The Coyotes Playing In A 5,000 Person Arena On The ASU Campus Will Be Good For Hockey
Yes, is it a little weird and sort of embarrassing a major 4 sport's team is going to be playing in a 5,000 person arena next year? Certainly can make that argument. But here's the take: this SHOULD be good, maybe even great, for hockey.
The Coyotes have had about as dysfunctional of an existence since the Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes in1996. They are the oldest team to never reach a Stanley Cup Final, and more or less have mostly just been losers for the last 25 years. They've been bankrupt, have had multiple owners, and I don't think any team in pro sports is as forgettable as the Coyotes. And I don't really even mean that in a mean way either. Just like, if you had to make a list of every pro sports team, I could see them being one of the ones a lot of people forget about.
Which is why I think if they do this correctly, playing home games in front of 5,000 rowdy fans will be a great thing for the Yotes and for hockey in general. Everyone always says hockey games are too expensive to attend and the good seats are taken by corporations and sales people trying to woo clients. Playing at ASU should eliminate all of that. They should make that environment as rowdy as possible, no holds barred. They are being dealt a lemon, they gotta make the best, loudest, most in your face lemonade as possible. This should feel like a Duke game at Cameron Indoor for opposing teams.
So yes, it's east to make fun of the Coyotes Twitter account for sort of bragging about their new home. But I'm here for it. If done correctly, hockey in the desert could actually work. And if they continually sell out the 5,000 person arena, maybe they'll be able to pay rent and move back to a big boy arena sooner than later. (I don't remember the details of the rent situation but I think it's something like that).