Welcome hockey fans! I decided to share with you some fun that I've had over the last few weeks. I've been taking my husband to a couple of hockey games!
I don't know if anyone follows history in hockey or drama in Connecticut where we live, but we certainly have our share of iced history and current fun. Years ago, 1972 to be exact, the Hartford Whalers were created. They played in the World Hockey Association until 1979 when they became part of the NHL. They weren't a particularly successful hockey team, but Connecticut was their home for quite some time.
Years later, in 1997, the team abandoned Connecticut for Raleigh, North Carolina to become the Hurricanes. This left Connecticut without an NHL team. The Hurricanes have won one Stanley Cup, so I guess that was worth the move? Who knows?
Also in the history of hockey in CT were the Danbury Trashers who were part of the United Hockey League. Their owner, James Galante was arrested after the second season for several charges including racketeering, so away they went. Currently, there's a Federal Prospects Hockey League team called the Danbury Hat Tricks in that city, but we're not covering Danbury today.
Today, I'm discussing my visits to watch the Bridgeport Islanders and the Hartford Wolf Pack. I found them both to be a lot of fun, but there were some differences and some odd likenesses that I'd like to talk about.
First, these are very local for us in New England. Bridgeport is affiliated with the Islanders, obviously; it's right in the name. The Hartford Wolf Pack is affiliated with the New York Rangers. They each play a wide range of teams from all over the eastern part of the country and Canada.
But, that's only one similarity.
The Islanders have a mascot by the name of Storm. He's supposed to be a blue tiger and he's a lot of fun. Storm takes a lot of photos with the fans, greets everyone he possibly can before the game, and makes his way through the stands during the game. He even helps with entertainment on the ice and helps shoot t-shirts out of a cannon.
The Wolf Pack has Sonar the wolf who does many of the same things as Storm does for the Islanders. Greets as many fans as possible, takes lots of pictures, makes his way through the crowd, and helps with entertainment both on and off the ice. The one distinguishable difference I found was that the Wolf Pack doesn't seem to have t-shirt cannons. Bummer. But, Sonar does have an amazing arm and can throw t-shirts almost as far as a cannon can shoot them.
Both teams have busy schedules with lots of opportunities for fans come and watch. They're hockey, not football, so they play any night of the week and during the afternoons at times on weekends. They all have theme days and recognition days. They both schedule local talent to perform at the games. It's a lot of fun and each team spotlights their city with entertainment.
The Islanders play in the fairly new Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport along the shore and the Wolf Pack plays at the well known XL Center in downtown Hartford. At Bridgeport you will likely park in an open lot that does have great security during events. In Hartford you'll park in the garage across the street which has a walkway connecting it directly to the arena. Both are great venues.
The XL Center does have one thing that the Total Mortgage Arena doesn't. They have the famous Ted's Burgers. Ted's is originally from Meriden, CT. That's where the flagship store is. They are the original steamed cheeseburgers and they are fabulous. That's one thing I love about the XL Center.
The bottom line is that this level of hockey is almost never sold out. We got our Islanders tickets at the box office right before the game. The Wolf Pack tickets I did order in advance but didn't have to. There were tickets available.
This doesn't mean that the games aren't popular. These venues are huge. They can house thousands of people. Both games that I attended had great crowds and everyone had a really good time. Tickets for these games aren't expensive and make for a great time. Hartford tickets start at just $13 and Bridgeport tickets start at $14. These events can cost less than seeing a movie.
Would I go and see these teams play again? I'm planning on it. Both games provided good, exciting games. They both had good seats available. They both had good concessions, parking, and accessibility. They both had great entertainment and music in the downtime. The crowds in both venues were fun. I can't imagine a better way to get out a bit in the dead of winter in New England.
Don't let winter get you down, and if you like hockey, don't let it get you down if you don't have an NHL team playing close by. Lower level hockey is a lot of fun to watch. The games are fun, and the venues are fun. They have something for everyone so get out a bit and enjoy!
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