Capacity: 100,000
Opened: 1854
Owner: Victorian Government

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park in inner Melbourne, home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the largest stadium in Australia, and holds the world record for the highest light towers at any sporting venue. The MCG is within walking distance of the city centre, and is serviced by Richmond and Jolimont train stations.

Internationally, the MCG is remembered as the centrepiece stadium of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The open-air stadium is also one of the world’s most famous cricket venues, with the well-attended Boxing Day test match commencing on Boxing Day every year. Throughout the winter, it serves as the home of Australian rules football, with at least one game (though usually more) held there each round. In late September, the AFL Grand Final fills the stadium to capacity.

Until the 1970s, more than 120,000 people were sometimes crammed into the venue – the record crowd standing at around 130,000 for a Billy Graham religious event in 1959, followed by 121,696 for the 1970 VFL Grand Final. Renovations and safety regulations now limit the maximum capacity to just under 100,000.

The MCG, often referred to by locals as “The G”, has also hosted other major events, including International Rules between the Australian Football League and Gaelic Athletic Association, international Rugby union, State of Origin rugby league, FIFA World Cup qualifiers and International Friendly matches, and large rock concerts. When Madonna performed at the ground during her Girlie Show Tour in 1993, she dubbed it “The G Spot”.

Punt Road Oval, home of Richmond Football Club is located only a few hundred metres to the east of the stadium.

The MCG is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. During the lunch break at the 2005 Boxing Day Cricket Test, it was announced by then Australian Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello, that the MCG would be added to the Australian Heritage Register.

It is referred within Australia as the ‘Spiritual Home of Australian Sport’

Stadium development

The first grandstand at the MCG was the original wooden members’ stand built in 1854, while the first public grandstand was a 200-metre long 6000-seat temporary structure built in 1861. Another grandstand seating 2000 and facing one way to the cricket ground and the other way to the park where football was played, was built in 1876 for the 1877 visit of James Lillywhite’s English cricket team. It was during this tour that the first Test Match was played.

In 1881 the original members’ stand was sold to the Richmond Cricket Club for £55. A new brick stand, considered at the time to be the world’s finest cricket facility, was built in its place. The foundation stone was laid by Prince George of Wales and Prince Albert Victor on July 4 and the stand opened in December that year. It was also in 1881 that a telephone was installed at the ground, and the wickets and goal posts were changed from an east-west orientation to north-south. In 1882 a scoreboard was built which showed details of the batsman’s name and how he was dismissed.

When the Lillywhite tour stand burnt down in 1884 it was replaced by a new stand which seated 450 members and 4500 public. In 1897 second storey wings were added to ‘The Grandstand’, as it was known, increasing capacity to 9,000 and in 1900 it was lit with electric light.

More stands were built in the early 20th Century. An open wooden stand was on the south side of the ground in 1904 and the 2084-seat Grey Smith Stand (known as the New Stand until 1912) was erected for members in 1906. The 4000-seat Harrison Stand on the ground’s southern side was built in 1908 followed by the 8000-seat Wardill Stand in 1912. In the 15 years after 1897 the stand capacity at the ground increased to nearly 20,000.

In 1927 the second brick members’ stand was replaced by the present Pavillion at a cost of £60,000. The Harrison and Wardill Stands were demolished in 1936 to make way for the Southern Stand which was completed in 1937. The Southern Stand seated 18,200 under cover and 13,000 in the open and was the main public area of the MCG. It was where the famous Bay 13 was located, the MCG’s equivalent to The Hill at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The Northern (Olympic) Stand replaced the old Grandstand for the 1956 Olympic Games and ten years later the Grey Smith Stand and the open concrete stand next to it were replaced by the Western (now Ponsford) Stand.

On 3 March 1967 the Duke of Edinburgh laid a foundation stone for a new Western Stand, which was completed in 1968 (known as the Ponsford Stand after 1986).

The MCG was the home of Australia’s first full colour video scoreboard which replaced the old scoreboard in 1982. In 1985 light towers were installed at the ground, allowing for night football and day-night cricket games.

In 1988 inspections of the old Southern Stand found concrete cancer and provided the opportunity to replace the increasingly run-down 50-year-old facility. The projected cost of $100 million was outside what the Melbourne Cricket Club could afford so the Victorian Football League took the opportunity to part fund the project in return for a 30-year deal to share the ground. The new Great Southern Stand was completed in 1992 at a final cost of $150 million.

The 1928 Members’ stand, as well as the 1956 Olympic stand and the 1968 Ponsford stand were demolished in late 2002. They were replaced with a new structure in time for Melbourne to host the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Despite now standing as a single unbroken stand, the individual sections retain the names of Ponsford, Olympic and Members Stands. The redevelopment cost exceeded AUD$400 million and pushed the grounds capacity over the 100,000 mark (when standing room is taken into account). Since redevelopment, the highest attendance was the 2007 First Preliminary Final of the AFL with 98,002. This was also the first time since the 2000 AFL Grand Final that the MCC Members’ Reserve has filled to capacity.

Olympic Games

The MCG’s most famous moment in history was as the main stadium for the 1956 Olympic Games. The MCG was only one of seven possible venues, including the Melbourne Showgrounds, for the Games’ main arena. The MCG was the Federal Government’s preferred venue but there was resistance from the MCG Board. The inability to decide on the central venue nearly caused the Games to be moved from Melbourne. Prime Minister Robert Menzies recognised the potential embarrassment to Australia if this happened and organised a three-day summit meeting to thrash things out. Attending was Victorian Premier John Cain, the Prime Minister, deputy opposition leader Arthur Calwell, all State political leaders, civic leaders, Olympic officials and trustees and officials of the MCG. Convening the meeting was no small effort considering the calibre of those attending and that many of the sports officials were only part-time amateurs.

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Capacity: 56,347 (AFL), 74,000
Opened: 2000
Operator: Melbourne Stadiums Limited
Construction cost: $250 million AUD
Architect: Daryl Jackson Architects

The Telstra Dome is a stadium in the developing Docklands precinct of Melbourne, Australia, that caters for both sporting and entertainment events. The stadium opened on March 9, 2000, as Colonial Stadium. The name was changed to Telstra Dome on October 1, 2002 when the telecommunications company Telstra acquired the naming rights.

The stadium was developed as a replacement for Waverley Park. The Seven Network previously owned the stadium, but on June 21, 2006 sold its interests to James Fielding Funds Management for $AUD 330 million. In 2020 the network was meant to hand the stadium to the AFL.

Like Waverley, it was built specifically for Australian rules football, unlike most grounds that were originally designed for cricket. Along with cricket, rugby league, rugby union and many events (concerts, world wrestling fight, etc) have been held there, although it is predominately used for football. Telstra Dome is currently used as a home ground by Carlton, Essendon, The Kangaroos, St Kilda, and the Western Bulldogs.

The non-commercial name for the venue is Docklands Stadium, which is named for its location in Melbourne Docklands. The name is used primarily by those who wish to mention stadiums by their non-commercial names, such as non-commercial organisations like the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Features:

* Retractable roof
* Movable seating
* ‘Colosseum’ arena structure
* Two large internal replay screens
* External Super screen
* 1,000 video seats
* 13 Function Rooms
* 66 Corporate Boxes
* 2,500 Car parks below the venue
* Turf playing surface of 19,053 square metres (170m x 140m)
* Over 700 2000-watt lights for arena illumination
* A varying capacity of 12,000 – 74,000
* An AFL capacity of 56,347

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Latest Vancouver Canucks News

General Motors Place, sponsored by the American automaker General Motors, also known as “GM Place” and “The Garage”, is an indoor arena at 800 Griffiths Way in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Completed in 1995 at a cost of C$160 million in private financing, the arena is home to the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL, and was formerly home to the Vancouver Ravens of the NLL and the Vancouver Grizzlies of the NBA.

	Capacity		18,630
	Opened		1995
	Owner & Operator		Francesco Aquilini and John McCaw
	Construction cost		C$160 million
	Architect		Brisbin, Brook and Beynon
	Location		800 Griffiths Way, Vancouver, British Columbia K2V 1A5

The Grizzlies have since moved to Memphis and the Ravens organization has folded. The arena seats 18,630 for ice hockey and 19,193 for basketball. It has 88 luxury suites, 12 hospitality suites, and 2,195 club seats. The arena replaced the Pacific Coliseum as the main venue for events in Vancouver.

On November 17, 2004, Francesco Aquilini, head of the Aquilini Investment Group based in Vancouver, signed a deal with John McCaw, owner of the Vancouver Canucks, and became a 50% owner of the team and General Motors Place with McCaw.

In 2006 GM Place was renovated to include a new LCD scoreboard and an around the rink “energy strip” consisting of LED panels.

The arena is served by the Skytrain’s Stadium-Chinatown Station.

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Latest Tampa Bay Lightning News

The St. Pete Times Forum is an arena in Tampa, Florida that is used for hockey games, basketball games, arena football games, and concerts. The Forum opened in 1996 as the ‘Ice Palace’. The arena was built as a new home for the Lightning to replace Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, which was then known as the Thunderdome. Upon the completion of the Ice Palace, both the Lightning and the Tampa Bay Storm, also a tenant of the Thunderdome, moved in and have made it their home since then.

	Capacity		19,500
	Opened		October 20, 1996
	Owner		William Davidson
	Operator		Palace Sports and Entertainment
	Construction cost		$139 million
	Architect		Ellerbe Becket
	Location		401 Channelside Drive, Tampa, Florida 33602

The venue, located in Downtown Tampa’s Channel District was a secondary location chosen after the failure of Tampa Coliseum Inc. to secure funding to construct an arena on Tampa Sports Authority land near Tampa Stadium.

The St. Pete Times Forum officially opened on October 20, 1996, as the Lightning hosted the New York Rangers. The Lightning were victorious in the game by a score of 5-2.

Control of the venue has changed hands three times since the building’s opening in 1996. The lease agreement ties the arena to the ownership of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Currently Palace Sports and Entertainment (owned by billionaire William Davidson) operate the venue, and have held control since summer 1999 when Davidson purchased the Lightning from then-owner Art Williams.
St. Pete Times Forum.

Naming rights to the Ice Palace were sold to the St. Petersburg Times, a daily newspaper which circulates throughout the Tampa Bay area. Other entertainment events occasionally held in the Forum include concerts, NBA exhibition games, USF Basketball and NCAA Tournament games, tennis, professional wrestling, boxing, figure skating, and rodeos.

The building played host to the 1999 NHL All-Star Game, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Survivor Series 2000, and first and second round games of the 2003 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The Forum also played host to 4 of the 7 games during the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, as the Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames 4 games to 3 to win their first Stanley Cup.

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Latest St. Louis Blues News

The Scottrade Center (formerly Kiel Center and Savvis Center) is a 20,000 seat arena located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, opened in 1994. It is nicknamed “The House that Brett Hull Built”. It is the home of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues ice hockey team. The Scottrade Center is respected as one of the louder NHL arenas due to several factors including the 9-second foghorn blast after every Blues’ goal followed by an organ rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In”.

Besides ice hockey, the arena features a range of arena programming, including professional wrestling, concerts, ice shows, family shows, and other sporting events. It hosts approximately 175 events per year, drawing nearly 2 million guests annually. For the first quarter 2006, Scottrade Center ranked second among arenas in the United States and fourth worldwide in tickets sold. Pollstar, a highly respected industry trade publication, consistently ranks Scottrade Center among the top 10 arenas worldwide in tickets sold to non-team events.

The most people to ever attend an event at the Scottrade Center was 22,612, which happened twice during the 2007 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, known as Arch Madness.

The arena is frequently selected by the NCAA for championship events, and played host to the NCAA Frozen Four Hockey Championships in April 2007, and will host the NCAA Wrestling Championships in 2008 and 2009 and the NCAA Women’s Final Four Basketball Championships in 2009.

The building is operated by Sports Capital Partners, owner of the St. Louis Blues, under the leadership of its chairman, Dave Checketts. Major capital improvements being made to the arena under its new leadership include a new center scoreboard and LED ribbon board, luxurious new club seats and a point-of-sale system permitting credit and debit cards at concession stands for faster service.

History

Kiel Center opened in 1994 to replace Kiel Auditorium, where the college basketball team had played, which was torn down in December 1992. The Blues had played in the St. Louis Arena prior to moving into Kiel Center in 1994. The building is currently known as Scottrade Center, after naming rights were sold in September 2006 to Scottrade (the St. Louis based online investment firm and discount brokerage). The Kiel name still exists on the adjoining parking structure and the building cornerstone, the closed Opera House on the north side of the property facing Market Street. Signs for the nearby metrolink stop have been changed to read civic center since the building has been renamed three times in its short history.

(The Opera House portion of the building was not razed when the original Auditorium was but has remained closed for fifteen years, as members of Civic Progress, Inc. who promised to pay for the renovation of the Opera House have reneged on that promise, while opposing all outside efforts to achieve that renovation independently of themselves.)

Blues management decried its former naming-rights deal with tech company SAVVIS, as many of the monies paid out were in Savvis shares, then riding high. However, when the tech bubble burst, the team was left with almost nothing, and ended up losing money on the deal. Scottrade fixed that problem by paying its deal all in cash.

In September 2006, Scottrade founder Rodger O. Riney announced a landmark partnership with the St. Louis Blues hockey club and arena. The new name of the arena, Scottrade Center, was revealed in a joint press conference. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but were described as “long-term and significant.” Both Scottrade and the Blues said the agreement was “equitable” to both parties.

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Latest San Jose Sharks News

The HP Pavilion, commonly called The Shark Tank or just The Tank after its primary tenant or less often as San Jose Arena after its former name, is an indoor arena located at 525 West Santa Clara Street in San Jose, California.

	Capacity		16,000-20,000 (depending on sport)
	Opened		1993
	Owner & Operator		City of San Jose
	Construction cost		$162.5 million USD
	Architect		Sink Combs Dethlefs, Huber, Hunt & Nichols
	Location		525 West Santa Clara Street, San Jose, California 95113

The arena opened in 1993 as the San Jose Arena. Before the building changed its original name because of corporate sponsorship, Sharks radio play-by-play broadcaster Dan Rusanowsky always referred to it as the “spectacular” San Jose Arena. Later, naming rights were sold to Compaq, and the facility became Compaq Center at San Jose; the geographic identifier was needed because at the time, there was a Compaq Center in Houston. After HP purchased Compaq in 2002, the company chose to name the arena after its product.

The facility has also been home to the Golden State Warriors of the NBA during reconstruction of the Oakland Coliseum Arena, and the defunct San Jose Rhinos of RHI, San Jose Grizzlies of the CISL, and the San Jose Lasers of the ABL. It has also been used for other sporting events, such as the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the NCAA Basketball tournament (known as March Madness), the Pac-10 women’s basketball championship, the Dew Action Sports Tour, and the SAP Open men’s tennis tournament.

The arena is one of the most active NHL venues. Of the current arenas in the league, “The Tank” is one of the more intimate and arguably, the noisest hockey venue since the Chicago Stadium. It hosts an average of 190 events a year, including many non-sporting events. For the nine month period ending September 30, 2004, the HP Pavilion sold the most tickets to non-sporting events of any venue in the United States, and the third highest in the world. HP Pavilion has had problems with the quality of the ice during Sharks games due to the mild, moist air in San Jose.

The arena has also hosted it’s share of wrestling events, in particular WWE. WWE (then known as the WWF) hosted the 1998 Royal Rumble and in 2001 hosted WWE’s (then known as WWF) summer event SummerSlam. In 2007, it will host WWE Judgment Day.

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Latest Pittsburgh Penguins News

The Mellon Arena (known as Pittsburgh Civic Arena from 1961-1999, also informally known as “The Igloo”) is an indoor arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is home to the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and was formerly home to the Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL, Pittsburgh Pipers and Pittsburgh Condors of the ABA and Pittsburgh Spirit of the MISL, among others. The arena currently seats 16,958 for ice hockey, standing room only of 17,138, with 56 luxury suites and 1,696 club seats.

Capacity: 17,537
Opened: September 19, 1961
Owner: City of Pittsburgh
Surface: Ice Parquet/AstroTurf
Construction cost: $22 million (USD)
Architect: Mitchell and Ritchey
Location: 66 Mario Lemieux Place, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

The arena is currently the oldest one in use in the NHL, completed in 1961 at a cost of $22 million. Oddly enough, the stadium was not originally intended for sports, but primarily to host the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, which had previously performed at Pitt Stadium, but had tired of having performances rained out. The building was – and remains – unique, and well ahead of its time. It was built with a retractable dome made of six stainless steel panels, five of which would shift under the sixth in two and a half minutes when the weather was sufficiently pleasant.

The Civic Light Opera did not stay in the building long, however, as it became clear that the acoustics were too poor for its use, and it left by 1968. The AHL’s Hornets were replaced by the expansion Penguins in 1967. The stadium was gradually expanded, with renovations in 1975 and 1993 adding balconies at each end and building luxury suites and club seating, increasing the overall seating from 12,000 to over 17,000. The 1995 addition of a new scoreboard, though, robbed the stadium of its signature element – the roof can no longer be opened and closed completely.

That same year, the facility hosted World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) SummerSlam. Mellon Arena has gone on to host other WWE Pay-Per-View events, including King of the Ring in 1998, Unforgiven in 2001, and No Way Out in 2005. The WWE’s visits over the years resulted in a record attendance for Mellon Arena, 18,150.

In recent years, the age of the arena has been a problem. Any visitor to the arena soon realizes that the old building has seen its better years. For fans, it is quite uncomfortable and lacks the amenities of modern venues. Over the years, additions and renovations to the arena not initially envisioned have contributed to the arena’s unusual layout. For example, in the highest lower level seats, in certain areas, nothing more than a green tarp and chain link fence serve as a back wall, preventing fans from falling to the main concourse below. In either “end zone” of the arena, the lower level seats furthest from the floor have their view obstructed by the overhanging upper level balconies, requiring the aid of televisions installed in the ceiling to see the action. On March 19, 2006 during a hockey game between the Penguins and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the arena suffered blackouts, caused by electrical fires on off-site grounds, forcing the game to be delayed (although this problem was likely unrelated to the arena’s age). Furthermore, various seats in the arena must be covered with a tarp, due to leaky sections of the roof.

For the Penguins, the primary tenant, the old arena is too costly and does not produce enough revenue to keep the team profitable. The arena has also been unable to attract other events, such as music concerts, to Pittsburgh. The Penguins are currently in danger of moving the franchise from Pittsburgh if a new arena cannot be built before the team’s lease with the arena expires. The chances of the city keeping its hockey franchise hinges on a gambling proposition by Isle of Capri Casinos. The plan proposes the company, if awarded a license to build slots in the city of Pittsburgh, would contribute an estimated $290 million towards building a new arena. Penguins fans are providing local support for the Isle of Capri’s plan in an effort to keep their team in Pittsburgh.

The arena has previously hosted NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games, six Atlantic Ten Conference men’s basketball tournaments (1978-83), and until the construction of the Petersen Events Center, was the alternate home court of the University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball teams. From its inception it has been an alternate home court for the Duquesne University men’s basketball team, and was used as their primary home from 1965 to 1988. Beginning in November 2005, the Pittsburgh Xplosion basketball team will play at both arenas.

The arena was also the setting for the 1995 Jean Claude Van Damme action film Sudden Death, which was set during a fictional Game 7 Stanley Cup Final. One notable point about the movie is that the climax featured the roof being opened during the hockey game (surprisingly, without any of the fans noticing). However, the roof had been disabled from opening for years, and was never even opened for a hockey game. The roof was opened, however, during part of Arena Bowl I, marking the only time in AFL history that a game was played in an open-air environment.

As of 2008, Mellon Arena is the oldest arena in the NHL. The Penguins franchise agreed to a deal with city and state officials to fund a new home arena for the franchise in March 2007. The Consol Energy Center will be located across the street from the site of Mellon Arena and will have a higher seating capacity. It is expected to open for the 2010–11 NHL season, at which point the Mellon Arena is scheduled for demolition.

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Latest Phoenix Coyotes News

Jobing.com Arena (formerly Glendale Arena) is an indoor arena located in Glendale, Arizona, just outside of Phoenix, Arizona. It is home to the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL and the Arizona Sting of the NLL. Completed in 2003, the arena cost $180 million. It seats 17,500 for hockey and lacrosse. Jobing.com Arena sits across the street from University of Phoenix Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.

	Capacity		17,653
	Opened		2003
	Owner		City of Glendale
	Operator		City of Glendale
	Construction cost		$180 million
	Architect		HOK Sport
	Location		9400 West Maryland Avenue, Glendale, Arizona 85305

The arena is part of the much larger Westgate City Center development, which is going to be an entertainment and retail hub located around the arena; a 320-room Renaissance Hotel and Conference Center was recently completed.

History

The arena’s construction broke ground in 2002, and the Coyotes moved into the arena a year later in late 2003. The team had spent its first several seasons since relocating from Winnipeg in 1996 in the America West Arena (now the US Airways Center) in downtown Phoenix. The AWA was not an old arena (it had made its debut as the new home of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns only four years earlier, in 1992) but it was primarily designed for NBA basketball. It was quickly retrofitted for hockey. However, the arena floor was just barely large enough to fit a regulation hockey rink, and several seats had badly obstructed views. As a result, before the team’s second season in Phoenix, it had to be cut down from over 18,000 seats to just over 16,000–the second-smallest capacity in the NHL at the time, until the Colorado Avalanche moved into the Pepsi Center in 1999 and the Toronto Maple Leafs moved to Air Canada Centre later in the season; after that point, America West Arena was the smallest NHL venue. A small section of seats on the lower level actually hung over the boards, obstructing the views from 3,000 seats. In addition, an unfavorable lease caused financial problems from which the Coyotes have still not recovered.

When the Coyotes were sold to a partnership led by Steve Ellman, that group committed to building a new arena in suburban Glendale. Originally promised to open in 2001, “Glendale Arena” opened midway through the 2003-04 season, on December 26th, 2003, with the Arizona Sting of the National Lacrosse League defeating the Vancouver Ravens, 16-12. The first NHL game was held the next evening, as the Coyotes dropped a 3-1 decision to the Nashville Predators on December 27, 2003.

Jobing.com Arena was expected to gain the 2009 NHL All-Star Game after losing the 2006 All-Star Game because of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement ratification in the National Hockey League, however the Montreal Canadiens and their arena Bell Centre were rewarded the 2009 All-Star Game. Under the terms of the new agreement, the All-Star Game would not be held during the year of the Winter Olympics for players to participate in the Winter Olympics. Philips Arena in Atlanta, which lost the All-Star Game in 2005 because of the lockout, has been awarded the 2008 All-Star Game.

Beginning in 2005, Jobing.com Arena has been host to the Arizona state high school basketball, volleyball, wrestling and cheerleading tournaments in a mega-event called “February Frenzy”, as the result of a formal agreement between the city of Glendale and the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA).

The Arizona Sting announced they would not play in 2008, electing to return to the National Lacrosse League for the 2009 season.

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Latest Ottawa Senators News

Scotiabank Place (Place Banque Scotia in French) is an arena in Ottawa, Ontario and home to the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. When it was completed, the arena seated 18,500 people for hockey. The arena is located in the former city of Kanata, which was amalgamated into Ottawa in 2000. Its capacity was expanded to 19,311 during the locked out season of 2004-05.

Capacity: 20,004
Opened: January 15, 1996
Owner: Eugene Melnyk
Operator: Live Nation
Construction cost: C$200 million
Architect: Rossetti Associates Architects
Location: 1000 Palladium Drive, Kanata, Ontario K2V 1A5

For several years after the Senators’ franchise was granted, the team had trouble securing financing for the construction of an arena. The team received no financial help from the provincial government, including a refusal to pay for a new highway interchange to serve the proposed arena site. Despite the lack of financing, a ground-breaking ceremony was held in June 1992. On August 17, 1993, Bruce Firestone, the original Senators’ owner, resigned after missing mortgage and development payments and was replaced by Rod Bryden, a former high tech tycoon. A year later, Bryden managed to borrow enough to pay for the $188 million arena. Unfortunately this debt proved too much for the Senators’ organization to handle, and the club declared bankruptcy in 2003. However, on August 26, 2003, billionaire businessman Eugene Melnyk finalized a deal to purchase both the Senators and the arena.

Although widely acknowledged as a well-designed arena, it has been criticized in the years since construction for being difficult to reach. It is located in the far west-end of Ottawa, which puts it at a fair distance from some parts of the National Capital Region, especially from the east-end of Ottawa or from the Outaouais. Difficulties are compounded by frequent traffic congestion at game time. Another problem is the isolation of the arena from many restaurants and bars, which makes it difficult for celebrations to continue naturally after the game as in many other more centrally located arenas.

The arena, originally called “The Palladium”, opened on January 15, 1996 with a concert by Canadian rocker Bryan Adams. The first NHL game took place two days later, with the Montreal Canadiens defeating the Senators 3-0. A month later, the Corel Corporation, an Ottawa software company, signed a 20-year deal to purchase the naming rights for the Palladium, thus rebranding it as the “Corel Centre”. On January 13, 2006 the arena became known as Scotiabank Place after reaching a new 15 year naming agreement with the bank.

On December 30, 2004 the arena hosted the largest attended crowd ever witnessed in the Ontario Hockey League at 20,081 as the Ottawa 67’s were defeated by the Kingston Frontenacs. This came as a result of the arena seating capacity being expanded by 2,000 seats.

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Latest New York Islanders News

The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, commonly known as Nassau Coliseum (or simply The Coliseum), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, on Long Island. The Coliseum is 19 miles (30 km) from New York City. It is home to the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League and the New York Dragons of the Arena Football League.

Capacity: 16,234
Opened: 1972
Owner: Nassau County, New York
Operator: SMG Management
Construction cost: $31 million (USD)

The Coliseum occupies 63 acres (255,000 m²) of Mitchel Field, site of a former Army and Air Force base.

The New York Raiders, intended by the fledging World Hockey Association to be their flagship franchise, was initially slated to play in the brand-new Nassau Coliseum. However, Nassau County didn’t consider the WHA a professional league and wanted nothing to do with the Raiders. Nassau County retained William Shea to get an NHL team to play in the new building. The NHL responded by hastily awarding a franchise to Long Island–the New York Islanders, which forced the Raiders to play in the Madison Square Garden under the shadow of the New York Rangers.

The Coliseum was home of the New York Saints National Lacrosse League team from 1998-2003, but the Saints became an inactive team in 2004. Earlier, the Coliseum had hosted the New York Arrows and later the New York Express of the original Major Indoor Soccer League. Before that, the Coliseum had been home to the New York (now New Jersey) Nets basketball team from 1972-1977, the 1976-77 season their first in the NBA after spending time in the American Basketball Association. The Coliseum has also hosted first and second round games of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, most recently in 2001.

The Coliseum is also used for concerts and large exhibitions and shows of various kinds, as well as trade shows (44,000 square feet at the main arena, 60,000 at the Expo Center). Long Island native Billy Joel is one of the Coliseum’s most prolific tenants, holding multiple shows at his hometown arena over the course of his tours. For a time in the mid-nineties, he even had his own “retired number” banner, along with those of Islander greats, hanging from the rafters to commemorate his many Coliseum sellouts.

The Nassau Coliseum opened in 1972 and previously hosted minor league hockey prior to the awarding of the Islanders franchise, a gimmick brought back in 2005, when the Islanders-affiliated Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) played two “home games” at the Coliseum in the absence of NHL hockey due to the lockout. It originally had a capacity of 12,000 to 15,000 depending upon the event, but in the early 1980s the maximum capacity was increased to around 18,000. Currently it seats 16,234 for hockey, up to 17,760 for concerts and 17,686 for boxing and wrestling.

The Coliseum is currently the third-oldest arena in active use by an NHL team, and is generally considered to be obsolete. In late September 2004, Islanders ownership announced a very ambitious project to renovate the Coliseum and add housing units (including affordable housing units) and an adjacent tower, at a projected overall cost of approximately $200 million.

Despite the obvious flaws of the outdated facility, the Coliseum is still considered to be one of the toughest arenas for opposing players, primarily because of the intensity of the crowd noise that echoes around the interior. For example, during the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in 2002, in which the Islanders squared off against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Islanders won all three games played at home in a series dominated by the Leafs’ home-ice advantage; had the deciding game seven been held at the Coliseum, many believe that the Islanders would have advanced.

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Latest Nashville Predators News

Sommet Center (formerly Nashville Arena and Gaylord Entertainment Center and pronounced soh-MAY’) is an all-purpose venue in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, that was completed in 1996.

Capacity: 20,000
Opened: 1996
Owner: Sports Authority of Nashville and Davidson County
Operator: Powers Management Company
Architect: HOK Sport
Location: 501 Broadway, Nashville, Tennessee 37203

Sommet Center is owned by the Sports Authority of Nashville and Davidson County and operated by Powers Management Company, a subsidiary of the Nashville Predators National Hockey League franchise, which has been its primary tenant since 1998. The Predators hosted the NHL Entry Draft here in 2003.

In 1997, it was the venue of the United States Figure Skating Association national championships, and in 2004 hosted the U.S. Gymnastics championships. It was the home of the Nashville Kats franchise of the Arena Football League from 1997 until 2001, and hosted the team’s revival from 2005 to 2007, when the Kats folded.

The venue has also hosted numerous concerts and religious gatherings, and some major basketball events, including both men’s (2001, 2006, 2010) and women’s tournaments of the Southeastern Conference and the Ohio Valley Conference.

In odd-numbered years, The arena was regularly one of eight sites to host the first and second rounds of the men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament for the first ten years of its existence, though it has been taken out of the rotation through at least 2011, partly due to the obselete octagonal mid-1990s-style scoreboard that hung above the arena floor. It was replaced in the summer of 2007 by a new $5 million scoreboard and digital control room.

In July of 2001, the arena hosted the International Convention and Contests of the Barbershop Harmony Society, with the quartet Michigan Jake and the chorus New Tradition taking home gold medals. The center will once again host these contests in July of 2008.

Sommet Center has a seating capacity of 17,113 for ice hockey, approximately 20,000 for basketball, 10,000 for half-house concerts, 18,500 for end-stage concerts and 20,000 for center-stage concerts, depending on the configuration used. It has also hosted several professional wrestling events since its opening.

The seating configuration is notable for the oddly-shaped south end, which features two large round roof support columns, no mid-level seating, and only one level of suites, bringing the upper level seats much closer to the floor.

The arena can be converted into the 5,145-seat Music City Theater, used for theater concerts and Broadway and family shows, by placing a stage at the north end of the arena floor and hanging a curtain behind the stage and another to conceal the upper deck. The arena also features 43,000 square feet (4,000 m²) of space in a trade show layout.

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Latest Montreal Canadiens News

Capacity: 21,273
Opened: March 16, 1996
Owner: George N. Gillett Jr.
Construction cost: $230 million
Former name: Molson Centre (1996-2002)

The Bell Centre, formerly known as the Molson Centre, has been the home of the Montreal Canadiens since March 16, 1996, when the team departed from the historic Montreal Forum after their last game on March 11 of the same year. Rumoured to have a brewery in the basement. Construction began on the site on June 22, 1993. The name of the arena initially reflected Molson, Inc., a brewing company which owned a large share of the Canadiens at the time. Molson elected not to keep the naming rights when they sold the team, and the name officially changed on September 1, 2002 after Bell Canada acquired the naming rights.

The building covers an area of 15,680 square metres (168,778 sq. ft). It is located in downtown Montreal, connected to Lucien-L’Allier metro stations and to the underground city; the Lucien-L’Allier commuter train station is incorporated into the building. It has the largest seating capacity of any amphitheatre in the NHL with a seating capacity of 21,273.

In addition to hockey, the Bell Centre also hosts a number of other events throughout the year including concerts, boxing, professional wrestling, and more. On November 9, 1997, the infamous Montreal Screwjob Survivor Series involving Bret Hart, Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels took place at the Bell Centre.

The following numbers are retired by the Canadiens and hang from the rafters:

* 1 Jacques Plante October 7, 1995
* 2 Doug Harvey October 26, 1995
* 4 Jean Beliveau October 9, 1971
* 5 Bernie “Boom-Boom” Geoffrion March 11, 2006
* 7 Howie Morenz November 2, 1937
* 9 Maurice “The Rocket” Richard October 6, 1960
* 10 Guy Lafleur February 16, 1985
* 12 Dickie Moore and Yvan Cournoyer November 12, 2005
* 16 Henri Richard December 10, 1975

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Latest Minnesota Wild News

Xcel Energy Center is a sports arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA sponsored by Xcel Energy. It is the home ice of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. It contains four spectator levels: one suite level, and three general seating levels named the 100 level, the St. Paul Club level, and the 200 level.

	Capacity		18,834
	Opened		2000
	Owner		City of St. Paul, MN
	Operator		Minnesota Sports & Entertainment
	Construction cost		$130 million USD
	Architect		HOK Sport

Its official capacity is 18,834, but on October 5, 2005, it set a record for attendance at a Minnesota hockey game at 19,398. The city of Saint Paul owns the arena. It opened in the fall of 2000 and it is called the “X” by fans. It was built on the site of the demolished St. Paul Civic Center. In 2004, the arena was named by ESPN as the best overall sports venue in the United States.

The “X” is the current site of the Minnesota Boys’ High School Hockey Tournament. It hosted the 2002 NCAA Frozen Four and will do so again in 2011.

In addition, Xcel Energy Center is regularly sold out for musical concerts. The National Lacrosse League’s Minnesota Swarm began regular season play in the arena in January, 2005.

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Latest Florida Panthers News

The BankAtlantic Center (formerly known as the Broward County Civic Arena, the National Car Rental Center and the Office Depot Center) is an indoor arena located in Sunrise a suburb west of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The arena is accessible off of the Sawgrass Expressway at the Oakland Park Boulevard exit.

The arena is home to the Florida Panthers of the NHL and formerly the Florida Pit Bulls of the ABA. The arena was completed in 1998 at a cost of $212 million, almost entirely publicly financed. The building seats 19,250 for ice hockey, 20,737 for basketball, between 15,207 and 21,371 for end-stage concerts, and 22,457 for center-stage concerts, boxing and wrestling such as Bash at the Beach ‘99, Armageddon ‘99 and Armageddon 2002. The arena features 70 suites and 2,300 club seats.

The building can also be used for trade shows (offering 17,000 square feet of arena floor space) and other events including circuses and ice shows. It is the Miami-Fort Lauderdale site of many major arena concert tours.

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Latest Edmonton Oilers News

Rexall Place (formerly known as the Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton Coliseum and Skyreach Centre) is an indoor arena in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The arena is home to the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL) and Edmonton Rush of the National Lacrosse League (NLL).

	Capacity		16,839
	Opened		1974
	Owner		City of Edmonton
	Operator		Northlands Park

Beginning in 2007-08, Rexall will also host a Western Hockey League team owned by the Oilers. The arena was completed in 1974 as the Northlands Coliseum to house the World Hockey Association Oilers. Then it became the Edmonton Coliseum in 1995, and Skyreach Centre in 1998, before it changed to its current name during the middle of the 2003-04 NHL season.

The official capacity for hockey is 16,839, which is slightly less than the 17,100 the arena held before the 2003-04 NHL season. Some media sources still quote the old capacity even though the Oilers have never announced an attendance above 16,839 since the most recent changes. Rexall Place includes 66 luxury suites. The arena is currently named for Rexall products, a subsidiary of Katz Group Canada which purchased the naming rights in December 2003.

A large bronze statue of Canadian hockey icon and former Oilers Captain Wayne Gretzky is situated outside of Rexall Place.

The arena is the only one in the NHL in which the players walk through a fan concourse, adjacent to the club bar, to get to the ice. This stretch of walkway, where fans will line up and yell encouragement to the Oilers, has been dubbed “The Green Mile” by players, comparing it to the stretch of walkway a condemned criminal goes down to the executioner.

The venue was the site of several Commonwealth Games sports in 1978, part of Universiade (the World University Games) in 1983, and WWE Backlash in 2004. Annual events include the Canadian Finals Rodeo and the Christian Conference, YC Alberta, Canada’s largest Christian youth gathering.

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Latest Detroit Red Wings News

Joe Louis Arena, nicknamed Hockeytown, The Joe, and JLA, is a hockey arena located at 600 Civic Center Drive in Detroit, Michigan. It is the home of the National Hockey League franchise, the Detroit Red Wings. Completed in 1979 at a cost of $57 million, Joe Louis Arena is named after boxer and former heavyweight champion, Joe Louis, who grew up in Detroit.

Capacity: 20,066
Opened: December 12, 1979
Owner: City of Detroit
Operator: Olympia Entertainment, Inc.
Construction cost: $57 million
Architect: Smith, Hinchmen and Grylls Associates

Joe Louis Arena is owned by the city of Detroit and operated by Olympia Entertainment, Inc., an Ilitch Holdings, Inc.-owned company. JLA replaced Olympia Stadium. It sits adjacent to Cobo Hall on the bank of the Detroit River and is accessible through its own stations on the Detroit People Mover.

The Red Wings have been very successful since the move to JLA, winning three Stanley Cups (with two of them, 1997 and 2002, taking place with the Cup clinching victory at JLA).

Joe Louis Arena hosts college hockey events as part of College Hockey at The Joe and Great Lakes Invitational. It also played host to the 1980 Republican National Convention. Most recently, WWE held their 19th annual Survivor Series on November 27, 2005.

Several plans for a replacement arena have been raised for years; presently, JLA is considered somewhat outdated due to its lack of luxury boxes and other revenue-generating amenities. In addition, some proposals for the expansion of Cobo Hall have required JLA to be demolished. However, no firm plan for a replacement is in place.

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Latest Columbus Blue Jackets News

Capacity: 18,138

Nationwide Arena is a sports and entertainment arena in Columbus, Ohio. It opened in 2000 and is the home of the Columbus Blue Jackets, a franchise in the National Hockey League, who were joined for the 2004 season by the Columbus Destroyers of the Arena Football League. Beginning in 2006, it hosted the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets, a Tier 1 junior ice hockey team that is a part of the United States Hockey League (USHL).

The venue is named for the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, whose home office is located nearby. Nationwide’s real estate development affiliate, Nationwide Realty Investors, financed and developed the project—making it one of very few privately financed arenas in the nation.

The arena is of an attractive brick design and serves as the center of an entertainment district located about one half mile north of the Ohio State Capitol. Seating capacity is approximately 18,500 for hockey and arena football, 19,500 for basketball, and up to 20,000 for concerts. The death of 13 year-old Brittanie Cecil from injuries sustained from a hockey puck flying into the stands at a Blue Jackets game in 2002 led to the installation of nylon netting to catch pucks that fly over the plexiglass at all professional ice hockey arenas in the NHL, AHL, and ECHL.

The area surrounding Nationwide Arena, appropriately called the Arena District, houses a variety of bars, clubs and a movie theater. Constructed as a seamless entity, Columbus uses the arena as a drawing point for the city with the various other establishments feeding off of the foot traffic. The Lifestyle Communities Pavilion concert venue, and Arena Grand Theatre adjacent to the Nationwide Arena property, completes the entertainment complex.

Nationwide Arena also houses a smaller ice rink called the Dispatch IceHaus (formerly named the CoreComm IceHaus). This facility serves as the practice rink for the Blue Jackets and is also used for youth hockey games and open skating times for the public. This facility makes Nationwide Arena the only NHL arena with an on-site practice facility.

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Latest Carolina Hurricanes News

Capacity: 18,730

The RBC Center (originally the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena) is an indoor arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is home to the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL and the North Carolina State University Wolfpack men’s basketball team of NCAA Division I. The arena also hosted the Carolina Cobras of the Arena Football League from 2000 to 2002. The arena neighbors Carter-Finley Stadium, home of Wolfpack Football; the North Carolina State Fairgrounds; and Dorton Arena (on the Fairgrounds).

The arena seats 19,722 for basketball or 18,730 for ice hockey, including 75 luxury suites and 2,000 club seats. The building has three concourses, and includes a 500-seat restaurant.

The idea of a new basketball arena first emerged in the 1980s under the vision of Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano. In 1989, the NCSU Trustees approved plans to build a 23,000 seat arena. The Centennial Authority was created by the NC Legislature in 1995 as the governing entity of the arena, then financed by state appropriation, local contributions, and University fundraising. The Centennial Authority refocused the project into a multi-use arena, leading to the 1997 relocation agreement of the Hurricanes (then the Hartford Whalers). Construction began that year and was completed in 1999 at a cost of $158 million, which was largely publicly financed by a Hotel and Restaurant tax. The Hurricanes agreed to pay $20 million of the cost, and the state of North Carolina paid $18 million.

Known as the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena or ESA from 1999 to 2002, it was renamed the RBC Center after an extended search for a corporate sponsor. RBC Centura, the US unit of the Royal Bank of Canada, acquired 20-year naming rights for a reported $80 million.

The Carolina Hurricanes were on home ice when they won the Stanley Cup on June 19, 2006.

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