Visiting Everett?: Arena Information/Guide & Team Scouting Report
Fans Visiting Everett: Game and Arena Information
Arena Name: Everett Events Center ( "The EEC" )
Seating: Holds 8,200 fans. 8,600 if you don't mind standing the whole time.
Visiting team shoots at the east end (sections 117 - 109) twice. If you're coming in from out of town, try and buy tickets at that end of the ice.
Ticket Prices: Prices range from $10.00 to $16.00 USD for 90% of the seats. On the glass will cost you $21.00 but don't count on finding one.
Food and Spirits: There is a very wide variety of concessions, located all the way around the arena. You'll find everything from fresh carved turkey and roast beef down to some really cheap hot dogs. If you're a burger and fry person, definitely go to the Kidd Valley hamburger stand behind section 110 for a good burger and garlic fries. There are other burger and fry choices but they pale in comparison. Every concession stand sells a different type of beer, most have 2 choices, different from one another. You'll find "Bud" and "Miller Lite" everywhere, but if you like "good" beer, find stands that sell Redhook ESB, it's worth the extra few minutes in line. Behind section 120 (to the right of the main entrance) is a great beer stand with about 150 choices of beers, lots of local and micro-brews in bottles, and about 10 varieties on tap.
Souveniers: The team store is located immediately to your right as you walk in the main entrance. Because of the congestion in that area, and the amount of traffic into the store, they only let about 20 people in at a time, so if you want to pick up a puck, or some other proof of your visit, either arrive early, or plan to jump into the team store during play, or you'll be there all night.
Fan Contests: Between the 2nd and 3rd Period we have a "chuck a puck" contest. For $1.00 each, you can purchase an orange foam puck. When prompted, toss it to the ice. Closest puck to the center face off dot wins $100 cash. If you land yours in the dot, you get a $500 gift certificate to Les Schwab Tires (basically a free set of tires for your car). don't forget to write down your name and seat number when you buy your puck ... at least 5 times this year, someone has won, but didn't write their seat down. We also have a really good 50/50 raffle. You can pretty much count on the winnings being about 1/3 of the attendance on average. Most games, we average around 6,000 fans, and the 50/50 averages a good $1500+ per game. I've seen it as high as $3200 on sell out nights. Definitely worth the buck.
Between Period Entertainment: As noted between the 2nd and 3rd there's the chuck a puck. Between the first and second, it varies. We have human bowling, sumo wrestlers, hamster ball races, tricycle races, mighty-mite hockey games, etc. There's also a contest where 2 fans get to shoot a puck at the net (into a small slot) to win a car. (On opening night, a guy DID win a car!). Off the ice, they keep the jumbotron going with some hokey stuff, but as much as we all gripe about them, they are fun. Between the 1st and 2nd periods, they do a "Kiss Me" contest, where they put the camera on people in the stands and the announcer begs them to kiss each other. Lame, yes, but sometimes, it's a riot. Between the 2nd and 3rd, it's the "Dance for your Dinner" contest, where they play some goofy music, and people in the stands dance like morons. Again, it's hokey, but entertaining. You'll see 4 year old kids with their shirts off spinning them over their heads, groups of scantily clad puck bunnies shaking it, and some people that actually come to the arena dressed up just to be shown on camera during this time.
Chants: The main basic thing that you'll hear from us is "LETS GO TIPS". We very rarely get a wave going, but they try almost every game. Something new has been the "Whose House?" ... "Our House" chant that started after the Seattle game on Jan 1. "Go Green" ... "Go White" has been rumored to be a new thing that'll be asked for on the Jumbotron. Depending on the crowd, you can can expect to hear "AND THEY STILL SUCK" after the PA Announcer says "The [visiting team] is back at full strength".
Cowbells: About 1/3 of the fans have them. About 2/3 of those with cowbells know when to ring them. You can expect to hear them ringing any time The Silvertips do something good. After every hit, on every 2 on 1 or 3 on 2, any time a defenseman blocks a slapshot, after almost every save, when the opposing team goes offsides ... you get the point. Anytime anything goes in our favor, they ring. For you canadians ... when you would normally give a polite "golf clap" or say to your seatmate "that was a nice play, eh?", you can bet that there's going to be 1,000 cowbells being rung at the EEC.
Our Fans: We're an extremely loud and boisterous bunch. The cowbells help keep the volume up, but overall, the fans are VERY into the game. We chear every little victory, and scream bloody murder at the refs for everything ... sort of a football mentality. Contrary to popular belief, we do not cheer every icing. When the team has been out on a long shift and it's been a minute and a half of play in front of our goalie, and we finally get the puck and clear it all the way down ... we cheer the effort, not the actual icing. Perhaps that's seen as "newbie" to most seasoned hockey fans, but we like to let our guys know that we appreciated the grit that it took to clear the zone after a long shift.
Visting Fans: 99.99% of visiting fans are treated great. We're impressed that someone from Swift Current would make the trek to our little hamlet. The only time visiting fans get any grief or abuse from us is if they ask for it. Come on down, root and cheer for your team. We'll sit next to you, share beer and food with you, talk hockey, and have a good old time. But if you're going to be belligerent, stand up and start swearing, yelling things like "EVERETT SUCKS" in our arena, then you can expect some backlash. If you're there to enjoy the game, you're going to have as good a time with us at the EEC as you will at any other arena in the WHL, we gurarantee it.
Round 3 2006 playoffs update...
I would like to add some info for Giants fans...
Food:
Don't know if much has changed in the beer category since Iceman posted. In the food category, they have added Dippin Dots and a expresso across from the team store at the top of section 101. By Section 115, they have a selection of Mexican foods like Nachos. I highly recommend them, they are arena priced but a good deal. The also have tacos and burritos there which arn't too shabby. Another treat they offer is the fruit on a stick. You can get different varieties of fruit such as strawberries and bannas dipped in chocolates and sprikles and stuff. It is a bit pricey however so watch out. They tend to be 5-6 bucks per stick.
Chants:
If you sit anywhere near 103 expect to hear a long night for Slade. These hecklers are known for yelling "fight" during the US National Anthem and just saying people on the other team suck. They really have it in for Slade throughout the whole section but generally leave the visiting fans alone. Some other chants that are prevelant are "Ref you suck!" and as mentioned "and they still suck" When Lincoln (mascot) comes out on the ice, there is usally a small Go Tips chant.
