Fans Visiting Vancouver - Information.

[scrunt]

I am planning on being there for the Saturday night game, so what would be the recommended section to sit in, preferably away from the Zamboni doors.

Sections A and Z are by the Zamboni doors.

[Kamfan]

Given the PNE Coliseum's various seat sizes and leg room has anybody posted a list of sections/rows to avoid? I've been to probably 10 games and only once did I have a seat that was not uncomfortable. Either it was tiny width-wise or the person in front of me had my knees by their ears.

I'm hoping I've just been very, very unlucky.

Any reports of particularly good or bad areas?

[langdak]

Given the PNE Coliseum's various seat sizes and leg room has anybody posted a list of sections/rows to avoid? I've been to probably 10 games and only once did I have a seat that was not uncomfortable. Either it was tiny width-wise or the person in front of me had my knees by their ears.

I'm hoping I've just been very, very unlucky.

Any reports of particularly good or bad areas?

There is a such a wide variety of seat sizes and leg room in each section that it is tough to nail down certain spots, its almost like a crap shoot.

What I would suggest is take a walk around and find some areas you like and hope that a season ticket holder doesnt have the seats you want.

Row 4 in the corners used to be the best due to the temporary seats in rows 1-3 but they have put permanent ones in which killed all the leg room.

The wider seats tend to be in the corners due to the curvature of the rows.

[dondo]

^ right where I sit

I echo what langdak has said ... its actually odd how many different seats there are and walking around and looking at sections is the only way to consistently find the better seats width-wise.

It seems to me that there are very narrow, medium narrow and wide seats, but the leg room in a lot of the seats is pretty poor.

[Kamfan]

Well thanks for at least confirming it's as much of a crapshoot as I thought. I guess I'll just get there early next game and do a little research.

[sman111]

a heads up the parking rate has been changed to $8 a game

[Soundy]

Given the PNE Coliseum's various seat sizes and leg room has anybody posted a list of sections/rows to avoid? I've been to probably 10 games and only once did I have a seat that was not uncomfortable. Either it was tiny width-wise or the person in front of me had my knees by their ears.

I'm hoping I've just been very, very unlucky.

Any reports of particularly good or bad areas?

FWIW, I was in Sec. T tonight (behind the home penalty box), row 12, which is right along the wall sectioning off the temporary seats below... legroom was NOT an issue there. The seats definitely seemed a tad wider than my usual location in Sec. A, too.

[Tipped Off]

So I am bringing my 5 YO up for Friday's game (3/13/09). We will be in Section E, Row 1. I'm normally not a row 1 kind of guy, but the kid wants to sit there and it's a treat for him. I figure the Tips will be in the Defensive Zone the whole game so that will be our best shot of seeing them...lol.

Anyway, my point is, google maps says to turn off I-5, take 543 across the border which turns into 176th. It eventually puts you on the trans Canada hwy

Take the Trans Canada Hwy 1 W ramp to Vancouver 0.6 mi
13. Merge onto HWY-1 W 17.2 mi
14. Take exit 25 to merge onto McGill St 0.8 mi
15. Turn left at N Renfrew St
Destination will be on the left

According to your posts I should look for LOT 9.

Is this the best way to go given Friday evening traffic? Or is there some better way I shoul dbe looking to do this?

Here's a link to the google map I'm looking at...

Link to map

[Soundy]

So I am bringing my 5 YO up for Friday's game (3/13/09). We will be in Section E, Row 1. I'm normally not a row 1 kind of guy, but the kid wants to sit there and it's a treat for him. I figure the Tips will be in the Defensive Zone the whole game so that will be our best shot of seeing them...lol.

Hope he enjoys the game! I took my kid to his first hockey game (Canucks, along with my dad) when he was about five or six... he didn't get it at all, but he enjoyed it... right up to the first intermission. Then they brought out the goodies like the T-shirt cannon and the blimps, and that was REAL excitement! He was so stoked at the possibility of getting a prize from one of these things! And when neither came anywhere close, he was bummed out for the rest of the game... *sigh*

Anyway, my point is, google maps says to turn off I-5, take 543 across the border which turns into 176th. It eventually puts you on the trans Canada hwy

Take the Trans Canada Hwy 1 W ramp to Vancouver 0.6 mi
13. Merge onto HWY-1 W 17.2 mi
14. Take exit 25 to merge onto McGill St 0.8 mi
15. Turn left at N Renfrew St
Destination will be on the left

Yeah, that's probably the route I'd take. The Pacific Highway border crossing (aka "the truck crossing") is generally a lot quieter than the Peace Arch crossing, and with the new lanes they've put in there recently, there's no more getting stuck behind lines of trucks.

Just one suggestion, though: take a map along of a route that takes you via the Peace Arch as well, just in case, and then listen to the radio for border traffic reports on the way up - I don't know of any Washington-side stations that have regular traffic reports, but Vancouver has three that will give you traffic at that time of day: my usual choice is News 1130 (1130 AM), with traffic "every ten minutes on the ones" - :01, :11, :21, etc. They'll usually have the border info at the end of each report. There's also CKNW 980 AM, which has drive-time traffic "on the fours", and an all-traffic station at 730 AM, although I couldn't tell you exactly when to expect their border reports.

In any case, you'll want to start listening by the time you leave Bellingham, as at that point you'll only have 20-30 minutes to make your decision - sometimes, the rare times, there will be a nasty backup at the truck crossing and almost nothing at the Peace Arch.

Once you're across, if you take the Peace Arch, your easiest route is to exit at 8th Ave and take it eastbound to 176th St. (aka Hwy. 15) and follow your route as above (I've adjusted your map to show it here). Other routes involve a lot of surface streets and won't likely be any quicker.

One other thing to keep in mind: there's also a Canucks game that night, and between the two games, there's going to be a LOT of traffic coming in on Hwy. 1. You'll be coming in in the middle of rush hour, so expect a long, slow crawl from the time you hit Hwy. 1 pretty much all the way to the Coliseum. Allow yourself a LOT of time to deal with this - Google Maps is probably estimating about an hour for the Canadian side of your trip, but I'd say add at least an hour and a half for that. Google Maps also doesn't account for any border waits, and you can probably expect anywhere from 30 minutes to and hour for that.

All in all, where Google gives you about two hours for the trip, I'd plan for 4-5 hours if you don't want to miss the opening face-off.

Is this the best way to go given Friday evening traffic? Or is there some better way I shoul dbe looking to do this?

No, that's probably your best bet. As noted, the other routes will involve a lot of surface streets and traffic choke-points, and will probably take about the same time, but involve a lot more confusion and rattling around through Surrey, Delta, Richmond, New West, or Burnaby. The route you've chosen is the most direct and has by far the lowest chance of getting lost.

[Tipped Off]

Thanks for the info. We'll probably leave around 2pm. That gives us 5 hours.