I would definitely make a return visit, especially for another February game after suffering through a cold DC winter.SuiteHop is the only Inc 500 / 5000 award-winning suite marketplace. Overall, it was a great place to watch a game, although the Capitals fell to Arizona the night we were there. Several of the people we spoke to were service members who had become Capitals fans while being stationed in Washington. The PA announcer’s voice was booming and enthusiastic when the Coyotes came out for warm-ups or a period and scored.Īt one of the corners of the ice, the arena had a “Coors Light Chill Zone” with a couch set up for a couple of lucky fans to enjoy the game up close and personal.Ĭoyote fans were friendly and enthusiastic, and many of them were Arizona transplants who had come to the desert from NHL cities and were lifelong hockey fans. Sitting in them felt like sitting in a movie theater and they had plenty of legroom. Our seats were in the section behind the net where the Capitals shot twice. Gila River Arena implemented some new food options last summer including Brat Haus (sausages, pretzels, and Belgian style fries), 1000 Island Burger, and Gadzooks (tacos and soups). They had a wide selection of things to eat, including plenty of Southwestern-themed foods and beverages. The food was nothing to get excited about, but that’s fairly standard in most stadiums. 17,139 people were in attendance that night. The fact that captain Alex Ovechkin was two goals away from the 700th in his career no doubt helped drive the Capitals representation. Since hockey isn’t as popular in Arizona and the Coyotes haven’t made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2012, there were a ton of Capitals fans in the arena, especially in our section. My best guess is that the old one will be upgraded soon. The 200 level of the arena was a lot smaller than most arenas. One side of the video board that rings Gila River Arena had an old scoreboard and one new on the other side. The screens in front of the goals were smaller but good quality. The arena recently got a new jumbotron that had a fairly large central screen with smaller ones tilted beneath it for fans in the lower bowl. While the stadium is newer than Capital One Arena, it seemed older - particularly after Capital One got a multi-million dollar makeover last year. While the mall area outside was beautiful, Gila River Arena, which has a capacity of 18,300 and 87 suites, wasn’t the best arena I have been too. We also went inside the gift store that featured the usual assortment of team gear, including a Hall & Yotes tee shirt touting their December acquisition of Taylor Hall from the New Jersey Devils. Outside of the arena, there were a few life-sized bobbleheads of Coyotes players and an oversized inflatable mascot, Howler. There was a lot of music, including a live band, and swarms of hockey fans decked out in Capitals, Coyotes, and even other team jerseys buzzing around the mall as puck drop inched closer. The area outside of the arena was buzzing as game time neared. The arena is also close to the University of Arizona Stadium, which is home to the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. There were plenty of small fountains around the mall. There are lots of good shops and restaurants, including a Mexican place where we ate a late lunch outside in beautiful 70-degree weather. Our hotel was just a short walk away from Gila River Arena, which is in the middle of the Westgate shopping mall and opened in 2003. The hotel couldn’t have been more convenient to the arena and had an outdoor pool and an indoor fountain in the lobby along with a bar and some shops. The ride to Marriott Renaissance next to Gila River Arena took about 40 minutes. The scenery was nice, like a hotter, drier version of California. We woke up around 5 AM that Saturday to get ready to fly to Chicago for a connecting flight to Phoenix which landed about 1 PM MT. It’s not easy to get to Phoenix from the DMV. In this two-part series, NoVa Caps reviews each arena, starting with Gila River Arena in Glendale, which could be a neutral site to resume the rest of the season. The tickets were a Christmas present I had been hoping for. About four weeks before the NHL paused the 2019-20 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, my dad and I went out West to see the Washington Capitals face the Arizona Coyotes in Glendale and the Vegas Golden Knights in Sin City.
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