Anaheim’s Game for Crush of Fans Headed to Hockey, Baseball Events

Two sporting events in Anaheim on Saturday--hockey at Arrowhead Pond and baseball at Edison International Field--could set up a clash between fans trying to get into and out of the city.

Traffic control officers say they expect heavy traffic as some fans leave the NCAA Division I hockey championships at the Pond just as others arrive for the Angels’ exhibition game with the Mexican League’s Aguascalientes Railroadmen.

About 13,500 fans are expected at the afternoon hockey event, officials said, and more than 20,000 at the evening baseball game.

Anaheim Police Sgt. Joe Engelhardt said about 20 traffic officers will be stationed along Orangewood Avenue, State College Boulevard and Douglass and Ball roads. Traffic likely will be heaviest on Katella Avenue between State College and Main Street about 7 p.m., he said. “We’ve been doing this for years,” Engelhardt said of the traffic unit. He predicted that it will take “about 35 minutes to get everyone out and to move everyone in.”

Engelhardt said that traffic accidents occur rarely at sporting events. About one in 20 events results in a minor incident, he said.

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Traffic Mass May Go Critical

Unless you’re fond of the color of brake lights, Anaheim police advise you to avoid the main traffic arteries around the Pond and Edison Field late Saturday afternoon and early evening. The NCAA Division I hockey championships at the Pond will be ending about the time folks are arriving for the Angels’ exhibition game against the Mexican League Aguascalientes Railroadmen. The hockey game is expected to sell out, and the Angels could draw as many as 30,000. The baseball game begins at 7 p.m.