Tbirds say goodbye to the Key, hello to "the Show"
It’s always good to go out with a win which is exactly what the Seattle Thunderbirds did tonight, shutting out the Chilliwack Bruins 2-0 in their final game ever at the Key Arena tonight, closing a thirteen and a half years long chapter in Seattle’s hockey history book.
The move to Kent’s new ShoWare Center is not the first relocation in Seattle hockey: Seattle’s hockey teams have played in a variety of venues since our first team, the Metropolitans (the first US team to win the Stanley Cup, way back in 1917) played at the 2,500 seat Seattle Ice Arena, located across from what is now the Olympic Hotel downtown Seattle. It may be one of the most exciting, however. The Show is the nation’s first LEED Silver certified events center, built to exacting standards that promote environmental sustainability and create a healthy building that uses water and energy efficiently. The ShoWare Center seats between 6,500 and 8,000 depending on the event and, most exciting for hockey fans, has been designed to be particularly friendly to hockey as the new home of the T-birds. It’s a beautiful new facility with comfortable seats and great views wherever you sit, perfect for both sports and concerts.
The Thunderbirds debut at their new arena on Saturday, January 3, taking on the Everett Silvertips, but the facility is offering fans and anyone else interested in checking out this new venue a sneak peek at Grand Opening party on Friday, January 2, from 4 to 9 pm. T-birds players will be on hand to greet visitors, as will Buckets Blazes of the Harlem Globetrotters (playing at the Show on Wednesday, February 18). Also on hand will be the Kent Meridian High School Orchestra and dance teams from Kentwood, Kentlake and Kentridge High Schools and an interactive show for kids presented by Radio Disney.
The ShoWare Center is located at 625 W. James Street, in Kent, easily accessible by car via I-5, highway 167, or I-90 to highway 18, but in keeping with the green spirit, I highly recommend taking the Sounder or one of the more than twenty bus routes that serve downtown Kent–there are no less than three major Metro stops with a block of the center. Cyclists can easily get there via the Interurban or Green River trails and take advantage of their 50 onsite bike racks.
What I’d really like are photographs of how the seats are laid out.
My favorite all-time seats at a minor league hockey team were behind the goal at the top of a 20 foot wall, first row. Gave you a great view, could see the plays develop and, whenever the attack was at your end of the ice, a great view of the action.
Seats on the glass are great, but your view is so limited. It looks like the seats down at one end of the rink might be like that, but they don’t have elevation maps, so it’s hard to tell.
Well, I’ll be heading down for the open house Friday and will try to take some seat photos. (I want to take photos of my new seat, anyway.) Despite the view limitations you mention, I like my 3rd row seats but I do think a lot of people really don’t realize that being up front isn’t always the best seat in the house for seeing everything that happens.
One of my favorite seats ever was when in the old Ackerley suite at the Key just above one of the goals. Our view of the goal below us was totally obstructed but thanks to some quirk of building design we could hear everything that was being said on the ice as clear as if the people talking were up in the suite with us.