Charlie Lindgren (Caps Outsider)
Washington is getting ready to hit the road for a west coast swing that includes the team’s first ever visit to Mullet Arena, the new temporary home of the Arizona Coyotes. The arena, located on the campus of Arizona State, has a capacity of less than 5,000 and is similar to other college arenas around the country.
With the trip on the horizon, the team will look to eight guys, Nic Dowd, Nick Jensen, Charlie Lindgren Connor Sheary, TJ Oshie, Garnet Hathaway, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Matt Irwin, who played in college.
“I know what those barns are like and it was always so much fun,” Lindgren who went to St. Cloud State in Minnesota said. “The capacity might be 6,500, but I guarantee it’s gonna be loud in there and it’s going to be a fun atmosphere to play in.”
Dowd said that with smaller buildings, is a much more “intimate” atmosphere and that “you can hear people literally talking to you.”
“Not only is the arena louder, but it can be quieter too,” Dowd added. With the game on a Wednesday night, there’s a chance it could be the latter.
The Coyotes and Sun Devils have set up a student section behind one of the nets. While Sheary says he hasn’t heard much about the new arena, he recalls that college fans resemble more of European soccer fans than what you typically see at an NHL arena. He added that students are usually “a little bit rowdier.”
Lindgren said that students can be especially tough on the goalies.
“They can be a little more gutless with the things they say,” Lindgren said of student sections. “They can ride the opposing goalies pretty hard. But that’s what makes it fun. I think every single guy in this locker room will agree, going into an opposing building that’s loud where the fans are on you, that’s when it’s really fun playing hockey.”
While the building is different, and the number of fans may be a fraction of what players are used to for NHL games, at the end of the day, the game stays the same.
“It’s not going to influence the game,” Hathaway said. “Whatever’s inside the boards is pretty similar on that end.”
