It is designed to be a modest league, and so far the fledgling Federal Hockey League is meeting those expectations, with teams drawing a thousand or fewer a game to the lowest rung of minor-league hockey. In the mix: One of our favorite arenas.
We’re talking the lowest level of pro hockey here, with teams paying upwards of $300 a week. The league does feature a team, the New York Aviators, playing at one of our favorite venues, Aviator Arena at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. The facility has hosted several teams in the past three years — the late, great Brooklyn Aces among them — but it’s one of our favorite venues for another reason: the arena is housed in a former aviation hangar (hence all the aviation terms for the teams), and Floyd Bennett Field is a decommissioned air base on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.
The Aviators drew 462 fans a game for their first three matches; let’s hope that number goes up as the team gets the word out.
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