another name change for the arena

[DetDannyWilliams]

Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) -- The First Niagara Center will likely be no more in October.

KeyBank is merging with First Niagara Bank and officials from KeyBank say pending approval, the Sabres will open next season in the KeyBank Center.

This will be the fourth name for the arena which has also been known as HSBC Arena and Marine Midland Arena.

The arena became the First Niagara Center in 2011.

http://www.wgr550.com/The-downtown-a...-chan/22738993

actually it's the fifth name change... the Arena was originally supposed to be named Crossroads Arena because it was being built across the street from the Aud.

[gebobs]

Enough already. You're fired, Key Bank. Just call it Hockey McHockface.

[WagonCircler]

The smart play would be to put a giant LED board where the current First Niagara Center sign is.

That would make it so much easier every time one bank eats another and changes the name again.

Makes no difference to me. I started calling it "The Arena" about 20 years ago.

[DetDannyWilliams]

I still call it the Auditorium...just like I still call RWS Rich Stadium, I don't why they can't put Auditorium in the name KeyBank Auditorium has a nice ring to it. Boston kept Gardens in their name after Boston Gardens was torn down TD Bank North Garden

[JATMtheJATM]

I still call it the Auditorium...just like I still call RWS Rich Stadium, I don't why they can't put Auditorium in the name KeyBank Auditorium has a nice ring to it. Boston kept Gardens in their name after Boston Gardens was torn down TD Bank North Garden

Boston's arena was originally called the fleet center.

[OpIv37]

Boston's arena was originally called the fleet center.

Has DDW ever said one thing that was correct? Even mundane posts about arena names have factual inaccuracies.

Maybe it's a bit. No one can be accidentally wrong that often.

[JATMtheJATM]

Boston's arena was originally called the fleet center.

And while it was being constructed, it was the Shawmut center. Before Shawmut and fleet merged. All the seats in the arena had Shawmut bank logos on them, and right before it opened, they had to replace all the seats. LOL Boston

[Dude]

Any sports arena with the name "Auditorium" in it gives the impression of a run-down, 50+ year-old barn with ****ty sight lines that smells like stale beer and urine. Maybe fans are OK with that, but it doesn't project a good image for the brand that puts their name on the building.

Refusing to move on and accept name changes just makes you look ignorant.

[Dr. Lecter]

Are you insulting the odor of stale beer and urine?

Why do you hate America?

[Dr. Lecter]

Has DDW ever said one thing that was correct? Even mundane posts about arena names have factual inaccuracies.

Maybe it's a bit. No one can be accidentally wrong that often.

he's Bizarro-Op.

You've never been wrong here and he's never been correct.

[Dude]

Are you insulting the odor of stale beer and urine?

Not in the least. It brings back fond memories of the tunnels down to the gold seats.

[WagonCircler]

50+ year-old barn with ****ty sight lines that smells like stale beer and urine.

****ty sight lines? Were you ever even at the Aud? The sight lines were fantastic. Your were twice as close to the ice as you are in modern buildings. They're not allowed to build them that steep anymore, since the Americans With Disabilities Act in the early 80s.

Whine about stale beer smell if you want to, but the sight lines were WAY better in the Aud.

[Dr. Lecter]

Were you ever in the upper blues, with the over hang from above? Those site lines sucked.

[Dude]

****ty sight lines? Were you ever even at the Aud? The sight lines were fantastic. Your were twice as close to the ice as you are in modern buildings. They're not allowed to build them that steep anymore, since the Americans With Disabilities Act in the early 80s.

Whine about stale beer smell if you want to, but the sight lines were WAY better in the Aud.

a) I'm not whining. You're confusing me with the thread starter.

b) My analogy was not specifically referring to the Aud. The word "auditorium" (lower-case a, not upper case as in Memorial Auditorium - my bad) invokes a feeling of an aging building.

[coastal]

we sat center ice reds most times (shared seasons with a friend of the family), but occassionaly this spoiled suburban kid had to slum it in the oranges... and quite frankly... it was awesome!

the crowd in the oranges sat on the fringe of mental stability and sobriety. The steepness of the section only added to anxiety of the whole experience.

then someone like the Bruins would roll into town and everyone of your neighbors up there became warrior poets in what for me is one of the best memories of my childhood. Schoenfeld or Playfair dropping em... Gare or Perrault scoring... Rammer just being Rammer....

i don't remember the reds... I remember the oranges.

Nothing like that exists anymore.

[WagonCircler]

i don't remember the reds... I remember the oranges.

Nothing like that exists anymore.

And it never will again.

Now, sitting in the 300 level is like watching from the middle of the Small Boat Harbor.

And then there's this:

[coastal]

There's just so many things about that picture that suck.

[JATMtheJATM]

And it never will again.

Now, sitting in the 300 level is like watching from the middle of the Small Boat Harbor.

And then there's this:

All arenas are built like this now. It's cause of luxury boxes and club seating.

Though, I've sat in the 300s. First niagara, for its capacity, has fine sightlines. You just have to know how to watch a hockey game.

[ckg927]

Were you ever in the upper blues, with the over hang from above? Those site lines sucked.

Actually, yes. They used to have TV monitors focused on the scoreboard.

[ckg927]

All arenas are built like this now. It's cause of luxury boxes and club seating.

Though, I've sat in the 300s. First niagara, for its capacity, has fine sightlines. You just have to know how to watch a hockey game.

Detroit's new arena(sorry, I STILL can't bring myself to say its name)will also likely have some damned good sightlines, including a gondola seating level above the stands.