Matthews Arena - Wikipedia

Matthews Arena
Interior of arena in 2009

Former names	Boston Arena (1909–1982)
Location	238 St. Botolph Street, Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°20′28″N 71°5′4″W / 42.34111°N 71.08444°W / 42.34111; -71.08444
Public transit	Orange Line atMassachusetts Avenue Green Line atSymphony
Owner	Northeastern University
Operator	Northeastern University
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 multi-purpose arenainBoston, Massachusetts. It is the world's oldest multi-purpose athletic building still in use, as well as the oldest arena in use for ice hockey.^[2]^[3]

Today, Matthews Arena is owned by the university. It 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.

History[edit]

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 area'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 Arena was partially destroyed by fire on December 18, 1918. It was rebuilt, and the new facility opened January 1, 1921, with an ice show.^[8] Harvard played the first hockey game after being reopened, January 8, 1921, against Kings College.

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.^[9] The NHL's first US-based franchise, the Boston Bruins, played their first-ever NHL regular season game at the Arena on Monday, December 1, 1924.^[10]^[3] with the Bruins' most historic rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens being initiated only one week later.^[11] The Bruins left the Arena in 1928 when Tex Rickard's new indoor sports facility in Boston, the Boston Garden, was completed. The WHA's New England Whalers played some of their first-season home games at the Arena in 1972–73.

In basketball, the Boston Celtics played their first game at the Arena in 1946, and played at the Arena until 1955.^[3]

The Arena was purchased in 1979 by Northeastern University. The Arena was renamed in 1982 when Northeastern alumnus George J. Matthews helped fund its refurbishment. The arena was briefly known as Northeastern Arena as well. 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] The ice surface had been reduced when the Bruins moved in as tenant, so as to accommodate more seats,^[7] so the enlargement actually returned the size of the ice surface closer to its original size. Another round of renovations took place in the summer of 2009. The centerpiece of the renovations were all-new seating and a brand new center ice jumbotron. In 2018, a new jumbotron was installed, currently one of the largest videoboards in the Northeastern US. The lobby was also reworked, with additional concessions and an elevator for ADA compliance. A new weight room and expanded locker rooms were provided for the athletes. The total cost of the renovations was estimated at $12 million. It still shares a feature with both the 1998-demolished Boston Garden pro sports facility and Harvard's existing Bright-Landry Hockey Center where ice hockey is concerned; with non-standard team bench locations, one on either side of the rink, much as the departed Garden possessed. This feature was for years not uncommon on rinks throughout the East, as the Montreal Forum and Le Colisée de Québec both had split benches for much of their histories. The reason behind this arrangement was so teams could have their benches adjacent to their dressing rooms, which were across the ice from each other for security reasons. Most modern facilities solved this dilemma not by placing dressing rooms on opposite sides of the ice, as those arenas did, but rather on opposite ends on the same side of the rink. However this arrangement still exists in American collegiate hockey, as even some newer venues such as Conte Forum at Boston College or Compton Family Ice Arena at Notre Dame have split benches.

Matthews Arena also proved famous as a concert venue during much of its lifetime. On Saturday evening May 3, 1958 the 'Big Beat' Rock n Roll show hosted by Alan Freed was cut short due to riots inside the Arena and a non-fatal serious stabbing outside. Headlining the bill were Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Holly & The Crickets. Alan Freed was arrested after police repeatedly had the house-lights turned on to stop teens jiving in the aisles, and Freed issued the now infamous line, "I guess the police don't want you to have fun." Other famous acts to grace the arena were The Doors in a 1970 concert that was later released to the public. Another famous concert was the Phish New Year's Eve concert on December 31, 1992. The show was the highest attended Phish concert to date and was played on WBCN the next day.

Matthews has hosted all or part of the America East Conference men's basketball tournament a total of seven times and hosted the 1960 Frozen Four.^[12] The arena also served as the original home to the annual Beanpot tournament between Boston's four major college hockey programs.^[13]

In May 2024, Northeastern University filed a letter of intent to the Boston Planning & Development Agency to construct a new multi-purpose athletics facility that would presumably replace Matthews Arena.^[14] This came as concerns surrounding the foundation of Matthews Arena increased.^[15]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

Preceded by none	Home of Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey 1917 – 1971	Succeeded by Walter Brown Arena
Preceded by none	Home of the Boston Bruins 1924–1928	Succeeded by Boston Garden
Preceded by none	Home of the Boston Celtics 1946–1955	Succeeded by Boston Garden
Preceded by none	Home of the New England Whalers 1972–1973	Succeeded by Eastern States Coliseum

Links to related articles

v t e Northeastern University
Colleges	College of Engineering College of Health Sciences Khoury College of Computer Sciences School of Law D'Amore-McKim School of Business School of Pharmacy School of Journalism
Main campus	Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex Huntington Avenue Grounds
Network campuses	Mills College at Northeastern University Northeastern University – London Roux Institute
Research	Institute for Global Innovation Management Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center
Athletics	Northeastern Huskies (Varsity: Baseball Men's ice hockey Women's ice hockey Men's basketball Men's soccer Women's soccer Women's swimming and diving Football; Club: Rugby Alpine ski Sailing Colonial Athletic Association Hockey East Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Matthews Arena Cabot Center Parsons Field Friedman Diamond Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center Beanpot Paws
Media	The Huntington News WRBB
People	Alumni Presidents Faculty
Category Commons

v t e Northeastern Huskies men's basketball
Venues	Matthews Arena (1910–present)
Culture & lore	Paws
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

Basketball arenas of the Coastal Athletic Association

John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center (Campbell)
TD Arena (Charleston)
Bob Carpenter Center (Delaware)
Daskalakis Athletic Center (Drexel)
Schar Center (Elon)
Hampton Convocation Center (Hampton)
Mack Sports Complex (Hofstra)
OceanFirst Bank Center (Monmouth)
Corbett Sports Center (North Carolina A&T)
Matthews Arena (Northeastern, men's)
Cabot Center (Northeastern, women's)
Island Federal Credit Union Arena (Stony Brook)
SECU Arena (Towson)
Kaplan Arena (William & Mary)
Trask Coliseum (UNC Wilmington)

v t e Hockey East
Men	Boston College Eagles (Conte Forum) Boston University Terriers (Agganis Arena) Maine Black Bears (Alfond Arena) Merrimack Warriors (J. Thom Lawler Rink) New Hampshire Wildcats (Whittemore Center) Northeastern Huskies (Matthews Arena) Providence Friars (Schneider Arena) UConn Huskies (Toscano Family Ice Forum) UMass Minutemen (Mullins Center) UMass Lowell River Hawks (Tsongas Center) Vermont Catamounts (Gutterson Fieldhouse)
Men's Seasons	1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23
Women	Boston College Eagles (Conte Forum) Boston University Terriers (Walter Brown Arena) Holy Cross Crusaders (Hart Center) Maine Black Bears (Alfond Arena) Merrimack Warriors (J. Thom Lawler Rink) New Hampshire Wildcats (Whittemore Center) Northeastern Huskies (Matthews Arena) Providence Friars (Schneider Arena) UConn Huskies (Toscano Family Ice Forum) Vermont Catamounts (Gutterson Fieldhouse)
Related articles	Lamoriello Trophy List of champions: Men / Women Tournament sites: TD Garden

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Head coach: Joe Mazzulla

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Founded in 1924
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v t e Hartford Whalers
Founded in 1972 Based in Hartford, Connecticut Relocated as the Carolina Hurricanesin1997
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players WHA NHL Captains Draft picks expansion draft Seasons
History	NHL–WHA merger Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Arenas	Boston Arena Boston Garden Big E Coliseum Springfield Civic Center Hartford Civic Center
Culture and lore	Brass Bonanza

v t e Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Boston Arena (1918–1971) Walter Brown Arena (1971–2005) Agganis Arena (2005–present)
Head coaches	Edgar Burkhardt (1917–1918) Harold Stuart (1919–1920) John O'Hare (1922–1924) Chippy Gaw (1924–1928) Wayland Vaughan (1928–1940) Syd Borofsky (1940–1941) Wayland Vaughan (1941–1943) Harry Cleverly (1945–1962) Jack Kelley (1962–1972) Leon Abbott (1972–1973) Jack Parker (1973–2013) David Quinn (2013–2018) Albie O'Connell (2018–2022) Jay Pandolfo (2022–present)
Seasons	1917–18 1919–20 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Conference affiliations	ECAC Hockey (1961–1984) Hockey East (1984–Present)
Rivalries	Boston College Eagles (Green Line Rivalry) Beanpot Maine Black Bears
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders John Cullen (241 Points) Chris Drury (113 Goals) Sean Fields (62 Wins)
National championships	1971 1972 1978 1995 2009
Frozen Four appearances	1950 1951 1953 1960 1966 1967 1971 1972 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 2009 2015 2023 2024
NCAA Tournament appearances	1950 1951 1953 1960 1966 1967 1971 1972 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1984 1986 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2009 2012 2015 2016 2017 2018 2021 2023 2024
Conference Tournament titles	ECAC Hockey: 1972 1974 1975 1976 1977 Hockey East: 1986 1991 1994 1995 1997 2006 2009 2015 2018 2023
Hobey Baker winners	Chris Drury (1998) Matt Gilroy (2009) Jack Eichel (2015)
Boston University Boston, MA

v t e Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey
Venues	Franklin Park (1897–1904) Harvard Stadium Rink (1904–1911) Boston Arena (1911–1917, 1921–1956) Pavilion Rink (1919–1921) Donald C. Watson Rink (1956–1978) Walter Brown Arena (1978–1979) Bright Hockey Center (1979–present)
Coaches	no coach (1897–1903, 1918–19) Alfred Winsor (1903–17, 1923–24) William Henry Claflin Jr. (1919–23) Edward Bigelow (1924–27) Joseph Stubbs (1927–38) Clark Hodder (1938–42) John Chase (1942–43, 1945–50) Cooney Weiland (1950–71) Bill Cleary (1971–90) Ronn Tomassoni (1990–99) Mark Mazzoleni (1999–2004) Ted Donato (2004– )
Seasons	1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Conference affiliations	Intercollegiate Hockey Association (1901–1911) Intercollegiate Hockey League (1912–1917) Triangular Hockey League (1919–1926) Pentagonal League (1933–1943, 1946–1955) ECAC Hockey (1961–Present)
Rivalries	Cornell Yale
Culture & lore	Beanpot Love Story
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders Scott Fusco (240 Points) Lane MacDonald (111 Goals) Grant Blair (72 Wins)
Retired numbers	Bill Cleary (4)
National championships	1989
Frozen Four appearances	1955 1957 1958 1969 1971 1974 1975 1983 1986 1987 1989 1994 2017
NCAA Tournament appearances	1955 1957 1958 1969 1971 1974 1975 1982 1983 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1993 1994 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2015 2016 2017 2023
Conference Tournament titles	ECAC Hockey: 1963 1971 1983 1987 1994 2002 2004 2006 2015 2017
Hobey Baker winners	Mark Fusco (1983) Scott Fusco (1986) Lane MacDonald (1989) Jimmy Vesey (2016)
Harvard University Cambridge, MA

v t e Northeastern Huskies men's ice hockey
Playing venues	Matthews Arena (1930–present)
Head coaches	H. Nelson Raymond (1929–1936) Herb Gallagher (1936–1942, 1946–1955) William L. Linskey (1942–1943) Jim Bell (1955–1970) Fernie Flaman (1970–1989) Don McKenney (1989–1991) Ben Smith (1991–1996) Bruce Crowder (1996–2005) Greg Cronin (2005–2011) Jim Madigan (2011–2021) Jerry Keefe (2021–Present)
Seasons	1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Conference affiliations	ECAC Hockey (1961–1984) Hockey East (1984–present)
Culture & lore	Beanpot
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders Jim Martel (210 Points) Art Chisholm (100 Goals) Bruce Racine (57 Wins)
Frozen Four appearances	1982
NCAA Tournament appearances	1982 1988 1994 2009 2016 2018 2019 2022
Conference Tournament titles	ECAC Hockey: 1982 Hockey East: 1988 2016 2019
Northeastern University Boston, MA

v t e Northeastern Huskies women's ice hockey
All-time record	808–442–110
Playing venues	Matthews Arena
Head coaches	Joy Woog (2001–2004) Laura Schuler (2004–2008) Dave Flint (2008–present)
Seasons	2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23
Conference affiliations	Hockey East (HEA)
All-time leaders	Alina Müller (252 points, 155 assists) Kendall Coyne (141 goals) Skylar Fontaine (178 games) Aerin Frankel (103 wins, 39 shutouts)
Women's Frozen Four appearances	2021 2022
NCAA Tournament appearances	2016 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Conference Tournament champions	ECAC: 1988, 1989, 1997 WHEA: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Patty Kazmaier winners	Brooke Whitney (2002) Kendall Coyne (2016) Aerin Frankel (2021)
Olympians	Kendall Coyne Schofield Chanda Gunn Denisa Křížová Rachel Llanes Shelley Looney Julia Marty Alina Müller Karen Nystrom Hayley Scamurra Florence Schelling Laura Schuler Vicky Sunohara
Northeastern University Boston, MA

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