Dog Days

Friday, November 4, 2005 | Feedback | Print Entry

Road trip
On Thursday, I started a four-games-in-four-days swing through the West. The first stop: Phoenix. I hadn't seen a game in the new Glendale Arena, so I was looking forward to checking it off my list. I think the only building in the league that I haven't visited is the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Personally, that's a little funny considering I lived in Dallas for six years. I haven't been there since the Stars moved out of Reunion Arena.

Anyway, back to Phoenix. The Glendale Arena is a stunning building. It has been built as the cornerstone to a major development area in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale. Just outside the building, there's a major shopping area under construction. According to GM Mike Barnett, the construction -- which will include shopping, movies and hotels -- is running behind schedule but moving forward. At present, they're about a year away from having the site up and running.  
 

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  • E.J. Hradek E.J. Hradek

    E.J. Hradek is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine, joining the staff prior to its launch in 1998. He began covering hockey as a writer/editor for Hockey Illustrated in 1989. The following year, he beat the Stars to Dallas (by three years), taking over as the editor of Beckett Hockey Monthly. When the Stars finally did arrive in Big D, he hosted a weekly hockey radio show and tried (unsuccessfully) to convert ESPN's Skip Bayless to the greatest game on ice.

    In 1996, Hradek left Dallas, but not the Stars. Relocating back to the New York area, he became a part-time pro scout for the club, seeing more than 100 NHL/AHL games for each of the next two seasons. The scouting gig was a great learning experience, offering a different view of the game.

    Hradek grew up in Tuckahoe, N.Y., about a 40-minute train ride from New York City. Despite the proximity to the Rangers, Hradek embraced the Islanders when the expansion franchise debuted in 1972. Eight years later, he was part of the sellout crowd at the Nassau Coliseum that witnessed the Islanders' first Stanley Cup championship.


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