Wild acquire F Justin Brazeau from Bruins
A Boston sports treasure is in its final days with far too little fanfare
BOSTON — Brad Marchand didn’t realize he was about to reach the entrance until it appeared in front of him on St. Botolph Street.
Matthews Arena, one of Boston’s most historic sports landmarks, hides inconspicuously among the buildings in its Huntington Avenue neighborhood and Northeastern University campus.
Marchand was visiting earlier this year for a photo shoot promoting the Bruins’ 100th-anniversary game. Like many of the thousands of people who pass through that busy area, Marchand had no idea that the oldest hockey arena in the world was there.
“We pulled up and I’m like where’s the rink?” he said. “It’s kind of disguised in there.”
But as he laced up his skates and took to the ice, the Bruins captain marveled at the scene around him. Even with the modern amenities that have been shoe-horned inside, it still feels like a building from another time.
The curved roof with wooden ceiling slats and the old columns that have been painted and repainted over and over again make it feel like stepping into the colorized version of a sepia-toned painting.
“I like the character in the old rinks. The amount of games and guys who went through there,” Marchand said. “It was unique the way it was built. I loved the aura in it.”
In a world of interchangeable civic centers, Matthews Arena is a wonderful old hockey barn.
Sure, there’s a jumbotron now and the seats attached to the building’s old cement bones are more comfortable than the ones installed in 1909 when it opened three years before Fenway Park. But it’s still a hockey barn.
Matthews, which was known as Boston Arena until Northeastern took over in 1979, has been most closely associated with hockey over its 115 years. That includes today. The Huskies’ two most beloved and successful teams are their men’s and women’s hockey teams.
