Arizona Coyotes Should Consider These 5 Features For New Arena
By Alex Temes
The modern NHL stadium is not just built for a hockey game, but for entertainment and projections, engaging the fans from a half hour before puck drop to the very last second of action.
They aren’t our favorite opponents, but if you have ever been to the United Center for a Blackhawks game, they truly make the game an amazing experience.
The laser projections before the game show off their tradition, their current team, and most importantly, emphasize the importance of their logo.
The animation literally sews in the logo with the history the of team, creating an atmosphere and symbolism that endears the fans in attendance to the home squad even more.
It’s that, and the Hawk’s obnoxiously loud but catchy goal celebration that truly makes 1901 W Madison the Madhouse on Madison.
The Arizona Coyotes have the opportunity, given a new arena, to truly engineer a setup which facilitates this kind of atmosphere.
Now the team certainly cannot tout the history and success of a team like Chicago, but they certainly have the uniqueness of hockey in the desert, a partnership with ASU and the beautiful absurdity that is the old ‘Peyote Coyote’ Kachina logo/uniforms.
In my opinion, having a full ice projection, which Gila River Arena already has, and fitting it to the new arena with enhanced graphics, would make the team’s entrance more exhilarating.
Combine it with a moon undergoing lunar maturity while rising over the team’s entrance as the goalie hits the ice and that seems like a winning production.
Moreover, if you have a massive video screen in arena comparable to Dallas or Tampa Bay’s, the video itself has the production opportunity to be larger and more engaging than the smaller, lower quality screens the team currently has.
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The new arena in Tempe will certainly energize a fan base that has felt put down for years due to poor access and constant stadium disputes, as well as a subpar in-arena experience.
If the ownership is truly serious about being attached to Arizona and embracing the state’s unique hockey identity, they should consider one or all of these suggestions as they try to expand the game in a growing non-traditional hockey market.