The fans chime in

Daily Faceoff had the opportunity to speak with some of the fans who attended Friday’s game at Mullett Arena to hear their takeaways from the experience.

“This is incredible,” said Chris Moore, 39. “We’re fired up. There is an absolute audience for this sport, we love it here. We love what the Coyotes bring to Tempe, bring to Phoenix, bring to Arizona.”

While the Tempe arena isn’t quite as remote as the Coyotes’ previous home in Glendale, a few fans still made a significant trek to take in the first game on the ASU campus.

Dale Monnig, 27, said it took him about an hour to get to the game from Surprise, AZ, located in the far northwest of the Greater Phoenix Area, but added that “all in all, it wasn’t really that bad.”

Others came from outside of Arizona entirely.

“I currently live in St. Louis, Missouri, I traveled all the way out here for the game tonight,” said Gabriel Bartley, 21. “It’s my 22nd birthday on Sunday and I’m also a Blues fan.”

The food and drink choices drew praise, although some of the prices were a concern.

“Beer selection’s good, it’s about what it was at the previous arena,” Pavlock said. “The food is … fine. It is a bunch of restaurants that I am familiar with and they’re expensive. It’s great but could be better.”

Most of all, the fans came away with lots of positives about the close proximity to the action on the ice, with the steepness of the arena bowl undoubtedly feeding into that perception.

“It’s been pretty good so far, it’s been exciting,” said Robyn Leaño, host of the Locked on Coyotes podcast who also sat in section 107. “It’s cool seeing everything up close, too. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a professional hockey game this close.”