April 23, 2004
Wachovia Arena (Capacity: 8,420)
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins vs Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Final Score: 5 – 0
* Wachovia Arena has been renamed Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza
** A revisit was made on October 12, 2024
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When I first began these journeys, it took me a little while to hone in on the best time to make an initial visit to a facility. Playoff games are great, but it skews the atmosphere as I’m curious as to how a fan base is on a more typical occasion. Somehow, 14 years went by before I could finally experience that in Wilkes-Barre as my stops to Northeast PA in 2004 and 2010 were during the Calder Cup Playoffs. Not to say they weren’t memorable as the team won both affairs in front of a raucous crowd. The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins are a natural fit in the AHL, but they weren’t born until 1999. Despite being closer to a rival (Philadelphia) than their affiliate (Pittsburgh), the Baby Pens have been a success. Plenty of future NHL stars have come through town and in terms of on the ice results, the team started incredibly well. They made the Calder Cup Finals 3 times in their first 9 seasons (though with no titles). Since then, WBS cooled off as the team has won only a single playoff series from 2016 – 2024. Wachovia Arena (since renamed) is one of my favorites in the league as this place built in 1999 is great for watching hockey.
Prestige Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Location
Northeast PA is generally a rural and sparsely populated section of the state with the exception being in the Wyoming Valley. Here, you’ll find the cities of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, two often connected places that are 30 minutes apart. The coal mining industry initially fueled the area’s growth and the two counties house nearly half a million people. As for Wilkes-Barre, the small city is home to 44,000 and it sits along the Susquehanna River. That body of water was responsible for one of the worst flooding events in the U.S. when much of the city was destroyed from rain after Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972. Levees built as a result of that storm have protected the area since then. For out-of-town visitors, there’s really nothing of interest. Maybe if you get a warm day during hockey season, check out the Seven Tubs Recreation area and the waterfalls there. The arena is located a few miles east of downtown in a suburban shopping mecca. Leading in and around the facility grounds are shopping malls and strip plazas featuring every big box store and restaurant you can think of.
Location Ranking: 5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
I-81 is the north-south running interstate that serves the region and the arena is right off Exit 168, making for an easy arrival after a few turns. If coming from an east-west direction, I-80 can be used to hook up with 81, though some may opt to use I-476 and the hilly Rt. 115 when coming from New Jersey. Back to the arena, it is surrounded by a huge parking lot which will hold all visitors. It wasn’t completely paved during my first visit, but upon return everything was smoothened. They’ve also made egress better as the initial free-for-all after the game towards Arena Drive wasn’t as chaotic. To avoid a slow-go near the entrance to I-81, I’d suggest taking the back way and go left out of the parking lot to Arena Drive and then right onto Mundy Street. A few more roads will then lead to I-81 further up.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Exterior
The tall building has a horseshoe shape and the rounded front features a large tinted glass façade. It’s a little bit on the plain side with the amount of light-colored concrete visible, though the look is quite clean. The name of the arena is on the wall at the top.
Exterior Ranking: 6.5 out of 10
Concourse
Immediately after passing the doors from the outside, you are in the concourse and it becomes apparent this is a tight space. With so much open land around the arena, I just don’t understand why the concourses couldn’t be wider, let alone have an opening atrium. It is difficult to maneuver before the game or during intermission and food lines are in the way of people walking. There are a couple of bars made in place of where a concession stand used to be. The closed-off walkways behind the seating bowl feature some piping above and off-white walls with plenty of advertisements. Despite the shape, you can circle the entire arena as the open specialty seating end features a cut through aisle to the other side.
Concourse Ranking: 2 out of 5
Food
Mohegan Arena has a fair share of standard arena food with a few portable carts and specialty items. All of the stuff you’d expect at a sporting event is here with locally owned Revello’s serving the Pizza and Chickie’s & Pete’s doing the chicken/fries/cheesesteaks. In terms of true standouts, I’d say there’s only one and that is the Smokeshack at Section 110, where custom BBQ sandwiches are the best bet in the building. Avoid the “Roast Beast” sandwich, it was a hot mess that fell apart and the combo didn’t taste great. Alcohol comes in many varieties and Northeast PA’s Wallenpaupack Brewing Company has multiple offerings with 8 beers on tap.
Food Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Interior
I love the interior of the arena as it features terrific sightlines and gives off a rustic, yet modern barn vibe. The set up is a horseshoe pattern with two tiers. The lower bowl is in a traditional design with blue seats except for sections near center ice that get a cushy charcoal chair as part of club seating. Bleh, I hate when regular 100-level seats become “premium” and aren’t accessible for regular ticketing. Seat width and row depth is excellent as both provide comfortable, great sightlines. The second level of seats is a lot higher and you get the feel that you are more on top of the action here. The vantage point is excellent because the suite and press level is at the top of the arena, so this upper deck is the perfect combo of height and proximity to the ice. One change since my earlier visits is how the seating is arranged at the horseshoe end of the arena. This has been transformed into a 1st level Lounge and 2nd level Loge Boxes. The upper end of this portion of the arena never looked right and even though these specialty areas still have a hastily put together feel, it is a better alternative. None of the concrete walls in Mohegan Arena are painted or sealed, which gives it that older look eliciting mixed feelings from me. Note that there are a couple of minor flaws with the seating bowl. First, in the upper deck, the last few sections on each side face straight-ahead, making for an awkward angle as seats aren’t tilted towards the rink. Secondly, also in the upper-deck, railings get in the way of the ice view for the lower aisle seats. Despite these issues, I still really like the arena.
Interior Ranking: 11 out of 14
Scoreboard
The center ice scoreboard has a circular set-up at the top and bottom, while the majority of the focal point are the four video screens. The displays are a little fuzzy as clarity isn’t great by today’s standards. Replay frequency was good and helpful when needed. The very bottom of the screen is used for game information and I also found that repeated info in a useful spot on a dot-matrix board at the end wall.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
Tucked away in a corner of the arena are plaques for the 7 members of the Team Hall of Fame. They’re nice displays, just easy to miss. Banners for conference and division titles are found in the rafters and the low ceiling means that some beams get in the way of fully reading each one. Notably prominent are the “Arena Yes” displays. I had to do some research and these are in recognition of the arduous, dedicated efforts to finally get a large indoor venue built in NE PA.
Displays Ranking: 2.5 out of 6
Cost
Like everything else, ticket prices have gone up a lot in the AHL. Here in Wilkes-Barre, prices are comparatively lower when looking at the averages of nearby rivals (Lehigh Valley, Allentown, Syracuse). A ticket runs between $24 and $36 and there’s some minor increases whether for fees or day of game. Really nice is that there is no parking charge for hockey games at the arena and even though they say “it’s included” in the ticket cost, those prices being comparable or cheaper to other places makes it seem like parking is free. As for concessions, it’s $11 for a burger with chips, $5.50 for a Hot Dog and a whopping $12.50 for a 16oz beer.
Cost Ranking: 7 out of 8
Fan Support
Many non-established teams follow a similar trend: fan support starts amazing as the team is the new kid on the block, then the honeymoon phase slowly wears off. The first decade here in Wilkes-Barre saw sellout streaks and packed houses for hockey both in the regular season and playoffs. Team support may still be good with many fans of the team, but attendance has dropped below average for the AHL as WBS reaches it’s 25th anniversary. Last season, the team was 23rd out of 30 in terms of attendance and it wasn’t a great start when I attended the 2024 home opener. The building wasn’t even close to half full (note Penn State football was playing at the same time). Nowadays, team support I’d say is below average for the AHL. I wonder if them being so closely tied to the Penguins hurts them a little since there probably are Flyer fans in the area (though from what I gather, many became Pittsburgh fans because of the Baby Pens). As an outsider, it’s frustrating that there is no regional identity and things like the mascot, drum tradition and even horn are taken from the parent team. Playoff attendance the last couple years has been near the bottom of the standings with averages between 3,000 and 4,000.
Fan Support Ranking: 4 out of 8
Atmosphere
Goals elicit a pretty good roar and as the game goes on, the “Let’s Go Pens” chant gets a little bit louder. There’s not much in natural noise though and successful penalty kills only bring a soft clap from sporadic individuals. I did enjoy the antics of a few diehards that absolutely hated Mike Benning from the Charlotte Checkers as they roasted him with loud yells often. The building’s acoustics really helps with noise as I’ve seen what it was like with a full house in the playoffs (’04) and it can be tremendous.
Atmosphere Ranking: 9 out of 14
Other Stuff
Ever wonder how exactly to pronounce Wilkes-Barre? It is “Will-ks“, “Bear-ee”…..The official name of the facility is Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza. Casey is for former Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey, who was instrumental in helping the region get an arena. The facility’s first name was the “Northeastern Pennsylvania Civic Arena and Convention Center”. Corporate names are never ideal, but I like the current version better…..Three zambonis! Well, one of them is just carting around fans, but wow that’s a lot!
Game (Initial Visit)
The game was a blowout. It was Game 6 of the Eastern Division Semifinals and the Pens were facing elimination. They dominated as Andy Chiodo had 24 saves in a shutout performance, while the offense was led by Matt Hussey with two goals. Their 5-0 victory forced a Game 7.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
