My final trip of 2020 was also one of the biggest as I expected to finally end my Leafs on the Road quest with their scheduled visits to Vancouver and Seattle on the weekend before Christmas. Of course, Omicron and NHL incompetence ended those plans. Fortunately, I had extended the trip by a day on either side so I could add a couple of new arenas to my list. The first of those would be accesso ShoWare Center, home of the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds since it opened in 2009.
I arrived in Seattle on Friday afternoon, and checked in to an airport hotel, from where I took a bus to Kent, the suburb where the arena is located. The nearby Ram Brewery has an excellent happy hour between 3-6 weekdays that includes $4.50 pints and a $4 burger. Naturally, I stopped in to confirm and am happy to say that this is true. Suitably satisfied, I made my way over to the arena, where I picked up a media credential as I was doing the review for Stadium Journey. The first thing that caught my eye was the angled glass above the entrance that afforded some interesting photo opportunities. Note the lower case first word, mixed case second word and all caps third word, making this the most annoying arena name for grammatical purists.
Inside, the bright green colour scheme that is a Seattle trademark continues. You cannot miss your section number, that's for sure.
There is just a single seating bowl, with suites at the top. Capacity is 7,141 and the team has seen attendance drop significantly since 2019-20, from 4,735 to 2,757. Much of that is due to the arrival of the Kraken, with COVID also contributing to the fall. The crowd on this night was 4,535, the highest this season but still less than the average two years ago.
All seats are dark blue, padded and quite comfortable, though the effect is somewhat muted by the signs that were placed on every seat before the game.
There is a club area on the top level behind one net that includes a buffet for those with tickets. There are also drink rails along here so you can eat and watch the game.
In other areas, those drink rails are reserved for disabled fans, but if you want to avoid the crowd, you might be able to sit there depending on the friendliness of the usher.
There are concession stands all around the concourse and on the top level. Draft beers are 2-for-1 for the first 30 minutes after gates open. All-beef hot dogs are just $4.50 and are some of the best I have had on my trips.
The mascot is Cool Bird, who was ready for the holiday season.
The octagonal scoreboard has two levels, with a traditional dot-matrix board atop a more recent videoboard that shows high-quality replays.
The team has had some success and banners hang from the rafters. They have captured only one WHL title, that in 2017; in the Memorial Cup they lost all three games and were outscored 18-3. The team hosted the 1992 Memorial Cup at Seattle Center Coliseum (later Key Arena and now Climate Pledge Arena) and finished third.
The only retired number belongs to Glen Goodall, who spent six seasons with the club and is still the league's all-time leading goal scorer with 262.
Overall, this is a typical junior hockey venue that will see less visitors now that the Kraken are in town. That is unfortunate because the experience is entirely different and much cheaper and well worth a trip to Kent.
The Game
The Everett Silvertips were in town in a battle of the top two teams in the Western Conference, with Seattle just four points behind the visitors. Seattle notched the only goal of the first when Lucas Ciona (Calgary's sixth-round pick this year) was left alone in front and knocked home a pass from Connor Roulette (who went to Dallas in the fourth round). The teams each scored power play markers in the middle frame and it looked like the third period would be interesting, but Seattle pounced quickly, with Henrik Rybinski (fifth round to Florida in 2019) tipping in a pass just 1:24 in, and Roulette following with some insurance at 4:34. Everett did get a second power play goal later, but Seattle got that back soon enough and coasted to a 5-2 win.
With 14 power plays, the game did not have a lot of flow, but there were plenty of chances that kept the crowd entertained. A good start to the trip, which took a bad turn the next day. But more on that in the next post.
Best,
Sean
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