Coyotes feel energy provided by Arizona State students at Mullett Arena

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The pineapple, banana and penguin had to remove their mullets for the singing of the national anthems.

It was a different kind of home opener for the Arizona Coyotes on Friday.
They lost 3-2 in overtime
against the Winnipeg Jets in their first game at Mullett Arena, the 5,000-seat brand new building on the campus of Arizona State University that they will share with the Sun Devils' NCAA Division I men's ice hockey team for at least the next three seasons.
It was a loud, fun, fast, disappointing for the fans at the end, but most definitely unique.
"The energy was great," said Coyotes forward Christian Fischer, who scored the first two NHL goals here. "I think it's fun, something that we've missed as players, especially guys that have been here for a while. It's a fun place to play. A lot of noise from the outside about all the details of it, but we're playing a hockey game, it's loud and the fans are cheering for us. That's all we care about. I thought the fans were great. Cool little rink."

The fans were welcomed into the building more than 90 minutes before puck drop and greeted at their seats by a special giveaway -- fake mullets attached to headbands that read "GO COYOTES GO" on the front and "YOU DO YOU" the back.
It was a play on the arena's namesake, which is in honor of prominent ASU donors Don and Barbara Mullett, who were key figures in the start of the program nearly eight years ago.
Fischer joked that he was going to take one of the mullets with him and use it for a Halloween costume.
"You've got to have fun with it," he said. "We're playing hockey and it's just the way things go right now. Not permanent and we're going to use it to our advantage. That's the biggest goal."
The mullets were a hit with the fans.
"Great little touch," said Evan Miles, an ASU senior who was dressed as a pineapple next to friends Jackson Dunn, the banana, and Josh Olenick, the penguin.

Miles, Dunn and Olenick were in the student section behind the net the Coyotes defended twice. The NHL team is making between 200-400 tickets available to ASU students for home games as part of a fan club they're calling Coyotes U.
Miles is from Los Angeles and a Kings fan. Olenick is originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, so he had to be the penguin. Dunn is from Seattle and said he was a Kraken fan, but this was his first NHL game.
He said they have tickets to the game against the New York Rangers on Sunday too.
"I'm new to this whole hockey thing and I like it," Dunn said. "They send out tickets before every homestand, so I'm always checking my email."
About 10 rows in front of them was a group of guys from Boston who were here celebrating their friend's bachelor party. The bachelor, Drew Thibodeau, wore a greenish plaid jumpsuit. The rest of the group had on matching blueish-gray jumpsuits.
"The atmosphere is unreal," Thibodeau said. "It's absolutely electric. I think it's one of the better ideas that the NHL has had because you're going to get a young crowd to come party. We'll lead the way."
The building was mainly filled with Coyotes die-hards, many who were season ticket holders at Gila River Arena in Glendale. They're also realists and understand the Coyotes are in a rebuild, so not every home game will have the exact same vibe as the opener.
"I'm excited for the intimacy of it," said Mitch Thomas, a Tempe resident whose had season tickets in his family since 1998. "I'll be interested to see with the rebuild coinciding how this looks in March when it's us battling for (potential No. 1 draft pick) Conor Bedard at the end, but I do think that since it's closer to the East Valley you'll see more people and more opportunity for a second-hand market to get in, whereas there was no walk-up traffic before. This will be totally different. I mean, the money, the sponsorships, the fanbase, the rinks you play rec and youth at are all over here."

Warmups ended and the public address announcer welcomed the crowd by saying, "Good evening everyone, and welcome to history."
Noted Coyotes alumnus Paul Bissonnette, now of Turner Sports fame, was shown wearing a Coyote head on the diminutive scoreboard in a taped segment.
"Get this place rocking because it's [expletive] showtime," Bissonnette screamed.
The lights went out. Fans in the student section held up their cell phone flashlights and the Coyotes pump-up video played.
The players were introduced one by one because this was, after all, the Coyotes home opener. Justin Roberts, a Scottsdale-based ring announcer for All Elite Wrestling, announced the starting lineups.
Then the mullets had to come off for "O Canada" and "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Shane Doan, the former Coyotes captain and most recognizable player in team history, joined his son, Josh, ASU's captain and a Coyotes prospect as a second-round pick (No. 37) from the 2021 NHL Draft, on the ice for the ceremonial puck drop.

The game started and the student section started a "Let's go Coyotes" chant right away, getting the rest of the crowd into it.
The drum line behind then banged away.
Fischer scored the first goal at 10:17 of the first period, and the goal horn was a howling coyote.
"I always look up at the jumbotron and it looked different, it's smaller, so it kind of took me by surprise when I looked up there," Fischer said. "But cool little memory for me."
He scored again at 15:28 to make it 2-0.
"We get that lead, you could feel the energy, you start feeding off that," Fischer said. "Most teams have that. Almost every team has that. It's pretty fun."
Cole Perfetti got the Jets on the board 26 seconds later at 15:54. Mark Scheifele tied it 2-2 at 8:34 of the third period, and Blake Wheeler scored 32 seconds into overtime to send the 5,000 fans out into the Tempe night with memories, even if the ending wasn't what they were hoping for.
"A new chapter of hockey here in Arizona being in Tempe," Coyotes forward Clayton Keller said. "Hopefully they keep showing up."