| | LOS ANGELES -- At the opening faceoff, it was immediately obvious there was something special going on -- almost all the fans, habitually late-arriving Southern Californians, were actually in their seats.
|  | | The Kings, front, and the Bruins line up for the national anthem during the inaugural game at the Staples Center. |
The Staples Center, a $375 million, 1 million-square foot
facility that is the most expensive arena ever built, made its
sports debut Wednesday night with the Los Angeles Kings skating to a 2-2 tie with the Boston Bruins.
The sleek building, featuring chrome, airy lobbies and terrazzo floors, got mostly good reviews.
"I'm kind of a traditionalist, thought I would prefer the
Forum, but this is great," said Alec Elizondo, standing on a patio
with a striking view of the L.A. skyline.
"I wasn't sure about this, but I'm already a convert. I guess
that was pretty fast," Elizondo said 30 minutes before the game
started.
Suzie Oltmann also was impressed.
"The sight lines here are very good, much better than at the
Forum," she said. "And the place is just beautiful."
Before the game, spotlights panned around the sellout crowd of
some 18,500, lasers danced wildly on the roof beams, and there were
some rather dinky fireworks. Broadway star Davis Gaines sang the
national anthem.
Not everybody was thrilled about the move from the Forum in
Inglewood, the Kings' home for 32 years.
"I spent three hours getting here from Torrance; I was 15
minutes from the Forum. The parking here was atrocious," said
Lonnie Sneed, a hockey dad whose sons both played the game in
college.
"It only took me about 35 minutes to drive into town, but the
traffic was really bad on the street and it took me more than an
hour to get into the lot. Then I had to walk the three blocks and
get into the arena. And the parking was $15; I paid $7 at the Forum
and didn't have to walk as far."
Sneed said his seats were in the third row from the top in the
arena and cost $18.50, about the same price he paid at the Forum.
Parking aside, Sneed gave the arena his stamp of approval.
"I had about the same seats at the Forum as I'm sitting in
here, but was farther from the ice," he said. "These new arenas
are much more vertical, and you feel like you're right over the
ice."
Staples Center also is the new home of the NBA's Los Angeles
Lakers and Clippers, and will be the site of the Democratic
National Convention and the Grammy Awards. | |
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