The interior of Co-op Field at SaskTel Centre prior to a Saskatchewan Rush game.
SaskPlace was constructed as a replacement for Saskatoon Arena, a concrete building constructed in Saskatoon's downtown core in the 1930s. The building was in use until 1988, hosting its final hockey game only a week before SaskPlace opened.[8] Nicknamed "The Barn", the facility had outlived its usefulness some 20 years earlier and had become infamous for leaky roofs and substandard amenities.[9] Yet the city was hesitant to lose the landmark, and a number of years passed between the 1970s proposal to replace the structure and the eventual demolition of the Arena and the opening of SaskPlace in the late 1980s.[10][11]
In 1982, the city approved a proposal to build a new 5,000 seat arena at the city's Exhibition grounds south of the downtown core.[11] However, by 1983 local sports promoter Bill Hunter was attempting to purchase the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League with a plan to relocate the team to Saskatoon; part of this plan included building an 18,000-seat arena.[12] Two locations for this much larger arena were suggested: the site of a decommissioned power plant downtown, just west of Saskatoon Arena, and a site north of the city's airport in the North Industrial area. Despite Hunter's best efforts, the NHL ultimately rejected his offer and plans to relocate an NHL team collapsed.[12] Even so, the city had shifted planning to building a larger arena, and debate continued about the preferred location. City Council narrowly approved the north industrial proposal in a 6–5 vote in 1985. While mayor Cliff Wright and alderman and future mayor Henry Dayday championed the location, some of council, including alderman Pat Lorje, advocated for a new downtown arena instead, wary of the long-term effects that losing the arena would have on the city's downtown.[8] In addition, concern was expressed about the accessibility of the location north of the city. Public reaction to the council vote was mixed, and a petition with more than 16,000 signatures demanding a public vote resulted in a public plebiscite being held in conjunction with the 1985 civic election.[13] In that plebiscite, Saskatoon residents rejected the downtown option, with 64% voting against it.[8] A second plebiscite was held in 1986 to approve the north industrial location, which passed with 70% in favour.[14] Construction thus proceeded on the north industrial location, and an 8,000-seat Saskatchewan Place was completed in 1988, expanded to 11,000 in 1990.[13]
Despite the votes that led to the arena, the location remained polarizing in ensuing decades, especially as many hoped-for benefits of the north location, including an influx of new services and a relocation of the city's exhibition grounds adjacent to the site, failed to materialize.[13] Moreover, the hoped-for NHL franchise never arrived either; Hunter tried again in the early 1990s, applying for an expansion team, but ultimately fell just short of securing adequate funding.[15] However, the arena did host the NHL's first neutral-site game on October 13, 1992, a game between the Calgary Flames and Minnesota North Stars.[16]
In the early 2000s, Saunders Avenue, a street leading into the parking lot of the arena, was renamed Bill Hunter Avenue in honour of Hunter, who died in 2002. This was considered ironic by many Saskatonians, given Hunter lobbied for the facility to be built in another location near the old Saskatoon Arena. The city then transferred the 'Saunders' name to a new street in the River Landing redevelopment area—running through the former site of the Saskatoon Arena.
Expansion
In 2008–09, the arena, then called the Credit Union Centre,[17] was renovated for the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[18] There were 2,981 seats added to the arena, increasing the capacity to more than 15,000. The cost of the expansion was pegged at $6.7 million. $2 million was requested as a loan from the city of Saskatoon and $3 million from a provincial grant. Hockey Canada may have also contributed about $500,000.[19]
At this time, there was a proposal from Ice Edge Holdings to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes and begin playing five of the Coyotes' home games each season at Credit Union Centre, beginning in December 2009. The logic behind the move, which parallels the Bills Toronto Series in the NFL, was that although Saskatoon was likely too small to support an NHL team of its own, it would easily be able to sell out the Credit Union Centre for one game each month.[20] However, by May 2011, Ice Edge Holdings had abandoned its plan to purchase the team.[21]
In August 2014, SaskTel acquired the naming rights to the arena, renaming it SaskTel Centre.[17]
Future
A 2018 study recommended the construction of a new arena and convention centre in downtown Saskatoon to replace SaskTel Centre and TCU Place. Both venues were assessed as needing replacement, failing to meet standards in comparison to venues in equivalent markets, including the arena's inadequate space for large event staging and rigging, and poor location and accessibility.[22]
In August 2022, following an evaluation of five potential sites, a report recommending one of two sites—one in the north downtown city yard, and one in the north parking lot of Midtown—was presented to city council.[23] On November 16, 2022, the Midtown site was selected. The city hopes to release the cost of the new arena in the summer of 2023 and estimates it will take about six years before the project is completed.[24][needs update]
Major events
The arena's inaugural event was the Saskatoon Blades' first WHL game at the arena, in which they defeated the Brandon Wheat Kings 4–3. Troy Kennedy scored the first goal in the arena's history, while Kory Kocur scored the game's winning goal in front of a sell-out crowd of 9,343.[16]
The Saskatoon Blades have hosted the Memorial Cup twice at SaskTel Centre. The first time was in 1989, the year after the arena opened; the Blades made it to the final, but lost 4–3 in overtime to the WHL champion Swift Current Broncos.[25] They hosted again in 2013, but won just one match and failed to advance to final round.[26]
The arena hosted the 2007 Juno Awards. The Juno Awards were to return to SaskTel Centre in 2020, but the ceremony was cancelled on March 12 due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.[35][36]
From June 9 to 12, 2016, SaskTel Centre hosted six sold-out performances by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood as part of their World Tour. The shows broke a record for concert attendance at the arena—set by Brooks in 1996—averaging 15,776 per show and an estimated total of 94,655 attendees.[37]
The single-concert record would be exceeded by Metallica's WorldWired Tour stop at SaskTel Centre in September 2018, attracting 16,874 attendees in one of only two Canadian stops on the tour. The band dedicated their performance of "Nothing Else Matters" to those who had died in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.[38]
The Saskatoon Blades face off against the Regina Pats at SaskTel Centre
The current attendance record for SaskTel Centre is 16,874, which was set on September 15, 2018 for a concert by Metallica.[40]
The largest crowd for a hockey game at the arena is 15,171, set on December 31, 2009 for a round robin game of the 2010 World Juniors between Canada and the United States; this was equalled on January 5, 2010 for the gold medal game of the tournament, which featured a re-match of the same teams.
The largest crowd for a Saskatoon Blades game verses an out of province team is 12,588, set on February 9, 2013 in a game against the Lethbridge Hurricanes; the largest crowd for any Blades games is 14,768, first set in a game against the Regina Pats on March 19, 2023; this was equalled less than a week later on March 24 when the Blades hosted the Pats again, and then once more on April 10, 2023, for game 7 of the first round playoff series between the Blades and Pats.[41][42]
The largest crowd for a Saskatchewan Rush game is 15,192 set on May 21, 2016 in a game against the Calgary Roughnecks.[43]
A bronze statue of former Detroit Red Wings player and Saskatoon native Gordie Howe was installed outside the arena in 2005.[44] Following Howe's death in June 2016, the statue became a memorial site for the player. In September 2016, the cremated remains of Howe and his wife Colleen Howe were buried at the statue's base.[45]
