Halloween observations

Odds and ends from tonight's game:

Jay Pandolfo hadn't had a hat trick since his days at Boston University when he led Hockey East with 38 goals in 1995-96. When it was pointed out that it was a strange coincidence that Pandolfo scored his first NHL hat trick on Halloween, John Madden said, "I wish we played on Halloween all the time."

In their last three wins, the Devils have scored 17 total goals. In their last four losses, they've scored four.

The announced attendance tonight was 13,218, but the crowd appeared to be smaller than that. There were thousands of empty seats. That's not good for just the second game in the building. Capacity is 17,625.

Maybe a lot of fans stayed home because it was Halloween or went to the Nets' regular season opener at the Meadowlands. (It was the first time the Devils and Nets played home games on the same night.)

The Devils' terrible game night production doesn't help, though. At least they mixed in a few new videos tonight. Unfortunately, the sound was terrible and it was difficult to hear what was being said.

The sound system is supposed to be state of the art, so something must be going wrong on the production end. For the opener on Saturday, they brought back pretty much all of the stupid videos they used the last two seasons at the Meadowlands. Is anyone else tired of Michael Strahan and Macho Man Randy Savage?

Comments

[jdr30]

Your right Tom. Time for some new videos. Stop showing the meadowlands in your videos. And the sound system was horrible tonight.

And what was up with Zelda's scary tales or whatever it was ... horrible!

[Scott]

TG, sound system was awesome in my seats in the mezzanine. Very clear and big bass. It seems like the lower you go the better things sound right now. Some people who claim to know something about sound said it's trial and error to figure out the right mix because there are so many variables they don't know how things will react exactly until they try.

[Nik]

Is it possible to get the goal horn sound from the CAA into the Rock. I cannot hear the goal horn on TV If that is any indication of the sound quality at the Rock, then I am not impressed.

[Yaron]

I was in the Mezzanine on Opening Night and I also noticed the low quality of the audio. I could barely understand most of what the announcer was saying and really had to struggle. I really expected crystal clear audio after all the money they spent. Maybe it's just a tuning issue but shouldn't have this been taken care of already?

[Yaron]

Also while we're on the topic, I've been unimpressed with the acoustics of the building, which were supposed to be top notch. On opening night the arena seemed pretty quiet even when everyone was cheering. I expected it to be almost deafening after all I've heard and read, but I can honestly say it might even be not as loud as CAA.

[jules]

I sat upper deck and the crowd sounded very loud, but the sound on the videos was absolutely terrible. And that women telling the story of the NJ Devil was brutal.

Good for SuperJay, getting the hatty!

[Bob K]

I agree about the game night production. The opening videos are actually pretty good, compared to past years. The woman telling the story was a trainwreck. I give them credit for trying, but you can't do that, because the video is on a delay from the audio. There's got to be a way t fix that.

As for attendance, I cannot say I'm surprised. Weeknight, Halloween, Tampa Bay...it's way early in the season, the team's in last place, some people either aren't or can't spend $115 to sit behind the nets, $100 to sit above the luxury suites, or $65 to sit behind the nets upstairs...the ticket prices are INSANE...

[Mike]

I don't think this should be a huge shock that a weeknight crowd of allegedy a little over 13,000 showed up! The fact remains that this arena is in Newark. It is not convienant for anyone living in Bergen or Passaic county to get to Newark; especially during the week. The NJ Transit schedules just don't work for Devils games right now. I was at opening night and had a great time. It still boggles my mind that in the year 2007 a new state of the art facility has less legroom for most seats than a standard airplane coach seat. Fans can keep blowing smoke about how great the new arena but let's call it like it is...this arena was NOT well planned out. The fact that the Devils are not very good this season is only going to make it worse.

[Mike Smith]

Halloween took probably 1 to 2 thousand kids out of the building right there. The old videos will get replaced. What I really want is the cup holders removed. I say next road trip, the arena maintenance goes in and take them all off in the small upstairs seats. I don't mind the seats being smaller, but the cup holders are bruising the hell out of my hips!
At least we got a convincing W!

[wkmaier]

I think the sound will improve, as they work out the kinks. Goal horn and announcer sounded fine upstairs. I like hearing and feeling more bass with the sound, that was always a complaint I had at CAA. They should have installed subwoofers under every 5 seats!

Regarding cupholders, they could have them at every other seat. Oh, and they need more rails upstairs that you can stand at and put your drink or food on, especially when you are in the towers.

What's up with the TV broadcast delay? That's weird.

And PLEASE, better beer!

[Aaron]

1) Bring back "The Hey Song". I don't care about Gary Glitter's past. I didn't even know he made the song until the Devs got rid of it. Plus he doesn't even have the rights to it anymore so he's in no way associated with it. Zombie Nation is awful and so was the Ole punk cover.

2) Hopefully the train schedule works better. I can't verify this because I live in Boston.

3) I pray the seats actually have leg room. CAA was so-so with this, and at 6'3", this is upsetting to hear that I'd be spending about $100 to have to fold myself in half in order to avoid hitting the person in front of me.

[Kellys Heroes]

From Queens NY, I have been at both games thus far, and the experience has been great. The smaller seats are a little annoying, but the good out weighs the bad. They will work out the kinks with the sound/video (I hope). The travel from NY has been great, the train schedule works for New Yorkers to Penn Station and the safety is not an issue. As for the attendance, I wish people would stop already, the Devils are who they are, and they have the a passionate group of fans that will never out number Ranger fans, but really who cares? Just go to the games and enjoy the best hockey team in the area for the past 14 years!

[BigTymeDevilsFan]

I attended both the home opener last Saturday and the Tampa game last night. Here are a few of the things I learned so far. Opening night the security and staff were a joke. We were able to get into the goal bar and lower seats with no one ever approaching us. No one even checked my ticket when I entered the Arena. Last night it was completely different. Seems like they had a scolding after the home opener. Where are the 10$ Corona big beers that are advertised everywhere but are not available for sale? I also noticed last night that the concession stands were run way more smoothly then the home opener but this could just be due to the fact that there wasn;t more than 9000 people there last night. Couple more things. Whats up with the jumbotron not showing any replays. When the goal was under review last night they didnt even show one replay. Also last night was the first time I had seats up top and now I understand what you guys were talking about the cup holders. Def end up banging your hip around on them. Its like once you sit down you cant get up. I feel bad for the devs because the expensive seats down low will never be full. The arena will always have an empty look to it because all the fans are going to be sitting up top. Ive never seen so many empty seats near the glass and center ice. Pretty depressing. In the first period you could hear the players talking on the ice thats how quiet it was. There was a whole lotta people booing the weak first period. Huge win for the Devils. Lets try to put some people in the stands...get some more wins

[BigTymeDevilsFan]

I attended both the home opener last Saturday and the Tampa game last night. Here are a few of the things I learned so far. Opening night the security and staff were a joke. We were able to get into the goal bar and lower seats with no one ever approaching us. No one even checked my ticket when I entered the Arena. Last night it was completely different. Seems like they had a scolding after the home opener. Where are the 10$ Corona big beers that are advertised everywhere but are not available for sale? I also noticed last night that the concession stands were run way more smoothly then the home opener but this could just be due to the fact that there wasn;t more than 9000 people there last night. Couple more things. Whats up with the jumbotron not showing any replays. When the goal was under review last night they didnt even show one replay. Also last night was the first time I had seats up top and now I understand what you guys were talking about the cup holders. Def end up banging your hip around on them. Its like once you sit down you cant get up. I feel bad for the devs because the expensive seats down low will never be full. The arena will always have an empty look to it because all the fans are going to be sitting up top. Ive never seen so many empty seats near the glass and center ice. Pretty depressing. In the first period you could hear the players talking on the ice thats how quiet it was. There was a whole lotta people booing the weak first period. Huge win for the Devils. Lets try to put some people in the stands...get some more wins

[BigTymeDevilsFan]

Anyone hear of any trade rumors or any players in the nhl being available. I'm trying to get a feel for what players are available if the devs ever needed to make a trade.

[xcydevs]

Yes, the Strahan, Macho Man things have to go right away-they are awful. so is the boring organ music before the game and between periods. they need to liven up the music to get the crowd more into it.

i like the new goal horn but it needs to be louder as well.

some new video productions will go a long way, and lastly,what is up with the rap music in the 3rd period? it does not fit in with a hockey game and it was also played at CAA-get rid of it Devils!!

[95Crash]

I watched the game on TV last night (regular cable, not HD). As small as the crowd was, it sounded pretty loud at times. And the TV camera angles did not capture too many empty seats. I mean, I saw some empty seats, but nothing as bad as most weeknight games at the CAA last year. Hopefully, if the Devils are still gonna draw some smaller crowds, it won't be too apparent on TV.

[bobo]

The Club seats ROCK... Great leg room with real large wide seats. The Fire & Ice lounges are great with unlimited sushi,hot carved meats, fish, pasta, salads, excellent pizza etc, all included in the price of the ticket. This is a homerun for anyone sitting there and worth the $$$. I had a great time, and the preferred parking for club seat holders is ideal right next to the arena entrance.

[Ryan]

The Devils have to put together winning streaks and the building will be a near sellout every night.

I am going to the game on Friday against the Leafs because it is a Friday night.

[Biff]

Hey bobo - not everyone can afford to sit their fat keisters in the wider seats. The fact is, for the rest of you, the place was a rush job, and it's going to take a while to iron things out completely. For the Bergen County whiners who hate to leave their Blue Heavens, get over it.

[Pat]

What's the deal with the restaurant? Do you have to buy a normal ticket and also make a reservation? How much is it for the restaurant? I know they have 2 seatings, 730 and 9. Do they kick out the 730 people later on?

[Laura]

Remember that Halloween will keep a lot of kids from the arena, which will, in turn, keep their parents away as well.

Very impressive showing last night though. We're really doing the little things better and our defense is starting (not quite there yet) to click. Also, why the hesitancy to play Mottau?

[TG]

A good point was made about the building just opening and giving them time to make adjustments. There's no time right now to address any of the problems that have been brought up so far (cup holders, etc.) with there being a Bon Jovi concert pretty much every night there isn't a game(there's one again tonight). It might take all season before they get all the kinks worked out.

As for the restaurant, I believe the dinner seatings are 5:30 and 7 p.m.

From what I've been told, ticket sales have been good and the crowd will be much larger Friday night.

[JIMBO]

Hey Tom I have a question for you. Do the Devils like the new RBK Jerseys. I saw that some of the rangers have been cutting there jerseies to get rid of the dove tail.
http://nhllogos.blogspot.com/2007/10/rangers-alter-sweaters.html

[Arrrgh]

Don't bash the fans, bash the pricing. $400 for a family of four to sit in the first row of uppers behind the net?

$260 for the last row of uppers behind the net? If the crowd was in the same proportion it was in the 0's and the 200's, in the 100's, it wouldn't look that bad.

This has nothing to do with Bergen, BTW, it took me 40 minutes to get there
at 5PM and I went the wrong way, added 15 minutes on. Was I flying down the Turnpike at 80 MPH? No, but I was moving.

But, Tom, you've covered both teams and I'm surprised you kinda go after the fans. You should know what the fundamental difference between the Rangers and the Devils is. If the Rangers off-ice management was combined with the Devils on-ice, it would be an unstoppable force.

That Halloween Contest you were talking about, there were a couple of small ads and a bulk e-mail, if you noticed it. Wasn't exactly
as if they were splattering it all over TV.

You'd think they'd put some of Dolan's half a billion dollar handout to good use.

On the plus side, a similiar game last year against the Isles drew 7,400 paid. That's with the traveling crowd. So, while this crowd was very much a sad sack on, at least some of the empty seats are paying for the privilage of being empty.

The crowd will be much better on Friday... if they can sell those $100 and $65 tickets. On Ticketmaster it does look alot better.

If all else fails, they should just do what the Nets do and send out 100 vans full of tickets to NJIT and Rutgers-Newark and Essex Community College. The Devils probably killed the Nets in actual gate last night.