Desert fans get first look inside Acrisure Arena at Firebirds fanfest
Edward Sanchez of Cathedral City walked into Acrisure Arena on Saturday pushing a baby stroller and exclaimed, “Hockey!”
A day before the Coachella Valley Firebirds play their first American Hockey League game at their permanent home at Acrisure Arena, the team and the arena invited local residents to a free fanfest. In addition to games and live music, the fanfest Saturday was a chance for fans to get their first glimpse of the arena that opened earlier in the week with performances by Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and The Doobie Brothers. For some of those fans, it was their first in-person exposure to professional hockey.
“I wanted to check out the stadium. This is the first day that they’ve had for the kids, so I wanted to bring my son,” said Sanchez, who was inside the arena with three children, his mother-in-law and two nieces. “He has never experienced hockey before. I was in the Navy, so I was able to experience it in Chicago and other places. But here, I was just able to bring them here for the first chance to see hockey and the arena.”
The Firebirds have held fan introduction events in the desert before, but never at Acrisure Arena, because the building was under construction.
“We want the fans to be as involved with the team and the arena as we can,” said Gino LaMont, television producer and host for the Firebirds who served as emcee for the fanfest. “This is like our fourth one of these, but it’s the first one we have done here at the facility because it has just opened. It’s a chance for the fans to come in. And these are for fans whether they have tickets or not. Today is for the general public.”
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Activities Saturday included street hockey demonstrations for kids, carnival games, live music and food from outside vendors who will be part of arena activities 90 minutes before each event. Those vendors, as well as other vendors selling Firebirds merchandise and memorabilia, stayed with the arena’s paperless philosophy, something that surprised Monica Flores of Indio.
“I tried to buy something to drink and they said they didn’t take cash,” Flores said. “I don’t know how to pay with my phone, but I had a debit card. I guess that’s something I have to get used to.”
A first look inside
While there were outside activities, the highlight of the day among the 300 or so people at the event at any given time Saturday afternoon was getting to walk inside the arena. The hockey rink was being built for Sunday night’s game after Friday night’s Grupo Firme concert. The area for the ice was still under insulation, but fans could see the entire seating area.
“What they are going to discover is what we have been saying for 18 months,” LaMont said. “There is literally no bad seat in the house, especially for hockey. It’s true for concerts as well, but for hockey, it’s all lower bowl. Even my partner on the broadcast, (hockey Hall of Famer) Grant Fuhr, said the worst seats in this building would be $1,000 seats in an NHL arena.”
LaMont, a long-time desert television news anchor, and Fuhr, a winner of five Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, will present 30-minute pregame shows for 10 televised games this year, as well as provide show content between periods of the games.
Some desert residents at the fanfest were already well acquainted with hockey, like Jerry Irwin of Indio, originally from New York, who was donning a NHL’s New Jersey Devils hat Saturday.
“I want to see what is going on,” Irwin said. “I’m actually part of the off-ice crew of officials here. So I just wanted to see where we get in, where we park, where we get into the building.”
Irwin said he could be a penalty box time keeper, goal judge or scorer on any given night the Firebirds play.
Prominent among fans, even those just driving up to the arena for the day, were t-shirts and sweatshirts with the Firebirds logo.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” said Taylor Murphy of Palm Desert, wearing the Firebirds logo on a t-shirt. “I think it is great to have a home team to root for. We’ve been watching the arena go up for more than a year, and it’s exciting to finally get to see it.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley Firebirds invite public to fanfest at Acrisure Arena
