Canucks' Rogers Arena will soon become sixth-oldest rink in the NHL

Rogers Arena is moving up the ranking of oldest buildings in the National Hockey League. With the news that the Calgary Flames are getting a new arena built, it means that the home of the Vancouver Canucks will soon be the sixth-oldest in the entire league.

The Saddledome in Calgary opened in 1983, making it the second-oldest active rink in the NHL. Madison Square Garden in New York is the oldest by far, given it opened in 1968, although it has undergone major renovations since then.

After that comes a bunch of arenas that were built in the 1990s, including the home of the Canucks.

The Honda Center in Anaheim and SAP Center in San Jose were built in 1993, while the Enterprise Center in St. Louis and United Center in Chicago opened in 1994.

In 1995 the Canucks moved from the Pacific Coliseum to Rogers Arena, which was known as GM Place until 2010. The downtown rink has been the Canucks’ home for the last 28 years, more than the 25 years spent at the Coliseum.

But don’t bet on the Canucks building a new arena anytime soon. Despite some reports of the presence of mice, an aging scoreboard, and some seats that need sprucing up, the arena has been given upgrades periodically.

The biggest knock on Rogers Arena is probably its concourse, which may be more narrow than any other NHL building, and makes getting around the rink challenging for fans. Space was limited, given it was built in between a pair of viaducts. The viaducts also apparently make for bad feng shui, but that’s another story.

The new tower on the west side of the building helped expand Rogers Arena’s concourse in 2016, giving new bar areas to both the 100 and 300 levels. It also allowed for the addition of the Sportsbar.

So expect renovation, not demolition, to be the route going forward.

Here’s a look at every current NHL arena, ranked from oldest to youngest:

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