I used to go to watch some Seton Hall hoops at the Pru. I had great times there, quick PATH ride from Manhattan and walk through that entire concourse that lets you be within a block of the Pru. SHU just tarped off the upper deck, but both bars are open and fully staffed.
I don't know anything about what the NHL experience is like there.
Well aside from the team being horrendous for 5 straight seasons, they did some of the following:
1) Changed the goal song. Was traditional, made some people mad. Whatever, times change I guess. It was the HEY, YOU SUCK! song.
2) To combat the changing of the goal song, a vuvuzela player would play it to the tune of the previous goal song and everyone would say HEY, YOU SUCK! It was cool, he was removed (or his vuvuzela taken away).
3) Got rid of the Devils dancers. Hockey is mostly average guys, and I can see why they would like these dancers. Not in the budget or something, removed. Not a big deal I suppose, most men in the arena probably aren't single anyway.
4) Changed the food. The food still isn't great, and is just now even more expensive.
5) Constantly devalue season tickets with promotions. I guess you have to do these when the team is so bad, but it's been a problem for awhile.
6) Added "membership" which meant depositing $2500 and spending it on games as you wished. Got you the perks of a STH without being one. Sounds good, but if I wanted to drop serious cash I would probably just be a STH. I think you had to do it all at once too. Should just focus on more flexible partial plans.
7) As noted, the commute in and out of the arena is bad. If you know your way around, you can make it a little better though. But your average person or new fan would probably complain about the traffic.
8) Ruined the fire/ice premium lounge experience. I never sat there, but know people who had and it was a good experience. It's been changed and it's not good I've been told.
9) Cheap giveaways. Always need to be "first 9000 fans" or something. I feel like this was not usually the case, and it's just cheap.
10) Same music for YEARS. I hear lots of complaints about this.
The arena itself is still nice and the price of tickets is probably the cheapest in the North East for the sport. If the team was still good, maybe the above problems just get overlooked?