The OHL Arena & Travel Guide - Picture of the Week

Previous Pictures of the Week:

May 4, 2008: A long-exposure shot from inside the Colisée Desjardins in Victoriaville, showing the other side of the ice.
April 27, 2008: I'm back from San Francisco, and while I never managed to make it to the Cow Palace, I did see the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena in Oakland. The place was built in 1966 and was home to the NHL's California Seals for their entire existence. Today it's still home to the NBA's Golden State Warriors. The Oakland Coliseum, home of baseball's A's and the NFL's Raiders, is right next door.
April 20, 2008: A shot of downtown Toronto including the Air Canada Centre, soon to be completely hidden by an impenetrable wall of condos.
April 13, 2008: This is Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Most hockey fans are already familiar with the place as the most palatial hockey arena in the entire world, with a rich benefactor paying to house the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux in grandeur. The rink was also the host of the 2004-05 World Juniors.
April 6, 2008: Another interior shot of the Rochester War Memorial. Most of the seats at the back of the upper deck in the far end were added in the recent renovation.
March 30, 2008: This is the 1974-vintage James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. It's home to the Augusta Lynx of the ECHL, and yes, it's named for that James Brown. This picture is by Gary Parsons, who invites you to regard how strange that Canadian flag in the end looks.
March 23, 2008: This is Hershey Park Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Built in 1936, it's one of America's most historic minor-league arenas and was home to the AHL's Hershey Bears from 1936 to 2002, when it was replaced by the new Giant Center. The old rink is still open and hosts NCAA ECAC hockey and other tournaments. This picture was taken by Andy Ritter of Roaming the Rinks.
March 16, 2008: An interior action shot of the WHL's Everett Events Center, courtesy of the remarkably well-traveled Rhode Islander Joe Tasca.
March 9, 2008: Another inside shot of the United Center in Chicago.
March 2, 2008: Sticking with the old scanned photos theme, this is Continental Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It was built in 1981 and was home to the New Jersey Devils up until this year.
February 24, 2008: This is GM Place in Vancouver, home of the Canucks. I was there in May 2002 and had a chat with the guy at the team store about how awesome Rick Nash was going to be.
February 17, 2008: I've used this picture elsewhere on the website, but not at the higher resolution, so here it is in a better quality. As far as I am concerned, it's always gorgeous in the Sault - I have been lucky enough to enjoy great weather up there both times I've made the trip. This shot is of the rear end of the building. I feel thankful I got to take some terrific shots of the Gardens before the Philistines up there tore the old rink down.
February 10, 2008: The interior of the Rochester War Memorial. The place was extensively renovated a few years ago, with the addition of the private suites and comfortable blue seats you see here. I highly recommend the upper Gallery seats you see to the right behind the net - the angle of the seating area is incredible and the views from up there are terrific.
February 3, 2008: It's not always easy to get good concourse shots, but I'm really happy with the way this one turned out. It's a good shot to give you a sense of the "doorways" that lead into the bowl of Windsor Arena.
January 27, 2008: The Rochester War Memorial has a great name, since it's not the Arena or Gardens or Coliseum or anything. It's just the Rochester War Memorial. Period. Here, you see it on the banks of the Genesee River in downtown Rochester. To complete the image, imagine the smell of hickory smoke and BBQ sauce wafting over from the nearby Dinosaur Bar-B-Q. Delicious. (Oh, and you might hear rumours that this building now, shamefully, has a corporate moniker, but ignore them.)
January 20, 2008: The HSBC Arena in downtown Buffalo, home to the Buffalo Sabres since 1996. Originally known during construction as the Crossroads Arena and later called the Marine Midland Arena, this was the first "new" NHL arena I ever visited, and I came away very underwhelmed. I haven't been to a game here since 2002-03, and would like to go back to re-evaluate sometime soon.
January 13, 2008: The interior of the Rosemont Horizon (Allstate Arena) in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont. I had been obsessed with this place for quite some time (since it looks like a mosque from the outside and has a really cool name), but inside I found a depressingly ordinary arena, with the shallowest-raked seats I've ever seen. The place was built under the flightpath for O'Hare airport, so there were height restrictions, and as a result, it's impossible to see over the person in front of you. At least the Chicago Wolves fans were loud and passionate.
January 6, 2008: A full house of 21,715 looks on at the United Center in Chicago. After hearing for over a decade that the United Center was a terrible place to watch hockey, this game was an epiphany - the crowd was incredibly loud and knowledgeable and passionate. It was so nice to see the NHL the way it's meant to be played again, and I'd go back to see the Hawks anyday.
December 16, 2007: A shot of the interior of the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
December 9, 2007: I had the best seats in the house when the Knights won the Memorial Cup. That day as a whole was awesome.
December 2, 2007: Another look inside the Colisée de Trois-Rivières, former home of the QMJHL's Draveurs.
November 25, 2007: This is the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York City. Built in 1968 as the fourth building to bear the name, it's home to the Rangers, Knicks, and (if you care for some unknown reason) the WNBA's Liberty. There are currently discussions to tear the building down and rebuild something comparable to the old Beaux-Arts Penn Station on the site, with the Garden moving across the street. (And yes, that's the Empire State Building in the background.)
November 18, 2007: The Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, home to the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters as well as the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. This one was built in 1994 and was formerly called the Gund Arena, the only hockey facility in North America whose name sounded like a social disease.
November 11, 2007: The Igloo in Pittsburgh - the oldest arena in the NHL and one of the only ones left with a load of character. Too bad it's also a bit of a dump.
November 4, 2007: A study of the curved wooden corner seats in Val-d'Or. Note how the floor in front of the front row seats is level with the top of the boards.
October 28, 2007: This picture, submitted by correspondent Daniel Flynn, is of the MassMutal Center (formerly the Springfield Civic Center) in Springfield, Mass. It's home to the AHL Falcons. The arena also hosted the Hartford Whalers for parts of two seasons in the late 1970's while the Hartford Civic Center was being repaired following a roof collapse. It would appear "roof collapses" are the theme this month...
October 14, 2007: Although it's now officially now called the Allstate Arena, this arena is still pretty much still universally popularly called the Rosemont Horizon. Located in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont near O'Hare Airport, the Horizon finally opened in 1980 after construction was delayed by a roof collapse in 1979. The roof fell in due to shoddy workmanship while it was still under construction, killing five workers. The building was renamed in 1999 and is home to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, as well as NCAA basketball and arena football.
October 7, 2007: This is a panoramic shot of the interior of the Centre Henry-Leonard, home to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. It was taken by Steeve of GoDrakkarGo.com.
September 23, 2007: Enough of the baseball pictures, eh? Hockey's back! This first shot of the new season is the Onondaga County War Memorial Coliseum in Syracuse, now better known by its corporate handle, the OnCenter. It's home to the Syracuse Crunch.
September 9, 2007: Another shot of the Jake in Cleveland, this one also featuring the Quicken Loans Arena in the gap between the third base stands and the scoreboard. The "Q" is the home of the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters, as well as the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.
September 2, 2007: Back from my weekend trip to Cleveland, and this is one of the better pictures I took of Jacobs Field - one of my more favourite parks I've been to.
August 26, 2007: It is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
August 12, 2007: The famous sign at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
August 5, 2007: This about does it for Major League ballparks that I have digital pictures of (I have old pictures of Cleveland, Montreal and Boston too, but no access to a scanner right now). So for August, I'll be duplicating ballparks with new shots and such, and I'll post a couple pics from my trip to Cleveland on Labour Day before getting back into the weekly hockey shots. This, again, is the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.
July 29, 2007: If baseball asked the question, "What would it be like to play in a a dank concrete toilet of a stadium, where the atmosphere is ruined by 747's flying low overhead at full throttle every 15 minutes?" - Shea Stadium in New York would be the answer. But hey, it looks cool.
July 22, 2007: This, on the other hand, is Tiger Stadium. And man, it was a great place to watch baseball.
July 8, 2007: It's no Tiger Stadium, but all-in-all it's still a pretty nice ballpark. Here's Comerica Park in Detroit.
July 1, 2007: In honour of Canada Day, here's an older, pre-Field Turf picture of the SkyDome in Toronto.
June 24, 2007: It's still Comiskey Park to me - the home of the White Sox in Chicago.
June 17, 2007: This is the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio, as shot from across the river in Covington, Kentucky. To the right of the picture is the U.S. Bank Arena (Riverside Coliseum), which among other things was home to the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers.
June 10, 2007: Yes, I was on the field at Yankee Stadium. Yes, it was awesome.
June 3, 2007: Sticking with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, here's PNC Park in Pittsburgh, home of the Pirates.
May 27, 2007: This week's picture is of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. With the exception of its crappy location surrounded by parking lots, it could easily be the best in the majors, with friendly staff, great eats, and free, no-ticket standing room areas all over the stadium. You're actually encouraged to buy the cheapest ticket available and then spend the game standing behind the plate in SRO. It's a nice change and the freedom-loving, laid-back atmosphere is refreshing. It's a great place to watch a ballgame.
May 20, 2007: An action shot from a Sea Dogs-Fog Devils game at Mile One Stadium in St. John's, from March of 2006.
May 13, 2007: The exterior of Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.
May 6, 2007: The interior of Pullar Stadium in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, the same building as February 4's picture.
April 29, 2007: Another something different this week - I decided to put together a montage of the QMJHL centre ice pictures among arenas I've visited. Submissions to the montage welcome.
April 22, 2007: The outside of Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
April 15, 2007: Another inside view of the NCAA's Norris Center in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, this one showing the private suites on one side of the ice.
April 8, 2007: The interior of Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Built in 2000 and home of the Blue Jackets, it's my favourite current NHL building that I've been to and proof that a building with great views and great atmosphere can be built in the new NHL.
April 1, 2007: A shot of the old Talbot Inn that was later turned into the JLC, prior to the arena's construction. The Inn was the only building saved when the rest of the old Victorian streetscape was demolished in 1991. You can see the restored JLC Inn here.
March 25, 2007: The place that got me into hockey rinks in the first place, and still my favourite hockey arena of all time. The much-missed Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, built in 1939 and home to the Sabres from 1970 to 1996. Photo is from the last game ever and was taken by my friend Karl-Eric Reif, whom I thank.
March 17, 2007: A detail shot of the most politically incorrect thing in junior hockey - the flying Indian in Shawinigan. It's wheeled out over the ice after every Cats goal.
March 4, 2007: The interior of the ACC in Toronto, taken during my (to date) only visit there in 2003.
February 18, 2007: You can really see why it's nicknamed the Igloo. This is Pittsburgh Civic Arena, also corporately known as Mellon Arena.
February 11, 2007: The stuffed wolf looks down on the ice at Sudbury Arena following a Wolves goal.
February 4, 2007: This is Pullar Stadium in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Built in 1939, it was home for many years to the Detroit Red Wings' training camp.
January 28, 2007: The tasteful Art Deco lobby at Sudbury Arena.
January 21, 2007: The 1996-vintage Junior B Fort Erie Leisureplex in Fort Erie, Ontario.
January 14, 2007: This is the exterior of Cahill Stadium in Summerside, P.E.I. (see March 12, 2006's picture).
January 7, 2007: Formerly used on the OHA History page in black and white, here's that same shot of 1932's Belleville Memorial Arena in colour.
December 17, 2006: An interior shot of the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, taken from a catwalk high above the ice that somehow is publicly accessible. The whole building is a collection of crazy catwalks and hallways that could confuse even a seasoned veteran of the place.
December 10, 2006: Pandemonium outside the John Labatt Centre following the Knights' Memorial Cup win in 2005.
December 3, 2006: A reposted Junior B picture of the St. Thomas-Elgin Memorial Centre in St. Thomas, Ontario.
November 26, 2006: This is the front marquee sign of the North Bay Memorial Gardens. Photo by Eric Boutilier.
November 19, 2006: This is the interior of 1927's Varsity Arena on the campus of the University of Toronto. The first arena in Ontario built without interior support columns, the rink has never been renovated apart from some minor shoring up and structural work and still features the same Himalayan-inclined bowl and wooden seats as the day it opened.
November 12, 2006: An exterior shot of the same Pepsi Centre as October 8's picture from Corner Brook, Newfoundland.
November 5, 2006: This is the main arena at the Woodstock Community Complex in Woodstock, Ontario. Built in the late 1990's, for some reason this 2000-seat arena doesn't even have a junior B team to call it home, as its top tenant is the Junior C Woodstock Navy Vets. I don't claim to understand why a city the size of Woodstock with a new, decent-sized arena doesn't even have Junior B, although such plans are apparently afoot.
October 29, 2006: Another picture from my Labour Day trip to Philadelphia, this is the Wachovia Center. Originally named the CoreStates Centre and then the First Union Center, the building is a decade old and already on its third name. God, I hate corporate naming rights. To me, the First Union name was always the best, since Philly fans gave the building what remains its nickname - the F.U. Center. It's located across the parking lot from the old Spectrum and is today home to the Flyers and 76ers.
October 22, 2006: This is the rebuilt Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto that opened as the home of the ill-fated Toronto Roadrunners AHL team and is today home to the Toronto Marlies. Originally the CNE Coliseum and built on the Exhibition Grounds in 1907, the arena was gutted on the inside and completely rebuilt in 2003 before the AHL arrived. Today the exterior walls are ancient painted brick but the rest of the building is a new, modern 10,000-seat arena.
October 15, 2006: Another re-posted Junior B picture, this is Chatham Memorial Arena in Chatham, Ontario. Built in 1948, it is home to the Chatham Maroons.
October 8, 2006: This is another potential future expansion building for the QMJHL - the Pepsi Centre in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Opened in 1997 in anticipation of the 1999 Canada Winter Games and replacing the old Humber Gardens, the Pepsi Centre seats around 3100 and could potentially host the Q at some point in the future.
October 1, 2006: The Junior B rinks on this site are gone, while the most interesting pictures of the Junior B rinks will eventually be reposted here, on Picture of the Week. But in the meantime, I never did get around to Petrolia until after I removed the B section, so to finish the league, here's a shot of the Greenwood Recreation Centre, built in 1961 and home of the Jets.
September 24, 2006: This is the old Spectrum in Philadelphia, built in 1967 as the original home of the Philadelphia Flyers. It's still standing, a parking lot away from the new Wachovia Center, and is today home to the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL.
September 17, 2006: An exterior shot of the same Aitken Centre in Fredericton.
September 10, 2006: If the QMJHL ever expands to Fredericton, New Brunswick, this will probably be where the team plays. This is the Aitken Centre on the campus of the University of New Brunswick. Built in 1978, it is home to the UNB Varsity Reds, and also once hosted the AHL's Fredericton Canadiens and Fredericton Express.
August 20, 2006: This is Cincinnati Gardens in Cincinnati, Ohio. Built in 1949, it is laid out on the inside as a smaller copy of Maple Leaf Gardens. It has been home to numerous Cincinnati hockey teams over the years, most recently the Mighty Ducks of the AHL.
August 13, 2006: A closeup outside shot of Harbour Station in Saint John, New Brunswick.
August 6, 2006: Another shot of obstructed views in Halifax.
July 30, 2006: Packed to the rafters in Windsor for a playoff game. I like this shot because you can really see how tight the building is when it's full.
July 23, 2006: Another shot of the Halifax Forum, this time from the side facing Windsor St.
July 16, 2006: Another interior shot of the Cornwall Civic Complex. You can really see the four-grandstand design and the open space surrounding the ice surface. Theoretically they should be able to install bleachers down there if the OHL were ever to return.
July 9, 2006: The ornate front facade of the Galt Arena Gardens.
July 2, 2006: I've been making fun of this plaque for years and now you all finally get to see it. It's the rather grandiose cornerstone of Sudbury Arena. Photo by Jason Hodgson.
June 25, 2006: A shot of the imposing Dundas Street facade of the JLC.
June 18, 2006: Something a little different this week - this is The Bay's flagship store at the Eaton Centre in Toronto. Last year the movie Cinderella Man was filming in Toronto and the filmmakers made up the Bay to look like the old Madison Square Garden in New York that was demolished in 1968.
June 11, 2006: Another shot of St. Michael's College Arena in Toronto, this time showing a little more of the tiny grandstand and the glassed-in lounge above the net.
June 4, 2006: A detail shot of the intricate front facade of the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto.
May 28, 2006: Another shot of Joe Louis Arena.
May 21, 2006: A head-on shot of the exterior of Peterborough Memorial Centre.
May 14, 2006: Apologies for the interruption. This week's picture is a shot of the Peterborough Memorial Centre, taken from the back of the gallery.
April 23, 2006: St. John's Memorial Stadium, abandoned since 2002 and awaiting the wrecker's ball. The building was the former home of the St. John's Maple Leafs. This shot was taken earlier in the year before demolition commenced; as of today, the main building is still standing but the grounds have been torn up as sitework on the new grocery store that will occupy the land in the future has begun.
April 16, 2006: A forlorn-looking London Ice House with all signage removed. This picture was taken when the building was between owners and had no one looking after it.
April 9, 2006: A fitting goodbye to the Sault Gardens, which witnessed its last ever hockey game earlier this week as the youth hockey season wrapped up. Demolition will start soon. This picture was taken out of my hotel room window in Sault Ste. Marie.
April 2, 2006: This is another interior shot from the Sault Memorial Gardens. You can see one of the the slanted sections of seats under the press box.
March 25, 2006: The next few weeks of Picture of the Week will feature shots from the Sault Memorial Gardens, slated for closure at the end of the Hounds' playoffs this year. This week's shot is of the main lobby.
March 19, 2006: The backside of the Oshawa Civic Auditorium. You can really see in this picture how tiny it is from the rear, due to it being built into the side of a hill.
March 12, 2006: This is Cahill Stadium in Summerside, P.E.I. Built in 1952, it is one of Canada's best-preserved unrenovated old hockey rinks.
March 5, 2006: I really just like this shot of Windsor Arena. It's framed nicely.
February 26, 2006: In commemoration of the current demolition of Guelph Memorial Gardens, here's a shot of the building in happier times. The small grey building in front is City Hall. You can also see the building's roofline and the ridiculously thick nineteenth-century wall.
February 19, 2006: This week features a picture of Varsity Arena on the campus of the University of Toronto. Built in 1927, Varsity Arena was the first arena in Ontario to be built without interior support columns.
February 12, 2006: An interior shot of the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, the oldest rink in the NHL.
February 5, 2006: This week's picture is a shot of Belleville Memorial Arena in Belleville, Ontario. Home of the old Allan Cup champion McFarlands, the arena was built in 1932 and is the last arena in Ontario with an analog scoreclock, although a modern digital clock is also used these days.