The 5,000 seat Mullett Arena has proven to be a place where the Arizona Coyotes have thrived and really elevated their game.
The 5,000 seat Mullett Arena has proven to be a place where the Arizona Coyotes have thrived and really elevated their game.
The Arizona Coyotes are preparing to play their second season at Mullett Arena in Tempe.
Mullett Arena is no ordinary NHL venue. It provides a unique atmosphere as it only holds a capacity of 5,000 people.
“The Coyotes are gonna be a fun team to watch, and Mullett Arena is still gonna continue to be a very difficult place to get a win,” NHL Network studio/color analyst Mike Rupp said.
Do the Coyotes really have an advantage playing at Mullett Arena?
Statistically, the Coyotes actually seem to thrive while playing at Mullett Arena. The team had a 21-15-5 record at home while they had a 7-25-9 record on the road last season.
Some players who played for the Coyotes last season feel that Mullett Arena really gives them a true home-ice advantage that rivals any other team's home.
“It's not a 20,000 seat arena, but that doesn't mean that it can't have a good atmosphere, and it can't be a fun place to play, and it can't be a hard place for a visiting team to come in and play. Everybody on the team enjoys playing there,” forward Travis Boyd said last season via Coyotes senior writer Patrick Brown. "When we're at Mullett and we're going, we're buzzin, we get the crowd into it, and you feel that home-ice advantage, which maybe we didn't feel all that much last year.”
The reputation of Mullett Arena has spread throughout the rest of the NHL. Even opposing players are sort of in awe of the experience when playing Arizona which has even helped bring players such as Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba to the Valley.
“Ultimately, as professional hockey players, the atmosphere is more a part of it than the arena itself, and I thought the atmosphere there was awesome,” Zucker said. “For the teams that come in, it's like, 'Wow, this is, this is great.' You get some sunshine warming up before the game. It's unlike anything we get to do in Pittsburgh or any other arena for that matter.”
It's not only Mullett Arena’s atmosphere that is raved about but the conditions of the ice are also talked about in a high regard.
“The ice is fantastic,” Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said via The Buffalo News' Mike Harrington. "It's some of the best ice I've ever been on. The puck slides really well, it's fast. So that aspect of it is great for sure.”
Mullett Arena may just be an ice rink but for the Coyotes and their fans it's more than just that. They have built their own identity playing at this unique arena and will continue to make memories in Tempe this upcoming season.