A lot of players might not admit it, but some arenas are tough ones to play in. One of those has been the TD Garden. When the Boston Bruins are good, the arena is always packed. Now, is it like the old Boston Garden? No, but that was a special place back in its day. Nobody will deny it.
Bruins fans are passionate, but when it comes to supporting their team, they will show up win or lose, no matter how things are going. They are going to voice their frustration as all fans do, but they will show up, as we saw last year when they spiraled down the Eastern Conference standings after selling at the trade deadline.
This year, the Black and Gold are having a surprising season to date, and in January, they went perfect at home. Fans showed out, but just how much do fans love the TD Garden? It might surprise you more than the Bruins' play this season on the ice.
Bruins fans slam TD Garden in rankings
James Mirtle of The Athletic polled media members and fans and added up the scores to rank all 32 NHL teams’ home rinks. Surprisingly, the TD Garden came in 18th out of the 32 teams. The catch is, the media members had much better things to say and rated the building compared to the fans.
.@TheAthletic ranked all 32 NHL teams’ home rinks using four key categories: location, amenities, atmosphere, and affordability.
— Paul Driscoll (@ThePaulDriscoll) January 29, 2026
Scores were created by using writers' rank and fan rank.
The Bench came in 3rd overall, with fans ranking it 2nd best. pic.twitter.com/lSAsWHHKpz
"TD Garden came in lower than expected here, especially considering our beat writers ranked it the sixth-best place to watch a game,'' wrote Mirtle. "Boston's unbelievably rowdy crowds contribute to that score, for sure, but the fans ranked the atmosphere as merely middle of the pack in their accounting, perhaps due to the Bruins' downturn last season. And TD Garden took a hit in affordability, where it ranked fourth-last. Overall, however, this is typically a very fun place to watch an NHL game. Just be careful about wearing the visiting team's jersey when you do.''
First off, being careful about wearing the visiting team's jersey could be emant for every arena in the league and really any sport. Not just the TD Garden. Second, the atmosphere, especially when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, is off the charts. It is not surprising to see the TD Garden take a hit in affordability, but that is the case in a lot of arenas. Try going to Fenway Park for a Boston Red Sox game in the summer. Yikes.
The TD Garden is a special place for Boston Bruins games. There is nothing like it. If the price were lower, then the ranking would have been higher. Given how good the Bruins fans have had it, it should have been a hire.