Ryan Reaves and the New York Rangers became the second team in the 2022-23 NHL season to visit the Arizona Coyotes in the latter's temporary home, the Mullett Arena at the Arizona State University. It is fair to say that he felt 50-50 about his experience playing at the said arena.
Reaves was actually impressed with the ice quality at Mullett Arena, obviously exceeding his expectations. But he had a completely opposite opinion about the state of the locker room for the Coyotes' opponents at home.
Via Mike Gould of the Daily Faceoff:
“NYR forward Ryan Reaves called the quality of the ice at Mullett Arena ‘unreal — it was really good' but was less complimentary about the Rangers' dressing room: ‘This room is a little poo poo. It's a little cold in here too, not gonna lie.'”
Yes, he said "poo poo." That's verbatim.
The room in question (as you've all seen already) is carved out of the adjacent practice rink: pic.twitter.com/RRCOnipder
— Mike Gould (@miketgould) October 31, 2022
Reaves and the Rangers call the Madison Square Garden home and it is one of the best places to play in pro sports. The difference between the dressing rooms at the Garden and at the Mullett Arena couldn't have been painted much starker than when one juxtaposes the images above with this set of pictures from New York's relatively opulent locker room.
The Coyotes will continue to play at Mullett Arena at least for the next three seasons as approval for the construction of a new home in Tempe has yet to be okayed.
The Rangers beat the Coyotes in their first visit to Arizona this season, 3-2, Sunday.
The next Coyotes visitors will be the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
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