Former names | Boston Arena (1909–1982) |
---|---|
Location | 238 St. Botolph Street, Boston, Massachusetts |
Coordinates | 42°20′28″N71°5′4″W / 42.34111°N 71.08444°W |
Public transit | OrangeLine at Massachusetts Avenue GreenLine at Symphony |
Owner | Northeastern University |
Operator | Northeastern University |
Designation | National Register and Boston Landmark eliglible |
Capacity | Ice hockey: 4,666 Basketball: 5,066 [1] |
Surface | 200 ft × 90 ft (61 m × 27 m) (hockey) |
Construction | |
Broke ground | October 11, 1909 |
Opened | April 25, 1910 |
Tenants | |
Northeastern Huskies (Hockey East, CAA) (1930–1943, 1946–present) WIT Leopards (ECAC) (1992–present) Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey (independent/IHL/TL/QL/PL) (1911–1917, 1921–1943, 1945–1956) Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey (independent) (1917–1929, 1932–1943, 1945–1958) Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey (independent/ECAC) (1918–1943, 1945–1971) Boston Bruins (NHL) (1924–1928) Boston Tigers/Cubs (CAHL) (1926–1936) Boston Olympics (EAHL/QSHL) (1940–1952) Boston Celtics (NBA) (1946–1955) New England Whalers (WHA) (1972–1973) |
Matthews Arena (formerly Boston Arena) is a historic multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts currently owned by Northeastern University. At over 120 years old, is the world's oldest multi-purpose athletic building still in use, as well as the oldest arena in use for ice hockey. [2] There are current plans to demolish the historic arena and replace it with a new facility. [3]
It is the original home of the National Hockey League (NHL) Boston Bruins—the only team of the NHL's Original Six whose original home arena still exists for the sport of ice hockey; the WHA New England Whalers (now the NHL Carolina Hurricanes); and the NBA's Boston Celtics.
Today is used by the Northeastern Huskies men's and women's ice hockey teams, and men's basketball team as well as various high school ice hockey programs in the city of Boston. The venue also hosts Northeastern's graduation ceremonies, its annual Springfest concert, and other events.
Originally named the Boston Arena, groundbreaking took place on October 11, 1909. The 1896 United States skating champion Herbert S. Evans dug the first portion of earth. The arena was to have a capacity of 5,000 and was to be used for ice skating, curling, horse shows, and a variety of sporting events. [4] The arena had its own power plant, which powered the two 100-ton ice machines and all of the arena's lighting. Charles C. Abbey was the first president and treasurer of the Boston Arena Company and William T. Richardson was the building's first general manager. [5]
The arena was scheduled to open on Christmas Day 1909, but construction delays pushed back the opening until April 25, 1910. [4] The arena's inaugural event was an ice carnival to benefit the Sharon Sanatorium. Skating events were held throughout the day, including a performance by Irving Brokaw. The arena's first ice hockey game was won by the Harvard Freshmen hockey team, who defeated Newton High School, 4–0. The Harvard varsity squad played later that evening, losing to Crescent H. C., 1–0. [6] The Arena's original ice surface was larger than the current standard at 220-by-90-foot (67 m × 27 m). [7]
The first games of professional ice hockey at the Arena took place in March 1911 when a two-game $2,500 competition between two NHA teams, the Montreal Wanderers and the Ottawa Senators took place. [8] The Arena was the home ice for a number of amateur and college hockey teams, including the Boston Athletic Association, Boston Arenas, Westminster Hockey Club, Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, and MIT. [9] [10]
The Arena was destroyed by fire on December 18, 1918. [11] It was rebuilt, and the new facility opened January 1, 1921, with an ice show. [12]
The NHL's first US-based franchise, the Boston Bruins, made the Boston Arena their home from 1924 to 1928. Before the team began play, the Arena reduced its ice surface from 220 x 90 feet down to 200 x [13] 80 feet to conform to NHL regulations. This also allowed the Arena to add 1,000 seats. [14]
In 1927, Homer Loring, chairman of the Boston & Maine Railroad, announced that the construction of a new sports arena at their North Station facility. The Madison Square Garden Corporation signed a 25-year lease for the arena. [15] The Boston Garden opened in 1928 and replaced the Arena as the city's venue for premier boxing, wrestling, and track events. [16] The Bruins broke their contract the Arena to move to the Garden, which led to a legal battle between the two sides that ended in 1933, when Bruins owner Charles F. Adams agreed to pay the arena $54,000. [17] Boston Arena general manager George V. Brown was able to keep the venue running with college hockey and figure skating. [16]
The Garden ran their shows at a loss in order to keep events away from the Arena. [16] In 1934, the smaller Boston Arena Corporation, led by Henry G. Lapham, purchased a controlling interest in the Boston Garden. [18] In 1936, the Boston Garden-Arena Corporation bought out the remaining stock owned by the Madison Square Garden Corporation. [19]
In April 16, 1953, the Boston Garden-Arena Corporation sold the Boston Arena to Samuel L. Pinsly for $240,000. He planned on doubling the size of the building and converting it into a garment manufacturing facility, as the purchase agreement included a five-year ban on sports or events at building unless it was acquired by a government entity. [20] Three months later, the building was purchased by the Metropolitan District Commission for $280,000, which planned on using it for high school sports and other athletic events. [21] Francis Ouimet was named chairman of the MDC's Boston Arena Authority and Clark Hodder was named manager of the Arena. [22]
In 1975, the MDC offered to sell the Arena to the city of Boston for $450,000. [23] The city leased the building from the MDC pending completion of the purchase. The sale never took place and in 1977, the MDC leased the Arena at no cost to Northeastern University. [24] [25]
The Arena was purchased by Northeastern University on October 3, 1979. [26] The arena was known as Northeastern Arena until November 14, 1982, when it was renamed Matthews Arena in honor of the university's chairman emeritus George Matthews. [14]
A 1995 renovation expanded the ice surface from 200 by 80 to 200 by 90 feet (61 m × 24 m to 61 m × 27 m). [2]
In May 2024, Northeastern University filed a letter of intent to the Boston Planning & Development Agency to construct a new multi-purpose athletics facility designed that would tear down and replace the historic Matthews Arena. [27]
This came as concerns surrounding the structural integrity of Matthews Arena increased: scaffolding was erected to support the east end of the arena in 2024, part of the student section as well as the Varsity Club (home to the arena's only licensed bar) were closed, and the foundation, built on reclaimed land once part of a wharf, was found to be sinking. [28]
If the plans are approved by the Boston Planning & Development Agency, it will result in the loss of the oldest hockey arena in the United States, that was the first home of the Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, Carolina Hurricanes (then the New England Whalers) and numerous college hockey teams. [29]
On October 10, 1910, former president Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech before a crowd of 8,000 spectators. In it, he endorsed Governor Eben Sumner Draper and U.S. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge for reelection. Draper, who was present for the speech, spoke after Roosevelt. [30]
During the 1912 United States presidential campaign, the arena hosted a rally for President William Howard Taft and two rallies for the Bull Moose Party ticket, one headlined by presidential nominee Theodore Roosevelt and the other headlined by vice presidential nominee Hiram Johnson. [31] [32] [33] Herbert Hoover and Al Smith both delivered speeches here during the 1928 campaign. [34] [35] The Democratic Party hosted two large rallies at the arena during the 1932 presidential campaign, one headlined by Smith and the other headlined by presidential nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt. [36] Republican nominee Thomas E. Dewey spoke at the arena during his 1948 presidential campaign. [37]
Malcolm Nichols held a rally at the arena during his 1937 mayoral campaign. [38]
The Bruins played their first-ever NHL regular season game at the Arena on Monday, December 1, 1924. [39] [40] [41] with the Bruins' most historic rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens being initiated only one week later. [42] The Bruins left for the Boston Garden in 1928, but returned for one game in 1952 after a wooden awning in North Station collapsed and damaged some pipes in the Garden. The Detroit Red Wings beat the Bruins 4–3 in front of only 4,049 fans. [43]
In 1952, the Arena served as the first home to the annual Beanpot tournament between Boston's four major college hockey programs. [44] [45] From 1953 to 1970, it hosted the Boston Arena Christmas Tournament. The 1960 NCAA men's ice hockey tournament was held at the Boston Arena. [46]
From 1972 to 1974, the venue was home to the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association. [14]
In 1925, professional basketball made is debut at the Arena when the Boston Whirlwinds of the American Basketball League played their inaugural home game on November 30, 1925. Unable to meet its financial obligations, the team moved its games first to the Mechanics Hall and then to the Mount Benedict Knights of Columbus Hall in Somerville, Massachusetts. [14] The Arena was also home to the American Basketball League's Boston Trojans during their only season. [14]
On November 5, 1946, the Boston Celtics played their first ever game in front of 4,329 fans at the Boston Arena. [47] The team split its home games between the Garden and the Arena until 1955. [40] [48]
On May 4, 1958, the Boston Arena hosted a rock 'n' roll concert headlined by Alan Freed and Jerry Lee Lewis. After the show, one man was stabbed and a dozen others were robbed, which led to Mayor John Hynes declaring that he would not authorize anymore licenses for rock concerts and arena manager Paul Brown stating that "the next rock 'n' roll show at the Arena will be presented over my dead body". [49] [50] Freed charged with inciting a riot, but the case was dropped due to the death of the chief investigator and difficultly of bringing in witnesses from outside Massachusetts. [51]
The Doors were booked to perform two shows at the Boston Arena on April 10, 1970. The second concert did not begin until after midnight and went on for two hours before arena management turned off the power. Lead singer Jim Morrison, who appeared to be intoxicated during the entire latter show, wanted to continue and smashed a microphone stand into the floor before being escorted off the stage. [52] [53] The shows were released as a live album, Live in Boston , in 2007. [54]
Phish's New Year's Eve concert on December 31, 1992 was the band's highest attended concert to date and was broadcast live (and rebroadcast the following day) on WBCN. [55]
The arena has hosted receptions for Jess Willard (1915), Clarence Ransom Edwards (1918), Harry Boland (1921), Charles Lindbergh (1927), the crew of the Bremen (1928), and Amelia Earhart (1928). [56] [57] [58] [59] [60] [61]
For many years, the arena hosted Boston University's graduation ceremonies. Commencement speakers included Hamilton Holt, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Garfield Bromley Oxnam, Basil Joseph Mathews, Karl Taylor Compton, Roscoe Pound, George F. Zook, John Erskine, Alessandro Ghigi, Alf Landon, and Paul V. McNutt. [62] [63] [64] [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] [72]
Boston hosted the American Legion's 1940 national convention. The formal session was held at the Boston Arena and featured speeches from Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation J. Edgar Hoover, Governor Leverett Saltonstall, and Mayor Maurice J. Tobin. [73]
In 1946, the arena hosted the national encampment of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Future U.S. President John F. Kennedy was the general chairman of the convention. Speakers included fleet admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Governor Maurice J. Tobin, and Congressmen Joseph W. Martin Jr. and John W. McCormack. [74]
Paul Bowser, Price and Dellamano Promotions, and Tony Santos promoted wrestling cards at the arena. [75] [76] [77]
Boxing was once a mainstay at the arena and hosted bouts with Jack Sharkey and Marvelous Marvin Hagler. [78] [79]
In 1993, the arena hosted the funeral service for Boston Celtic captain and Northeastern alum Reggie Lewis. [80]
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.
The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference.
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 colour barrier in the NHL has led him to sometimes be 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.
TD Garden is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is located directly above the MBTA's North Station, and replaced the original Boston Garden upon opening in 1995. It is the most visited sports and entertainment arena in New England, as nearly 3.5 million people visit the arena each year.
New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN, is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group and Delaware North. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the network is primarily carried on cable providers throughout New England. NESN is also distributed nationally on satellite providers DirecTV and as NESN National via select cable providers.
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.
Weston Woollard Adams was an American hockey executive with the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Christopher John Nilan is an American former professional ice hockey player and former radio host. Nilan played 688 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season games as a right-wing for the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Boston Bruins between 1980 and 1992. He won the Stanley Cup in 1986 with Montreal.
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 player, and C. Kevin Landry, class of 1966, a donor to the Harvard athletic department.
Frederick Michael Cusick was an American ice hockey broadcaster who served as the Boston Bruins play-by-play announcer from 1971 until 1997 on WSBK-TV in Boston, and from 1984 until 1995 on NESN. Counting his radio broadcasts, he was a Bruins' announcer for an unprecedented 45 years and was an active sports announcer for over seven decades. He is best known for yelling "SCORE!" when a Boston player scored a goal.
Boston, Massachusetts, is home to several major professional sports franchises. They include the Red Sox (baseball), the Celtics, and the Bruins. The New England Patriots and the New England Revolution play at Gillette Stadium in nearby Foxborough, Massachusetts. Boston is one of eleven U.S. cities to have teams from the five major American professional team sports.
The 1924–25 Boston Bruins season was the team's first in the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with the Montreal Maroons, the Bruins were the first expansion franchise in the NHL and the league's first American-based club. The Bruins finished sixth and last in the league standings.
The 2009–10 NHL season was the 93rd season of operation of the National Hockey League (NHL). It ran from October 1, 2009—including four games in Europe on October 2 and 3—until April 11, 2010, with the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs running to June 9, 2010. A mid-season break from February 15 to February 28 occurred to allow participation of NHL players in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Because of the Winter Olympics break, there was no NHL All-Star Game for 2010. The Stanley Cup Finals saw the Chicago Blackhawks defeat the Philadelphia Flyers in six games, for their first championship since the 1960–61 season.
An ice hockey arena is a sport venue in which an ice hockey competition is held. Alternatively it is used for other sports such as broomball, ringette and rink bandy.
The 2016 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2016, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The eighth edition of the Winter Classic, it matched the Montreal Canadiens against the Boston Bruins; the Canadiens won, 5–1, a significant event in one of the NHL's best-known rivalries. A Bruins and Canadiens alumni game was also played on December 31, 2015. The Boston Pride women's professional hockey team played before the alumni game against Les Canadiennes of the Canadian Women's Hockey League to a 1–1 tie in the first 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic.
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.
Massachusetts, has been indispensable for ice hockey in the United States since the introduction of the sport in the late-19th century. No state in the union has more professional, collegiate or junior teams than the Bay State chiefly due to the consistent and long-standing support of the local fan bases.
The National Hockey League celebrates another historic anniversary...remembering the first NHL game played in the United States, as the Boston Bruins hosted the Montreal Maroons, both expansion teams, at the Boston Arena on Dec. 1, 1924.
The world champion Canadiens defeated Boston in a fast game here tonight, 4-3, incidentally giving 5,000 Boston hockey fans the best exhibition of the Canadian game on record here.