Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Good God, 2 televised 90 minute long Habs post game shows... that is something else.

Habs intrasquad game being televised live on a sports network today. Tickets sold for it too. Should be close to a sellout at the Bell centre.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Habs intrasquad game being televised live on a sports network today. Tickets sold for it too. Should be close to a sellout at the Bell centre.

And they rebroadcast the intrasquad game in prime time last night!

[speedog]

West division is becoming a real dog fight, too bad that one of those western teams will be sitting out the playoffs - time for a single division league.

[elly63]

Commonwealth Stadium 38 years ago, pre expansion, pre artificial turf

• Video Link

[GernB]

Originally Posted by elly63

Commonwealth Stadium 38 years ago, pre expansion, pre artificial turf

• Video Link

A full stadium, natural grass, and the Stamps in red and white (no Black), no ads intruding everywhere....the good ole days!
Edit: Listening to the play-by-play by Don Whitman, I'm left shaking my head again as to why TSN insists on using Rod Black rather than Gord Miller as one of their prime crew.

[craner]

Originally Posted by GernB

A full stadium, natural grass, and the Stamps in red and white (no Black), no ads intruding everywhere....the good ole days!
Edit: Listening to the play-by-play by Don Whitman, I'm left shaking my head again as to why TSN insists on using Rod Black rather than Gord Miller as one of their prime crew.

Not really the good ole days because the Stamps sucked (unlike today).
Also, they weren't really the Red & White with all that depressing grey in there - I much prefer the current black accent.
If you could bring back Commonwealth at that size now (42,000) it would be perfect for the CFL in Edmonton.
Thanks for posting - love watching those old games, brings me back to my youth.

[GernB]

Originally Posted by craner

Not really the good ole days because the Stamps sucked (unlike today).
Also, they weren't really the Red & White with all that depressing grey in there - I much prefer the current black accent.
If you could bring back Commonwealth at that size now (42,000) it would be perfect for the CFL in Edmonton.
Thanks for posting - love watching those old games, brings me back to my youth.

Can't take the credit, Elly63 was the OP for the vid. Stamps couldn't have sucked too bad that year as they made the WFC final...but yeah, they were depressingly bad for years! And yes, they should never have extended the upper deck at Commonwealth but they thought the league was really taking off; Edmonton averaged ~56,000 a game in the early 80s. Fun sometimes when I'm bored to watch old games on youtube and see the differences.

I like those uniforms, and the classics from the 60s, but my favourite was the ones they wore when Barrett and Flutie were QBs...early 90s I'm guessing. I like the black accents i.e., outlining the numbers and logos, etc., but I'm not a fan of the black pants at home and black helmet on the road. Just a personal preference as there are too many other teams with a lot of black.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by GernB

And yes, they should never have extended the upper deck at Commonwealth but they thought the league was really taking off; Edmonton averaged ~56,000 a game in the early 80s.

That's an interesting thought. Did they expand exclusively for Universiade in 1983 or did they expand thinking the Esks could draw that well. Let's look at the numbers before the expansion in 82.

I think we can conclude that the stadium was "right sized" before the expansion and it should not have been a permanent structure, hindsight being 20/20.

[craner]

Originally Posted by GernB

Can't take the credit, Elly63 was the OP for the vid. Stamps couldn't have sucked too bad that year as they made the WFC final...but yeah, they were depressingly bad for years! And yes, they should never have extended the upper deck at Commonwealth but they thought the league was really taking off; Edmonton averaged ~56,000 a game in the early 80s. Fun sometimes when I'm bored to watch old games on youtube and see the differences.

I like those uniforms, and the classics from the 60s, but my favourite was the ones they wore when Barrett and Flutie were QBs...early 90s I'm guessing. I like the black accents i.e., outlining the numbers and logos, etc., but I'm not a fan of the black pants at home and black helmet on the road. Just a personal preference as there are too many other teams with a lot of black.

I agree with you on the black helmets - ditch them and just go with the red.

[esquire]

I agree that from an Esks' perspective, 42,000 would have been the perfect size for that team. No doubt that with skyboxes, new seats, etc., capacity would probably be around the 40,000 mark by now and that would have been just fine.

It's actually amazing to see how much Eskimos attendance has fluctuated through the years... they went from 25,000 a game to 58,000 a game in 5 years, then back down to 31,000 fans a game 6 years later.

[HomerSPC]

Originally Posted by esquire

I agree that from an Esks' perspective, 42,000 would have been the perfect size for that team. No doubt that with skyboxes, new seats, etc., capacity would probably be around the 40,000 mark by now and that would have been just fine.

It's actually amazing to see how much Eskimos attendance has fluctuated through the years... they went from 25,000 a game to 58,000 a game in 5 years, then back down to 31,000 fans a game 6 years later.

That's what happens when you win 5 Cups in a row.

[SaskScraper]

^^the Eskimos won a CFL record five consecutive Grey Cups in a row from 1978 to 1982 to help put their attendance in prospective...
and were West division Champs 9 of those last 10years in the late 1970s early 80's

[esquire]

^ I guess they did have a perfect storm going there in Edmonton for a while... 5 cups in a row, a roster stacked with hall of fame stars, a brand new impressive stadium, not a whole lot in the way of direct competition (Gretzky and the Oilers had just joined the NHL in 1979 and took a few seasons to really hit their stride), and still at arguably the CFL's overall peak in terms of national relevance in the 70s and early 80s.

First they did it with the Eskimos, then they pulled off the dynasty with the Oilers. I wonder if the fans in Edmonton back in those days knew how good they had it?

[Black Star]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I guess they did have a perfect storm going there in Edmonton for a while... 5 cups in a row, a roster stacked with hall of fame stars, a brand new impressive stadium, not a whole lot in the way of direct competition (Gretzky and the Oilers had just joined the NHL in 1979 and took a few seasons to really hit their stride), and still at arguably the CFL's overall peak in terms of national relevance in the 70s and early 80s.

First they did it with the Eskimos, then they pulled off the dynasty with the Oilers. I wonder if the fans in Edmonton back in those days knew how good they had it?

Most certainly did. And I was grateful. A sense of Euphoria and pride was felt by many.

Then the 90s happened.

[Acajack]

I remember the signs at the entrances to the city that said: Edmonton - City of Champions.

[The Fisher Account]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I remember the signs at the entrances to the city that said: Edmonton - City of Champions.

NSFW

[Black Star]

I guess these people are used to doing this in front of their homes in the trailer park.

[WhipperSnapper]

Guys with their pants around their ankles are amateurs or aren't well endowed.

[tomthumb2]

Eric Francis‏ @EricFrancis
Breaking: Ken King drops bombshell, saying owners no longer going to pursue new arena in Calgary.

Eric Francis‏ @EricFrancis
King: "It's time we stopped pretending."

Eric Francis‏ @EricFrancis
King: "we will operate as long as we can."

Eric Francis‏ @EricFrancis
King spoke to Mayor and determined the city has no genuine interest in helping build a building. Talks over.

Eric Francis‏ @EricFrancis
King re future of Flames in Calgary: "I don't know what this means."

Eric Francis‏ @EricFrancis \
King on the city's stance re a new rink: "their message is it's not going to work"

... what a goddamn dumpster fire...

[Black Star]

Ice District will be 'like nothing in North America,' says Katz Group Real Estate

BY JURIS GRANEY
FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2017 02:58 PM MDT | UPDATED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2017 03:26 PM MDT

Edmonton media were given the chance to tour the 25-acre downtown Ice District redevelopment Tuesday morning. Reporter Juris Graney tagged along to see how the site is taking shape.

How’s it looking out there?

Construction work at Canada’s largest mixed-use sports and entertainment district is busy. Very busy. And that brings a lot of joy to Glen Scott, president of Katz Group Real Estate.



http://www.edmontonsun.com/2017/09/1...up-real-estate