January 10, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets The Stadium Journey review of the Utica Memorial Auditorium is in, and it is official: Comets fans and The AUD experience are the sixth best in the American Hockey League, and second to none amongst New York State AHL teams.

Stadium Journey, which is a web venture that is built around optimizing the experience of attending live sporting events by traveling to every North American venue, ranked Comets fans and The AUD experience a 3.9 out of a possible 5 stars after attending the Comets game against the Lake Erie Monsters on New Year's Day. The 3.9 stars ranks The AUD ahead of New York State's other AHL teams; the Albany Devils (3.7), Rochester Americans (3.6), Binghamton Senators (3.3), Adirondack Phantoms (3.3), and Syracuse Crunch (2.9), and 6th in the entire American Hockey League behind the Grand Rapid Griffins (4.3), Toronto Marlies (4.1), Iowa Wild (4.0), Abbotsford Heat (4.0), and the Lake Erie Monsters (4.0).

The official review (which can be viewed here: Utica Memorial Auditorium) takes seven factors into account on each of their trips. The categories, and the Comets rankings in each, are: Food and Beverage (5 stars), Atmosphere (5), Neighborhood (2), Fans (4), Access (3), Return on Investment (4), and Extras (4).

Taking a more in-depth look at the numbers, and eliminating the two uncontrollable categories that are unrelated to the in-game experience(Neighborhood and Access), The AUD comes in at an impressive 4.4 stars, which ranks as #1 amongst all AHL teams, slightly ahead of the Heat, Griffins, and Marlies, who all come in at 4.2 stars.

The author goes on to call the hockey experience at The AUD "special", and notes that The AUD is "one of those great old school barns", and "one of those hockey venues not to be missed."

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Comets Fans and AUD Experience Praised