LET’S GO DEVILS!

A chant not often heard outside the Continental Airlines Arena (now the Izod Center) and its parking lot, echoed through the train cars for miles coming in to downtown Newark, the new home of the New Jersey Devils.  An electricity I have never felt at a Devils game before was now flowing through my veins as I began to watch my first game at the new $375 million Prudential Center.

The train pulled up, the doors opened, and Devils fans began to spill out in bunches, running for the doors to finally catch a glimpse of the new arena in all its glory.  I have heard talks of “The Rock” being the best in the entire league; when I saw it, I knew it was true.

I can’t lie, at first sight of the Devils state-of-the-art arena a tear came to my eye.  Devils fans everywhere have been waiting years for a real ‘home’ for their team (25 years to be precise) and I think they have finally found a location to serve that purpose. 

The walk to the Newark arena made me begin to miss the tunnel walk at CAA, but the fire in the eyes of the surrounding Devils fans was incredible.  Devils posters and banners were plastered all over the streets giving you the sense that you’re really in ‘the Devils Country’ now. 

When I arrived at the arena I was swallowed in a sea of red.  It wasn’t just the red lights coming off the arena or the red-lit hallways, but also the fans.  The fans wore their pride on their sleeves Saturday night; wearing everything from horns to throwback Colorado Rockies jerseys (I even saw a KC Scouts jersey).

The facilities inside, as to be expected, were gorgeous as any newly constructed facility should be.  The long wide hallways made it very easy for fans to flow to different parts of the arena.  It’s not nearly the mess it was at CAA, where fans were forced to walk through one walkway, whether you sat in the premium seats or on the upper level looking down at the ice. 

After a quick walk-through of the near side of the arena (because I was running a little late) I went to check out the ice.  I was able to catch the end of warm-ups before I had to head to my seat.  The ice looked good and the seats downstairs were spacious, soft, and comfortable. 

The seats upstairs did not fit a six foot man like myself and I don’t know if they’d fit a man half my size.  I sat in section 123 row 7.  It had an excellent view of the ice despite its location (corner) but not much wiggle-room.  As I tried to get past people already sitting in their seats, I nearly stumbled down the entire section.  At least going to home games will help me improve my balance (or people will be angry about spilling their beers). 

I’m not going to talk about the game and what happened (we all know how that went), unless Lou steps up soon, Devils fans may have to get used to losing.  I used the third period as a time to venture around the rest of the arena. 

I was still impressed even after the agony of the game had settled in.  There were high-definition screens everywhere and a lot of open space so you never felt like you were missing any of the action, even if you wanted to at the time.

Even the bathrooms impressed me, mostly because there were stickers in all the urinals that said “Rangers Suck,” but also because they allowed a flow of people in and out.

After the game, I received a cool opening night poster then went to check out the main Devils Den shop along with the rest of the fans still in attendance.  

I was really impressed overall with the facilities because you don’t have to pay for high-priced seats to have a wonderful experience.  Seeing the arena for the first time was an amazing experience, one I will never forget.  All of you Devils fans who were unable to attend Saturday night (of course you caught the game on television)- try to get there as soon as you can.  We have a home now.  We have no excuse for not supporting our team in both the good times and the bad times. 

I’ll see you at the game Wednesday night.

LET’S GO DEVILS!

Dude Joel

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