Growing up in Canada, hockey was my first love. Over the course of my life, I’ve been to hundreds of NHL games in many arenas around the league including those in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Montreal, Dallas, Buffalo and Minnesota. Within these hockey arenas I’ve sat in virtually every location possible and know the pros and cons of each.
At UltimateSportsRoadTrip.com, I am passionate about helping sports fans plan the best possible sports trips. In this post, I share all my insights on how to find the best seats for a hockey game.
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My Top Picks for the Best Seats at a Hockey Game
Depending on the market, tickets for NHL hockey games can get quite expensive in a hurry. Most of us don’t have an unlimited budget for sports tickets, so I hope to help you find the right hockey tickets for your needs and budget.
It makes sense that the best seats in NHL arenas are often the most expensive, but I’ll give you the pros and cons of each seating area to help you decide on which are the best seats at a hockey game for you.
1. Lower Bowl Between the Hash Marks
Having gone to hundreds of hockey games at a variety of arenas around the National Hockey League, I can say with confidence that the best seats at a hockey game are in the lower bowl, on the sides between the hash marks (the lines on either side of the face-off circles in each end).
Pros of Lower Bowl Seats Between the Hash Marks
Being in the lower bowl of an NHL arena allows you to be close to the action, where you’ll witness the grace and speed of the NHL players, while allowing you to feel the bone-crunching impact of the bodychecks and the puck hitting the glass after a hard slapshot.
Cons of Lower Bowl Seats Between the Hash Marks
Given I think this is the best place to sit for an NHL game, I’d sit in these seats as much I could afford. The only real negative of these lower bowl sideline seats are the steep price tag.
Another potential con of these great hockey seats is the atmosphere. These seats are expensive and are often owned by corporations, so their employees can entertain clients. This can sometimes lead to a less-fun environment for a hockey game vs. the seats higher up where the ‘real hockey fans’ sit.
Pro Tip:
If possible, try to sit in row 10 or higher. If you sit too close to the ice, you’ll be turning your head a lot as the play goes back-and-forth on the ice. I’ve sat in the front row in these section before, and while it’s very exciting when the play is near, it’s just too close for when the puck is elsewhere.
The hockey tickets in the lower bowl between the hash marks are going to be expensive, but if you can find room in your budget, they are worth it. If I’m on a sports road trip, I always spend more on my hockey tickets and less on a hotel room to help make room in my budget.
2. Second Tier Seats – Close to the Balcony
When it comes to deciding where the best seats at a hockey game are, it was a really tough call. I ultimately named the lower bowl tickets on the sides as the best, but the the seats on the second tier close to the balcony were a very close second.
Pros of Second Tier Seats Close to the Balcony
Sitting in the hockey seats on the second tier, as close to the balcony as possible, in any NHL arena will be excellent seats. Being up higher allows you to watch the plays develop, which can be a true thing of beauty in an NHL hockey game. Being a little higher up, usually means that the hockey tickets will also be less expensive (although sometimes these seats are premium and/or club seats).
Cons of Second Tier Seats Close to the Balcony
The tradeoff that comes with sitting a little higher is you can typically lose some of the physical connection to the game. For example, you won’t feel the bodychecks or the power of a slapshot hitting the glass.
Pro Tip:
If you can find and afford them, seats in the first five rows of the second tier are amazing. I especially love sitting in a corner in these hockey seats.
3. Best Value Seats – Lower Bowl Corners
Ok, so the lower bowl sideline seats and the premium second tier seats the best seats at a hockey game. Well, guess what? They also tend to be the most expensive seats at any NHL game. If you are looking for great seats for an NHL game, but would like to keep your ticket costs reasonable, I recommend getting a ticket in one of the lower bowl corner sections.
Pros of Seats in the Lower Bowl Corners
I had Calgary Flames season tickets in the corner of the lower bowl at the Saddledome for years and I loved sitting there. As the play comes near, you often feel a powerful bodycheck as the players fight for the puck. Or simply feeling the power of a puck hitting the glass on a shoot-in will forever change your appreciation for NHL goalies!!
When you sit on the sides of the arena, your head will be moving back and forth as you follow the puck all game. When you sit in the corner seats, you are positioned facing directly at the length of the rink, meaning you won’t have to turn your head at all.
The best part is that lower bowl corner seats often sell for noticeably less than the lower bowl tickets along the sides.
Cons of Seats in the Lower Bowl Corners
When you sit in the corners of an NHL arena, you’ll enjoy great up-close action when the play is down in your end. The flip side to this is when the puck is in the far end of the arena. If you are sitting high enough up, you’ll still get a good view of the game, but the experience always suffers when the play is at the far end.
Pro Tip:
Similar to my advice on the lower bowl tickets behind the benches, try not to sit too close. If you sit in Row 10 or higher, you’ll enjoy an incredible view of the ice and you’ll never have to move your head to follow the play.
If you are too close, you’ll have a very hard time following the play at the far end of the ice. I’ve sat as close as Row 2 in the corners, and while these seats are incredible for the few moments there is a big hit or a fight in the corner, when the play was at the far end of the ice, the game experience kinda sucked.
4. Upper Level Seats Behind the Benches
The upper level tickets behind the benches at any NHL arena are good hockey seats for the money. There are many hockey fans who prefer to sit in the upper sections as they can see the play develop more easily.
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Pros of Seats in the Upper Level Behind the Benches
The NHL fans who love the upper bowl seats are the ones who enjoy the strategy of the game. From the upper reaches of an NHL arena, you can see the entire rink and easily watch the plays develop.
When you are too close to the ice, the game is often too fast to appreciate how the play develops, but up here, it’s a thing of beauty. This experience actually gets better the higher you go, as it’s easier to see all 10 skaters in one glance.
Another fun benefit of sitting higher up at an NHL arena is the atmosphere. The best seats at a hockey game are always the most expensive, and therefore are often owned by corporations so their employees can entertain clients.
This leads to a more boring atmosphere. The real hardcore hockey fans can be found sitting in the cheaper seats higher up, and the atmosphere is almost always more lively than in the more expensive lower bowls.
Cons of Seats in the Upper Level Behind the Benches
To me, the biggest downside of sitting up high in an NHL arena is that the game seems slower. Again, this is great for watching the plays develop, but to be honest, I love the speed an power of hockey and you lose that when you sit high up.
5. Lower Bowl Behind the Nets
The lower bowl seats behind the goalies have most of the same pros and cons of the lower bowl corner seats, but to be honest, my preference is for the corner seats. This is because there is a lot of exciting action in the corners; the puck hitting the glass on shoot-ins, big bodychecks, etc.
One unique advantage of lower bowl seats behind the nets is getting to share the same perspective as the goalie. Watching the play come right at you is very exciting, and when the puck hits the glass behind the net, you’ll feel the power of the shot in your bones. You’ll be eternally grateful it’s not you standing between the pipes trying to stop the puck!
If budget is a concern, the lower bowl seats behind the nets are often less expensive than the corner sections, for basically the same experience.
6. Upper Level Corner Seats
The advantages of NHL tickets in the upper level corners are the same as the upper section seats behind the benches – you’ll enjoy a better hockey atmosphere and you’ll save money.
The disadvantages of hockey seats in the upper bowl corners is that you are increasingly further from the action, thus slowing down the hockey game even further. This is especially true when the puck is at the far end of the arena.
7. Upper Bowl Seats Behind the Nets
Ok, so just because the upper bowl seats behind the nets are last on my list of the best seats for hockey games, doesn’t mean they are bad seats. The only bad seats at a hockey arena are… wait.. nope, there are no bad seats in an NHL hockey arena!
Yes, this would be my last choice for a place to sit at a hockey game, but you still get all the incredible advantages of attending a hockey game live. The incredible atmosphere, shared with 15 – 20,000 other hockey fans is an experience I will pay for time and again – even if I need to sit in the ‘worst seats in the arena’.
Special Sections for Hockey Seats at NHL Arenas
When looking for the best seats at a hockey game, there are a few other types of seats within NHL arenas which merit a mention:
Club Seats
Nearly every NHL arena offers a premium viewing experience through the purchase of club seats. These seats are usually among the very best seats for a hockey game and come with many high-end perks. NHL fans who buy club seats will often enjoy access to private lounges, in-seat food & drink service and outstanding views of the hockey action.
The big downside of club seats at a hockey game is the cost – club seating is very expensive. Unless you are celebrating a big event or entertaining an important client, I don’t recommend paying the premium price for club seats.
Nosebleeds
My very first season tickets for the Calgary Flames were in the nosebleeds. These third tier seats were very far from the action and the pace of play seemed very slow. But I’ll never forget the atmosphere up there – the hockey fans sitting in the nosebleeds are among the most fun, friendly & entertaining people in the arena.
Nosebleed seats are always the cheapest hockey seats for an NHL game. If you don’t have a ton of money, but want a great NHL hockey experience, don’t shy away from the nosebleed seats!
How to Buy the Best Seats at an NHL Hockey Game
Now that you know how to find the best seats at a hockey game, the next step is actually buying the best NHL hockey seats you can within your budget.
I have developed a two-step method to finding the best hockey seats for each game I am lucky to attend:
1. Start with Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster is the Official Ticket Marketplace of the NHL. This means that Ticketmaster is the only place where you can buy NHL hockey tickets at the original face value, assuming the game hasn’t already sold out.
So, my first step in finding the best hockey seats for a game is to pull up the game on Ticketmaster.com.
Next, click on the “Filters” button and find the “Verified Resale Ticket” button. Unselect this option and then click on “Apply Filters”.
What this will do is eliminate all of the resale tickets from your search results. At this point you’ll be shown all the hockey seats that remain at the original face value. This is your best chance to find the very best hockey seats at a fair price.
If your hockey game is already sold out, or if you are not impressed by the selection or location of the remaining face value tickets, then you’ll need to move on to step 2 – go to the resale market for your hockey tickets.
2. If Required – Check the Reseller Ticket Markets
Resale markets, like Ticketmaster, StubHub and Vivid Seats, are great marketplaces to buy and sell NHL hockey tickets. The challenge for fans looking to buy great hockey seats, is that ticket prices on the resale markets are often well above their original face value. But, at this stage, you’ll have no other choice, other than staying home to watch the game (which is always an option if the ticket prices are too expensive).
The most important thing you need to know about navigating the reseller market for hockey tickets is that you need to shop around. The tickets for sale on these markets are often by people trying to make a profit on their seats.
Some people may be motivated sellers – perhaps they need the money for something else, and others may be charging an unfairly high price, in hopes of finding a sucker willing to pay it.
Whenever I need to buy hockey seats from a reseller, I always open up the three main ticket marketplaces: Ticketmaster, StubHub and Vivid Seats. Opening all three at once allows you to get a really good feel for what a fair resale price is for the hockey seats in your desired area of the arena. It becomes clear what seats are a rip-off and which ones are priced to sell.
Given you are already on Ticketmaster, go back to the Filters and turn the “Verified Resale Ticket” filter back on.
The ticket reseller I have used most often is StubHub – it seems like they have the biggest market share and therefore the biggest selection for each game. The increased competition between sellers helps keep prices down.
Don’t forget to check Vivid Seats. Although they don’t have the market share that Ticketmaster and StubHub do, I have been successful finding good seats here on several occasions.
Once you have Ticketmaster, StubHub and Vivid Seats open, set the pricing filters to exclude tickets above your budget. Make sure you have selected the option to show prices with fees and taxes included. Then it’s a simple process of finding the best hockey seats in the stadium within your price range.
Enjoy the Game!!
I use this process every single time I have bought tickets for an NHL game. It has always resulted in me finding the best hockey seats available within my price range. I am confident it will work for you as well!!