As I write this, I feel blessed that I get to travel as often as I do. And while on the road covering the Toronto Maple Leafs, I like to see what every city has to offer in terms of restaurants, amenities, etc.

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But one thing fans don't get to see is how we eat on game night. A few hours before every game, almost every building opens up to serve a media meal. This meal isn't just exclusive to media members like me. It's usually also a lot of staff in the building working on game night taking in a good meal. From time to time, I see Maple Leafs staff and assistant coaches coming in to grab a meal. It’s a great place to catch up with colleagues and socialize. A lot of my favorite conversations with fellow reporter friends from around the NHL happen in these dining rooms.

Some of them are great. None of them are what I would call terrible, but there are some that are head and shoulders above the rest. For the last few years, I’ve been recording the media meals on TikTok. I remember one time a very confused Brad Treliving watched as I did commentary on the media meal. “Just giving the people what they want,” I told him.

I knew this was starting to resonate with a younger demographic when I had dinner with my family and my young nephews and niece mentioned they started seeing my videos come up. That’s when I knew it was working.

I’ve covered every game, home and road, during the regular season and playoffs for the last three-plus seasons. I have an active streak of 373 consecutive games on site dating back to Game 1 of the 2021 first-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens. Having experienced countless media meals over my extensive coverage, I decided to take on the enviable task of ranking the media meals of all 32 NHL venues. This is the first of a four-part series, where I will start with No. 25 through No. 32.

The Worst Eight Media Meals in the NHL: Part 1 (No. 25-32)

25. San Jose Sharks – SAP Center

If this were ranking which building has the best coffee, the Sharks would definitely be higher on this list. I don’t know what they do to it, but it is amazing. However, they only serve that coffee in the media room and not upstairs where we work. And SAP Center is one of those older buildings where the press box area was a bit of an afterthought and not easy to get to at all. The meal was cheap at around $10 US, but it’s one of those slow-moving buffets that always seems busy. They had your traditional salad bar along with a protein at the end. They also had a sandwich stand where you can make your own sandwiches with processed meats and cheeses, which is… fine. But it’s something I’d expect to make at home when in need of a quick bite rather than a good home-cooked meal. It was okay and deserving of its No. 25 ranking.

TikTok · David Alter 89 likes, 4 comments. “#Media #meal in San Jose is just $10 but it was ok. Coffee here is superb and the snacks upstairs are really good.”

26. Buffalo Sabres – KeyBank Center

The Sabres charge $15 US plus tax for what looks like a plentiful meal on the surface. The Leafs were there for their last road game of the regular season. They had a gnocchi soup, which looked promising, but the gnocchi didn’t seem like it was cooked right. The meat looked better than it tasted. Perhaps my expectations were too high. This city is also obsessed with pizza logs, and that’s their staple at these meals. In recent years, they moved the meal area up to the press box where it used to be this much bigger room on the main floor that was more pleasing to eat in. After that though, they have lots of snacks, ice cream, and some finger foods for the intermission that are free of charge. It’s decent.

TikTok · David Alter 342 likes, 27 comments. “#media #meal time in Buffalo for #Leafs vs. #Sabres. The media meal was ok at best. The tastiest thing was the pizza logs, which are a staple here. Would you eat this?”

27. Colorado Avalanche – Ball Arena

The media meal in Colorado is free, which is awesome. But the collection of food served is minimal. The food can best be described as satisfactory. The real highlight of the experience covering games in Colorado are the snacks upstairs. It’s the only venue in the NHL that has water in aluminum cans, which makes sense as the title sponsor, Ball, specializes in aluminum cups. Go figure. There really isn’t a lot to say about the meal though. If it wasn’t free, it might even be lower on the list.

TikTok · David Alter 612 likes, 25 comments. “#media #meal tonight in Denver for #Leafs and #Avalanche. At least it was free, which I always appreciate. The beef was actually pretty good. What do you think?”

28. Pittsburgh Penguins – PPG Paints Arena

The Toronto Maple Leafs had a rare 1 p.m. game, and I was very much looking forward to seeing what Pittsburgh would have as a brunch. Boy, was I disappointed. And it was mostly because everything looked great. Once I took a bite, it just felt like the food wasn’t fresh. The potatoes weren’t crispy. The pancake tasted dry. It just wasn’t very good. Their dinners are usually okay. They have an ice cream offering, but who wants ice cream around breakfast time? Not I. Upstairs, they always have some form of pretzel with cheese sauce. One time, the sauce was mixed with a gravy. It had a unique name for it which I can’t remember.

TikTok · David Alter 1893 likes, 52 comments. “#media #meal in Pittsburgh is very mid. I was curious because it was my first breakfast here. It was ok. There are better.”

29. St. Louis Blues – Enterprise Center

Maybe it’s a Midwest thing, but the St. Louis media meal is known for one thing: quantity. They give you a lot of food. It wasn't particularly great on the last visit, but they did provide a lot of snacks, which are close to your seat and always appreciated. The quality of the food was very mediocre. Many people choose to eat there rather than anywhere else nearby because the arena's downtown location isn’t in a particularly great area.

30. Ottawa Senators – Canadian Tire Centre

I have to say the Senators’ improved their game substantially over the years. But it still falls a bit short during the regular season when the options and quality don't quite match the $15 price. For Game 3 of Toronto's first-round series against the Sens, they ran out of prime rib and had to provide a substitute. They also ran out of diet coke as their fridge was just a limited selection of cans. That’s not an issue upstairs in the press box, where they have fountain drinks. But they lack snacks outside of some popcorn. I’d like to see a refresh.

TikTok · David Alter 377 likes, 23 comments. “It’s an Ottawa edition for the #media #meal for Game 3 between the #Leafs and #Sens. The brisket was so good they ran out and replaced it with prime rib.”

31. Philadelphia Flyers – Wells Fargo Center

The media meal is $18 USD, and the variety and quality do not match the price. I felt like I could get a better meal in concessions. The highlight, if you want to call it that, is the crinkle-cut fries with cheese sauce. Pennsylvania is a great state for food. Which is why it’s disappointing that both NHL teams emanating from the state are so far down the list.

TikTok · David Alter 15.9K likes, 688 comments. “Media #Meal time in Philly. It’s $18. And I don’t think it’s particularly great. Not a lot of variety. Coke Zero is a nice plus.”

32. New Jersey Devils – Prudential Center

There are a lot of things I do not like about the New Jersey media meal experience. From the fact that they only accept cash to the limited options and repetitive decision to serve very basic Italian food, it is consistently boring and not satisfying. They do have some decent snacks upstairs, from chips and ice cream, but they really need to do better for a place this close to New York City. When open, I’d go to Hobby’s Deli, which has by far the best Reuben sandwich I’ve ever tasted.

Again, just because these teams rank lower on the list doesn't mean the food isn't good. It’s just not as good as the other 24 teams in the NHL. Next time we’ll look at teams 17 through 24.

(Photo Credit: David Alter/THN)