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NHL Arenas- Past and Present

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zetastrike said:
Anyone here have memories of the LA Forum, MET Center, or Checkerdome? They seemed like cool places.
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I grew up going to games at the St. Louis Arena (checkerdome from 77-83) I was lucky that my dad had season tickets from 67 to 85. i started going in 1972 our seats were on the blue line of the end the Blues shot twice in the first row of the third section up (section 214) the last three years we sat in the first row of the upper deck behind the goal the Blues shot twice on

The place was old, dirty and loud it was a great place to see a game it was built to host dairy shows and then converted for hockey in the 30s

I worked for the Blues from 89-94 and I got to really see the hidden parts of the building There were floors between the floors in the offices you would have to take the elevator to the floor above and take steps down. decades of this brown sludge would ooze out of the bricks under the seats. We used to store souvenir stands under the south end of the stands and we spots marked on the floor where you could not put things because of the drips. Some of the support beams had several inches of dust covering them

arena01.jpg
 
Fenway said:
Would you trust that fire escape?
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Dont think so... the backsides of a lot of these older buildings pretty bleak. If you look at the front in some cases as well, absolutely Brutalist Architecture. The old War Memorial in Buffalo, looked like the entrance to a Crematorium or Municipal Electrical Building. So many were built when money was seriously tight, couldnt afford any real softening to the facades.
 
I've only been to 3 stadiums in my life. I hope to improve on that. I've been to Chicago Stadium, the United Center and the Air Canada Center (last year). I was only in my early teens when I went to the Chicago stadium but it was amazing. It's a big part of why I became a hockey fan when hardly any of my friends where (Wirtz didn't allow home games on tv). My uncle took me to a bunch of games including a few playoff games. I was at the last game the Hawks ever won in at the old barn. Game 4 against the Leafs in 94. Roenick won it in OT and the place was as loud as anywhere I've ever been. It was the last goal the Hawks ever scored at the Stadium as they lost game 5 and were shutout in game 6, made me a hockey fan for life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3ccHXEDCBc
 
Killion said:
Dont think so... the backsides of a lot of these older buildings pretty bleak. If you look at the front in some cases as well, absolutely Brutalist Architecture. The old War Memorial in Buffalo, looked like the entrance to a Crematorium or Municipal Electrical Building. So many were built when money was seriously tight, couldnt afford any real softening to the facades.
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The facade on Causeway Street had nice painted over windows but no fire escape like the other 3 sides of the building. I was there the night the lights went out in 1988 in the SCF Final against Edmonton and believe me the arena went totally dark for about 20-30 seconds. The evacuation did not go well.
 
fish7 said:
I grew up going to games at the St. Louis Arena (checkerdome from 77-83) I was lucky that my dad had season tickets from 67 to 85. i started going in 1972 our seats were on the blue line of the end the Blues shot twice in the first row of the third section up (section 214) the last three years we sat in the first row of the upper deck behind the goal the Blues shot twice on

The place was old, dirty and loud it was a great place to see a game it was built to host dairy shows and then converted for hockey in the 30s

I worked for the Blues from 89-94 and I got to really see the hidden parts of the building There were floors between the floors in the offices you would have to take the elevator to the floor above and take steps down. decades of this brown sludge would ooze out of the bricks under the seats. We used to store souvenir stands under the south end of the stands and we spots marked on the floor where you could not put things because of the drips. Some of the support beams had several inches of dust covering them

arena01.jpg
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Thats awesome, great stories, thanks for sharing.... Id often wondered about that building & its rather Raggamuffin reputation and how for decades really its maintenance neglected. Fascinating really, how there were like sub-floors in it. Catwalks & hidden rooms & so on. Rather like the Winchester Mansion or something. Very spooky.

Fenway said:
The facade on Causeway Street had nice painted over windows but no fire escape like the other 3 sides of the building. I was there the night the lights went out in 1988 in the SCF Final against Edmonton and believe me the arena went totally dark for about 20-30 seconds. The evacuation did not go well.
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Oh ya..... quite a few. lots in fact.... funny stories about the old Boston Garden.... Seems back in the 40's after a Circus performed they packed up & left but forgot about some Monkeys' who had escaped up into the rafters of the building, coming down at night to feast on whatever was available, popcorn, peanuts & so on. They called in the Animal Rescue Brigade combined with the BG "Bull Gang" & captured all but 2 of them who apparently lived there for a year or so evading capture before vanishing, probably heading out into the city through an open door or window. Now, this wasnt publicized or widely known, mightve scared patrons off and one night sportswriter Jerry Nason was sitting in the Press Box area, well lubricated as was the wont of sportswriters at that time and looked up to see a Monkey perched on a beam staring at him inquisitively. Not sure if he swore off the drink, but, like... what the?!... we in Oz or what? :huh:
 
normal.jpg


The Queen watching hockey in Winnipeg.

Looks like the Winnipeg Arena had a smaller Day Industry scoreboard as it is the same design as Boston Garden but only 2 lines of penalty clocks instead of 5.
 
Some images of Winnipeg Arena.

Opening (back of photo stamp dated Dec. 31, 1954):
http://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A1243083

Winnipeg Arena Expansion Continues (8/07/79):
http://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A1243060

Gilbert Birch puts the finishing touches on the portrait of the Queen for the Wpg. Arena (back of photo stamp dated Dec. 10, 1979)
http://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A3422

From professional hockey in Winnipeg album at the U of M site here:
http://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3Aprohockey?f[0]=collection_title_ms%3A%22Professional%5C%20Hockey%5C%20in%5C%20Winnipeg%22
 
fish7 said:
I grew up going to games at the St. Louis Arena (checkerdome from 77-83) I was lucky that my dad had season tickets from 67 to 85. i started going in 1972 our seats were on the blue line of the end the Blues shot twice in the first row of the third section up (section 214) the last three years we sat in the first row of the upper deck behind the goal the Blues shot twice on

The place was old, dirty and loud it was a great place to see a game it was built to host dairy shows and then converted for hockey in the 30s

I worked for the Blues from 89-94 and I got to really see the hidden parts of the building There were floors between the floors in the offices you would have to take the elevator to the floor above and take steps down. decades of this brown sludge would ooze out of the bricks under the seats. We used to store souvenir stands under the south end of the stands and we spots marked on the floor where you could not put things because of the drips. Some of the support beams had several inches of dust covering them
Click to expand...

Yes. At times the St Louis Arena was a dump. It was also considered at the time during the Salomon era it was one of the nicest arenas in the NHL (see attached). The Salomon's took pride in that building and sunk millions of dollars in it to make it a fabulous place.

Of course the age of the building didn't help but it started to go back down hill after Ralston took over the team.

CClZWgWXIAAz_IA.jpg:large
 
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