Kansas City Mavericks owner Lamar Hunt Jr. is accustomed to seeing parking lots awash in red. Saturday marked a new experience for him, as he saw the lots around Cable Dahmer Arena dotted with the blue, red, white, green, and black sweaters of various National Hockey League franchises.
A NHL preseason game has become a regular fall occurrence in Kansas City in recent years. But Saturday’s contest between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks was the first NHL game held in Independence, home of the East Coast Hockey League’s Mavericks.
Local hockey fans sold out the 5,800-seat arena, creating a raucous atmosphere for the 5-1 Chicago victory. The two teams treated fans to a penalty shootout after the conclusion of the third period, which Chicago won 2-1 in five rounds. The lone Blues goal came courtesy of David Perron.
It was everything Hunt envisioned when the game was first announced.
“First, it’s about friendship. We’ve had a relationship with the Blues for several years, and we just capitalized on that relationship. For them to be willing to come out here and do this for us and this community, they know it’s a great sports market, a great community,” Hunt said. “And obviously the Blues are going to have great support in this market as the Chiefs do in the St. Louis market.”
The crowd was split about 80-20 in favor of St. Louis. St. Louis center and captain Ryan O’Reilly said both clubs felt the juice from the sellout crowd.
“It was nice to be back in a packed barn. There was a lot of energy, big hits, and big plays. It was nice to have that back. It’s been a long time since we kind of felt that atmosphere,” O’Reilly said. “You can tell it’s a hockey town, and all the jerseys, whether it was ours or Chicago’s. We’re quite a ways away, and to have fans here, see their excitement. It shows how far our game stretches.”
St. Louis needed just 50 seconds to draw first blood, taking a 1-0 lead on Torey Krug’s goal. It was assisted by Tyler Bozak. The rest of the game belonged to Chicago, which got five goals from five different players.
The Blues started Ville Husso at goaltender. Husso spent the 2016-17 season with the Mavericks, going 4-4 in 13 appearances. He allowed four goals on Saturday and was replaced in the third period by Joel Hofer.
In order for the game to occur, improvements to the playing surface needed to be made prior to the Mavericks starting their 13th season.
“To host the NHL game we had to upgrade to the acrylic glass, and there were a few tweaks to the dasher boards that are NHL specs,” Hunt said. “We’re so grateful the City of Independence has stepped forward and got that done for us. It’s a great upgrade that was needed after 12 seasons, and it allowed us to do this.”
T-Mobile Center downtown is still without an anchor tenant, as it has been since opening in 2007. The odds of an NHL team calling Kansas City home seem long at best, and Hunt indicated that he sees Independence as the epicenter of local hockey.
“Right now, this is the here and present of professional hockey. … And really, this is about growing hockey, getting people out here who haven’t been out here and going, ‘Wow, I didn’t even know this was in Kansas City,’” Hunt said. “That’s the experience a lot of people have when they first walk in here. In fact, I haven’t been out here in a little bit, and I was like, ‘Wow, this looks great.’”
Hunt is also hopeful that Saturday wasn’t the last NHL game Independence will host.
“This is just the start, but if we could do something regular with the NHL as a preseason showcase every year, yeah, we’d love to do that,” Hunt said. “It makes sense to have the Blues come in here every year and do something in preseason. They’ve got a great fan base.”