Everett road trip

[rinkrat]

Ok guys,we know how the game went.How was everything else? Good seats? Food? Parking?How was your trip?

[langdak]

Ok guys,we know how the game went.How was everything else? Good seats? Food? Parking?How was your trip?

Hey rinkrat

I will recap my experience for you.

First off, the border line up was about 5 min, which was really surprising.

Drive down was no problem, made a couple of stops since we have plenty of time.

Arrived at the EEC around 4pm, pretty early i know, but i wanted to make sure i could find parking and what not. Parked on Lombard street like you suggested, got a spot about 5 cars from the corner. Which ended up as about a 2 minute walk from the front gates of the EEC.

Wandered over to the stadium about 5pm or so, picked up my tickets from will call and just waited till 6 until the doors opened.

Once inside we walked around the concourse, i was very impressed with the building down there, very high quality, especially for junior hockey.

I took a quick glance inside the 'Tips store and i would say that it would make a lot of NHL teams envious, they have anything you could possibly think of in the way of merchandise.

Continued wandering around only to find that they have a selection of about 40-50 beers to choose from, and at least a dozen choices for food.

I noticed at the one end of the rink they had a blocked off bar area that served hard alcohol drinks to those who wanted to indulge.

Plenty of little booths set up, like chuck a puck and the 'Tips booster club. It was food donation night down there and they had a few locations where you could donate non perishable items.

Our seats were located in behind the net that the Giants shot at twice, section 114 for those who are familar with the EEC.

One thing i must point out, the hospitality that the Everett fans show, is second to none, very nice group of people down there. Of course you are going to get the odd person with the smart ass comments but that is to be expected when a visiting fan shows up wearing a jersey from the opposing team.

Spoke with a few guys in the 2nd intermission, i could tell they were still learning the game, just by the questions that were asked. We were approached more then a few times with the fans welcoming us to Everett, asking how the border was, and just making sure we were having a good time over the overall.

I had heard stories about the EEC with the tin lined roof and how loud it can get in there......let me tell you, there is absolutely no shortness of noise at all, the fans down there cheer anything and everything, there is definately 100% crowd support at all times.

I remember 2 seasons ago when Jeff Hardy make the comments about the Coliseum being like a Library......well now i know where those comments came from, the Coliseum is like a library in the noise department compared to what it is like at the EEC.

Also, the is no shortness of giveaways during the game...they have penalty kill giveaways, power play giveaways, season ticket holder giveaways (autographed sticks), and also a giveaway to a lucky fan of 'Tips jersey signed by every player on the team. The lady who won was sitting a few rows in front of us. Aswell as announcements, PLENTY of those at the games, i dont think the announcer turned the microphone off.....they announce when players come out of the penalty box, telling the fans the teams are at full strength or one man down etc etc......the announcements can be a bit much at times, but i fully understand that the fans are still learning and i think that its a great way to help the fans learn about the rules and what happens in different situations and what not.

Another thing too about the merchandise, i would say that 80-85% of the fans that attend the games wear some sort of clothing with Silvertips logo's on it, anywhere from hats and sweaters, to jackets and jerseys, they have it all down there, even the guy i was talking to in the intermission had a tips tattoo on his arm. When i say jerseys, i mean full out personalization and autographs too, not just picking the home/away jersey and wearing it with no personalization.

On the overall (except the result of the game) i had a great experience in Everett, this is only my second time visiting an away building (last year in Kelowna in the playoffs being the first time), and again i will say, my experience was second to none, staff was very courtious and the fans more then welcomed us to the building.

I would have absolutely no hesitation heading down there again to watch the Giants play, even if the Giants werent playing i would still go down and attend a game as the atmosphere is very good.

That pretty much sums up my experience down there, if i can think of anything else that stuck out in my brain i will be sure to post it.

[rinkrat]

sounds like a blast! I had the same experience in that rink.Pretty good team they have too!

[langdak]

sounds like a blast! I had the same experience in that rink.Pretty good team they have too!

Ya i had a good time, as you can tell by what i typed above

I will second you on the pretty good team comment, very well coached as well, very disiplined and always give 110%

[GF71]

What he said. ;)

That was maybe my 6 th time down??? Something like that, and every experience has been a positive one. langdak and I were even used as target practice in the warm up (the little beggers! haha) Even the dudes that gave us all halloween candy, for which my 3 year old daughter will be forever grateful! lol For anybody who is thinking about going down, do yourself a favor and go. Everything about going to a tips game is a blast. They are even a good team to watch too. :clap:

[ihlemic10]

I know what you mean about the team store. I went there for the first time this year tonight and geez do they put the logo on anything. Glad to hear you had a good time.

[atlegacy]

My brother and I are planning on going up there on December 9th. I have not been up there for a game yet. I go to Seattle every time the Tips play and the Key Arena is a dump. Went to Tri-Cities last year and it is a nice old building, but you can see the ice. The Key you can not see the corners at all. Tri-Cities fans were nice. I hope to meet some of you in Vancouver. Are tickets easy to get there and where is the best place to sit there. I prefer to be higher up than ice level.

[langdak]

My brother and I are planning on going up there on December 9th. I have not been up there for a game yet. I go to Seattle every time the Tips play and the Key Arena is a dump. Went to Tri-Cities last year and it is a nice old building, but you can see the ice. The Key you can not see the corners at all. Tri-Cities fans were nice. I hope to meet some of you in Vancouver. Are tickets easy to get there and where is the best place to sit there. I prefer to be higher up than ice level.


All depends on what you consider "the best" when it comes to seating

Friday and Saturday games are bigger sellers then the weekday games, but there is a lot of ticket sales on the day of the game, if you order yours now you should be okay, we havent had an overly huge crowd yet this year.

You can sit up higher, but you will have to sit on the end of the rink because most of the higher up seats on the sides of the rink are season tickets.

There is a very small area to choose from in the Balcony level at the Coliseum as they close off most of it because they dont need the seats, as attendance isnt as high this year.

If you want to sit up higher, i would suggest getting your tickets now and finding something in the balcony level (the numbered sections), if you want to sit at the end that the 'Tips will shoot at twice, sit in sections L thru P, those are the cheaper seats.

PM me if you decide to come, i will let you know where some of us regulars on here sit at the games and you can drop by and say hi.

Here is a map of the stadium

http://vancouvergiants.com/images/seating.gif