Edmonton Journal: What it’s like to cover NHL playoff hockey in an empty building

EDMONTON, ALBERTA – This will never not be weird. This will forever be one of the most bizarre things I have ever experienced. This is why I’m glad I came here, even though almost nothing seems to be happening.

What’s it like to cover an NHL playoff game in an empty arena? Lonely, for one thing.

During yesterday’s Avalanche-Blues Western Conference round-robin game, there were three people sitting on press row. Me, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and some other guy neither of us ever figured out who it was. Three people watching an NHL playoff game on press row – unheard of. When I first covered the league in 1995, there were hundreds of media on hand for playoff games.

At one point, Jim was playing a radio broadcast of the game at his seat, something he says he always likes to do. But Jim had to turn it down at one point, because, well, it was probably making too much noise in the arena, a distraction to the players below.