The Vegas Golden Knights continue to impress the hockey world.
In an exercise carried out by The Athletic (subscription required), the Vegas Golden Knights emerged as major winners with T-Mobile Arena ranked as the best arena in the National Hockey League.
Carried out by Chicago Blackhawks reporters Mark Lazerus and Scott Powers, the duo polled a number of beat writers from The Athletic to determine the best and worst arenas in the NHL.
It was a home run for the Golden Knights with T-Mobile Arena attracting a total score of 29.42, with the atmosphere collecting the highest score of 7.63 to the surprise of nobody.
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After all, since entering the league in 2017 the Knights have won a plethora of plaudits for their game night experience with a bevy of players claiming that playing at T-Mobile Arena is like being involved in a Playoff contest during the regular season.
The location also rated high with a score of 7.54 with T-Mobile Arena located right on The Strip with fans treated to a feast of hotels, eateries and betting outlets to add more excitement to their trip.
The overall Quality of the Facility and the Press Box both scored high, which isn’t surprising given how new T-Mobile Arena is.
It came in for high praise from Corey Masiak, the New Jersey Devils beat writer, who claimed that the NHL “should tear the other 30 buildings down and start over with this one as the blueprint.”
I have very hard opinions on very frivolous things, so I was very happy when @ByScottPowers and I got the opportunity to write this piece up.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) July 8, 2020
All NHL rinks ranked, from a sportswriter's perspective (which not everybody in the comments is happy about!): https://t.co/9hGFnxuUXM
The overriding factor for T-Mobile Arena coming out on top revolved around the electric atmosphere that is generated before and during every game, coupled with the dramatic pregame shows that resemble something out of Game of Thrones.
Plus, that incredible atmosphere has transformed T-Mobile Arena into a formidable coliseum for other teams, giving the Golden Knights an amazing home ice advantage.
So, what other arenas came in for praise?
Bell Centre, home of the Montreal Canadiens, came in second place right behind T-Mobile Arena, while Madison Square Garden (New York Rangers), Bell MTS Place (Winnipeg Jets) and PPG Paints Arena (Pittsburgh Penguins) rounded out the top five.
Personally, I would have ranked MSG a spot higher given that it is steeped in history and it is also located bang in the middle of Manhattan, although I am a Rangers fan so there is some bias at play there.
What about the worse?
To the delight of Vegas fans, SAP Center, home of the San Jose Sharks is ranked as low as 23rd on the list, but the honor (or dishonor) of having the worst arena in the NHL belongs to the Ottawa Senators, with the Canadian Tire Centre not receiving a lot of love.
But perhaps worse than that is the fact that the New York Islanders feature not once but twice at the bottom of these rankings.
Barclays Center, which was the short-lived new home of the Islanders, ranks 31st while the old Nassau Coliseum comes in at a spot above.
The sooner the new arena is built at Belmont the better for the Islanders, it seems.
Back to the Golden Knights, however, and it is testament to the superb job done by Owner Bill Foley and the rest of the front office that T-Mobile Arena is already considered the mecca of NHL Arenas.
You can view the full list of NHL Arena rankings here (subscription required).