Bright-Landry Hockey Center

Last updated
Bright-Landry Hockey Center
Harvard-BrightHockey1.JPG
Bright-Landry Hockey Center
Former namesDonald C. Watson Rink (19561979)
Location65 North Harvard Street
Allston, Massachusetts 02134
OwnerHarvard University
OperatorHarvard University
Capacity 3,095 (hockey)
Surface204x87 ft (hockey)
Construction
Opened1956
Renovated1979, 2014
Tenants
Harvard Crimson (NCAA) (19561978, 1979present)
Boston Pride (NWHL) (20152016)

The Bright-Landry Hockey Center is a 3,095-seat ice-hockey arena in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to the Harvard University Crimson men's and women's ice hockey teams. It is named for Alec Bright, class of 1919, a former hockey and baseball player. [1]

Inside Bright Center Bright Hockey Center, Harvard.JPG
Inside Bright Center

In 1956, the Donald C. Watson Rink was opened just north of Harvard Stadium at Soldiers Field, the area in the Allston neighborhood of Boston used by Harvard athletics, just across the Charles River from campus. The rink held approximately 2,000 people, but did not have many modern amenities. When plans were made to upgrade facilities, the $5-million cost became prohibitive, and the decision was made to renovate Watson Rink. In 1978, following the hockey season, the walls were removed and the roof was extended before the new arena itself was installed. After a season without a full-time home, the "new" arena opened on November 19, 1979, with an exhibition between Harvard and the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team.

In November 2006, Bright Arena was home to the 2006 Friendship Cup, the Cup's debut year. Team USA Alumni, Team Canada Alumni, Team Gazprom and the Boston Bruins Alumni team all participated in the event. The Bruins defeated Team USA, while Gazprom defeated Team Canada.

The arena was also home to the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League for the 2015–16 NWHL season in which the Pride won the Isobel Cup Championship.

The Bright-Landry Center, when used for ice hockey, shares a design quirk with the Bruins' still-standing "original" home rink, today's Northeastern University-located Matthews Arena - the opposing team's benches at the Bright-Landry Center exist on opposing sides of the rink, just as they also did in the 20th century Boston Garden (1928-1995) for ice hockey games.

2008 BrightHockey2.jpg
2008
2008, showing the opposing-side team bench locations for hockey. BrightHockey1.jpg
2008, showing the opposing-side team bench locations for hockey.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Bruins</span> National Hockey League team in Boston, Massachusetts

The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making them the third-oldest active team in the NHL, and the oldest in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willie O'Ree</span> Canadian ice hockey player (born 1935)

William Eldon O'Ree is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player from Fredericton, New Brunswick. He is widely recognized for being the first black player in the National Hockey League (NHL), playing as a winger for the Boston Bruins. His accomplishment of breaking the black colour barrier in the NHL has led him to sometimes being referred to as the "Jackie Robinson of hockey," whom he had the chance to meet when he was younger. In 2018, O'Ree was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and starting that year the NHL has introduced the annual Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award in his honor.

<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">Harvard Stadium</span> College football stadium in Boston, Massachusetts

Harvard Stadium is a U-shaped college football stadium in the northeast United States, located in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium is owned and operated by Harvard University and is home to the Harvard Crimson football program. In its current form, Harvard Stadium seats just over 25,000 spectators.

<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">Conte Forum</span> Multi-purpose arena in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

The Silvio O. Conte Forum, commonly known as Conte Forum, Kelley Rink, or simply Conte, is an 8,606-seat multi-purpose arena which opened in 1988 in Boston, Massachusetts on the campus of Boston College in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood. Conte Forum is home to the Boston College Eagles men's and women's basketball and ice hockey teams as well as the Boston College Marching Band.

Allston–Brighton is a set of two interlocking neighborhoods, Allston and Brighton, both part of the city of Boston, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Brown Arena</span> Sports arena in Boston, Massachusetts

Walter Brown Arena is a 3,806-seat multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Boston University Terriers women's ice hockey team and hosted the men's team before they moved to Agganis Arena. It is named in honor of Walter A. Brown, the original owner of the Boston Celtics, former president of the Boston Bruins and second manager of the Boston Garden. The arena is part of the Harold Case Physical Education Center, which includes Case Gym directly above the arena, as well as the former home of student recreation before the opening of the John Hancock Student Village. The building lies in the general area of the left field pavilion seats at the former Braves Field, whose right field pavilion and a portion of the field have been converted to neighboring Nickerson Field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schneider Arena</span>

Schneider Arena was named in honor of Rev. Herman D. Schneider, O.P., the founder of Providence College hockey and a longtime teacher at the school. It is located at the far northern end of campus, on the corner of Huxley Ave. and Admiral St., and is notable for the reflective energy-conserving ceiling that was installed in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallace Civic Center</span>

The George R. Wallace Jr. Civic Center, more commonly known as the Civic Center, is a 1,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Fitchburg, Massachusetts and has an end-stage concert capacity of 3,200. It hosts various local concerts and sporting events for the area. First opened in 1970, the Wallace Civic Center consists of the Gaetz Arena, the Landry Arena, a planetarium, and several multi-use banquet rooms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornell–Harvard hockey rivalry</span> Sports rivalry in mens ice hockey

The Cornell–Harvard hockey rivalry is a men's ice hockey sports rivalry between the Big Red of Cornell University and Crimson of Harvard University dating back to 1910.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Kirrane</span> American ice hockey player

John Joseph Kirrane Jr. was an American ice hockey player. Kirrane was a member of the United States 1948 Winter Olympics and 1960 Winter Olympics teams, winning the gold medal in 1960. He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987. Kirrane went on to serve 38 years with the Brookline, Massachusetts Fire Department and also spent 15 years as the rink manager of the Bright Hockey Center at Harvard University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England Sports Center</span> Ice-skating facility in Marlborough, Massachusetts

The New England Sports Center is a two-story, eight-rink ice-skating facility located in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Covering 22.3 acres (90,000 m2) of suburban land, the 220,000-square-foot (20,000 m2) building has over 65 locker rooms, a hockey pro shop, ice skate sharpening, ice skate rentals, function rooms, a full-service restaurant, and a snack bar. In addition to the eight full-size rinks, the facility has two miniature ice surfaces, Rinks 9 and 10. Host to the Haydenettes, home to the Skating Club of Boston Metrowest, the Minuteman Flames, Central Mass. Outlaws, and the Junior Bruins hockey teams, the New England Sports Center is noteworthy for having more ice-skating surfaces than any other arena in the New England area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey</span> Mens ice hockey team of Harvard University

The Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Harvard University. The Crimson are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at the Bright Hockey Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The Crimson hockey team is one of the oldest college ice hockey teams in the United States, having played their first game on January 19, 1898, in a 0–6 loss to Brown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Pride</span> Former womens professional ice hockey team in Boston

The Boston Pride were a professional women's ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They were one of the four charter franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). The Pride played at Warrior Ice Arena, which is also the practice facility for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. The Pride won the inaugural Isobel Cup in 2016 and became the first professional women's ice hockey team to win three championship titles when they claimed consecutive victories in 2021 and 2022.

The 2016–17 Boston Pride season was the second in franchise history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warrior Ice Arena</span> Ice hockey arena in Boston, Massachusetts

Warrior Arena is an ice hockey arena and practice facility in Brighton, Boston, Massachusetts. The arena is part of a larger mixed-use development being constructed by New Balance at Boston Landing that includes the headquarters of New Balance and that will also include shops, a hotel and the practice facility for both the Boston Bruins and a separate one for the Boston Celtics next door. The arena is named after New Balance's Warrior Sports brand, which is the brand New Balance uses for their hockey products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018–19 NWHL season</span> Sports season

The 2018–19 NWHL season is the fourth season of the National Women's Hockey League. All four teams from the previous three seasons returned: the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, and the Metropolitan Riveters while the Minnesota Whitecaps entered the league as an expansion team bringing the league to five teams.

The Skating Club of Boston Rink is an indoor ice skating venue located along the Charles River in the Boston suburbs. The rink was the home of the Skating Club of Boston for over 80 years and was also used as an ice hockey rink.

John P. Reardon is an American administrator who was the athletic director at Harvard from 1978 to 1990 and executive director of the Harvard Alumni Association from 1990 to 2014.

References

42°22′06″N71°07′38″W / 42.368342°N 71.127141°W / 42.368342; -71.127141