Arena Civic Center

St. Paul Civic Center

The St. Paul Civic Center was an indoor arena that was part of the adjacent RiverCentre. The arena, which was opened on January 1, 1973, was the home of both incarnations of the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA - the first from 1973-1976 and the second from 1976-1977. The arena seated 16,000. It was renamed in 1998 to the RiverCentre. The Arena was also home to the MSHSL High School Hockey Championships starting in 1945. Gene Aldrich whom was Athletic Director for St. Paul public schools pushed the idea of the State High School Hockey Tournament. Because of his lobbying, the first state tournament was held in 1945 at the St. Paul Auditorium, then moved to the

St. Paul civic center to accomodate the increasing popularity of the

tournament. The boys basketball tournaments were also held at the Civic

Center as well as three NCAA Frozen Fours, including the Gophers 1989

heartbreaking overtime loss to Harvard 4-3 in the Frozen Four championship

game. The Civic Center is best remembered for it's unique hockey boards

that were made of clear acrylic glass all the way down to the ice. This was

because the seating configuration was round, meaning the closest seats at

center ice were not right up against the glass. The clear boards made for

better sightlines for those spectators. The last professional hockey team to

skate in the civic center was the IHL Minnesota Moose hockey club from

1994-1996. The clear boards were replaced with normal wood boards when

the Moose played there, as the professional team needed to be able to sell