Top 5 most intimidating building in NHL history?

Chevyconvertible

Registered User
Feb 4, 2011
66
0
Warren, Michigan
I can remember watching a playoff game on Hockey Night in Canada between the Leafs and Bruins from the old Boston Gardens in the early 1970's.

The announcer (Bill Hewitt) had to literally sit in an isle way because the place was packed (they showed some shots of him during timeouts and before the start of the periods.

The game got going, and Pat Quinn was playing for the Leafs and he did something dirty to Bobby Orr. Orr dropped his gloves and was ready to go, but Quinn balked at actually fighting Orr. Over a live open Mic, this leather lunged Boston Fan shouts out at the top of his lungs "What's the matter, Quinn? Ya Chicken$***?!!!???

My dad and I looked at each other in shock and then began to really laugh hard. In those days, profanity was unheard of on Television. I think the next year, the Garden had a better broadcast location. Honest to Goodness, that's a true story!
 

Chevyconvertible

Registered User
Feb 4, 2011
66
0
Warren, Michigan
I would have to say my favorites were the

1 (this kills me as a Wings fan to admit this) Chicago Stadium (The Madhouse on Madison) for various reasons, and for me, (I know it's nuts, but I'm a professional musician) the organ, what a magnificent instrument that it was, too bad it was built into the old stadium in such a way that it could not be saved! Wayne Messmer singing the National Anthem getting the Hawks fans ready for a real "Pow wow"! I regret that I was never able to attend a game at that marvelous stadium.

2. The Red Barn (Olympia) on Grand River and McGraw in Detroit. No other original six American Stadium saw as many of Lord Stanley's cups presented (site of 7 Stanley Cups) to the home town boys as in Detroit. I attended my first game there on my 5th birthday in 1956.

I miss it to this day! I have a wonderful watercolor given to me at an art show a few years ago, the marquee reads "HOCKEY TONIGHT: Toronto vs Detroit 7:30

3. Maple Leaf Gardens. I saw so many games on Hockey Night in Canada from the Gardens. I always wanted to go to a game there.

4. Boston Gardens. See my previous post about the Boston-Toronto playoff game, although I did see Bobby Orr's first NHL game on TV against the Wings.

5. Spectrum in Philly. The Broad Street Bullies were something else back in the 70's. Especially when they literally ran the Russians off the ice.
 

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This one is easy:

1. Philadelphia Spectrum - Loud, nasty and filled with a bunch of mean-spirited players and fans who are out for blood and always seem to be in a foul mood. I've seen fans bloodied numerous times and I've seen Flyers teams in the 70s and 80s literally scare other teams off the ice. Heck, I've even seen a 10 year old girl with a Crosby jersey get a full beer dumped on her in Philly. Those fans are out of hand at times.

2. Boston Garden - Similar to the Spectrum and even more compact. The Boston crowd isn't as insane as the Philly crowd but were pretty darn close back in the day. The old garden was notorious for nasty games involving the Big Bad Bruins.

3. Chicago Stadium - From the anthem to the organ to the maniacs screaming on the top of their lungs, the Chicago Stadium was a hard building for visiting teams to play in. From a noise-perspective, only the Montreal Forum rivals this place. The fans were way more behaved than the ones in Philly, Boston and New York.

4. Montreal Forum - Extremely loud and packed with the most passionate fans in NHL history. The volume level, media frenzy and mystique made the Forum very intimidating, but it wasn't "dangerous" like Philly.

5. Madison Square Garden - The Garden is the best arena in the United States to see a hockey game. It's old school and the fans know their hockey. Despite being a "matinee" city, the fans are serious hockey fans and have major attitude - especially back in the day. The building is loud, passionate and NY fans have their own rep for being pretty darn nasty, although not as bad as Philly or Boston.
 

FiveForDrawingBlood

Registered User
May 25, 2010
1,477
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Surprised I was only one to mention Nassau Coliseum! I thought that was a tough place to go into for a playoff game. Battling Billy Smith, Nystrom, Potvin, Clark Gillies, they had some skilled tough teams. The Islander fans back then were some of most obnoxious in game.
 

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