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Almost every NHL team has had a new building since the Saddledome opened
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan Pike
Jun 3, 2023, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 2, 2023, 11:27 EDT
After the multi-party announcement of a new Calgary arena deal, and the provincial election results that all-but-confirmed the deal, many in the hockey world are breathing a sigh of relief. The Calgary Flames have been playing out of the building originally known as the Olympic Saddledome since 1983.
Since the Saddledome first opened its doors, 36 newer buildings have opened throughout the league and regularly hosted NHL games.
And yeah, we made a list.
Season
Team
Arena
Notes
1993-94
Florida
Miami Arena
opened in 1988
1993-94
Tampa Bay
Thunderdome
opened in 1990; was a baseball stadium
1993-94
Anaheim
Honda Center
opened as Arrowhead Pond
1993-94
San Jose
SAP Center
opened as San Jose Arena
1994-95
St. Louis
Enterprise Center
opened as Kiel Center
1994-95
Chicago
United Center
1995-96
Vancouver
Rogers Arena
opened as General Motors Place
1995-96
Boston
TD Garden
1995-96
Ottawa
Canadian Tire Centre
opened as the Palladium; debut game was midway through 1995-96 season
1995-96
Montreal
Bell Centre
debut game was late in 1995-96 season
1996-97
Phoenix
America West Arena
opened in 1992
1996-97
Tampa Bay [2]
Amalie Arena
opened as the Ice Palace
1996-97
Buffalo
KeyBank Center
opened as Marine Midland Arena
1996-97
Philadelphia
Wells Fargo Center
opened as CoreStates Center
1997-98
Washington
Capital One Arena
opened as MCI Center
1998-99
Nashville
Bridgestone Arena
opened in 1996 as Nashville Arena
1998-99
Florida [2]
FLA Live Arena
opened as National Car Rental Center
1998-99
Toronto
Scotiabank Arena
opened as Air Canada Centre; debut game was midway through 1998-99 season
1999-00
Colorado
Ball Arena
opened as Pepsi Center
1999-00
Los Angeles
Crypto.com Arena
opened as Staples Center
1999-00
Carolina
PNC Arena
opened as Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena
1999-00
Atlanta
Phillips Arena
2000-01
Columbus
Nationwide Arena
2000-01
Minnesota
Xcel Energy Center
2001-02
Dallas
American Airlines Center
2003-04
Phoenix [2]
Gila River Arena
opened as Glendale Arena
2007-08
New Jersey
Prudential Center
2010-11
Pittsburgh
PPG Paints Arena
opened as Consol Energy Center
2011-12
Winnipeg [2]
Canada Life Centre
opened in 2004 as MTS Centre
2015-16
NY Islanders
Barclays Center
opened in 2012
2016-17
Edmonton
Rogers Place
2017-18
Vegas
T-Mobile Arena
opened in 2016
2017-18
Detroit
Little Caesars Arena
2021-22
NY Islanders [2]
UBS Arena
2021-22
Seattle
Climate Pledge Arena
massive renovation of former Key Arena
2022-23
Arizona [3]
Mullett Arena
Since the Saddledome opened in 1983, every NHL team except for the New York Rangers has played regular in a newer building than the ‘Dome. And the Rangers have conducted extensive, expensive renovations to Madison Square Garden – not quite as extensive as the ones that turned Key Arena into basically a brand-new building in Seattle, but extensive enough to not make it feel like a building that opened in 1968.
Heck, a few of teams (Arizona, Florida, Tampa, Islanders, Atlanta/Winnipeg) have played in multiple newer buildings than the Saddledome, which drives that number up north of the amount of NHL franchises that exist now. (And let’s give a shout out to Tampa, who have played out of the Thunderdome and the Ice Palace, two amazingly-named buildings.)
Now, a good chunk of the 36 newer buildings were new builds for expansion teams: a full dozen of them were buildings that were built in anticipation of (or as part of) an expansion process – or a relocation process, in the case of the Hurricanes. Two more buildings already existed when Winnipeg moved to Phoenix and Atlanta moved to Winnipeg. But that means 22 buildings were built to give existing NHL teams newer digs.
Finally, you can kinda see the patterns of development throughout the league. From 1993 and 2000, most of the league got fancy new buildings. And based on a 30-35 year lifespan for buildings, it feels likely that we’ll start seeing either massive renovations in the early ’90s builds to bring them up to current standards… or the beginning of another wave of arena development throughout the league.
But if nothing else, at least the decades-long arena saga in Calgary seems close to a resolution.