edit: deleted my original comment as I now see the title of video is demolished and I suppose technically Maple Leaf Gardens (and Montreal Forum) were not completely demolished even though they were ruined.
I grew up in Buffalo, saw an AHL game in the Aud, before the roof was raised to add seats for the Sabres. Also saw the Sabres, Braves, now the LA Clippers, various concerts, and then worked in that place as a TV tech, televising games for fans to watch. I worked in the Spectrum and Cap Centre but both were close to end of their life’s and neither had childhood memories like the Aud.
@@mikecumbo7531 Cool memories. Lots of my friends would go to the Aud because tickets were easier to get than for Toronto Maple Leafs. My minor hockey association (Burlington Ontario) had a deal and night each year to go watch a Sabres game. Sadly I never made it out with them!
The Met Center in MPLS had random color seats if I recall? Those barns had character...The Aud here in Buff, Montreal Forum, Maple Leaf Gardens. Boston Gawdin 😏. Chicago Stadium, etc. You knew in a second on the TV what building it was. Today until the action goes thru center ice and the home logo is seen, it can be any recent NatWestOctoMegaMergeCorp Arena....😑
@@brianjones7660 The Met Center had a random pattern of green, white, and yellow to match the North Star colors but IMO it was super ugly. They changed them to a uniform red color when they changed their jerseys just before moving to Dallas. The red made the arena look much nicer. Too bad they demolished it so quickly after the North Stars left.
Fun fact about the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta - when it was demolished, it was dropped without touching any street or structure on all four sides, including the entirety of the rest of the Omni/CNN Center complex and a MARTA rail station. It was replaced with Philips Arena, which itself was essentially internally demolished (stripped to concrete) in 2016/17 and rebuilt as State Farm Arena.
The hyperbolic paraboloid design (that curvy roof shape) actually was pioneered by the Veterans Coliseum in Arizona, in the 60's. Capital Center and the Saddledome simply followed in its footsteps, and the Saddledome became the most iconic arena of that design.
@@sportsmaster1364 I wish I could have seen Phoenix Roadrunners games there during the 70's and Suns games up until they moved in 1992 to what was then called America West Arena, where the Coyotes played in their first few seasons in Arizona. I didn't move to Phoenix until 1998 and by then the Coliseum looked derelict and abandoned.
I love when you can still see the shape of the old arena. Like Joe Louis and Reunion Arena. Some places you wouldn't even know there was an arena there. Mellon Arena broke my heart. Miss that place.
The Stampede Corral was a special place to watch hockey here in Calgary. So much character and I can only hope they saved all the fascinating pictures that were in the concourse. Thanks for the great memories!
The place to see a vintage arena is the hockey arena at Northeastern, once called the Boston Arena, predated the Boston Garden, was beautifully renovated when the school purchased the arena. Understand Maple Gardens in Toronto was reconstructed as a multipurpose complex with a rink on top level.
Now there is a 25 story apartment building at the joe louis arena site in Detroit. And a 25 story hotel is going up on the same lot when the apartment officially opens.
Noteworthy that Richfield Coliseum is now part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I'm not sure, but I think this is the only case where a sports arena was converted to parkland for a national park.
Richfield Coliseum was the perfect example of putting a building in the middle of nowhere. It's no wonder why the Barons had such a brief existence of only 2 years.
@@sjdrifter72 yep. Even worse, the only way in and out of the arena for the majority of people was through a single diamond interchange between I-271 and Ohio SR 303. Take your average truck stop just outside a major city late in the evening. Now imagine 100 times that many people using that same rural exit, all at the same time.
The Joe makes me sad, too. I had planned to take in a concert there just before Little Caesars was scheduled to open, but my travel plans got a bit bungled, so I had to settle for simply observing The Joe from a few blocks away.
Maple Leaf Gardens was way better than the arena that replaced it the ACC although the toilets, namely the troughs needed a refurbishment. I never knew Hamilton even had an NHL team and I lived there and grew up just next to Hamilton.
Honestly, i think its better that it remains either empty or a parking lot. Seeing a shopping mall where a beautiful hockey arena used to stand just makes me wanna cringe. Like Winnipeg Arena for example. Now its another friggin shopping centre.
Thankfully Maple Leaf Gardens and Montreal Forum are still standing with part of the Gardens occupied by Loblaws and the Mattamy Athletic Centre, while the Forum now houses a movie theatre, several shops and restaurants, and classrooms near the adjacent Dawson College.
The only one I saw a game at was the Miami Arena. Great atmosphere (this is when the expansion Panthers just made the Stanley Cup), but way too small and in a rough neighborhood. I went to grade school in Michigan and wanted to go to a Red Wings game, but this was in the '70s, and my parents would not go anywhere near Detroit. I dearly would've LOVED to see the Blackhawks at the Chicago Stadium, especially in the '80s when they had rambunctious fans and the Stadium was the only rink with a goal horn. I'm happy to hear they were able to restore the organ.
They don't make them like they used to.. the look from the outside for Chicago Coliseum or the Buffalo Auditorium or even the Boston/MSG are just not done anymore.. hell, even Detroits Olympia looks from the outside like a movie theater... now, they all have the glass and futurist look dominates...
Nope. The parking lot west of xfinity live is where the spectrum stood. There is a marker there, go look for yourself on Google maps. Xfinity live stands where a parking lot used to be for the spectrum
BTW you used the wrong image for where the Hamilton forum was located. That school is on Wentworth street ( travels north / south ) the forum was on Barton Street about 4 to 5 blocks north of that location ( traveling east to west ) the forum was demolished and turned into residential. There is no school where the forum used to be. Houses are on the property and there's a run down park across the street. Just want to clarify
Did get to the St. Louis Arena called the Checkerdome for a college hockey game, my Alma Mater Providence played in the NCAA Tournament there on early '70s.
Ikea would be right next to where Met Center once stood. The image is slightly off where the 'Met' actually sat. It was just to the NW of the photo, but close enough as it is a Parking lot. Saying its an IKEA now is close enough as well.
If anyone's curious what the development is where the Stampede Corral was, it's an major $500M expansion to the adjacent BMO Centre (convention centre). That project just reached substantial completion and there's a time lapse of the Corral's demolition and the construction of the BMO Centre expansion on the project's development manager's youtube channel (CMLC)
The Montreal Forum isn't demolished. It's now an amusement centre called Forum Pepsi. The exterior of the building remained intact just the inside that was transformed.
As was I. At one point I had made 25 of the leagues 30 stadiums. Eventually, marriage and kids came, and I got sidetracked. Although both my kids did play college hockey and expressed an interest in doing road trips, but I just gave up on all those ideas.
I dont really believe any of these beautiful old rinks had to be torn down. That's always politically driven. These old buildings gave each team a sense of identity. Each building was unique. In it's own way. Now when you look at moden day hockey arenas, they are all the exact same. Identical. Too plain. No character.
I was just a boy when i got to see a Wings game at the old Olympia. I saw the Wings last 4 championships in person at The Joe. The Joe smelt like piss, concourse was dark, the ice was always shiny with championship gold. LGRW!!
@@jeffmckenzie oh wow! I'm really out the loop. I stopped paying attention to NHL around 20 years ago but I remember the 80s very well! Islanders then Oilers were the teams of the 80s. Didn't realize the Oilers had moved to new arena.
And people think that's where the new Flames arena is going. Sadly, it's not. Doubt there will be a new arena will be built in Calgary before the Saddledome collapses during a Nickelback concert.
Denver native and Avalanche fan. McNichols Arena was a lot of fun and was great for concerts, but it was time. Ball Arena (nee Pepsi Center) is an immensely better arena.
You might get an argument about that from lower bowl season ticket holders. When season ticket holders were allowed to check out their seats, they noted how cramped the lower bowl was compared to Big Mac. Hey, they had to fit the Club Level and additional suites somehow!
I was at that one. Back when I attended a game there in the 1980s, the best way to get into the Civic Center was through the attached shopping mall which has since been closed and torn down nowadays besides the occasional concert and college basketball there is hockey going on there. it’s the Hartford Wolfpack. They are the AHL affiliate of the New York rangers.
