If you are looking for a way to get your hockey fix in the metro, this is an awesome way to do it. There is sadly no NHL franchise anywhere to be found in KC. There was talk in the early stages of the Sprint Center's development of attracting an NHL hockey club, but these plans never materialized. Considering the abysmal track record in the area of attracting and then losing minor hockey clubs, I can see why financiers would be hesitant to give it a go. No matter though, as this club is more than satisfactory to fill this void in your life. Also, as of the time of this writing, they have the best record of any club in the ECHL and are VERY aggressive and physical on the ice.
The Mavs are an affiliate team of the New York Islanders of the NHL, by the way. As such, you will see tons of people rocking Islanders jerseys and sweaters, which is a bit of an odd sight in the middle of the Midwest. Though I doubt our friends up in Brooklyn mind the additional support. More on the affiliation with the Isles can be found here:
http://islanders.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=770613
Games are played at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena, which is frankly located right in the middle of consumerism hell near the Independence Center. That said, I was actually surprised at how accessible and fast things went for both entering and exiting, even on my most recent hockey night which was a sell out crowd of nearly 5800. You will also be happy to know you will not be raped nearly as hard for concessions as you are probably expecting. Seating at the arena is much more intimate because of it's size, and you get a fantastic viewpoint of the action on the ice below from almost every vantage point.
Prices here are a fantastic value. They were offering a promotion for ten games for 100 bucks on the night of my visit, and the seats were good too! You seriously can't go wrong with that level of value for professional hockey. If I was still living in KC, I would of jumped on that one. As noted earlier, the team is very scrappy and aggressive, making watching the games even more exciting. Fans here are loud and enthusiastic. Some of them might not know the difference between icing and offsides, but they still blew the roof off the joint when the first Mavs goal hit the back of the net.
We have the AHL club, the Chicago Wolves, not terribly far from where I live, which comes in handy when I do not feel like dropping 2-300 bucks to go to a Blackhawks game. Wolves games are cool, but Mavs games are much more fun by comparison. If you are a hockey fan living in the KC metro and have not checked this out yet, what the hell are you waiting for? Yes, I admit you can get the NHL Center Ice Package from Comcast/Xfinity, but nothing is going to beat the real thing. Just ask anyone who is a chronic masturbator.
If you are just a sports fan living in KC but stick to only Royals and Chiefs, you should still give it a try. My guess is you will enjoy it. I have converted more than my fair share of folks over to the evil empire that is professional ice hockey. You could be my next victim. read more