LightningStorm
Lightning/Mets/Vikings
As most of you know, the NHL and NBA seasons run almost parallel to each other and there's been several shared arenas between the 2 leagues throughout their histories. As I randomly watched a time lapse video of an arena being changed from the hardwood to ice, it brought back memories from when I saw a similar one of the Meadowlands Arena in 2003 when both the Devils and Nets were in the finals. I then wondered how often a single arena has hosted both finals in the same year. What I found was its happened 8 times, yet none of those times have resulted in both teams winning. Here's the list for all of you who are also NBA fans or curious about this in general. The winners are listed in bold.
1. 1957 Boston Garden: Bruins & Celtics
2. 1958 Boston Garden: Bruins & Celtics
3. 1972 Madison Square Garden: Rangers & Knicks
4. 1974 Boston Garden: Bruins & Celtics
5. 1980 Spectrum: Flyers & 76ers
6. 1992 Chicago Stadium: Blackhawks & Bulls
7. 1994 Madison Square Garden: Rangers & Knicks
8. 2003 Meadowlands Arena: Devils & Nets
Not only is the former Boston Garden the arena with the most shared finals, but it also hosted at least one final 13 times in 14 years, with the Celtics making 12/13 finals from 1957-1969 (1967 the exception, and the Bruins made the SCF the first 2 years here), then the Bruins winning it in 1970 on Orr's famous goal. Like 1970, the Bruins final appearances in 1977, 1988 and 2011 also came a year after a Celtics finals appearance.
There's some other notable instances of the arena hosting one final a year after the other, not counting years adjacent to when an arena hosted both (1991 and 1993 Bulls, for example). Following the Flyers making 3 straight finals from 1974-1976, the 76ers made it in 1977. As you can see though they only had to wait 3 years later for the Spectrum to host both. Before the Meadowlands Arena had hosted both in 2003, they had hosted at least one in the 3 preceding series, with the Devils making it in 2000 & 2001 and the Nets in 2002. Cool how the arena hosting both in 2003 was the 4th consecutive year it hosted one, and how each team had previously made it in that span.
As I was typing this OP, I found an article listing the 8 occurrences plus the dates of the games each year. Seeing that the Knicks had a finals game at MSG the day after the Rangers ended their 54 year cup drought must've been hell for the arena crew. I can't imagine having to turn the arena around for an NBA game the next day after all the celebrating that took place in the Garden that night. Heard the Rangers brought the cup to one of the NBA finals games at MSG that year too. I also remember watching the Nets first home finals game in 2003 after the SCF ended and seeing the Devils bring the cup to the game.
Here's the link to the article I mentioned that lists each time this has occurred: List of arenas to host NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals in the same year
Edit: Incorrectly stated the Celtics made the finals 13 straight seasons from 1957-1969, but they didn't in 1967. Also was wrong on the Boston Garden being the only arena where it hosted both in the same year multiple times, as MSG has twice.
1. 1957 Boston Garden: Bruins & Celtics
2. 1958 Boston Garden: Bruins & Celtics
3. 1972 Madison Square Garden: Rangers & Knicks
4. 1974 Boston Garden: Bruins & Celtics
5. 1980 Spectrum: Flyers & 76ers
6. 1992 Chicago Stadium: Blackhawks & Bulls
7. 1994 Madison Square Garden: Rangers & Knicks
8. 2003 Meadowlands Arena: Devils & Nets
Not only is the former Boston Garden the arena with the most shared finals, but it also hosted at least one final 13 times in 14 years, with the Celtics making 12/13 finals from 1957-1969 (1967 the exception, and the Bruins made the SCF the first 2 years here), then the Bruins winning it in 1970 on Orr's famous goal. Like 1970, the Bruins final appearances in 1977, 1988 and 2011 also came a year after a Celtics finals appearance.
There's some other notable instances of the arena hosting one final a year after the other, not counting years adjacent to when an arena hosted both (1991 and 1993 Bulls, for example). Following the Flyers making 3 straight finals from 1974-1976, the 76ers made it in 1977. As you can see though they only had to wait 3 years later for the Spectrum to host both. Before the Meadowlands Arena had hosted both in 2003, they had hosted at least one in the 3 preceding series, with the Devils making it in 2000 & 2001 and the Nets in 2002. Cool how the arena hosting both in 2003 was the 4th consecutive year it hosted one, and how each team had previously made it in that span.
As I was typing this OP, I found an article listing the 8 occurrences plus the dates of the games each year. Seeing that the Knicks had a finals game at MSG the day after the Rangers ended their 54 year cup drought must've been hell for the arena crew. I can't imagine having to turn the arena around for an NBA game the next day after all the celebrating that took place in the Garden that night. Heard the Rangers brought the cup to one of the NBA finals games at MSG that year too. I also remember watching the Nets first home finals game in 2003 after the SCF ended and seeing the Devils bring the cup to the game.
Here's the link to the article I mentioned that lists each time this has occurred: List of arenas to host NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals in the same year
Edit: Incorrectly stated the Celtics made the finals 13 straight seasons from 1957-1969, but they didn't in 1967. Also was wrong on the Boston Garden being the only arena where it hosted both in the same year multiple times, as MSG has twice.
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