New Jersey Titans (North American Hockey League) @ Middletown Sports Complex (Middletown, NJ)

The first "live" hockey post on this blog!

*This trip occurred on September 13, 2025, which, if I'm being honest, is surprisingly early in the hockey calendar - especially as this seems to be a regular season game (the NHL preseason hasn't even started yet!).

Before I continue on, I feel like I should explain what exactly “junior hockey” is, as this game falls under that rather large umbrella.

Officially (and by that I mean “according to Wikipedia”), junior hockey is a level of amateur hockey for 16-20 year old players. It is generally considered one of the more exciting forms of non-professional hockey to watch, as many of the players are trying to prove that they deserve to be in the NHL someday. Part of that is an unusual “problem” unique to minor league hockey, but I’ll get into that if/when I get to a non-junior (or collegiate) game (there are a few on my radar for the coming weeks/months).

The NAHL is officially the “Tier II” junior hockey league in the United States; unfortunately (for us on the coasts), if you’re looking to watch Tier I hockey, the United States Hockey League has no teams nearby (unless you’re willing to drive to Youngstown, OH). I don’t know where the league ranks vis-a-vis Canada’s junior system, though it’s largely viewed as well below the CHL (the highest level of junior hockey in North America), and there are VERY FEW players who were drafted straight out of the NAHL. Rather, a lot of the players end up in the NCAA ranks (case in point: one of the players on the each team's roster for this game was already committed to a D-I NCAA program).

Originally, I THOUGHT the New Jersey Titans were named after a defunct ECHL team called the Trenton Titans, who existed from 1999 until 2013 (the ECHL being one of the NHL's "minor leagues" - I'll explain more at a later time)¹. However, in doing research for this post (aka reading Wikipedia), I found out that may not be the case!

As it turns out, a "New Jersey Titans" youth hockey organization was founded alongside the ECHL team in Trenton. I won't get too deep into the youth program, but what is important regarding THIS team is that, in essence, they were founded in 2012. They played in a different junior league (and apparently a different tier) for a while, then in 2015, ownership bought the rights to a NAHL team from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and "moved" them to Middletown, NJ², where they play at the Middletown Sports Complex (or is it the Middletown Ice World?) just off of Route 35 (the main commercial highway through Middletown). I don't really know much else about the team, but they did win a league title in 2022.

The Middletown Sports Complex is not just for hockey and other forms of ice skating - there’s also an outdoor swimming pool. I’m nearly certain I’ve actually been here before (specifically the pool) for someone’s birthday party (my parents have a friend who lives in Middletown), but I don’t actually know (it’s been a while). Of course, I'm not here to talk about the outdoor swimming pool (especially as it's closed during the winter) - I want to talk about the hockey arena (and game).

For starters: It's a community rink (i.e. a place where kids learn to ice skate and play hockey), so it's kinda small-ish (compared to even NCAA hockey arenas). Essentially, it's a lobby where you buy/scan tickets, and then the arena itself³. This particular arena features tiered seating along one of the long sides of the rink (which a lot of these smaller buildings do), but unlike other community rinks that I've been to in the past, this one features a "half seating bowl", where the seats wrap around one corner and behind the "far" goal (as you enter behind the other goal). This "near" goal does not have seats behind it, but it does feature areas where fans can stand right next to the rink (plus a few small wooden bleachers).

Tickets to games cost ten dollars, but here's the kicker: it's general admission throughout the entire building. That means that for a "measly" ten dollars, you can watch an entire hockey game from the front row if you so choose - something that typically costs WAY more at the pro levels (plus most D-I college hockey arenas). In addition, the benches and penalty boxes are both on the side of the rink with no seats and no entrances; this contrasts with most hockey arenas that have the benches on one side and the penalty boxes on the other (or the college setup of one bench + penalty box on either sideline). Thus, front row seats along the entire seating area go down to ice level (and are actually slightly above it) - including in the neutral zone (which doesn't typically happen). Therefore, you can get a much closer view of center ice than at any NHL/AHL/ECHL game. I honestly don't know if this is the best idea, however, as I find that it's harder to keep track of certain parts of the action from this close up (this "problem" holds even truer for the end seating, where half the game is 200 feet away from you). Despite my relative hesitations about this, I cannot argue with the fact that I think this is a REALLY good value for the truest of true hockey fans out there.

One thing to keep in mind if going to sit in front: hockey games are noisy. It's one thing to see guys get throttled into the boards on television or from the upper decks; it's another thing entirely to have it happen RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. If you're behind the goal, you also get to watch pucks come straight towards your face at 80+ miles an hour; thankfully, there's glass to prevent anything from happening to you, and if it's rather hard to see through, that means that the glass has been doing its job well (though it also mitigates the "fun" of front row seats). In addition, this building features a real goal horn - though I found it was somehow louder in the upper areas of the rink (that may be due to its position somewhere within the ceiling).

If the noise (or the cold) in the arena is too much for you, there's an upper level bar area which is accessible from the lobby; in fact, this is probably where you're most likely to enter the seating areas if you arrive while the visiting team is waiting to get onto the ice. Parts of this area have windows into the arena as well, so you can still follow the game from here (though do be forewarned that the goal horn is still pretty loud here).

For about 3/4 of this game, it looked like the Titans were doomed to getting "goalie'd" - they outshot their opponents by a whopping 30 shots, but trailed 4-0 at one point. However, they scored all the goals after said point - but came up one goal short of completing the comeback (so they did, in fact, get goalie'd). However, the ten dollar ticket price plus ability to watch the game how you see fit , and I'm honestly strongly contemplating a return trip soon (though there's also another reason for that...).

(One final note that most of you probably don't care about: one of the referees was named Benedetto. I hope he remembered to pay his dues to the Homestarmy...)

MERCH

You might be surprised to learn that the Titans sell merchandise. There's a stand in the lobby that had a few items, but nothing that I was super interested in (read: no jerseys, and nothing that had a sewn on Titans logo - not even the hats). Next to this merch stand is a concession stand, and while the menu was surprisingly extensive, I ended up not getting anything.

There was also a "pro shop" which sells hockey equipment, but it wasn't technically open for the game. I did see mannequins wearing Titans jerseys in here, however, so I wonder if it is, in fact, possible to buy a jersey (though no Titans clothing was available at this pro shop).

On a somewhat unrelated note, if you ever find yourself on Route 35 in Middletown, NJ, consider checking out Panko Pizza (about a mile from the Sports Complex). It's run by the same folks who opened Artichoke Basille's in NYC, has some INSANELY good deals on large pies, and features their take on a rather unusual "local" pizza: mustard pie (which, IMO, is very much worth trying).