Behold: Verizon Wireless Arena

Welcome to Verizon Wireless Arena, the home of the Kings’ AHL affiliate, and on the night of July 18, Bruno Mars.

The site of Manchester Monarchs games since the club’s inaugural season of 2001-02, the arena in central Manchester seats 9,852, and like Staples Center, rows of luxury suites divide the upper and lower bowls.

Upon entrance to the facility, a banner reminds fans of the prominent players that have previously worn the purple, gold and white.

As for the banners that hang above the ice, there are only two – the 2005 and 2007 Atlantic Division Championship banners. With an AHL-best 67 points through the team’s first 49 games and a 10 point lead on second place St. John’s, the Monarchs will be looking to add to their fabric haul. There’s also a banner commemorating the former Monarchs that played on Los Angeles’ 2012 Stanley Cup team: Jonathan Bernier, Dustin Brown, Kyle Clifford, Davis Drewiske, Dwight King, Trevor Lewis, Andrei Loktionov, Alec Martinez, Jordan Nolan, Scott Parse, Jonathan Quick, Brad Richardson, Slava Voynov and Kevin Westgarth.

As noted it’s Pink in the Rink night tonight. If you’re staying in and blogging on this Saturday evening, tune in to Ken Cail and Chris Ryan’s broadcast on WGIR AM 610. I’ll have a link in the upcoming game thread.