Big E Coliseum

Last updated
Eastern States Coliseum
The Big E Coliseum
Big E Coliseum view 2, West Springfield MA.jpg
Big E Coliseum
Location West Springfield, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°05′29″N72°37′07″W / 42.091333°N 72.618694°W / 42.091333; -72.618694
Owner City of West Springfield
Operator Eastern States Exposition
Capacity 6,000
Surfacedirt
Construction
Broke ground1916
OpenedOctober 12, 1916
Tenants
Springfield Indians (CAHL/AHL) (19261932, 19351972)
New England Blades (EHL) (19721973)
New England Whalers (WHA) (19741975)
Massachusetts Twisters (AISL/NISL) (20032009)
Website
Official Website

The Eastern States Coliseum, better known as the Big E Coliseum, is a 5,900-seat multi-purpose arena in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

Contents

History

Built as the Eastern States Coliseum in 1916, adding to the facilities for the annual Eastern States Exposition, the Big E Coliseum was the longtime home of the Springfield Indians professional hockey team in the American Hockey League, and later served as a part-time home to the New England Whalers hockey team while the team was in the World Hockey Association. [1] In the 1940s through to the building of the Springfield Civic Center in 1972, the Coliseum frequently hosted local showings of the Ice Capades and the Ice Follies. [2] It was for many years the largest capacity rink in western Massachusetts, and was the home arena of several local high school hockey teams as well as a prominent venue for regional and state high school tournaments. [3]

In 1991, the ice plant was dismantled and hockey games are no longer played there. [4] The arena continues as a venue for The Big E, and hosts Shriner circuses, equestrian shows and other local events. [5] The Coliseum has often been the location for the draft horse World Championship Finals, serving as such in 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009, [6] and has been a venue for rodeos. [7]

Indians and The Coliseum

The first game played in the new arena was a Canadian–American Hockey League game on December 1, 1926. Boxing promoter Tex Rickard dropped the ceremonial first puck. The Springfield Indians lost to the Providence Reds 3–1. In 1933, the parent New York Rangers decided to pull the franchise out of Springfield, but the Indians were back in the Coliseum for the 1935–36 season when Lucien Garneau transferred his Quebec Castors club to Springfield.

When World War II broke out, the Indians had to be suspended for the duration of the war due to the Eastern States Exposition grounds being commandeered by the Quartermaster Corps of the United States Army for use as a depot. The Indians were back at the Coliseum for the 1946–47 season until 1972, when the team moved into the new Springfield Civic Center in downtown Springfield at the start of the 1972–73 season.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolina Hurricanes</span> National Hockey League team in Raleigh, North Carolina

The Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as part of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, and play their home games at PNC Arena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Hockey League</span> Ice hockey league in the United States and Canada

The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). As of the 2023–24 AHL season, 31 of the 32 AHL teams had an official affiliation with an NHL team; immediately following season's end, the Chicago Wolves and Carolina Hurricanes finalized an affiliation agreement, resulting in all AHL teams having an NHL affiliation for the upcoming 2024–25 season. Historically, when an NHL team does not have an AHL affiliate, its players are assigned to AHL teams affiliated with other NHL franchises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hartford Whalers</span> American professional ice hockey team (1972–1997)

The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to 1997. Originally based in Boston, the team joined the WHA in the league's inaugural season, and was known as the New England Whalers throughout its time in the WHA. The Whalers moved 100 miles (160 km), to Hartford, in 1974 and joined the NHL in the NHL–WHA merger of 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Garden</span> Indoor arena in Boston, Massachusetts, US between 1928–1997

The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by 30 years. It was above North Station, a train station which was originally a hub for the Boston and Maine Railroad and is now a hub for MBTA Commuter Rail and Amtrak trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Eastern States Exposition</span> Annual agricultural fair in western Massachusetts for the six New England states

The Big E, formally known as The Eastern States Exposition, is an annual fair in West Springfield, Massachusetts, which opens on the second Friday after Labor Day and runs for seventeen days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coca-Cola Coliseum</span> Arena at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada

Coca-Cola Coliseum is an arena at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, used for agricultural displays, ice hockey, and trade shows. It was built for the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in 1921. Since 1997 it has been part of the Enercare Centre exhibition complex. It serves as the home arena of the Toronto Marlies ice hockey team, the American Hockey League farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs. For the 2015 Pan American Games the venue hosted the gymnastics competitions and was known as the Toronto Coliseum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthews Arena</span> Multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts

Matthews Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the world's oldest multi-purpose athletic building still in use, as well as the oldest arena in use for ice hockey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XL Center</span> Arena and convention center in Hartford, Connecticut

The XL Center is a multi-purpose arena and convention center located in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Owned by the City of Hartford, it is managed by the quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) under a lease with the city and operated by Spectra. In December 2007, the center was renamed when the arena's naming rights were sold to XL Group insurance company in a six-year agreement. The arena is ranked the 28th largest among college basketball arenas. It opened in 1975 as the Hartford Civic Center and was originally located adjacent to Civic Center Mall, which was demolished in 2004. It consists of two facilities: the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Exhibition Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springfield Indians</span> American ice hockey franchise (1926–1994)

The Springfield Indians were two separate minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The original Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. Combined, they were in existence for a total of 60 seasons from 1926 to 1994, with three interruptions. The Indians had two brief hiatuses from 1933 to 1935, and from 1942 to 1946. The team was known as the Syracuse Warriors from 1951 to 1954; in addition, the team was named the Springfield Kings from 1967 to 1975. The Indians won seven Calder Cup championships; six as the Indians, three consecutive from 1960 to 1962, one in 1974, and two consecutive in 1990 and 1991; and one as the Kings, in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MassMutual Center</span> Multi-purpose arena and convention center

The MassMutual Center is a multi-purpose arena and convention center complex located in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, in the city's Metro Center. The arena opened in 1972 and the convention center opened in 2005. It serves as a venue for meetings, conventions, exhibitions, sporting and entertainment events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indiana Farmers Coliseum</span> Indoor arena in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

The Indiana Farmers Coliseum is a 6,500-seat indoor multi-use arena, located on the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. The Indiana Farmers Coliseum is home to both the Indy Fuel of the ECHL and the IUPUI Jaguars of the NCAA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duquesne Gardens</span> Arena in Pittsburgh USA (1890–1956)

The Duquesne Gardens was the main sports arena located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the first half of the 20th century. Built in 1890, the building originally served as a trolley barn, before becoming a multi-purpose arena. The Gardens opened three years after a fire destroyed the city's prior sports arena, the Schenley Park Casino, in 1896. Over the years, the Gardens was the home arena of several of Pittsburgh's historic sports teams, such as ice hockey's Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Hornets. The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which was the first ice hockey league to openly hire and trade players, played all of its games at the Gardens. The arena was also the first hockey rink to ever use glass above the dasher boards. Developed locally by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, Herculite glass was first tested in Pittsburgh. Most rinks were using wire mesh before the shatterproof glass was invented. Finally, the Pittsburgh Ironmen, a charter member of the Basketball Association of America, played at the Gardens from 1946 to 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliant Energy Center</span> Multi-building complex in Madison, Wisconsin

Alliant Energy Center is a multi-building complex located in Madison, Wisconsin. It comprises 164 acres (0.66 km2) of greenspace and includes the 255,000-square-foot (23,700 m2) Exhibition Hall, the 10,000-seat Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the 29-acre (0.12 km2) Willow Island, several multi-use pavillions, and the 22,000-square-foot (2,000 m2) Arena. The Center welcomes more than one million people attending more than 500 events annually, ranging from local meetings and banquets to large sporting events and major concerts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Monument (Rapid City, South Dakota)</span> Arenas in Rapid City, South Dakota, U.S.

The Monument, formerly known as Rushmore Plaza Civic Center and Rushmore Plaza, is a 500,000-square-foot (46,000 m2) exhibition center, in Rapid City, South Dakota. The Monument is the main event center for the Black Hills Region, serving Western South Dakota, South West North Dakota, North West Nebraska, and Eastern Wyoming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denver Coliseum</span>

Denver Coliseum is an indoor arena, owned by the City and County of Denver, operated by its Denver Arts & Venues and located in Denver, Colorado. The arena has a capacity of 10,200 people and was built from 1949 to 1951. The coliseum is located in Denver's Elyria-Swansea neighborhood. It sits where the Denver Pacific Railway broke ground on its Cheyenne line in 1868.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhode Island Auditorium</span> Building in Rhode Island, United States

Rhode Island Auditorium was an indoor arena in Providence, Rhode Island, at 1111 North Main Street. It hosted the NBA's Providence Steamrollers from 1946 until 1949, and the Providence Reds ice hockey team until the Providence Civic Center was opened in 1972.

Three popular American sports were invented in New England. Basketball was invented by James Naismith, a Canadian, in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. Volleyball was invented by William G. Morgan in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1895. Paintball was invented in 1981 in Henniker, New Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springfield Pics</span> Ice hockey team in West Springfield, Massachusetts

The Springfield Pics are an American junior ice hockey organization playing in West Springfield, Massachusetts at the Olympia Ice Center. They field two Tier III teams and a number of Youth teams.

Professional ice hockey in Connecticut has a rich tradition dating from the mid-1920s. Most of these teams were NHL minor league affiliates located in New Haven, though with the closure of the New Haven Coliseum, minor league affiliates now exist only exist in Hartford and Bridgeport. Hartford had its own Major league team, the Whalers team that existed in Hartford from 1974-97. Independent hockey leagues teams have also been gaining a foothold in Danbury starting in 2004.

References

  1. Brown, Garry (May 9, 2009). "Hartford Whalers, now Carolina Hurricanes, found their way to Springfield Civic Center, Eastern States Coliseum". Springfield Union-News. Larry McDermott. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  2. "Birthday Edition Of Ice Capades Hailed By Critics". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. November 1, 1959. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  3. Porter, Matt (March 13, 2008). "Cheers fade, but glory endures". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  4. Donahue, Chris (April 1, 1991). "Hockey mecca's demise leaves high schools scrambling". USA Today. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  5. Eastern States Exhibition website
  6. "BigE Draft Horse Show". The Big E. Eastern States Exhibition. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  7. Blowen, Michael (March 27, 1993). "Rodeo king". Boston Globe. William Taylor. Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
Preceded by Home of the
New England Whalers

1973 – 1975
Succeeded by