The Wells Fargo Center's entire rink lighting was replaced this summer with a "state-of-the-art setup with more than 25,000 LED bulbs," and the result is a "darker backdrop to the glass than the players are used to seeing," according to Frank Seravalli of the PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS. The new LED lights, which replaced an a"ntiquated, traditional lighting system was swapped out," are "so tuned and focused on the playing surface that less lighting is now sprinkled on the crowd." The puck "blends into the crowd." Flyers D Andrew McDonald said that it has been "difficult to track the puck when it is in the air or rimming around the glass." Flyers G Steve Mason: "I've had a lot of trouble tracking the puck in the lighting. I don't know the right term. It's just a weird glow out there. With how bright it is, you think it would be clearer." Seravalli notes the Kings "had the same complaint for their Staples Center home -- where the lighting was also 'upgraded' this summer." Comcast Spectacor VP/PR Ike Richman said that the system used at Staples Center is "not the same as in Philadelphia." The one at Wells Fargo Center "was installed by Iowa-based Musco Lighting." The Wells Fargo Center "has no plans to make an adjustment, even after Mason and MacDonald's complaints" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 11/3).
