Everett Silvertips
Rink: Angel of the Winds Arena
Capacity: 8,149
Built: 2003
League: WHL
City: Everett, Washington
Home Of: Everett Silvertips
Games Attended: 1
Only Game: March 2, 2024 vs Regina
Unique Arena: #82
WHL Arena: #16
The Angel of the Winds Arena (named after a nearby casino) sits on the side of a hill in picturesque downtown Everett, Washington. It’s about 30 miles north of downtown Seattle and only a couple blocks from the worldwide headquarters of Funko and a few miles from the Boeing assembly plant. It’s an impressive-looking building, with new red brick and metal siding as well as a large glass lobby at one corner. There’s also a suite level entrance around the back at the top of the hill. Two giant cantilevers to help hold up the roof, and to me it makes the building look a bit like a suspension bridge. The roof slopes down the far side of the building over top of the attached community rink, which is a good way to have one continuous roof but not have the secondary rink be cavernous.
Inside the building you find a large two-bowl setup that can seat over 8,100 for hockey. The lower bowl goes all the way around the ice surface, while the upper bowl is laid out in a U shape. Oddly enough for a building built post-Y2K, there is only one concourse for the two bowls. Luckily it’s a wide concourse and with a crowd of nearly 7,000 for the game I attended, getting around was not a problem at all.
All the suites sit on the penalty box side of the rink. There’s a row of them at the top of each bowl, while the press box sits on its own on the bench side at the top of the upper bowl. On the side with no suites as well as the end at the bottom of the U in the upper bowl there is a mini concourse with an extra row of folding chairs, but they could be used as standing room need be. There is also some accessible seating up there for wheelchairs. The area at the top of the lower bowl where it looks like there should be more suites but aren’t are the rear side of concession stands and bathrooms, which helps keep the concourse pretty wide for foot traffic. At the far end of the rink where there is no upper bowl, the concourse is a bit more open air where you can see the ice surface but there is plenty of extra stuff like a bar area that also overlooks the community rink as well as extra tables for 50/50, the booster club and a couple other vendors.
I will also point out the sheer amount of concession stands with different food options in Everett were pretty amazing. It’s not just your usual rink food. They go above and beyond with your choice of eats, and something that is starting to pop up in rinks now are areas that are almost little convenience stores where you just pick your beverage out of a fridge and pay on your way out. It’s something that I’ve noticed is catching on outside of NHL rinks.
For OHL fans, it’s obvious to compare Angel of the Winds arena with the Bud Gardens in London. They are two very similar rinks. While London has about 1,000 more seats, it feels a tad more intimate than Everett. The buildings opened just a year apart, have very similar setups and even share the same colour schemes with their teams. Everett from what I’ve seen doesn’t pack the place quite as often as London does, however the game I attended the rink was about 85% filled and the crowd was full of very rowdy fans. Big kudos goes out to the Silvertips fans who like many American fans – just more vocal than their Canadian counterparts. From the moment the team hit the ice everyone was on their feet and making lots of noise.
One thing they really seem to love in Everett are cowbells. Cowbells are a normal noisemaker you see across the CHL, but they almost feel like an extra gimmick in Everett. So many fans have them, and they are embraced to a level I haven’t seen since we lost the Belleville Bulls. Production in Everett is top notch too and the game is presented in a fantastic way. While mascots riding ATV’s is another thing I’ve seen in plenty of other CHL rinks, the Everett mascot Lincoln goes next level by hitting the ice pregame by going off a ramp out of the Zamboni tunnel and catching some serious air while doing it. Give that mascot stuntman pay!
A couple other things to note about Everett. There is a restaurant located in a somewhat odd place at the top of the upper bowl in the corner, and all of the seats in front of it are a club section. While I have seen club seats in upper bowls before (usually just the first row or two) I’ve never seen a whole section of them, and in a corner. Also of note, while the first row of the upper deck is always my favourite view of a game, each seat in row 1 has big cup holders on each arm rest which made the seats feel a little tight for my large frame, but none of the other rows up top had them. Between the rowdy crowd, great sightlines and all the modern amenities one could want and then some, it was quick to see that Everett would be shooting near the top of my CHL rink list. I loved my experience in Everett, and much of that can be contributed to the awesome atmosphere the fans bring. So kudos to you, Tips fans – you made an awesome first impression on me and I will be speaking very highly of you not just here but to anyone who will listen across the CHL.
PS: because of all the awesome stuff I’ve mentioned, I’ll forgive you for retiring #1 for the fans, which as I’ve said plenty of times before, I don’t care how great your fans are, that’s lame as hell.
