From travel to eating to the arena atmosphere, here are some thoughts about going to a game
For just $20, you can watch the second tier of professional hockey in North America. The Laval Rocket—the Montreal Canadiens farm team that plays in the American Hockey League (AHL)—has a ticket promotion called Student Wednesdays. For high school, CEGEP and university students, tickets at the box office are $20 for all Wednesday night games.
It’s the team’s first season, and their first Student Wednesday promotion happened on Oct. 25, when they played the Rochester Americans. I went to the game with two friends to see whether it’s really worth it for Concordia students. Here are tips for students who plan on going to Laval Rocket games.
Getting There
We left the Loyola campus at around 5:30 p.m. Even though the game started at 7:30 p.m., we thought traffic would have made us late. But the only traffic we really faced was on Décarie Boulevard. Considering we were headed there in the middle of rush hour, it was a smooth drive after Décarie. The arena is located on Boulevard de la Concorde, just off Highway 15 in Laval, and it took us about 45 minutes to get there.
Finding parking was not an issue. The arena has indoor parking, and there’s a shopping centre next to the arena where you can park for free.
Eating
For those who want to eat before the game, there are multiple restaurants in the shopping centre next to the arena, including Subway’s, Bellepro’s, Tim Hortons, Amir and Thai Express.
The arena food is a bit costly, but still cheaper than at a Canadiens game at the Bell Centre. A slice of pizza at Place Bell is $4.25, and a hot dog is $3.50.
If you’re thirsty at a Rocket game, it’s going to cost you $5.75 for a 355-ml beer, and $3 for a bottle of water. Both those prices are cheap compared to $12 draft beers and $7.50 water at the Bell Centre.
Tickets
For $20, tax included, we got tickets four rows behind the net. The regular cost for those tickets is $32 before taxes and fees. We really couldn’t have asked for better tickets for their price and location. Place Bell is a small arena with 10,000 seats, so there probably isn’t a bad seat in the house.
The seats are also really comfortable and leave a lot of leg room. Not even the Bell Centre compares to the level of comfort I had at Place Bell.
Atmosphere
Honestly, I loved it. It’s different than going to a Canadiens game because the arena has more of a family-friendly atmosphere. There were quite a few students, but more importantly, a lot of families were there, even for a Wednesday night. Not far from where we were sitting, there were two kids dancing and cheering for most of the game, so it made for a fun atmosphere.
However, I found the arena music was too loud. During breaks in the game when they would play music, it would get so loud I had trouble talking to my friends who were sitting right beside me.
Overall thoughts
I would definitely recommend Concordia students go watch the Laval Rocket play. It’s fun and affordable. I spent just over $40 for the whole night—I ate before and during the game—so if you control your hunger, you can have a fun night out with friends for $20.
The Rocket will host 10 more Student Wednesday promotions, including the next one on Nov. 1.
Main photo by Nicholas Di Giovanni.
