There was a time, not that long ago, when most fans could name every building in the NHL. There were the obvious ones. The Original Six buildings. Boston Garden, Madison Square Garden. The Montreal Forum, Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens. Chicago Stadium and the Olympia in Detroit.
Beyond the venerable old NHL hockey temples, expansion brought us places such as the Spectrum in Philadelphia, the Buffalo Auditorium and Forum in Los Angeles.
Most of those buildings are now gone. They have been replaced with modern amphitheaters which offer much more in terms of comfort and convenience. Luxury boxes and high end eateries certainly help bring in more revenue for the owners.
But gone are the local touches. The quirks that made the old buildings special, unique. Hockey buildings have become asepticized and boring. They are all the same. With names such as the HP Pavillion, the Honda Centre, the Verizon Centre, the Air Canada Centre. Boring...
As someone who readily admits to being a nostalgic type, I miss the weird seating arrangement of Maple Leaf Gardens (green, grey, gold?), the standing room tickets and the requisite run for the best spots at the Montreal Forum. The smell of Boston Garden, not really good or bad, just distinctive. The stairs at Chicago Stadium that led from behind the Blackhawks' bench to their dressing room.
In these days of corporate sponsorship and and out of control consumerism, I can't help but feel that all the buildings are the same. Much like our strip mall suburbs. All the same. Only the jerseys they sell are different.
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