Former Arenas of the Western Hockey League
This is by no means a complete directory or listing, it's just a photo gallery of the various former WHL arenas that I've happened to see in my travels around this great country, along with brief descriptions/explanations.
MetraPark Arena
Billings, Montana
Former Home of the Billings Bighorns
Built 1975
Originally the Yellowstone METRA (for Montana's Entertainment, Trade and Recreation Arena), the MetraPark Arena was built in 1975 on Billings' fairgrounds. Two years later, the original Calgary WHL franchise uprooted from Alberta and moved in. The team lasted five seasons in Montana, and produced such NHLers as Dave Barr and Andy Moog. They moved to Nanaimo in 1982, and today are the Tri-City Americans. The arena was recently renamed the Rimrock Auto Arena and is still open for concerts, indoor football, and other usual arena events.
Stampede Corral
Calgary, Alberta
Former Home of the Calgary Centennials and Wranglers
Built 1950
The Stampede Corral was built in 1950 on the grounds of the Calgary Stampede as the main arena for the city of Calgary. It was used by a variety of Calgary teams over the years, including the WHL's Centennials and Wranglers. The NHL's Flames also played in the building between their move to Alberta in 1980 and the construction of the new Olympic Saddledome, built a stone's throw away in 1983. The Corral is still open today and is used for a variety of functions, including the annual Stampede. The Corral was also used in the 1988 Winter Olympics as a secondary venue for hockey and figure skating. This picture is by Chuck Szmurlo and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Estevan Civic Auditorium
Estevan, Saskatchewan
Former Home of the Estevan Bruins
Built 1959
The Estevan Bruins were one of the founding members of the WHL in 1967 and had had a tremendous amount of success previously in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. However, even in the late 1960's and early 1970's, the town was a little too small to be economically viable in a league encompassing the whole of the WHL, and so in 1971 a deal was worked out where the WHL Bruins moved to New Westminster, British Columbia, becoming the legendary New Westminster Bruins. A new team was then re-created in the SJHL in Estevan, also called the Bruins, who affiliated with the New Westminster team. The Civic Auditorium today is still home to the SJHL Bruins.
Frank Crane Arena
Nanaimo, British Columbia
Former Home of the Nanaimo Islanders
Built 1975
Published under a Creative Commons License.
While Vancouver Island was home to the WHL for over two decades with the presence of the Victoria Cougars, the smaller logging town of Nanaimo only hosted the WHL once, and for one brief year, 1982-83. The team, originally located in Calgary, was relocated to Nanaimo from the equally unlikely city of Billings, Montana, and left to become the second, less successful incarnation of the New Westminster Bruins. They are today the Tri-City Americans. Frank Crane Arena was built in 1975 as a compliment to the previous Nanaimo Civic Arena, and is today home to the BCHL's Nanaimo Clippers.
Prince George Coliseum
Prince George, British Columbia
Former Home of the Prince George Cougars
Built 1958
The Prince George Coliseum, built in 1958 and seating about 1,800, was never intended to be a WHL rink. The city began building the CN Centre as soon as word came round that the Victoria Cougars were looking to move to Northern BC, and the Coliseum was only used as a stopgap during the team's first season there, 1994-95. The gigantic roof trusses visible in the outside shot are there to hold up the roof - the original roof caved in in 1964, and renovations "spruced" up the then six-year-old building to make it safe. The Coliseum is still home to the city's BCHL team, the Spruce Kings.
Mercer Arena
Seattle, Washington
Former Home of the Seattle Thunderbirds
Built 1927
Mercer Arena is a part of the Seattle Center complex that also includes the Thunderbirds' current home, the KeyArena. Mercer was built in 1927 and was home to the Thunderbirds alongside the KeyArena (then called the Seattle Center Coliseum) in a venue-splitting arrangement similar to the one that exists in Portland, from their arrival in the Emerald City in 1977 to 1994. The T-Birds played big games at the Coliseum, and smaller ones at Mercer. In 1994 the city of Seattle announced a major renovation to the Coliseum, and so while the NBA's Seattle Supersonics relocated for a year to the larger Tacoma Dome and the massive Kingdome, the T-Birds played their full schedule at Mercer. When the 1995-96 season opened, the Thunderbirds moved permanently into the KeyArena. Mercer Arena is abandoned today, with a plan currently before the city council to turn it into an opera house.
Tacoma Dome
Tacoma, Washington
Former Home of the Tacoma Rockets
Built 1983
The Tacoma Dome is a geodesic dome in the southern Puget Sound city of Tacoma. Designed by the legendary Buckminster Fuller, the dome seats an improbable 17,000 people for hockey. It was home to the expansion Tacoma Rockets from 1991 to 1995, before common sense prevailed and the team was moved from their geodesic home to Kelowna. I personally haven't been within several hundred miles of Tacoma, but I present this lovely picture anyway, which was licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Thanks, copyleft!
Victoria Memorial Arena
Victoria, British Columbia
Former Home of the Victoria Cougars
Built 1949, Demolished 2003
Victoria Memorial Arena was built in 1949 and was home to the many incarnations of the Victoria Cougars. The Cougars originally played in the BCJHL, but moved into the WHL in 1971. They were mainly a bottom-feeder during their tenure in the Dub, having won only one league title. The Cougars left for Prince George in 1994, leaving Vancouver Island without major junior hockey. The Arena was demolished in 2003, with its replacement, the horrifically-named Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, being built on the site. The rink is now home to the ECHL's Victoria Salmon Kings.
Winnipeg Arena
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Former Home of the Winnipeg Jets, Monarchs, Clubs and Warriors
Built 1955, Demolished 2006
Winnipeg Arena was originally built in 1955 to replace the ancient Shea's Amphiteatre, a venerable old horse barn that was already a relic of a bygone age by the end of the Second World War. Constructed right next to CFL-friendly Winnipeg Stadium in the western suburbs of town, it originally had 10,000 seats, but was drastically expanded when the WHA came a-knocking on their door. Apart from two WHL franchises with four names between them between 1966-77 and again from 1980-84, it was also the only home the NHL's Jets ever had. After the Jets left for the unquestionable hockey mecca of Phoenix, Arizona, the old Arena hosted the IHL and later AHL's Moose until the 2004 opening of the new MTS Centre downtown. The Arena was demolished in March of 2006. I personally visited in the summer of 2003 and was given an impromptu mini-tour of the darkened rink's interior by a bored box office employee, for which I am eternally grateful. The place was tiny inside, with seats shoehorned wherever they could fit them in, and seemed so small that it was hard to believe it had ever hosted the NHL.
This is a list of the rest of the former arenas used by the WHL. Unlike the Quebec League, which is both closer to me and also located in regions in which I've done extensive travelling, I've been in WHL territory exactly three times - once in 1983, when I was more preoccupied with strained food in tiny jars than in arenas, plus train trips to Vancouver in 2002 and Winnipeg in 2003. All three trips were in the summer. You sense the pattern. I'm not likely to get out west any time within the next year or so at a minimum, but hey, this information isn't available anywhere else on the internet, so it's worth having. The other thing that you might notice if you're sharp-eyed is how many of these buildings have been demolished. Unlike in the Quebec league, where only one former rink was rubblized, or in Ontario, where a couple have bit the dust but most are still standing, the West appears to have a little more cavalier attitude towards its history. It's a damn shame, really.
This list may contain omissions or mistakes, please email me if you have any corrections. Also, if you have any photos of arenas on this list, please send them to 
.
Manitoba
Brandon Wheat Kings 1967-69
Wheat City Arena
Built 1913, Demolished 1969
Brandon Wheat Kings 1969-72
ManEx Arena
Built Unknown, Demolished 2004
Flin Flon Bombers 1967-78
Whitney Forum
Built 1958
Saskatchewan
Regina Pats 1966-68; 70-77
Regina Exhibition Stadium
Built 1919
Saskatoon Blades 1967-88
Saskatoon Arena
Built 1937, Demolished 1989
Weyburn Red Wings 1966-68
Weyburn Colosseum
Built 1960
Alberta
Calgary Buffaloes 1967-68, possibly others
Max Bell Arena
Built 19??
Edmonton Oil Kings 1967-74
Edmonton Gardens
Built 1913, Demolished 1980
Edmonton Ice 1996-98
Northlands Agricom
Built 1984
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British Columbia
Kamloops Chiefs 1973-77
Kamloops Jr. Oilers 1981-84
Kamloops Blazers 1984-92
Kamloops Memorial Arena
Built 1948
Kelowna Wings 1982-85
Kelowna Rockets 1995-99
Kelowna Memorial Arena
Built 1945
Kootenay Ice 1998-2000
Cranbrook Memorial Arena
Built 1948
New Westminster Bruins 1971-81; 1983-88
Queen's Park Arena
Built 1930
Victoria Cougars 1971-94
Victoria Memorial Arena
Built 1950, Demolished 2004
Washington
Spokane Flyers 1980-81
Spokane Chiefs 1985-95
Spokane Coliseum
Built 1954, Demolished 1995
Montana
Great Falls Americans 1979-80
Four Seasons Arena
Built 1979
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