SCOTIABANK SADDLEDOME
STADIUM DUDE’S NHL ARENA RANK: #27
ARENA INFORMATION
- Location: Calgary, Alberta
- Opened 1983
- Capacity 19,289
- Games attended: 2
- Last visited: 2024
ARENA REVIEW
Despite making numerous trips to the city of Calgary throughout my early career, I never made it to a Flames game. I finally hit the venerable Saddledome just before the COVID-19 shutdown, and was glad I did. I since made it back for a game with some old college buddies, and wonder why it took me so long to come in the first place.
Easily the NHL’s Oldest Rink
Originally built in 1983, and home for the 1988 Winter Olympics figure skating competition, the place is ten years older than any other building in the league other than Madison Square Garden (which received a billion-dollar facelift in 2013). The Scotiabank Saddledome is a venue of another time and is unique among the modern arenas.
Admittedly, its age is a huge factor and a reason why Flames’ owners and the city of Calgary will be building a new facility soon. Despite boasting a beautiful exterior architectural design that’s noticeable from miles away, the Saddledome is a flawed facility. It lacks suites and social areas. It has 3,000 fewer lower bowl seats than other buildings. Sightlines aren’t great. The scoreboard, by modern standards, is laughable. Concourses are tight. Even the location is just far enough away from downtown to matter.
But the Atmosphere is Something Else
The C of Red is one of the more impressive displays of fandom in hockey, with the overwhelming majority of fans in attendance wearing a red Flames jersey. When the Flames score, fireballs shoot out throughout the arena and the crowd goes bananas.
The place oozes hockey. From the hockey exhibits in the concourse (there is one of the 1988 Olympics, one saluting members of the Hockey Hall of Fame that hail from Alberta, and one recounting the Flames’ various runs at the Stanley Cup), to the near-full audience participation of Stompin Tom Connors’ “Good Ole Hockey Game”, to the Tim Horton’s concessions, it’s undeniable what sport you’re watching.
In Conclusion…
The severe limitations in the building make it impossible for it to be ranked higher. Truthfully, it’s probably the worst physical structure still in use in the league. But man do Flames’ fans bring it. The atmosphere, not to mention Calgary’s incredible (though largely unheralded) craft beer scene, make a trip to Cowtown a must for any hockey fan.
