Pepsi Center (Denver, CO)

The Avalanche home opener was complemented with tons of pre-game entertainment outside the main entrance to the Arena, including live marching bands, radio station booths, and games for attendees to play. I have been to more games at the Pepsi Center than any other arena and can tell you that there is rarely a game without some sort of festivities out front. When you walk in you're in a giant glass atrium with an extensive team store. Plenty of staff members are placed around the arena to direct you to your seat and give you a little shit for being an away fan. One of the things you'll notice is that most of the concourse is naturally lighted and with large windows that give you views of Downtown, Elitch Gardens, and the mountains on a clear day. The concourses are also wide which means there is a good amount of room for you to walk around.

Seats
Literally the back has the least amount of padding you could hope for but it looks like they are upgrading the seats, so it shouldn't be that way for long. Seating is vertical with the person in front of you well below your field of vision. The ticket I purchased was $45 for upper level from the official website. Also if you're looking for a fancier time there is Butler Service in the club level seating (Level 200). From past experience there really isn't a bad seat in the house. No matter where you sit there should be a perfect line of sight to the ice.

Concessions
First there are some sort of concessions outside section so you can easily find food and beer in this building. There didn't appear to be any local edibles but there were plenty of local drinkables, as you would expect from Colorado's beer community. Probably the best part about this is that its the same price as the Bud and Coors.
Here are some prices I noted

• Beer: $7 - $8 (Local, Domestic, Premium)
• Cocktails: $8
• Nachos: $5.25 (Cheese and Jalapeños)
• Hot dog: $5
• Premium items: $11.25 (Italian Sausage, Brisket, Mushroom Melt, Loaded Nachos)
• Cheese Steak: $7.25

And now the Baños. The good news is that there are plenty of them with multiple entrances. They are large enough that the lines form for individual toilets inside the actual bathroom. The bad part of these bathrooms is that there is no beer shelf above the toilet and really no top to the urinal to set your drink. Women's bathrooms had a healthy line that would just peek out the entrance. Also because of the mass of people it's a little hard to get to a sink to wash your hands.

Game Experience

Its impossible to ignore the Pepsi Center's new Jumbotron, when you walk in its in your face ready to immerse you in the action. It's really just massive with a clear sharp picture and very well organized for displaying the score and stats of the game. Complementing the main display are four auxiliary displays showing more in depth stats (player ice times, individual shots on goal, etc.) and scores from other games. The ice is also lit up with multiple Avalanche logos, lights, American flags, and what looks like the tri-force logo from the Zelda games.
The sound seemed a little distant, don't get me wrong it was loud but it seemed like it was coming from far away. Even though it's all in front of you the announcements are clear even above the screaming fans around you. They do utilize several commentators around the arena to do fan appreciation activities and mini-contests, I'm pretty sure I counted 6 besides the main announcer. Also they have an Organ for playing some more traditional style music during stoppages.
In case it matters to you the Avalanche do use ice girls to clear the ice. They're also walking around the arena before and during the game and are more than happy to pose for pictures with anyone that's willing.
Ownership seems to know how to highlight their fans. It seemed that every movie wither started or ended with something about their fan base. Fans were invited to the pre-game to hold large on ice flags. Mini-mites are integrated into the pre-game and between period entertainment. In between periods they have fan contests on the ice as well as a few fan polls to choose a song. There are two floating blimps dropping coupons, gift certificates, and things of that sort, and they also do a lower level parachute drop.
The creative staff responsible for the introduction movies, team promotion videos, and the like are great at what they do. I really can't think of the best way to describe what they do but I can tell you what they do: The first team introduction consisted of a series of black and white clips of players showing up to the arena very tasteful, then they had a fantastic 8-bit video right before puck drop, there was a video where Bernie (the AVs mascot) chased a wild fan only to tackle him into a lake, among many others. I really don't do them justice but the team is good at what they do.
I attempt to get to a game as soon as the doors open, tonight so did half of the people with tickets and of those were in their seats for the pre-game warm-ups. The fans aren't afraid to be loud and cheer on their favorite players; they're also not afraid to boo their least favorite players and the Referees no matter the call against the home team. I do have to say that there seems to be quite a few fans that weren't very hockey savvy as there was a fair amount of booing when the team would go on their dump and chase efforts, go for changes, and wouldn't all out attack the other team on power play. Unfortunately I never got the opportunity to hear the building when the home team scored.
During play I didn't see a single person let up to their seats, now I'm not saying that it doesn't happen but the ushers seem to know that rule.

Other
Light Rail stop right outside the stadium, and $15 Parking for people that Drive with some priority parking for Hybrid Drivers.

Colorado Avalanche 0 - Minnesota Wild 3