Amid road closures, Portland businesses look forward to the fall of the Mariners’ puck


Drew Finesse, general manager of the Free Street restaurant across from the Cross Insurance Arena, said crews have been preparing for the resumption of hockey for weeks. Ben McCanna / Staff Photographer

Brad Nadeau doesn’t consider himself a huge hockey fan, but he’s definitely a hockey fan.

Nadeau’s restaurant Stars and Stripes Brewing Company opened in Portland last spring. The Brewpub sits at the corner of Cross and Spring streets, within sight of Cross Insurance Arena and a few hundred yards away, where the Maine Mariners will play their first game of the 2022-23 season on Saturday.

Nadow, who operates a brewpub in Freeport, first received a customer boost when the Mariners had a handful of games in the 2021-22 season. Now, if the team makes the ECHL playoffs, it’s hoping those fans will return to the Portland site for the new season, which runs through mid-April and longer.

Like other businesses on or near Free Street, Nadeau said there has been a dip in both foot and car traffic since construction closed a section of the street near Congress Street last spring. However, there is good news on that front. City spokeswoman Jessica Grondin said Friday that access to the freeway could be restored by the end of next week, weather permitting.

But now the work continues and the closure remains. So Nadeau said any event that brings people downtown, especially around Free Street, is a boon.

“We’re waiting for traffic in the city,” he said as crews tackled the Lions of Trois-Rivières. The puck drops at 6 p.m., and the pub stays open until 11 p.m., hoping to entice hockey fans to visit before and after. Nadeau said the menu is catered to the crowd, with beer, wings, pizza and tacos.

At the restaurant on Free Street, across the street of the same name from the arena, staff have been waiting for weeks for hockey to resume, said general manager Drew Finesse.

Finesse said the restaurant opened last December and immediately noticed crowds on game nights.

He said the restaurant has a promotional deal with the sailors. The team got some restaurant gift cards to give out to fans, and Free Street distributed game tickets to its patrons.

And for this season, he said, the restaurant has developed a new game-night menu, tapping items like burgers and corn dogs and 28 beers. The regular, non-game night menu is a little more upscale, Finesse says, but Free Street hopes the less expensive options will attract hockey fans before the pack goes down Saturday.

Caroline McMillan, left, and Becky McCulloch chat with a fan on Spring Street two days before the Maine Mariners hockey season home opener on Thursday. Brianna Soukup / Staff Photographer

Finesse Business was poor this summer because Free Street—the street—was closed at the end of Congress Square and people didn’t realize they had given way to other avenues.

So the restaurant managers and staff decided to put a little extra effort into getting ready for hockey season, he said.

“We’re getting ready and hopefully we can use the season to get out of the summer,” said Finesse.

At nearby Rivalries, a sports bar, general manager Jeff Coburn said he expects an improvement in business as well.

“We usually fill up the restaurant before marquee games,” Coburn said, and he doesn’t expect this season to be any different. “We’re expecting it to be very full.”

Jeff Coburn, general manager of Rivals on Cotton Street, said the start of the hockey season increases business activity. “We usually fill up the restaurant before marquee games,” Coburn said, and he doesn’t expect this season to be any different. “We’re expecting it to be very full.” Ben McCanna / Staff Photographer

Rivalry is just blocks away from the Cross Insurance Arena on Cotton Street. Coburn said most customers don’t travel down to get to the bar, so business hasn’t been affected by the Freeway closure. A pub like Rivarius can usually draw people year-round because there’s usually some sport in high gear to draw game-goers.

Mid-Winter Power Game

But the Mariners bring fans to town even in the winter, he said, so it makes sense that the season is starting soon.

“It could be minus 5 degrees and we’d still have people here,” Coburn said on game nights.

It’s unclear how big Saturday night will be for markers and local businesses. Navy officials say a few hundred seats are expected to sell out for the home opener. The capacity for games is 5,500, according to team officials, and the latest count showed sales of about 4,800 seats, including 1,200 season tickets.

Sales for Sunday’s 3 p.m. game have been slow, but officials said they still hope to draw about 2,000 fans for that contest.

Businesses on Free Street have been disrupted for most of the year. In the spring, realignment of Congress Square began and cars were blocked from turning onto Free Street from Congress and High Streets. Cars can still drive from Congress Street to Free Street via Oak Street, but many business owners say drivers seem to be avoiding the area altogether.

Foot traffic has been light this winter, business owners said, likely due to construction equipment and the closure of the west side street.


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