Old Arena Images & Beginnings

[James Laverance]

Cold Storage Building Ice Skating Rink at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair

"It was known as the “Greatest Refrigerator on Earth,” and was estimated to be 130 by 255 feet. The lower level provided cold storage for the thousands of pounds of food served every day at the fair; while the upper story featured an ice skating rink for fair patrons."

 

[James Laverance]

Engraving showing the skating rink that was created beside the winter quarters of HMS 'Discovery' during the British Arctic Expedition of 1875-1876. In the summer of 1875 the British Admiralty sent Captain George Nares with two ships, HMS 'Alert' and HMS 'Discovery', to make an attempt to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound.

 

[DTalbot]

Maple Leaf Gardens

By process of elimination this photo was taken during the 1963-64 as January 24 was on a Friday in 1964, Don Simmons was a goalie with the Leafs for that season (and 24 isn't a common goalie jersey number). Jacques Plante didn't wear a mask until 1959 as the first one to regularly use a mask during games. The next Friday January 24 was in 1969 was used by Mike Byers who was a right winger.

 

[DTalbot]

The Seattle Ice Arena home of the Seattle Metropolitan's Hockey Club built in 1915.
View attachment 244401 View attachment 244403

Could the photos be from the Winter Garden at Exposition Hall in Pittsburgh...It was used for hockey from 1916 to 1920

 

[tarheelhockey]

Could the photos be from the Winter Garden at Exposition Hall in Pittsburgh...It was used for hockey from 1916 to 1920

A few posts later, @senior edler identified it as the Winter Garden arena in San Francisco. Note the early April 1917 date barely visible... the Stanley Cup Finals wrapped up in Seattle in the last week of March, and the two teams took the train south to California for an exhibition tour. The barnstorming tour was an annual tradition, coinciding with an arena-building boom and the emergence of minor-league pros in LA and SF. If not for the Depression, who knows what could have happened there.

The second photo is definitely Seattle. Here's a slightly higher resolution version:

The cupola behind the arena is the Plymouth Congregational Church (they are still in that location in a modern building) and the two spires in the distance are St James Cathedral. Incidentally, the church next-door was damaged by an earthquake and demolished, and the dome of St James collapsed under the weight of snow. The arena was eventually decomissioned, converted to a parking garage, and finally demolished to make way for the landmark IBM building which is like a minature World Trade Center tower.

 

[DJ Man]

Sorry ... blank post entered.

I was trying to respond to ChrisK97's

By process of elimination this photo was taken during the 1963-64 as January 24 was on a Friday in 1964, Don Simmons was a goalie with the Leafs for that season (and 24 isn't a common goalie jersey number). Jacques Plante didn't wear a mask until 1959 as the first one to regularly use a mask during games. The next Friday January 24 was in 1969 was used by Mike Byers who was a right winger.
​

For which, see immediately following.

 

[DJ Man]

Even more revealing is that the scoreboard seems to show "T" at "0" (zero) and "B" with "11" just above it. Not a common hockey score.
I remember reading about that game, and so just googled "boston beats toronto 11-0", and found
Boston 11 Toronto 0: Jan 18,1964
Yes, it was Don Simmons who absorbed the shellacking.

in:
Notable NHL Regular Season games
Boston 11 Toronto 0: Jan 18,1964

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In 1962-63 the Toronto Maple Leafs finished in first place and won the Stanley Cup. The Boston Bruins finished in last place. On Saturday, January 18,1964, the Leafs were in a strong third place and the Bruins were still mired in last place.
So when the Bruins came to Toronto for a game against the Leafs there was little doubt who would win. Right?
Wrong!!!!
The Bruins scored a goal in the first minute of play. They would go on to a 6-0 lead in the first period. They added a goal in the second and burst out for another four goals in the third.
The Leafs had seconf-stringer goalie Don Simmons in net but the slaughter was not all his fault, None of the Leafs could do anything right that night.
The last place Bruins got three goals each from Andy Hebenton and Dean Prentice, two goals from Murray Oliver, and singles from Gary Dornhoefer, Leo Boivin, and Jean-Guy Gendron. Prentice added three assists for a six point night and Orland Kurtenbach also got three assists.
Ironically Simmons was not supposed to start the next game on Sunday, January 19 in Chicago against the powerful Black Hawks. But an airplane malfunction grounded the plane that was bringing Al Millar to start the game. Simmons, instead, started the game and shutout the Hawks 2-0 in a complete reversal for the Leafs.
Meanwhile on that same night the Bruins, fresh off that teriffic game, tied the first place Montreal Canadiens 1-1 at Boston.
The game probably led Leafs General Manager and coach Punch Imlach to make a blockbuster trade with the New York Rangers. Andy Bathgate and Don McKenney, two veteran top scorers, joined Toronto in exchange for Bob Nevin, Dick Duff, Bill Collins, Rod Seiling, and Arnie Brown. The Leafs gave up a lot of their future but they did win the Stanley Cup in 1964 - despite being on the wrong end of an 11-0 score during the season.

 

[James Laverance]

The Lexington Avenue Skating Rink New York in 1898.

 

[sr edler]

Whoa, that's nice James. I've only seen this illustration below of this arena before, with the icicles included.

But it does look way more gothic in those photographs with those crazy balconies.

This arena had a maximum length of 265 feet, and a width of 71 feet. The ice surface at the arena, three feet below the promenade gallery, was five inches thick, and was frozen by means of two immense engines, each having a capacity of 40 tons of ice. Surrounding the ice was an amphitheater with a seating capacity for 1,800 spectators, and above the amphitheater was a gallery with additional seating for 2,500 people. The building also housed a café and a restaurant, and also had a cloakroom and six clubrooms, and the members of the Ice Palace Skating Club, the Knickerbocker Skating Club, the Ice Palace Polo Club, and the New York Hockey Club occupied four of these clubrooms.

Below is the forward line of the New York Hockey Club (left to right Billy Russell, Sam Phillips, Benny Phillips and Charles de Casanova) who played at the Lexington arena in their first AAHL season in 1897–98.

 

[James Laverance]

Hockey at the Lexington Avenue Skating Rink in 1895.

The New York Times November, 20 1895

The New York Times
New York, New York
27 Dec 1895, Fri • Page 7

 

[c9777666]

Miami Arena- the Florida Panthers' first home

 

[James Laverance]

Playing Shinny on the New Ulm Skating Rink in St.Joseph, Missouri from 1878.

The St. Joseph Gazette
St. Joseph, Missouri
09 Dec 1876, Sat • Page 4

The St. Joseph Gazette
St. Joseph, Missouri
08 Jan 1878, Tue • Page 4

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Even more revealing is that the scoreboard seems to show "T" at "0" (zero) and "B" with "11" just above it. Not a common hockey score.
I remember reading about that game, and so just googled "boston beats toronto 11-0", and found
Boston 11 Toronto 0: Jan 18,1964
Yes, it was Don Simmons who absorbed the shellacking.

in:
Notable NHL Regular Season games
Boston 11 Toronto 0: Jan 18,1964

Edit
Share
In 1962-63 the Toronto Maple Leafs finished in first place and won the Stanley Cup. The Boston Bruins finished in last place. On Saturday, January 18,1964, the Leafs were in a strong third place and the Bruins were still mired in last place.
So when the Bruins came to Toronto for a game against the Leafs there was little doubt who would win. Right?
Wrong!!!!
The Bruins scored a goal in the first minute of play. They would go on to a 6-0 lead in the first period. They added a goal in the second and burst out for another four goals in the third.
The Leafs had seconf-stringer goalie Don Simmons in net but the slaughter was not all his fault, None of the Leafs could do anything right that night.
The last place Bruins got three goals each from Andy Hebenton and Dean Prentice, two goals from Murray Oliver, and singles from Gary Dornhoefer, Leo Boivin, and Jean-Guy Gendron. Prentice added three assists for a six point night and Orland Kurtenbach also got three assists.
Ironically Simmons was not supposed to start the next game on Sunday, January 19 in Chicago against the powerful Black Hawks. But an airplane malfunction grounded the plane that was bringing Al Millar to start the game. Simmons, instead, started the game and shutout the Hawks 2-0 in a complete reversal for the Leafs.
Meanwhile on that same night the Bruins, fresh off that teriffic game, tied the first place Montreal Canadiens 1-1 at Boston.
The game probably led Leafs General Manager and coach Punch Imlach to make a blockbuster trade with the New York Rangers. Andy Bathgate and Don McKenney, two veteran top scorers, joined Toronto in exchange for Bob Nevin, Dick Duff, Bill Collins, Rod Seiling, and Arnie Brown. The Leafs gave up a lot of their future but they did win the Stanley Cup in 1964 - despite being on the wrong end of an 11-0 score during the season.

As I recall, I just assumed the score was a misprint in the paper the next day.

Even 1-0 Boston was a surprise.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

The Gouin Street Arena in Sault, Ontario which lasted from 1913-65.
View attachment 250883 View attachment 250885

Fun fact: this street is now a driveway for a pizza shop, and the property now has a 17 story apartment building on it. The only reason I know this is because there's a sign on the street. It's also interesting to see the Algoma Steel advertisement on the scoreboard clock, but I assume that's there because the company provided the steel for it.

 

[c9777666]

Quebec Colisee

 

[James Laverance]

Polo on Ice in Brooklyn from 1883. The Boston Globe
Boston, Massachusetts
23 Dec 1883, Sun • Page 6

 

[James Laverance]

The Niagra Falls Ice Palace built in 1899.
The interior was lit by electricity and contained an ice rink and a hockey rink where games and contests were held.

 

[James Laverance]

The Calgary "Victoria" Arena which opened in 1919 and housed the Calgary Tigers of the WCHL from 1921-26.

Calgary Herald
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
07 Jan 1919, Tue • Page 10

 

[James Laverance]

Exterior view of Victoria Arena

Also The Sherman Skating Rink built in 1905.

 

[James Laverance]

The Edmonton Gardens that opened in 1913 housing the Edmonton Eskimos of the WCHL from 1921-26.

Edmonton Journal
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
15 Nov 1913, Sat • Page 29

 

[HisIceness]

Miami Arena- the Florida Panthers' first home

Crazy life that building had. Built in 1988 and the two major tenants (Heat and Panthers) were gone by 1999. Panthers left Dade County and the Heat moved about 3 blocks to the East.

 

[James Laverance]

The Moose Jaw Arena Rink built in 1920 housing the Moose Jaw Sheiks of the WCHL in 1922.

 

[James Laverance]

The Regina Exhibition Stadium built in 1919 that housed the Regina Capitals of the WCHL from 1921-25.

 

[James Laverance]

The Saskatoon Crescents/Sheiks Team that played in WCHL from 1921-26.
Home games were played in the Crescent Arena built in the 1910's.

 

[James Laverance]

The Spokane "Elm Street Arena" built in 1916 and home of the Spokane Canaries of the PCHA from 1916-17.