So I got to opening night on Friday and was pretty nervous about what to expect when I got there, given what I have heard about the new seats. I'm in Section 9. We have two seats on the aisle in a row of 3 and I can only speak to our section.

tl;dr version: Not as bad as I was expecting. Leg room was fine, but the width was squeezed.

Long version:

The tunnel that leads directly from the North Station Green Line stop into the Garden is really cool. You're away from the main entrance, so the crowds aren't bad. We walked right in.

As you get to the top of the escalators, the first thing you'll notice is the you're blinded from the electronic advertising boards that also identify the sections. Seriously, Dunkin Donuts, we know you're there.

Somewhere around sections 12-13, there is a sportscasting booth. Scal was there and happily taking pictures with fans.

The food stand outside Section 8 no longer sells giant hot dogs. I'm guessing that my son was the only person who ever bought one.

The seats themselves looked nice and there didn't seem to be any degradation of leg room (in the loge seats). There is no question, though, that the width is tighter. The season ticket rep swore up and down that the seats are exactly the same width as they were previously, but I felt like I was in a middle seat in coach. I'm guessing that they reduced the room between seats.

The season ticket rep also told me that they got a lot of "feedback" from the preseason games and, from her tone of voice, it did not sound like good feedback. For reasons that surpass my understanding, The Powers That Be were surprised that people didn't like paying more for less comfortable seating. She indicated that they will be making changes, but didn't tell me what.

Seriously, they renovated the Garden and the cheap b*stards couldn't put in a water fountain?

Most of the loge seats had cupholders on the seat backs. The temporary seats that come in and out for Bruins games don't, however. The rep told me that the plastic couldn't handle the stress of being moved so frequently. It would have been really nice if our section had had them so the guy in back of me didn't spill his beer all over my shoes.

There's a new tunnel by section 9, which is used for people who have either floor seats or seats in the folding chairs. They all walked out of the tunnel with little plastic cups of gummy bears and M&Ms. I was considering trying to get one of the kids to go get me some, but decided that it might be viewed as a little strange. Probably the right call.

Kemba Walker protested the changes in the Garden by not showing up for the first three quarters, but he made a guest appearance in the fourth to help push them ahead of Toronto.

That's all I remember for now. Curious as to what others think.

Mike