Zac Electrifly

I had to check it out. I was not able to make it to the Friday or Saturday games but I was able to make it to the Sunday game. I thought it would be a good chance to check out the new arena before Knight Monsters begin play. The Lake Tahoe Lakers were playing the Bellingham Blazers. The Lakers had won the last two games. I had no trouble getting to or from the Arena. The Arena is separate from the rest of the building there so it is hard to miss. There is little to no free parking in Lake Tahoe anymore. That is part of the reason I don’t go up to Lake Tahoe all the time. I like the way the outside of the arena looks. It does not look like a concrete slab like a lot of arenas look. It matches a lot of the other architecture in the area. What stood out to me in the concourse was the the fire places they had. There is a section with tables and seating and a couple of fire places that overlooks Lake Tahoe. I don’t know of any other arenas with fireplaces. Right across from that is a Lake Tahoe Blue Vodka Bar. It is definitely a nice arena.

I was not surprised by the high prices at the concession stands. That’s on par for arena’s these days. Some parts of the seating were blocked off for this game which I was not expecting. The arena was less than half full for this game. The seating was right on top of the action. I don’t think there is going to be a bad seat in that arena. I have sat in a similar spot at SAP Center in San Jose for NHL games and I felt closer to the action here. There is no upper level. I am not a big fan of arenas without upper levels but it’s not the end of the world. The clock, score, and penalties were kind of hard to see. They only had them above the goals. They were not posted on the big screen. On the big screen they ran advertisements the whole game. There was no replays. Sometimes music or other audio was playing during gameplay. They didn’t really announce much during the game either. They had an announcer but he did not announce goal, penalties, or the time on the clock. He even mentioned a series sweep at one point while there was still time left in the game. I was like who does that. That’s gonna jinx it. It’s like mentioning a shutout. don’t do that. I was expecting a little bit more from their production. It did not ruin the experience though. It was still fun.

The game itself was a lot of fun to watch. The Lake Tahoe Lakers went up by three goals. They allowed the Bellingham Blazers to get back within one goal kind of quickly. The Lakers managed to score another goal that put the game out of the reach of the Blazers. It was a close game. It was a chippy game. There was some big hits. The Blazers kept doing stupid things like crosschecking players behind the play. One of the Blazers players was harassing one of the Lakers players in the lakers zone away from the play. One of the other Lakers players took exception to that. The lakers player stood up for his team mate while the Blazers player turtled on the ground.

Later in the game there was a fight. A Blazers player cross checked a Lakers player away from the play in the Lakers crease. It was a hard cross check. One of the Lakers players came over and fought the Blazers player. The Lakers player won the fight. Both players were ejected after that. One of the players was actually taken to the box for a moment. One of the lakers players grabbed his gear. As the Blazers player was leaving the ice the Lakers player just dropped the gear in front of him. At another point one of the Blazers players lost his stick. It ended up on the Lakers bench. One of the Lakers players threw it into the stands. It was definitely an entertaining game.

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It was definitely a fun experience. It got me more excited than ever for the Tahoe Knight Monsters. I would likely go consistently if the Lake Tahoe Lakers played at the Tahoe Blue Events center more. Not every game or weekend but once or twice a month. I am planning on getting season tickets to the Monster Knights. I would plan on going every game that I could. It is a nice venue. I recommend checking it out. Also check out the Lake Tahoe Lakers. They play at the Tahoe Ice Arena normally. Even though it is tier three junior it is fast. They do hit hard. There is a lot of skill in that league.