, like any other large, faceless corporation would. I do agree with you on the high ticket prices though. It is appalling and I feel it is the primary reason for the "not-a-sellout" attendance you kept mulling about. Honestly, I couldn't have afforded those tickets had they not been student discounted. What is more appalling though, is the amount of tickets sold to Penn State. THAT IS WRONG!! Seriously, how many Penn State students are Devils fans?? But, once again, deep pockets rule corporations, not us local student fans. I think Prudential needs to work with Lou and tweak their marketing of the Devils and the arena, take us local fans into better consideration, and then it will finally get going to where YOU thought it should have been. That is all.