Quote:
Originally Posted by ken0042
Or another way to look at- Calgary was the first NHL city to get a new modern arena. Then everybody else built or renovated their arenas. So by being first, 35 years later we are also the oldest. We also had the distinction of having the newest arena for about 10 years. (I'm thinking San Jose is the next oldest at 1994.)
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The Flames had the newest arena in the NHL for 10 years. The SAP Center and the Honda Center both opened in 1993. That was also the year the Panthers joined the NHL and their first arena had opened in 1988. Overnight, the Flames went from playing in the newest arena in the NHL to the fourth-newest.
These were the arenas in the NHL when the Saddledome opened:
- Montreal Forum - 1924
- Boston Garden - 1928
- Chicago Stadium - 1929
- St Louis Arena - 1929
- Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens - 1931
- Buffalo Memorial Auditorium - 1940
- Quebec Colisee - 1950
- Winnipeg Arena - 1955
- Pittsburgh Civic Arena - 1961
- LA Fabulous Forum - 1967
- Minnesota Met Center - 1967
- Philidelphia Spectrum - 1967
- Vancouver Pacific Coliseum - 1967
- New York Madison Square Garden - 1968
- New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum - 1972
- Washington Capital Centre - 1973
- Edmonton Northlands Coliseum - 1974
- Hartford Civic Center - 1975
- Detroit Joe Louis Arena - 1979
- New Jersey Brendan Byrne Arena - 1981
- Calgary Olympic Saddledome - 1983
At the time, 7 of the 21 arenas in the NHL were older than the Saddledome is today. 6 of those were at least a decade older than the Dome is currently. Chicago and St Louis were the first to replace their old arenas, with their current building opening in 1994.
One thing that annoys me about when the Flames talk about the relative ages of the various buildings in the NHL and CFL is that they take into account the renovations that have been done to the other teams' buildings, but show the Saddledome and McMahon's original construction dates.
The Saddledome was significantly renovated in 1995, so it should be in-line with Vancouver and Boston. McMahon should be at least in the late-80s, if not the 90s for when it was brought into its current state. Both are older than their peers, but not as much older as they like to pretend.