SportingSights Archive for August, 2006

Scotiabank Saddledome

Calgary // Canada
Home to: Calgary Flames // NHL Ice Hockey | Calgary Roughnecks // NLL Lacrosse

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The Scotiabank Saddledome is the main indoor arena facility in Calgary, Canada and is situated on the east end of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede grounds. It is also known simply as the Saddledome or even the ‘Dome.

Capacity 20,100
Construction cost $100,000,000 CAD
Architect Graham McCourt Architects

The distinctive saddle-shaped roof is an inverted hyperbolic paraboloid. It was a design borrowed from Washington D.C.’s defunct US Airways Arena. However, the roof’s saddle motif tied in well with Calgary’s Western heritage. Constructed using pre-cast concrete panels suspended by post-tension cables, the roof has an unobstructed 122 meter span covering 12,000 m², but is only 60 centimeters thick.

Depending on the event configuration, the facility seats up to 20,100 spectators, and includes 72 luxury suites, 2 super suites, and 6 restaurants and bars.

When it opened on October 15, 1983, it was known as the Olympic Saddledome as it would host the indoor ice events for the 1988 Winter Olympics. This was the first major arena in North America capable of hosting ice hockey matches on the international standard size ice sheet. The building was later renamed the Canadian Airlines Saddledome when the Calgary-based airline became the building’s sponsor. This was controversial among many Calgarians who opposed the facility losing the “Olympic” name, and who were also opposed to the decision to cover the Dome’s massive roof with the Canadian Airlines logo. In 2000, another company, Pengrowth Management Ltd., took over sponsorship of the complex when Canadian Airlines was acquired by Air Canada and the facility was renamed the Pengrowth Saddledome. Unlike Canadian, Pengrowth chose not to put its logo on the roof of the facility.

Ice hockey, rodeo events, dog shows, basketball, monster truck events, circus events, music concerts, tapings of Wheel of Fortune, World Wrestling Entertainment and the 2006 ISU World Figure Skating Championships have all been held at the Saddledome in its 20+ year history.

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Pengrowth Saddledome

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Pengrowth Saddledome website
Scotiabank Saddledome wikipedia entry
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HSBC Arena

Buffalo, New York // USA | Home to: Buffalo Sabres // NHL Ice Hockey, Buffalo Bandits // NLL Lacrosse

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The HSBC Arena is a sports and entertainment venue located in downtown Buffalo, New York, USA. It is home to the Buffalo Sabres hockey team and the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team. The arena also hosts concerts and is used regularly for college basketball games, including opening-round games of the NCAA basketball tournament and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournaments (1997, 1999, 2001, 2005). It recently has been used for wrestling, hosting Fully Loaded 1999, WCW Fall Brawl 2000, and the 2005 WWE Great American Bash. It is also the former home of the Buffalo Destroyers, Buffalo Blizzard and Buffalo Wings. It additionally was the host of the 2003 NCAA Frozen Four.

The HSBC Arena opened on September 21, 1996, replacing the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Its original name was the Crossroads Arena; however, this was changed to Marine Midland Arena before the first game had even been played there. The Marine Midland Bank, which was part of the HSBC banking group, had purchased the naming rights. In 1999, as part of HSBC’s worldwide corporate rebranding, the arena’s name was changed to The HSBC Arena, when the US bank’s name became HSBC Bank USA N.A.. This name change coincided with the playing of the first college basketball tournament game in the arena’s history. It has been occasionally referred to by Buffalo residents as The Marina (a portmanteau of Marine Midland Arena), Fort Knox (a reference to the Sabres original owners Seymour and Northrup Knox) or “The Bank” (a reference to HSBC Bank). The press box in the arena is named after former Sabres broadcaster and Hockey Hall of Fame member Ted Darling.

Both sporting events and concerts at the arena are served by the Special Events station of the Buffalo Metro Rail.

On November 16, 1996, the arena’s Jumbotron, an eight-sided scoreboard, fell to the ice while it was being remotely moved minutes after a few players ended practice and hours before an NHL hockey game. No one was injured, and the game was postponed.

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HSBC Arena Buffalo HSBC Arena Buffalo HSBC Arena Buffalo

HSBC Arena Buffalo HSBC Arena Buffalo HSBC Arena Buffalo

HSBC Arena Buffalo HSBC Arena Buffalo TSO

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HSBC Arena website
HSBC Arena wikipedia entry
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The Honda Center (Arrowhead Pond)

Anaheim, California // USA
Home to: Anaheim Ducks // NHL Ice Hockey

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The Honda Center, is an indoor arena in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks and was home of the former NLL’s Anaheim Storm, which folded in 2005. It was completed in 1993 at a cost of $123 million. Arrowhead paid $15 million for the naming rights over 10 years a few months after the arena opened. Arrowhead’s naming rights contract is currently up for renewal and Anaheim Arena Management sought offers from other companies along with Arrowhead Water for the naming rights to its building. It was won by Honda Motor Company and became the Honda Center in September of 2006.

Capacity: 17,174 (NHL)
Opened: June 19, 1993
Owner: City of Anaheim
Operator: Henry Samueli
Construction cost: $123 million USD
Architect: HOK Sport

It opened on June 19, 1993, its first event a Barry Manilow concert. Since then, it has been host to a number of high profile events, such as the Stanley Cup Finals (2003), various WWE events such as WrestleMania XII & WrestleMania 2000 (XVI), the Royal Rumble in 1999, and UFC 59. It has also hosted high profile concerts since, such as Coldplay, U2, Shakira, Madonna, Queen, Britney Spears, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, and many more.

From 1994 to 1998, it served as a second home for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers. Also served as the home arena for the Anaheim Bullfrogs of Roller Hockey International from 1993 to 1999 and for the Anaheim Piranhas of the Arena Football League from 1996 to 1997. It also hosts the annual John R. Wooded Classic (since 1994). The arena has also hosted the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament three times as the West Regional site – 1998, 2001, and 2003. It even hosted the Frozen Four in 1999, underscoring the popularity of hockey even in the desert southwest.

The Arrowhead Pond lies across the street from Angel Stadium (where MLB’s Anaheim Angels play) and roughly 5 miles away from Disneyland.

The arena seats up 17,174 for its primary tenant, the Ducks. There are 84 luxury suites in the building, which has hosted 17.5 million people as of 2003.

Broadcom chairman and billionaire Henry Samueli owns the company which operates the Pond, and on February 25, 2005, The Walt Disney Company announced that it would sell the Ducks to Samueli, giving him control of the Pond’s lease.

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Honda Center The Honda Center The Honda Center

Honda Center Aug 2008 Honda Center

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Honda Center wikipedia entry
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NHL website

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