Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Last days of the Devils in the Meadowlands

The Meadowlands Arena has always left a lot to be desired.

The building's exterior is dull, the interior cavernous.Its' very name has changed several times throughout the years, as if management isn't quite sure what it wants to be called. First it was the Brendon Byrne Arena, then it became Continental Airlines Arena, now it's called the Izod center. Certainly naming rights will change again once a sponsor with even more money to spend comes long.

The location is lackluster as well. There's no "there" there: the arena is not attached to any larger community. Rather it's plopped inside what is effectively a swamp, surrounded by parking lots the size of several football fields. There's no excitement similar to what fans might find at Yawkey Way before a Red Sox game.

When the Devils won their first Stanley cup in 1995, it became quite apparent there was no location for a ticker tape style victory parade, similar to what teams like the New York Rangers would have earned. Instead, the Devils settled for a spin around the arena parking lot

Eventually its' professional sports tenants moved out: the Devils to the Prudential Center in Newark, and the Nets to Brooklyn at the Barclays Center.

Here are some pics from one of the Devils last games at the then Continental Airlines Arena, versus the Philadelphia Flyers:


















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