Old Arena Images & Beginnings

[DrFeelgood]

Cow Palace, where the Sharks began before HP Pavilion was completed

Exterior

Interior (circa 1941)

RNC at the Cow Palace in 1956

An old poster for the Cow Palace

 

[Prince Pasta]

Boston Arena (original Home of the Bruins and oldest indoor arena still in use{now known as matthews arena and currently owned and used by Northeastern University} also original home of the celtics)

old exterior

old interior

front gate

interior during a game

current exterior

current interior

Boston Garden, needs no introduction

for Bruins

for Celtics

exterior

the caption says it all

BONUS and unrelated to hockey, but my personal favorite old stadium

Harvard Stadium

 

[Coincidental Minors]

Out west it's the last year for the crushed can. AKA the Moose Jaw Civic Centre. Been around since the 50's.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

Very cool thread, lots of different arena architect styles on here...nowadays they all seem the same.

 

[devilpop]

here a few of Hobey Baker Rink at Princeton
I work for the university, I'll try to get you some different shots, very cool old nostalgic building

 

[CpatainCanuck]

Boston Arena (original Home of the Bruins and oldest indoor arena still in use{now known as matthews arena and currently owned and used by Northeastern University} also original home of the celtics)

old exterior

old interior

front gate

interior during a game

current exterior

current interior

That's an impressive renovation. It shows the original building was solid when you can safely add a balcony level to the stadium. Every seat in the building is within 30 feet of the ice too.

 

[htpwn]

Mutual Street Arena - Toronto's home before MLG:

An interesting side-note on this building is that it stood until 1989. During that span it mostly functioned as a roller skating rink, before it fell into disrepair. There is nothing but a plague recognizing the site today.

Location of the former Arena today:
http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&ll=4...oid=p-wYV4IXB7SWfZ5RduJWfQ&cbp=12,262.75,,0,5

Another Mutual Street Arena shot with some decorations hanging from the ceiling:
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/fo1257/ser1057/f1257_s1057_it0965.jpg

Also check out the first 3 images in this slide show of a 1928 Olympics hockey game, it's outdoors and there is a mountain in the background. I would post the image but it won't let me capture the location from the website.
http://www.life.com/timeline/1981/olympic-hockey#index/2

Per Wikipedia

1928 Men's Olympic Gold Medalists. Former Leafs owner and HHOFers Conn Smythe was the head coach.

 

[htpwn]

More Maple Leaf Gardens pictures. Once again, the links that say gensat4.eloquent-systems.com is a site directly connected to the city of Toronto. It is not a virus or anything of the sort for those concerned about the fact that the link is somewhat sketchy.

Opera set-up at MLG
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/fo1257/ser1057/f1257_s1057_it6889.jpg

Full House to see the Metro Toronto Opera
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/fo1257/ser1057/f1257_s1057_it6932.jpg

Apparently Conn Smythe is a fan of Operas...
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/fo1257/ser1057/f1257_s1057_it7013.jpg

World War II Rally at MLG
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/fo1257/ser1057/f1257_s1057_it7032.jpg
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/fo1257/ser1057/f1257_s1057_it7034.jpg
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/fo1257/ser1057/f1257_s1057_it7035.jpg
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/fo1257/ser1057/f1257_s1057_it7045.jpg

Two Victoria Cross recipients drop the puck pre-game
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/fo1257/ser1057/f1257_s1057_it7084.jpg

Political Rally (Awesome picture)
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/fo1257/ser1057/f1257_s1057_it7098.jpg

Church in MLG (Another cool picture)
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/fo1257/ser1057/f1257_s1057_it7100.jpg

Pool in MLG
https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.co...esource/fo1257/ser1057/f1257_s1057_it7120.jpg

Maple Leaf Gardens as of January 10th 2011, Picture taken by Tomms of UT

 

[James Laverance]

Original Madison Square Garden

Hi found this snippet of msg from
1893.

The first indoor rink to have permanent seating and indoor lighting.
*
As early as 1879, he established an "artificial ice" skating rink in Madison Square Garden, New York, of which the Turf, Field and Farm at the conclusion of its successful season then said:

* *"The skating season at the Hippodrome was brought to a close on Saturday night last by a grand masquerade carnival, which was not only in name, but in fact, a grand affair. Never was such a skating scene presented before as was seen in the Hippodrome last Saturday night. Just imagine a sheet of artificial ice covering a space of 16,000 square feet, with hundreds of merry skaters gliding over its glassy surface, dressed in the fantastic costumes of King Carnival, and as happy as larks in spring time, while the seats from which the thousands used to watch the sports of the arena provided by Barnum are well filled with a merry throng of ladies and gentlemen, who appear to enjoy the antics of the masked skaters on the ice almost as much as they do themselves. Add to this the light of thousands of gas jets, hundreds of colored lights, and the flashes of numerous calcium lights of different colors, and the strains of music from Gilmore's serenade band, and you have a skating scene the equal of which was never seen in this country or any other. And it will be long remembered by all who participated in or witnessed it; and in the years to come, when there are artificial skating rinks all over the country, the young ladies and gentlemen that were present will tell their children how they skated at the carnival at Gilmore's garden on the first large sheet of ice made by mortal man."(1)



(1) Ice and Refrigeration - Volume 4 - Page 367 - Google Books Result
books.google.ca/books?id=AxMAAAAAMAAJ
1893 - ‎Cold storage

 

[Killion]

Reviving....

.... this old thread from elsewhere to go with laverances new posting & thread start on MSG.

 

[crobro]

Situated at the corner of Denman and Georgia Streets in Vancouver, sitting on the shore of Coal Harbour, the Denman Arena was once the largest in the world. Built in 1911 by Frank and Lester Patrick at a cost of $300,000 it was the main venue for their newly formed Pacific Coast Hockey Association. Until the Montreal Forum was built in 1926, it was the largest artificial ice arena in the world seating 10,500.

Constructed of wood and brick, the large brick facing led Vancouverites to refer to it as The Pile. The Patrick brothers simultaneously built the 3,500 seat Patrick Arena in Victoria to help house their three team league which also included New Westminster. They would proceed to raid the established National Hockey Association of much of it’s top talent to stock their teams.

The Pile would host the Vancouver Millionaires Stanley Cup championship in March, 1915, boxing matches featuring Max Baer and “Cinderella Man†James Braddock, movie star Rudolph Valentino as well as bicycle races and tennis matches. The Patricks, being innovators of the game of hockey would introduce many of the games’ great changes. It was the arena that had the first blueline in hockey history, the first goal crease and where forward passing was first tested.

It was mere hours after a full house had attended a boxing match on Aug 20, 1936 that the Denman Arena would be reduced to ashes. The fire may have started in a nearby coal shed, and would cause $600,000 in damage but thankfully no deaths. Today, there are a couple of small markers at the former site of The Pile, now a manicured waterfront park dotted with public art.

http://nitzyshockeyden.blogspot.com/2009/03/denman-arena-vancouver-pile.html

Great video: http://video.canucks.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=0&id=52856

Also of note HeVyweight boxing champ Jack Johnson fought Victor McClaglen to a no decision at denman arena. Victor McClaglen won the Oscar for best actor a few years later starting in the war pic "the informer"

 

[Jack DiBiase]

After reading the "Arena YOU Must Visit Before You Die" topic, I stumbled again in this topic. I absolutely love old arenas so I think this topic deserves more pictures. It's a crying shame how bland and uncharacteristic all the new arenas are.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Maple Leaf Gardens as of January 10th 2011, Picture taken by Tomms of UT

Wow, it's never crossed my mind how interesting that construction project must have been from a logistical perspective. Literally building a building inside another building.

 

[skeena1]

I'm pretty sure there is a .kml file somewhere that when combined with google earth will take you on a tour of the locations of old arenas.

 

[James Laverance]

The Empire City Skating Rink of 1868.

"As the massive indoor rink prepared for its grand opening in November 1868 The New York Times called it “a magnificent structure.â€* The newspaper touted its hyperbolic dimensions.* “It is 350 feet in length, 170 feet wide and 70 feet high, with a ground floor and raised platform for spectators, accommodating an audience of 10,000 persons.â€
http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-lost-1868-empire-skating-rink-3rd.html

 

[tarheelhockey]

Great find!

 

[Killion]

The Empire City Skating Rink of 1868.

Wow, that is a real beauty. I guess they mean you could get 10,000 in there watching a concert, a rally or something because theres no way youd get 10,000 in there to watch an actual hockey game.

 

[James Laverance]

theres no way youd get 10,000 in there to watch an actual hockey game.

As far as I know this rink was built for "Skating Purposes" only and was made of natural ice.
Although it would've been cool to see a Hockey game played there.
Unless someone knows anything else the first indoor Hockey game wasn't until 1875 in Montreal.
Thanks Killion

 

[tarheelhockey]

Wow, that is a real beauty. I guess they mean you could get 10,000 in there watching a concert, a rally or something because theres no way youd get 10,000 in there to watch an actual hockey game.

I'm guessing they meant an "audience" of people skating on the ice and observing from the sidelines.

 

[James Laverance]

I'm guessing they meant an "audience" of people skating on the ice and observing from the sidelines.

You're probably right...
If you look closely enough though you'll see that there's additional spectators in the back on three different levels also another circular section on the second level that could have held spectators.

 

[Killion]

I'm guessing they meant an "audience" of people skating on the ice and observing from the sidelines.

Perhaps, yes.... and be potentially a dangerous place to play a game, full contact with those quonset hut like arching beams shouldering the boards every 6' or so. Pretty easy to get your bell rung huh? Like poor Max Pacioretty getting stapled by Chara a few yrs back. Reminds me of some of the older buildings that were still operational into the 60's with similar internal support structures like the old Barton Street Arena in Hamilton Ontario. Its a wonder someone didnt get killed really, or at minimum left a blithering zucchini. That old barn, also known as the "Forum" was the original home of the short-lived NHL Hamilton Tigers, and for decades thereafter amateur, elite Senior, Major Junior etc, even some NHL Training Camps & so on.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Bear in mind that in the 1860s there were no meaningful fire codes in the United States, so people still thought of "maximum capacity" in terms of "how many people could we cram in here like clowns in a car". The figure of 10,000 was probably not a genuine estimate of how many people would actually attend events at the rink, but rather just an illustration of the structure's impressive size, compared to the much smaller arenas of the day (the article notes that the contemporary Madison Square Garden was only half this size).

Also interesting that the Westminster Dog Show was held there.

 

[greyraven8]

On a much smaller scale here's a couple images of arenas local to me.

When the league hockey of my youth played indoors this was the main arena for us:
City of Thunder Bay Archives 1966-68 - Delaney Arena
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thunderbayarchives/8232448423/in/photolist-dxts6V-dxyUfG-iSKfcw-iSFhEK-iSKdbh

More modern pictures for comparison - Delaney Arena - 2007/08 beer league hockey:

One I play pickup in now:
Fort William Gardens - 1951. Fairly certain it's the oldest arena around right now in the city:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tbaymuseum/16263049668/in/photolist-qY9Rcp-r4GfwT-zPCqfV-rdw95t-sozvoh-A6yorj-r4xgvR-A64vyd-q7FHLo-qM7o55

2015 - Fort William Gardens - before a Thunderwolves game

 

[Killion]

^^^ Love that arena, Fort William, perfect size & era.

 

[District 5]

Love that this thread was bumped. Love seeing those old arenas. Being from Minnesota we have a lot of classic arenas used for High School. Here are a few of my favorites.

Roseau Memorial Arena

Warroad Memorial Arena (Not used by Warroad HS anymore as it was torn down but still an awesome barn in its day)

Example of how ridiculous hockey is in certain areas in MN

Thief River Falls High Schools current arena